[at-l] body changes

[daveh at psknet.com (Dave Hicks)]

I don't think there is any one-size-fits-all answer.

Two months and 464 miles should "find you your legs" and begin to show some
of the body changes associated with a thru.

It all depends of your body composition, physical shape, etc when you start
and how you hike and how well you eat while out there.  With PGH in the
loop, eating should not be a big problem for you.

BTW -- there is, or was, a women's only group on line and some of the women
on this list belong to both list.  If you haven't been pointed to it, maybe
some good soul will.

There is a general observation that most over-weight folk will lose
weight -- not always, however.

Many women will gain muscle mass at a greater rate than they lose fat -- 
especially if they are fairly lean to begin with, do not have lots of muscle
mass in their lower body and they eat well.  Some women will quit
menstruating, especially if they are not eating well.

In the past I have posted observations about the Va Blues

>>
As I have posted in the past, some nutritionist have suggested that the "Va
Blues" could easily be a result of (or compounded by) the body having used
up all the stored fat energy and starting to draw on the protein (muscles
and other body parts) for energy.  It seems that our natural body defense
mechanism response to famine is to slow down and depress various bodily
functions --physical stamina / mental & psychologically / sex drives / women
quit menstruating / etc.  For a hiker, who has "got their legs," if their
body move into a "famine" mode, the physical slow down compounds the defense
response mental / psychological depression.  It becomes harder to do what
you were doing.  That's a bear, when you are already low in sprits and have
expectations, which you are not fulfilling.  The depression makes the heat
and humidity less tolerable.  Add to that the shock of not finding the
expected relatively flat terrain, when you are already depressed and
discouraged...

I'm no Doctor, but I have become convinced that a number of thrus have been
(and more could have been) saved by an increase in food, some slack packing,
shorter days, zero days etc. in SWVA.
<<

As Damascus is 459.8 miles from Springer, you might expect some blues to set
in.

You might find that your feet increase a size.  It is common on a thru and
sometimes happens that quickly.

Your sense of smell and tolerances for odors will change.  Trail odors will
become un-noticed and town odors, esp. perfumes and the like will be very
noticeable.

I'm sure other can add to this quick list

Chainsaw


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "April " <ladykitty@sbcglobal.net>
To: <at-l@backcountry.net>
Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2004 2:08 PM
Subject: [at-l] body changes


Alright, here's my pseudo intellectual question for the day:

I am planning to do this hike in June and July.. 464 miles.  What kind
of body changes and such can I expect in that time period?

April

SNIP