I just backpacked the Grand Canyon. Why didn't I lose any weight?

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lovetolose20
lovetolose20 Posts: 29 Member
edited June 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
I just backpacked the entire Grand Canyon, it took 3 days. My pack weighed 20-25 lbs and I figure I burned about 3,000 calories each day minimum. I consumed an average of 2,000 or less calories a day.
I weighed 190.0 when I left and 190.0 when I got back. I'm still trying to lose 20 more lbs. I'm a 5'10", 38 year old female.
I'm just curious if any of you have an answer for this, I just don't understand.
Thanks for any replies.
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Replies

  • Colorscheme
    Colorscheme Posts: 1,179 Member
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    How can you be sure how much you ate and how many cals? if you didn't weigh your food while hiking then you can't be a hundred percent sure that CI<CO
  • _dixiana_
    _dixiana_ Posts: 3,262 Member
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    eveandqsmom wrote: »
    Yeah, I'm willing to bet your body made up for those burned calories by eating more. Same thing happened to me in Italy...but it was totally worth it! ;)

    Oh gosh, I didn't want to read this. haha I'm leaving for Italy NEXT WEEK and I'm terrified of putting on weight, but I want to enjoy myself!! :s
  • ogtmama
    ogtmama Posts: 1,403 Member
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    trinairby wrote: »
    eveandqsmom wrote: »
    Yeah, I'm willing to bet your body made up for those burned calories by eating more. Same thing happened to me in Italy...but it was totally worth it! ;)

    Oh gosh, I didn't want to read this. haha I'm leaving for Italy NEXT WEEK and I'm terrified of putting on weight, but I want to enjoy myself!! :s

    I didn't gain! I ended up exactly the same after all the walking and eating and drinking. It was fantastic!
  • Chellellelle
    Chellellelle Posts: 595 Member
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    You're most likely retaining some water in your muscles. Up your water intake and watch your sodium levels and see if your weight drops.
  • lovetolose20
    lovetolose20 Posts: 29 Member
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    Thanks for the replies.
    I didn't do it to lose weight, I did it for fun.
    But when you are trying to lose weight and you backpack 18 miles, you hope you do lose a little.
    I'm jealous of the Italy travelers, that sounds so fun!!
  • Colorscheme
    Colorscheme Posts: 1,179 Member
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    CattOfTheGarage wrote: »
    Yes, your poor muscles are all banged up from the huge effort they put forth on your adventure and are swollen up with water. Water is heavy.

    Every time you exceed your accustomed exercise levels you damage your muscles, and in response they heal and reinforce, getting bigger and stronger in the process. That's good news, but that repair work hurts, takes time and uses a lot of water. I've seen myself put on 3-6lb of water after 1 day of hiking.

    When the muscles are done repairing and strengthening - a few days to a week - the water will shed again and if you've been careful in the meantime you may see a loss.

    Does this happen every time you start a new routine?
  • lovetolose20
    lovetolose20 Posts: 29 Member
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    CattOfTheGarage wrote: »
    Yes, your poor muscles are all banged up from the huge effort they put forth on your adventure and are swollen up with water. Water is heavy.

    Every time you exceed your accustomed exercise levels you damage your muscles, and in response they heal and reinforce, getting bigger and stronger in the process. That's good news, but that repair work hurts, takes time and uses a lot of water. I've seen myself put on 3-6lb of water after 1 day of hiking.

    When the muscles are done repairing and strengthening - a few days to a week - the water will shed again and if you've been careful in the meantime you may see a loss.
    Thank you for taking the time to reply and for your wisdom. This makes a lot of sense.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
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    lovetolose20 wrote: »
    I just backpacked the entire Grand Canyon, it took 3 days. My pack weighed 20-25 lbs and I figure I burned about 3,000 calories each day minimum. I consumed an average of 2,000 or less calories a day.

    How in gods name did you do this with a 25 pound pack? You must have had to carry water most of the way.
    Colorscheme wrote: »
    How can you be sure how much you ate and how many cals? if you didn't weigh your food while hiking then you can't be a hundred percent sure that CI<CO

    Most backpackers eat pre-packaged, freeze-dried slop. It comes weighed and calorated. It's unpalatable, so you don't really eat a lot of it. The whole time you're out you dream of raspberries and veggie burgers, but because you're carrying your tent, sleeping bag, extra clothing, cooking gear, water filtering gear, and everything else you need, luxuries like an orange just aren't worth the added weight.

    Hopefully the OP ate better than Mountain House but:

    mtn-house-pro-pak-660x495.jpg
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    edited June 2016
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    trinairby wrote: »
    eveandqsmom wrote: »
    Yeah, I'm willing to bet your body made up for those burned calories by eating more. Same thing happened to me in Italy...but it was totally worth it! ;)

    Oh gosh, I didn't want to read this. haha I'm leaving for Italy NEXT WEEK and I'm terrified of putting on weight, but I want to enjoy myself!! :s
    I'm leaving for vacation in Spain in a few weeks. The tour director (it's for my sister's school) said people came back losing weight but I doubt I will after the water weight :lol:

  • Colorscheme
    Colorscheme Posts: 1,179 Member
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    NorthCascades wrote: »
    lovetolose20 wrote: »
    I just backpacked the entire Grand Canyon, it took 3 days. My pack weighed 20-25 lbs and I figure I burned about 3,000 calories each day minimum. I consumed an average of 2,000 or less calories a day.

    How in gods name did you do this with a 25 pound pack? You must have had to carry water most of the way.
    Colorscheme wrote: »
    How can you be sure how much you ate and how many cals? if you didn't weigh your food while hiking then you can't be a hundred percent sure that CI<CO

    Most backpackers eat pre-packaged, freeze-dried slop. It comes weighed and calorated. It's unpalatable, so you don't really eat a lot of it. The whole time you're out you dream of raspberries and veggie burgers, but because you're carrying your tent, sleeping bag, extra clothing, cooking gear, water filtering gear, and everything else you need, luxuries like an orange just aren't worth the added weight.

    Hopefully the OP ate better than Mountain House but:

    mtn-house-pro-pak-660x495.jpg

    Ok, but how can you know the weight is actually reliable? I've had things that said 4 oz or whatever in a bag and it was more like 5 oz or so. Remember, the FDA allows a 20 percent discrepancy for each serving size.
  • dietstokes
    dietstokes Posts: 216 Member
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    While its a nice thought to think what we just did yesterday or the day before(or the day before in you case) will immediately show up on the scale, that's not how it really works. What you did last week, and the week before, and the week before is what shows up now, which is why consistency is key. I would have not been surprised if the scale was heavier from backpacking, just due to water weight from increased excursion and your muscles holding onto water while they try to repair.

    Overall though, I hope you enjoyed your time and don't only take away the fact that your weight "stayed the same" (as a side note, I would love it if my weight stayed the same while on vacation. I swim, run, walk everywhere for miles while on vacation, but I also probably eat more than I should....but its vacation so I don't worry about it).

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