Body Fat/Metabolism and Staying Warm.

[slowhike]

excellent idea to discuss some of the things that make a difference in staying warm in a hammock.
we know that we are suspended like a bridge, so it doesn't have to drop much below 70°f before most folks start needing some thing more than the hammock beneath them... especially if the air is moving.

body fat & calorie intake are obviously two important factors... what are some of the other things that make a difference?

i know that the same person may not be as warm one night in the same set up & same temperture from one night to the next.

[cameronjreed]

At this point I VERY interested in losing weight ....Even at the expense of being warmer while hammocking/camping. Iafte, how did you do it? You can PM me if you don't want to tell everyone in the group about it.

[Iafte]

At this point I VERY interested in losing weight ....Even at the expense of being warmer while hammocking/camping. Iafte, how did you do it? You can PM me if you don't want to tell everyone in the group about it.

When did I start loosing weight? I want to, just haven't started yet. Think you got me mixed up with someone else.

[Mule]

This year since my retirement I have lost over 25 pounds and am staying as warm on the Hammock as I ever did on the ground. Many years ago, before I understood R value and Loft, I can remember going out one night at about 20 F and being a little cold during the night. When I picked up the tent in the morning I noticed grass and earth on the ground beneath where my blue pad, my butt and my shoulders (and I) was laying. The others with me didn't melt that much snow by a long shot.
My understanding about staying warm in the field is this: do what you must, make or buy what you must to assure that you will lose no more heat to the air as you did to the ground, or even in your home lying on the floor or your bed. If you insulate your body so that it's heat production does not have to work harder than it does in your home, you will stay warm. I could be wrong, but I think it is that easy. Your gear and the way you use it makes all the difference, along with eating fat calories before sleeping.
My mom told me this when I was a kid, the first joke I remember:
There was once a hobo laying on the tracks with his feet hanging out of the blanket cold as stone. Another hobo woke him up and asked him why he didn't pull his cold feet under the blanket. He replies," I don't want those cold old feet in here with me!" Mule

[Ashman]

I'm currently 222 I was 250 this summer. My goal is to get under 190 (BMI bastiges say I need to be 157! ). I am doing it with a combo of calorie counting and exercise. I have a program called Calorie King (www.calorieking.com) that is an electronic diary. I gives me my daily calorie needs based on height, weight, and activity level. I track what I eat. I joined a gym a few months back. I do weight training 3x a week and cardio 2-4 times a week. I have tried a bit of everything Weight Watchers, Body for Life, Atkins, you name it. At the end of the day it is about burning more calories than you eat. Easy to say, REAL hard to do

[cameronjreed]

When did I start loosing weight? I want to, just haven't started yet. Think you got me mixed up with someone else.

Whoops...I meant Ewker

[Cannibal]

I have lost a little over 30 lbs. since Trail Days. Two simple reasons; I hike and I eat. I don't sit on the couch much (unless the sewing machine is there) and I eat several small meals a day instead of 1 or 2 really big ones. Didn't suffer a bit!

[Ewker]

Cameronjreed,

I don't have a problem saying how I lost weight...Weight Watchers program. I really doubted it would work and it did. I can't say enough about the program. I ate 3 meals a day plus 2 snacks and was never hungry.
Now while backpacking on the weekends it was hard to stay on the program but come Monday morning I was right back on it.

If you have a WW close to you go check it out. BTW the person who leads the meetings really plays a role in it. They motivate you, if you don't have a good one you won't get motivated.

At one meeting there was this one woman. She would clap and smile everytime someone announced they had lost weight. I chuckled at first then one meeting her story was told.

It seems when she joined WW she had to use a walker just to walk. After a while (not sure how long) she was finally able to get rid of the walker. Now she walks 1-2 miles each day. She still isn't quite to her goal weight yet but she is a lot better off now physically and mentally.
BTW she has lost over 125 lbs.

[Just Jeff]

Two important aspects about metabolism as it relates to hiking:
- Muscle burns more calories than fat. As was mentioned earlier, if you lose a pound of muscle and gain a pound of fat, your body will require more calories just to maintain, even though you weight the same. That's why weightlifting helps you lose inches...you build muscle, which burns more calories even at rest, so you lose fat. Replacing 10 lbs of belly fat with 10 lbs of leg muscle does wonders for your health (not to mention your sex appeal...which may also keep you warmer in a hammock... ) So for a long hike, HE is probably right about the reasons. I've seen thru-hikers squeeze several tablespoons of butter into dinner just b/c they need the calories! Gross....
- Metabolism changes throughout the day. Eating a Snickers right before bed can keep you warm for a long time. Sugar for the quick burn, peanuts for the slow burn.

Re: Coffee ditching his hammock - it's just a tool. When the tool quits working as well as another one, change tools. Personally, I'd still consider it a success if I could hammock 5 months of a 6 month hike in the dead of winter in the mountains.

But then, I have enough down hammock gear to get me through the next ice age so I doubt I'll be going to ground!!

[Doctari]

I have enough body fat that if I loose 25 lbs, even if I loose more than that in fat (being replaced by muscle) I doubt that I would loose much in the way of insulation. Or so I thought. I actually lost about 25 Lbs my last section hike, Yea, I noticed getting a bit colder by hikes end. Not to the extreme that HE has experienced but then he is taller than me & about the same weight so I gots more fat to spare than he did/does.

What I started to do is add about 1/2 - 1 oz of Olive oil to my evening meal on the extra cold nights. @ about 240 caloreis per OZ, Olive oil is major fuel.

Doctari.