Thought that I would throw in a little bit of an appetizer before you go on to the meat and potatoes of this post.
My first trip to Europe was for 4 weeks with a 30 lb+ backpack. I walked like there’s no tomorrow and enjoyed this kind of forced natural exercise and to my amazement I had surprisingly lost 9 lbs!
Not bad, right? Turns out that ain’t no thing but a chicken wing.
Read Joey’s incredible story:
From sedentary to six km in one easy trip
We have mentioned (and many of us have experienced) the unintended consequence of losing weight while traveling. Between walking 5k-15km a day every day and having hit and miss meals I dropped about 40 pounds (18kg) over the course of 5 months in Europe.
When I came back home, I had a bit of deja vu. The same thing happened to me in 2006, and like with many people I quickly put the weight back on. By 2007 I was back to normal so I was determined to make this time different.
I went to a tread mill and walked a km, then said, what the heck let’s see if by losing weight I am able to run at 5mph for a while. In the past, I could get to 0.25 miles with some ease, but with 0.5miles I would have my tongue hanging out ready to throw up. Yet that day, I ended up running almost 2 miles (I stopped briefly midway to show my sister how to use the treadmill) continuously.
Long story short, I have been upping my distance every week, and I am at 4 miles (6.4km). A feat I have NEVER been able to do in my life. It is like I am a really lame superhero who just discovered a new power.
Anyway, I am going to run a 5k in Feb locally to check off an item on my life todo list. To traveling and the improvement of mind, body and spirit that comes with it
–Joey
Read the original post and replies on Joey’s amazing side benefit of backpacking Europe!
Have you lost weight while traveling? How much?
