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You burn and need a lot less fuel when you're in shape. Good topic.
Well - yes and no. When you're in shape you aren't expending as much energy lugging your excess body weight around, but muscle does increase your metabolic rate. And muscle requires a lot more food fuel to maintain and keep working, especially protein (which is often missing in most "survival" type situations unless you can hunt/fish).
A perfect example of this can be seen watching the second season of The Alaska Experiment. They had a firefighter who was in great shape. He did really well in the first couple of days until they got down to only a few hundred calories a day, mostly carbs. He wasn't eating enough to maintain his metabolism and his body started catabolizing his muscle mass... and he got extremely sick, and had to go home. Although he was bigger/more muscular than the rest of them, it only made it happen faster... everyone suffered from this to some extent eventually.
I'd also gain a few pounds, too. The skinny ones will be the first to go. But if you have a few extra pounds, you don't need as much food....kinda like personal food storage.
I've found that being on the high-end of the "healthy" BMI range is workable. You still have enough body fat to get you through a few food scarcities, but not so much that you're lugging around a lot of excess weight making your systems work harder.
But, weight and fitness aren't synonymous. I've known plenty overweight people who were in good shape and could hike/work longer than skinnier folks. Your body just has to be used to the work an able to deal with it, regardless of your size. Being a healthy weight helps, but it's not mandatory
I actually try to gain about 10 lbs in the fall (just a hair over my BMI) because I know that I'll be expending more energy working in the cold during the winter, and I usually end up a couple lbs underweight by spring. Most people gain in the winter because they're not as active, I have the reverse problem... it all depends on your climate and lifestyle
HaHa.. StoneCypher! I was just calculating it up that at my avg pace for only 8 hours a day, 4k would take me round about 165 days... which, ooooops, is longer than summer up here and I can't outrun a bear... so I guess that I would freeze or be eaten before I made it out of Alaska and back to the Lower 48 ck.
You don't have to outrun a bear. You just have to outrun the person with you!
You don't have to outrun a bear. You just have to outrun the person with you!
Cmon, I know you laughed!!
Yup - just like you don't have to have a high caliber weapon or be able to shoot the bear... you just have to be able to wing your buddy enough to slow him down -- LOL
But I seriously doubt I could convince anyone I know to walk to the Lower 48 with me... so I'd be having to be doing all the outrunning on my own
Missing, I would be willing to walk with you anywhere but not that far at one time. I can climb trees good though
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Yup - just like you don't have to have a high caliber weapon or be able to shoot the bear... you just have to be able to wing your buddy enough to slow him down -- LOL
