Nothing can make me feel more alive than a good hike. There’s something to be said about being high up in the mountains, with the wind blowing in your face and trees swaying in the breeze. It brings me peace and more energy to start the next day.

What’s more, we can efficiently lose weight while hiking. It’s actually one of the best forms of cardio out there. While enjoying the wonderful scenery, the heart picks up pace, sweat dribbles down your neck and you can hear yourself breathing heavily to the accompaniment of birds chirping merrily. All the while burning those extra calories from the chocolate chip muffins that was so irresistible. For which, one cannot be blamed.

Between hiking a trail and using a gym treadmill or running around the city, it’s a no brainer. I’m lucky to be living in a city that’s just a 30-minute drive from the mountains. Not everyone has access like I do, though. I still say, move your body wherever you can, whenever you can. But if you can go to the mountains, do that! A long drive over the weekend is definitely worth it. So I’ve listed some ways we girls (and boys) can employ to get the most fat burning out of a weekend hike.

Run uphill

I’ll plunge into my best advice right away. Increase your speed. Trail running is very popular nowadays. Not all of us is ready for that, admittedly. I don’t think I’m ready for it most days. Hahaha! But simply adding to your speed whenever you can while hiking uphill will go a long way. It’s one of the easiest ways to burn more calories. Start small and gradually build up endurance. You can do running and walking at intervals. Say, a minute running, then two minutes walking.

Take the downhill slowly

Not only will this be kinder to your knees but you will better engage less frequently use muscles for decelerating. I know it’s easy to just run with gravity when descending. Don’t take the easy way! You’ll be activating more muscles and getting a good workout out of it. So maintain a slower pace when hiking downhill.

Choose a steeper terrain and bring a heavier backpack

Hiking higher means more calories torched. Adding more weight to your pack does the same thing. The simple rule is that the more work you put in, the more fats you burn. Choose the more vertical climb and bring more water with you. This will also ensure that you’ll be well-hydrated during the hike.

When hiking in the mountains everyone loses weight, always! So this one is for brides who aren’t afraid to step into the wild. I haven’t seen a single person on any hike who wouldn’t have lost weight. It is not surprising, because the conditions are such that the body still loses weight, even when it isn’t necessary.

The minimum hike time per day is about 6 hours, the max I’ve had was 17, though I was dead after that and slept all day… Plus you’re carrying a heavy backpack. The food on the hike is mainly limited by the ability of the person to carry the weight, so the average between quantity and quality is calculated. Basically we take those products where you can pour boiling water and that’s it, but do take into account the practicality, otherwise bad food in the mountains makes you feel worse. I remember how bad it was after quick noodles. In general, we try not to take such tasty muck.

Here is an example of a diet for a day:

Breakfast: 200-250 ml. (premade) Sweet oatmeal with a spoon of dry milk, sugar or honey, a pair of cookies, tea.
Lunch: also 200-250 ml. (premade) buckwheat or mashed potatoes, you can add soy meat, with a spoon of oil, spices, salt, croutons or crackers, tea.
Dinner is the same as lunch.

If the hike was very long, the dinner is combined with lunch and just given a larger portion.
Between meals, and especially if a long transition, you need to eat something sweet-caramels, biscuits, glucose, dried fruits, chocolate. It helps to remove weakness, sugar quickly enters the blood and there is strength to go further.

As you can see, the diet is quite caloric products, but their number and physical loads are such that weightloss is inevitable. In winter hikes because of the cold weight is lost even more rapidly, so the guys take with them more melted oil to avoid becoming walking skeletons. I haven’t gone on any winter mega hikes, but I think it is still ahead.