The last 6 month + I went on, I ended up putting on nearly 2 stone !!

Too much hospitality from the natives, cheap and eating bread/cheese/salami as a cheap alternative ! That was South America and good food is abundent..

My UK-Capetown is about to take off and Im wondering if im going to come back a bloater again !

It got me wondering how long days in the saddle effect you lot ???

Ted

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

I have tended to lose weight: BUT NOT BLOODY ENOUGH!!

December in Provincia de Buenos Arires, probably meant I was just shrivelled from dehydration, but generally the smaller portions cooking on a camp stove, the more walking aroudn to see stuff, than I would back home: the not sinking in a sofa and watching the box, and the inveitable toiling with my GS in the sands all meant I shed a few calories on our bigger trip.

But even on small jaunts like my recent fortnight in France, I lost maybe 3 pounds (1.5kgs).

I never lost much more than a stone or so, though: 7 kg MAX in SA...

Probably the most expensive, but the most fun form of dieting I have ever experienced: beats the "celeriac & sand porridge" diet, or whatever is the fad at the mo'

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Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

1 stone = 6.35 kg

I lost nearly 7 kg riding through Iran and Pakistan during Ramadan in 2008 - does that count? I put some of it back on eating the wonderful food in India and Nepal though.

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Just Ride!
www.rocktravels.blogspot.com

I was normally around 13st before I left but when I got back, I'd lost about 1.5-2st. I guess I just ate less when travelling and although I always needed a most days, it was never to the extent we drink here in the UK so that might also have something to do with it. That and just being active all day as opposed to just sitting on ones arse at a desk will help too.

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Mike


www.singapore-scotland.blogspot.com
www.argentina-alaska.blogspot.com
My little Vid: India/Pakistan

BMW R1150GS
Suzuki DR650 SE: Ride it like ya stole it. Oh, somebody just did...

Definitely lose weight. Not near a fridge all day. I take a JetBoil and packet soup and some evenings that's all I have.

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Thanks!

Who still uses imperial measurements anyway, they caused the Mars Orbiter to crash and burn.

Interesting poll but I might make my own in Kgs so the rest of us can understand you're gobbledigook.

I lost about 8kgs but have since put it all back on and then some!

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TurboCharger + Francois (our BMW R1200gs) '07
www.riding2up.net, blog.riding2up.net

Robbert,

Thanks for the stone conversion. Most riders, as well as majority of all people, live in metric countries, the diehard measurements are sometimes a bit hard for us to comprehend.

Cheers

Think my experience in Africa is about the same as reported by others, steady loss of weight the further south you go from Egypt.
Until Namibia, and onwards to S. Africa - where it all came back again - Oh dear. Bit of a disappointment that!

But as HU also caters for bicycle trips, I'll mention here the longing I'm now feeling to do another one. Because the lightest and fittest I've ever been in my whole life was at the end of a 4-month bicycle trip from Calgary via the Columbia Icefield, Canada, to Nogales, Mexico, and finishing in El Paso.
I felt a million dollars!

That was 10 years ago and the effect has long ago completely disappeared - and is much missed!

And it was nothing to do with diet, control of food, , or anything like that. It's down to one thing - physical activity - of an enjoyable nature. A few hours a day but no need at all to wear yourself out - a few days per week. Brilliant.

I didn't keep any particular track of what I ate or how much I spent on it. But early on in the trip (like Canmore, not far out of Calgary, where I'd been advised that the best ice cream store in the whole of North America could be found), I realised that ice cream would feature heavily in the daily menu.
And I was not alone.
Near the end of my ride I read the blog of a Canadian cyclist who had just crossed Canada, east-to-west. He'd kept a detailed record of his spending, being a student on a tight budget. And it showed him that his total spending on ice cream was the single most expensive item in his accounts! There's just something about bicycle touring and ice cream!

That's why I'm leaning towards another decent and leisurely bicycle trip - my craving for ice cream is steadily rising and pedalling is the perfect antidote!

(Have never used stones, nor pounds, for tracking weight, just belt notches. And kgs are still meaningless to me ).

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TTR250 - London to Cape Town

There's a question, I've now been on the road three years, I lost weight till I got to Australia and New Zealand, then put far to much back on, now I'm in South America and hopefully lose it all again! Much to do with the diet I think and hospitality I received in those two countries!

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Graham
www.flashgreenmotorcycleadventure.com

We're just 10 weeks into our first major trip, we've taken an 8000mile route across the USA (Montreal - Maine - Buffalo - New Orleans - Big Bend, Texas - Colorado - Las Vegas and LA in the next few days). In the first month we put on some weight as we were eating all those interesting new goodies and sampling all the fantastic regional foods. We stayed in some motels and ate out quite a lot! as we settled into a bit of a routine we started camping more and more and getting into the budget frame of mind (That took a while too!! we're travelling, not on holiday!). With camping more, we've cooked more healthy meals in smaller portions, and made sandwiches for the road. If you don't have lots of fun stuff to put on sandwiches you're not going to eat very many! My husband and I have both lost a couple of kg's and bike gear is fitting nice and comfortable, which does make the heat **slightly** easier to cope with.
oh and nowhere to keep your s cold makes you drink fewer of those too, avoiding those calories!

Before I got my electric vest I used to lose weight on trips. Now I either stay the same or gain a little. I figure that without the vest, the calories to keep me warm came from fat... now they come from the vest.

The trade off for me is that while I eat more on the road (sampling local food is one of the joys of traveling, woo hoo!) I walk several hours a day... way more than I ever would at home. I tend to ride only until about 1 or 2 in the afternoon, get off the bike and explore... mostly scouting out a place to have dinner it seems. In some places, I may wind up walking for 4 or 5 hours.

A big part of keeping the weight up, however, just seems to be better self health care and modern medicine. While not fanatical, I do use a SteriPen for questionable water and take Ducoral before I head out. I haven't been really sick on a trip for a very long time. When I went to Nepal for 6 weeks in 1975 I was sick nearly the whole time and at 5'7", came home weighing 107 lbs. That was scary. Had a great time though!

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Samuel Longiaru
Kamloops, BC Canada
1975 BMW R60/6
http://thetwilightproject.net

I went from 218 pounds, to 194lbs. 24 lbs total weight loss. Just under 11 Kilos. Or 1.7 stone..

Most of my weight loss was due to a lack of physical activity on my trip, along with the fact that I was generally eating only 3 meals a day versus 4, or 5, or 6 like I did prior to my trip.

My before and after photos are quite hilarious.

You can see what I mean.

This was the effect of working 6 days a week for 6 months straight. Delivering and Installing Appliances in Alaska.



This was the effect realized after 7 months on the road, 3 major accidents, and 3 meals a day versus 4-6...




My Dad called it the South American diet...

--Alex

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NJ, NR, NBTTN

We both got fatter, can't you see why?!!

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www.wollongongtowoolwich.co.uk

I stayed the same this past 12 month trip

The problem was, all my muscle turned to fat and relocated to my middle and arse.

Having two extended layovers while waiting for parts was the main cause. Cheap booze and food in SEA meant my intake was more than the exercise I normally get when riding

I ride through Russia,Kaz and China, Mongolia prior to the stoppages

Hi him. Back to the rowing machine

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www.travellingstrom.com