Big things are happening!
I am the happiest when I have a goal to work towards. My husband and I really jive when we are working towards the same goal. We have big plans and I am excited to tell you!
As you have, I am sure, been able to tell that we love to travel and hike. We typically travel and do day hikes, chasing waterfalls and exploring historical sites, cruising and even doing land tours. We truly enjoy trying different cultures food and drink; sometimes we travel just for food!
This trip is a big one! We have booked a trip to Peru! We had booked a trip to Peru a few years ago, but due to COVID-19 it was cancelled. The trip we originally booked was a land tour through Globus and didn’t include any extensive hikes. We really enjoy land touring with Globus, but this trip, we are going to go with G Adventures. G Adventures tours are more active to include hiking, hiking, rafting, etc. My husband has dreamed about hiking the Inca Trail; so with our joint love for hiking, it was just natural to book a G Adventures tour to hike the Inca Trail!
One slight problem, with my back surgery and COVID-19, we have both gotten heavier than we would like. We also feel that we could both be in better shape to get the most enjoyment out of our trip. We are booked for October of 2023 to hike the 26-mile Inca Trail. We have plenty of time to train, get some weight off and just get in the best shape we can to make the trip as enjoyable as possible.
First, I am a lot more overweight than my husband. He has a little of weight to lose to get to the healthiest weight and then I have at least 50 lbs to lose to be at a healthy weight. I have booked an appointment next week with a nutritionist/coach to get me on track to eating healthier and reducing my weight and body fat. I have tried recently multiple things on my own to lose weight, but always fall back in to choosing unhealthy foods and drinks. I am hoping that having a coach for 3 months, for accountability purposes, I can get back into good shape. It was just 3 years ago that I ran a full marathon and was in pretty great shape, so I have confidence I can get back there.
So step one is getting a good understanding of what I need to put into my body to fuel it while also burning fat! The program that I am doing focuses on nutrients/macros in and the best way to burn excess fat, while building muscle.
The next step is training to increase our endurance to be able to safely hike the 26-mile Inca Trail. We have one hard hike on our calendar for our training, but we will add more, once we baseline where we are and what we need to focus on.
We have been researching hiking the Inca Trail to see what we need to be prepared for. Our trip starts in Lima, but we soon head to Cusco, it is over 11K feet above sea level. Not only do we need to train to increase our endurance, we also need to train for endurance at high altitudes.
We also need to get some gear that will hopefully ensure, we stay healthy and happy while on the trail! Waterproof hiking shoes or boots are one of the most important things we need to purchase and break in through training. We also need to train with trekking pole since the range in elevation change is so drastic on the Inca Trail; we have read that trekking poles really help when going up and down the mountains. A good day pack is also recommended because we have to carry our daily water and snacks, camera and anything else we may need throughout each day. The trip that we booked has porters and chefs that travel with us to do all the “heavy” lifting, so we can focus on the hike and having a great time. On the last day of our hike, we are scheduled to wake up super early, put on our headlamps and hike in to Machu Picchu to watch the sunrise!
Finding out how to fuel our bodies, while burning fat is an important step. Then getting the gear necessary for our trip and training with that gear is also crucial. After we do some local hard hikes, we plan on heading out west to do some higher elevation hikes. Acclimating to the high elevation and training to be able to breath at that level is necessary to ensure that we have the endurance and the ability to finish the hike with no breathing issues.
I will be sharing my weight loss progress and all of our training hikes as well. I want to be as prepared as possible and hopefully help someone else train for that bucket list hike!
Until my nutritionist/coaching appointment next Tuesday, get out there and live life to its fullest! I am going to enjoy this photo of Peru to keep me motivated! Photo credit: Viator
XOXO
-S