Weight Loss Stories?

[+rnlorna]

Hi,

I am pretty new to geocaching and I love it. I am wondering if anyone has had success with weight loss because of geocaching. I am noticing that I am waling a LOT more, looking for caches and can't wait for a weekend to go out and really cache in rural areas. I have a few pounds to lose, and have been looking for a sport I love and can't wait to do, getting a lot of exercise in the process.

 

 

(I tried to search this, but the search feature is down.)

 

Thanks!

rnlorna

[+Renegade Knight]

It comes up here and there. A lot of people have lost weight due to caching.

[+The Cheese Eaters]

I've lost a few kilos I think.

[BRTango]

I lost about ten pounds the first month, then I hurt my back and couldn't move for a month, so I gained it all back.

[Profile Looker]

That's bad ...

[+Miragee]

I have lost about 23 pounds. Ten more and I'll weigh what I did in college many years ago.

[Thorvingtons]

I've just started geocaching yesterday but I am HOPING HOPING HOPING to lose some weight!

[+hereigoagain5209 & AugustWst]

We are well on our way to weight loss through the many mile hikes that geocaching provides us. We actually count it as one of our days of exercise a week when we do get to go out and spend mutiple hours because we tend to hike at least 3-5 miles.

[+poperszky]

I've lost 45 pounds doing Weight Watchers, and part of that is earning Activity Points, since I have started caching, I have really been racking those up.

 

Terry

[+GPSOkie]

Actually, that is the reason I decided to jump into caching was to get out and start walking and lose some weight. I started caching 11/23/2005 and as of today, I have lost aout 25 pounds. Of course, some of that has to do with watching my portions as well. But I am definitely in a little better physical shape than I was when I started. Hiking does not tax me nearly as bad as it did two months ago.

[nobby.nobbs]

perversley i'm the opposite. i started caching for the exercise to help me get over chronic fatigue and gain some weight!!! it's worked aswell as i now have regular exercise and and an improved condition.

[gridlox]

Actually, that is the reason I decided to jump into caching was to get out and start walking and lose some weight. <snip> But I am definitely in a little better physical shape than I was when I started. Hiking does not tax me nearly as bad as it did two months ago.

Same here!

 

I got reeled in by my bro-in-law about a year ago and he has basically dropped to caching when he has nothing better to do.

 

Me? I eat & breathe geocaching! Just ask my wife & daughter

 

When I was younger, you couldn't get me to stay inside unless it was really bad weather. I was always doing something (hiking, fishing, bike riding, I even enjoyed yardwork )

 

Then I got married and we had our daughter and I got LAZY!! (No Other Word For It! )

And the pounds attacked big time!!

Once I started geocaching, I felt better, and had more stamina. And as a plus, some health problems that I had come on in the past few years have greatly improved!!

 

While I have not lost the pounds that I really would like to, I have lost some. And that's a start.

 

At the start of the year I started watching my diet better and cut back on my cola consumption from 6-8 cans a day to just 2. Cutting the caffine really hurt to begin with but has gotten better. (Caffine withdrawal Headaches )

 

One of the closest caches to my house ( GCJ1BR ) is a good 5 mile round trip hike up & down the side of a mountain.

Right now, there is now way I can even begin to attempt it.

I could use the "ignore listing" feature, but I leave it so it will show up "unfound" every time I do a search from home location.

I do this as a reminder to myself that if I don't stick to the diet there will be no way I will ever do this one.

 

It's my goal to work my way up to getting this one by the end of 2006!!

Another incentive is that I can look out my kitchen window and see the mountain where it's hid!!

 

D-man

Edited January 14, 2006 by gridlox

[+The Cheese Eaters]

When I was younger, you couldn't get me to stay inside unless it was really bad weather. I was always doing something (hiking, fishing, bike riding, I even enjoyed yardwork )

 

Not like me

Edited January 14, 2006 by cornellier

[+rnlorna]

I'm so glad to hear all of your stories (except the one about the back injury, I hope you are feeling better.) I am finding this is two-fold. I am losing weight because of all the hiking and climbing, but also during the day, when I am not geocaching, I find myself watching portions carefully because I know it will be easier to geocache when I lose weight. And for the poster who said there is a 5 mile hike to a local geocache, I know you will make it this year, good luck!

rnlorna

[+HaLiJuSaPa]

Ah looks like an interesting one for my 100th forum post

 

We ironically kind of took it up both to gain and lose weight. Actually in the case of my wife and myself it is more to maintain weight, in the months leading up to our wedding 8 years ago my wife gained 60 lbs. and I gained 20!

 

But we both bike a lot with mountain bikes and on paved trails she started rollerblading a lot as well (one afternoon she bladed 25 miles round trip!) and by our first anniversary I lost all 20 and she lost 50 of the 60 and we have stayed at these weights since, though she'd still love to lose that "final 10" (and maybe a tiny bit more). Two of the first "local" caches we found were on her old rollerblading trail.

 

With our kids, our 4 year old son is a picky eater and is a little small for his age and our 2 year old daughter started out very heavy (she weighed almost 11 lbs. at birth!) with unusually thick legs that made it tough for her to crawl and walk (she was over a year when she started crawling and 1 yr 9 mos when she started walking!). Because of his size, he too crawled and walked "late".

 

So the pediatrician thinks semi-regular long walks are ideal for both of them to build endurance, in his case to build muscle tone and gain weight, in her case to keep building her legs to a thinner shape that will make for easier and more balanced walking (they both also get physical therapy, though she has improved enough that she'll be stopping it by the summer). When we told her about caching she thought it was a great excuse to get out and get fresh air and exercise! She may even recommend it to others as a way for the whole family to stay fit and enjoy! So whenever the weather is nice enough and we get a chance, we use a cache as an excuse for a healthy "walk in the woods".

 

Good luck with your weight loss regime, rnlorna!

Edited January 14, 2006 by hairymon

[+Harry Dolphin]

I've gained about ten pounds geocaching. Time was I used to do two twelve mile hikes a week. Including taking ten years to hike the AT from New Hampshire to Virginia. (On my last sixty mile backpack in Shenandoah, I managed to lose twenty pounds!) Times change. I've hiked most of the trails within fifty miles. I've a new significant other. Now, I'm lucky to hike five miles a week. (Think I did about five miles today.) Of course, winter doesn't help either. Yes, the once svelte dolphin is back over 200#. (Minimum after a long backpack was 180#, but I gained most of that back quickly.)

[+Yamahammer]

I have lost about 140 pounds over the past 2 years. I have been geo-caching almost a year. Yamahammer and I have hiked many miles since beginning. I don't think I could have cached at the size I was 2 years ago. Still caching, still dropping weight. Yamamomma

[+rnlorna]

WOW!!! 140 pounds? I am so happy for you. This is one of the great (and there are many) benefits of geocaching, I think. Today we went geocaching around a local lake and logged on the miles, up and down hills, I didn't even realize I was exercising, I was having so much fun!

[+Chuy!]

If I didn't succumb to a growing appetite after my long hikes/bike trips, I may be able to say I' ve dropped a few pounds. But, I can't.

[Tahosa and Sons]

I'm over the hill with age and my scale goes ouch, but I put caches where all the young ones who think they are in shape find out how big the hills really are.

[+The Cheese Eaters]

I'm over the hill with age and my scale goes ouch, but I put caches where all the young ones who think they are in shape find out how big the hills really are.

Ummm, ok ...

[+JimmyEv]

At first, caching was great for weight loss. But, after doing all the big parks within 50 miles, all that was left and all that kept popping up seem to be those park and grabs. Be careful of those. The past two years, I've gained something like 50 pounds driving around. I finally realized this and now I'm trying to change the way I cache. Maybe, eventually, I'll get a bicycle to do the park and grabs. But for now I'm just trying to do 'hard' terrain caches. However, I'm running into a lot of 3* terrain park and grabs with 'hikes' of 500 feet. I need to rethink how I'm doing this again.

[+lightmann]

It all depends on how much junk food you take with you and how many mini-marts you stop at on the way home.

[+jazz_man]

Hey y'all! I'm just a 14 year-old, so I'm probably gaining the envy and hatred of all of y'all here simply by posting this! But, owell... My parents are psychiatrists, so I'd just like to point out an interesting point to point out about an interesting...nevermind... Anyway, for something so *repugnent* (vocab word of the day) as exercising, just don't look at it that way! Geocching is a fun, outdoor sport that people like to do anyway! As long as you look only at the Geocaching aspect of it, it won't seem like work at all! Then a couple of months later, you're realize that you're a few (hopefully more) punds later too!

 

Just my other 2 2cents, but I'm in martial arts (Tae Kwon Do specifically), and my mother has noticed that I'm significanlty more fit and (somewhat) thinner that I was. If any of y'all might wanna' try on that side of exercise, I can tell ya' it's about as fun as Geocaching and a little bit more extrenous too. So, that 4 cents y'all owe me now!

Edited January 16, 2006 by jazz_man

[Lowsky]

here's a nickle..... keep the change ......kid

( and i bet he don't weigh 125 )

[+Morgan's Marauders]

Hope to See a Lot Less of You!

 

My cache - I'm having fun with it.

 

Only 122 pounds to go!

 

Momma Marauder

Edited January 17, 2006 by Morgan's Marauders

[+jamrasc]

I have lost about 140 pounds over the past 2 years. I have been geo-caching almost a year. Yamahammer and I have hiked many miles since beginning. I don't think I could have cached at the size I was 2 years ago. Still caching, still dropping weight. Yamamomma

That is awesome!! Way to Go!!

 

Me, on the other hand, I think I have gained a little weight, but that is probably because after a long hard day of caching I come home and have some adult beverages.

[+K0BKL]

You could certainly lose weight hunting caches in Iowa's state forest preserves in southeast Iowa! Some of the caches I hunted there in 2005 were up to a mile from the car! Try that when you are past 70!