And the All-You-Can-Eat Diet
Here is my before and after picture after riding my bicycle around the world. I like to think that the change on the inside is even more dramatic.
Unfortunately, I gained a lot of weight after being knocked off my bicycle by a car and injuring my knee. That recovery was very hard. Fortunately, once back on the bike, I lost 65 pounds of fat and gained about 15 pounds of muscle. Those pounds really melted off after eating a salmonella sandwich in Guayaquil, Ecuador and then cycling over the Andes Mountains on nothing but bananas and Coca-Cola.
After some months on the bike, I had trouble keeping the pounds on. I couldn’t get enough protein and nourishment. My body burned my muscles right off my bones to fuel that bicycle. And if one is really in severe starvation, your body will even burn your bones and internal organs as fuel. Thus, Scott’s All-You-Can-Eat Diet.
A closeup before and after headshot
Scott’s All-You-Can-Eat Diet
Ever imagine eating chocolate malt after chocolate malt, mounds of pizza, piles of french fries? Do you envision eating an entire box of Cocoa Pebbles and a quart of whole milk for breakfast, or perhaps you prefer platters of eggs and bacon? This could be you!
What’s the catch, you ask? The catch is riding a fully loaded (40-80 pounds) touring bicycle 35-100 miles a day across the country or, in my case, around the world. I consumed an average of 6,500 calories a day, three times the recommended daily allowance, on my trip across the USA and, I lost 40 pounds in the first 2 months. In fact, I couldn’t eat enough short of a buffet. At one restaurant with a scale, I ate 7 pounds of food and I was saving room for beer at the bar afterwards.
These kinds of eating habits for the adventurer are common. For instance, hikers on the Appalachian Trail may eat whole sticks of butter or bricks of cheese in one sitting, and adventurers in extreme climates, like the Arctic or Mt. Everest, may carry whole buckets of butter. And, in between escapades, what can be more fun than eating like a bear bulking up for the winter months?
What I propose is really more of an exercise program than a diet. I don’t believe in diets. They have never worked for me. However, exercise until you’re exhausted and I guarantee you will lose fat, gain muscle, speed up your metabolism, and eat like a king.
Disclaimer: I’m not really recommending this. However, I will say that diets don’t work very well for me; whereas, when I exercise, I find my body tells me what it needs. For example, try eating a bag of potato chips and drinking a beer. You won’t get very far.
