Many times, i have heard statements such as: << I will certainly lose weight on the way >> or << I will take advantage of it to go on a diet >>, all in all logical statements given that you walk all day for many kilometers, but these noble intentions depend above all on what kind of diet you will eat and how many breaks you will allow yourself. The choice of food is as diverse and wide as possible and losing weight or not will depend, like everything else, only on you. I personally have lost almost 6 kg but there are many pilgrims who have held the same weight while others have even gained weight. I remember a pleasant chat with a nice American woman who claimed to have gained weight during the walk and asked me how I had managed to lose weight despite covering almost the same stages and consequently the same kilometers. The mystery was revealed in a very simple way: first point, I took much fewer breaks, second point, mugs of beer and fries were not contemplated in my breaks! Our body is perfect most of the time and the equation is very simple: calories acquired less calories consumed and from that result we could deduce weight loss or not. The American, traveling an average of 25 km a day, will have consumed approximately 2,500 calories but if she has acquired 5/6,000 calories during the various snacks, lunch and dinner, here is the answer to her difficult questions.
Once I explained this reasoning of mine, she laughing and with a mug full of beer raised high in the sky replied: you are right and down with great laughter all together … a morning snack, lunch, snack in the afternoon if you travel other kilometers, dinner that is not too heavy and above all drink a lot, regardless of whether you sweat or not or if you feel the need as always keeping hydrated helps you to walk with greater well-being and to prevent many problems, even serious ones.
So, do you lose weight on the Camino de Santiago? If you eat healthy and healthy, yes. If during the various breaks, for lunch or dinner, you eat junk food and drink beer or wine at will, for sure you will gain weight;)
To deepen the subject, to find out more and if you too have decided to walk the Camino de Santiago or dream of wanting to do it sooner or later, I suggest you buy my book where you will find out why every year, 300,000 people from all over the world, they decide to tackle the most famous Way in the world. If you too, like me, have always dreamed of giving up everything, aware that the life you lead is not the one you dreamed of as a boy, perhaps my experience could give you the courage that I lacked for 36 years …
Reading my experience, you will discover in detail and above all proven in the “field”:
- the history of the journey (historical notes, symbols and legends) and symbolic places;
- suitable clothing and shoes, which backpack to buy and above all what to put inside;
- duration and distance of the journey, how many days it takes to complete it and where to start based on the days available;
- how to train before leaving and the necessary physical preparation;
- how much does it cost to walk the path, where to eat and sleep along the path;
- whether walking the path alone can be dangerous for a woman and whether there is a possibility of getting lost;
- the answer to many questions and concerns (which were also mine) posed by many aspiring pilgrims and the possibility of contacting me to dispel all your doubts / hesitations;
- finally, I will tell you why a journalist and radio host gave up his whole life of comfort and materiality, to travel more than 900 km on foot from the Pyrenees to the Atlantic Ocean, alone and without a telephone, sleeping over that in the various hostels also on the street, in a stable, in a tent, in an abandoned monastery and living two days in a hippie community.
…. “I gave up everything, I left home, sold my car, motorcycle, clothes, my rolex and most of the material things I owned to follow that almost nagging, suffocating, undeterred feeling that once known does not make you find peace: SANTIAGO, the Camino de Santiago. My life needed answers that only a journey in complete solitude could give me “….
If you want to get to know me better, in the link below you will find an interview where I talk about my experience 👇👇👇
https://www.italianmadhouse.com/libri/i-dropped-everything-to-do-santiagos-way-cesare-desertos-book/
