Eating remedied all my issues.

When I was tired, I ate. I was in a bad mood, I ate. I couldn’t think, I ate. When I was cold, I ate. I know my body is a furnace, and if I don’t feed it calories I will be cold, tired, and hungry.

I’ve had to rein in my hiker hunger. I no longer need the excessive number of calories because my physical activity has decreased significantly. Food is fuel is still a major takeaway. I know that if I am working and am unable to focus it is likely because I haven’t eaten in awhile. Additionally I know that I should eat breakfast to jumpstart my brain. The idea that calories lead to higher brain function is foundational to high functioning.

Appalachian Trail Takeaways #2: Do it now.

Procrastinating sucks. There is some activity that you are required to perform and you don’t want to do it. So you put it off. Sometimes there are legitimate excuses. Maybe a family obligation pops up making a certain chore move to the back burner. Most of the time procrastination is self-inflicted.

I lived a very simple life on the trail. Wake up, eat, walk, and sleep. If there was something I had to do, there were very few things that I could use as excuses to put off an activity. “Do it now” is revelatory at a micro level and a macro level.