[pct-l] Bathroom stops

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

When I was thru-hiking, my urinary problems were during the day. It  
wasn't frequent, but it was urgent. I could not hold it. I got the  
urge and had to go immediately. At night I would only wake up once,  
usually around 3 or 4 in the morning. I thought that's what the  
original person was asking about: the inability to hold it. I thought  
I just got lazy from being alone so much. I mean, I never had to go  
in search of privacy. I was always in private. And once I was in  
town, the urgency was no longer present.

As for your inconsiderate opinion about fat people needing to monitor  
food intake. That may be true for some but not all. I gained a lot of  
weight after my hikes because the thru-hiking and my own proclivities  
resulted in a bad case of insulin resistance. I gained weight daily  
despite all attempts to moderate my intake. I tried to lose it by  
running 3 to 5 miles every day and eating salads without dressing and  
low fat foods. It did not work. I continued to gain weight. I finally  
went on the paleo diet where I ate high fat low carbohydrate foods at  
first, and later lower fat foods. Just meat and vegetables and a very  
small amount of fruit. No grains or legumes, only a little dairy.  
I've restored my weight and my health and feel more healthy than I  
have in my entire life, even more healthy than I felt during my thru- 
hikes. I've even got some bulging muscles I've never had before.

I'm hiking the Winds next week and my bear can is going to be stuffed  
with awesome paleo foods. Pemmican, homemade heart jerky, homemade  
beef tallow/coconut/almond butter/date/walnut/banana bars, dehydrated  
sweet potatoes, mushrooms, anchovies and chicken, and coconut manna  
curries. Oh yeah. I wish I'd knows all this before my PCT hikes.


On Jul 12, 2012, at 6:31 PM, Edward Anderson wrote:

> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Bathroom stops
>
>
> Dear PCT,
>
> I am amazed by all the people who allow themselves to be  
> inconvenienced by urinary frequency when the remedy is so simple.
>
> I think it is important to get a good night's sleep.  If I had to  
> wake up more than once (even once is too much) I would seriously  
> consider monitoring my fluid intake near bed time.  It is difficult  
> for me to fathom how some people consider urinating once every 15  
> minutes to be normal, rather than indicative of a serious medical  
> issue.  Never mind hiking, I wonder how these people can get any  
> work done?  I never understood how people could poison themselves  
> by drinking too much water (hyponatremia), I can only reason that  
> they achieve this by shutting down all common sense.
>
> Too much of a good thing can be bad.  If a person weighed 300lbs,  
> reason tells us that it would be prudent to monitor food intake, or  
> see a doctor for glandular issues.  If a person is spending half  
> their life over a toilet, reason should guide us to cut back on the  
> fluid intake or see a doctor for diabetes, bladder infection or  
> other medical issue.
>
> I don't want to offend anyone but please let me suggest that you  
> would have more fun in life if you ate the right amount of food and  
> drank the right amount of water.  (I'm still working on "the right  
> amount of food" thing!)  There are exceptions, of course, I can  
> understand an occasional night of revelry and drinking which  
> results in a lot of bathroom visits but this everyday water- 
> bathroom thing, oy!
>
> Toga