Okay so my partner and I are off to Zimbabwe this Saturday for a 4 week conservation adventure we will be building lions homes, rebuilding, and building huts, walking lions and all that beautiful stuff. We'll be served food like crocodile, warthog and ostrich eggs plus fruit. Me being a health freak I was wondering with all the physical activity what are the chances of putting on weight during it or will I end up probably losing weight?
How can I put this delicately? Unless you are very careful or very lucky, there is a likelihood of some sort of digestive tract ailment during your trip, which will probably cause a more rapid reduction in weight than you might wish for. I am sure you will already have been advised to pack a medication for such circumstances, which should resolve the problem quite quickly, but it may take a day or two to recover your strength - and you will probably be more cautious about eating and drinking thereafter Alan
We're expecting it that's for sure, we've packed quite a bit of digestive medication and what not, hopefully at the compound were staying at isnt too bad, fingers crossed
If the levels of physical activity are notably higher than your baseline and set meal sizes a little smaller (with less snacking than usual) then you'll be certain to lose weight, assuming you eat healthily at home and continue to do so on your trip. As to how much weight, and where you lose it from - you will have the best idea of how your metabolism works, so you're best place to 'guesstimate'. As GL warns, the risk of contracting traveller's diarrhoea is very high. Out of interest - 'walking lions' wouldn't have struck me as a direct conservational exercise; is this a volunteer placement at a captive animal facility or is it a bit broader than that?
Depends how hard you work and what your current lifestyle is. If you're already very active and exercising chances are you might not notice a huge drop in weight; however you might find that you get some aches and pains if you're not used to this kind of work as you have to get new muscle growth for the new demands on your body. If you've not lived a very active life chances are you will feel it as a shock to your system - every single muscle will ache for a good while and you might even spot a small increase in weight (muscle weighs more than fat). However if your lifestlye changes your body will start to change along with it. You might notice a drop in weight; generally increased level of fitness; increased strength and endurance. You won't get that in a week; but over time you will see the change. However it depends a lot on the work ethic and level of work; some voluntary systems are very laid back and don't do much heavy work; or there is scope within the daily work to do less labour intensive duties. Voluntary can often end early as well; but again really depends on the setup they've got and on the people coming - you might well find its long hours of hard work or short hours of intense work etc.... Also remember much of wht is done depends on you - if you put yourself forward - if you choose to work hard - if you go the extra mile then the work gets harder; but more rewarding as well. Weight and fitness is a factor of lifestyle - if your living situation changes your body will keep trying to revert back to the old; but only for a time. In general it will start to adapt to the new situation - so good food and lots of work should result in fat loss and muscle gain. Of course if you then come home and resume a life of less activity you'll undo all that gain much faster - so if this is a big lifestyle change for you for a time then I'd encourage you to take up voluntary work at home too - even once a week for a day will make a difference.
nobody can really answer whether you will lose or gain weight, because you're the only one here who knows how your body will respond. Variables include whether you are male or female, your age, whether you are ectomorphic or endomorphic or mesomorphic, whether you mean lose/gain muscle or fat, what your muscle/fat levels are like currently, etc. You say you're a "health freak", which means what? Do you go to the gym regularly - do you do a lot of weights or just cardio? Do you not go to the gym, but just go running (for example)? Do you not excercise at all, but just eat "healthy food"? Lots of variables which determine how your body will respond to what may or may not be different levels of activity to what you have currently. Most of all - it's only four weeks. Don't worry about it.
Like my friend Devilfish, I STRONGLY question the walking with lions experience (and I am a wild cat fanatic). I would encourage you to read this article from Africa Geographic, which is a pro tourism magazine and by no means an animal rights extremist organization. Is walking with lions good conservation? Probably not. - Africa Geographic Here is another opinion piece from the highly respected cat conservation organization Panthera. Walking with Lions: The Myth of Conservation
