Remember that time you had to lose weight to ride a mule? A question my husband and I hope to laugh at in 20 years.
Poor, poor Nate. For the last couple months, he’s been working hard to lose weight for one primary purpose: to ride a mule into the Grand Canyon. That journey turned into a battle about a week ago as he realized that he still had 12 pounds to lose before the weigh-in date, February 28. For this ride, you have to weigh less than 200 pounds fully dressed; otherwise, you’re hiking! And, they do put you on a scale.
Being less than 200 pounds at just about 6’4” is not a small feat. Nate said the last time he weighed around there he was 17 or 18-years-old, 10 years ago. And, in those 10 years, he spent eight in the army doing a whole lot of bulking up, so returning to his high-school size feels nearly impossible.
His methods for losing the weight.
How’s he doing it? Much to my chagrin, he’s taking some supposedly “natural” supplements that should help burn fat; and now, with four days to go, he is attempting a weight-loss detox where he’s only drinking a couple different water mixtures. The first features cucumber, lemon, and mint; and, the second, blood oranges, ginger, lime and kiwi. Those only got incorporated when the battle really heated up. Before that, portion control helped him get from 238 to about 212. He is very disciplined when he chooses to be. It’s inspirational for sure.
In early 2019, Nate’s dad applied in the lottery to secure ten spots for his family to do a South Rim mule ride. Current applications are open until tomorrow for rides in April of 2021. In a few days, we will drive down to Arizona to start the ride. We get to spend two nights at the bottom of the canyon at Phantom Ranch. I’m excited to do it and to tell you all about it afterwards! We won’t have service while we’re in the canyon, but I’m planning to bring my phone and a charging pack, so I can take lots of pictures.
Hopefully, Nate will be on a mule for some of those photos. ?
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