[Editors note: Please don’t consider this to be medical advice whatsoever. Always consult a qualified medical practitioner before attempting any fast.]
Have you ever considered fasting as a means of preparing for SHTF? I didn’t until I did my first fast a few years back. It was more for health reasons although some people do so for religious reasons, and since then I’ve fasted a few more times with success.
If you didn’t know fasting is usually considered an act of not eating food but can also be not drinking, it can be a partial or complete fast, and can be any length of time from 24 hours to several days or more.
The first fast I did was for nearly a full week. Subsequent fasts have been for less time of usually three or four days, which seems to work out best for me.
I can tell you that it’s not easy. Fasting is serious business! Usually the first day of a fast isn’t too bad because you’ve recently eaten and are probably busy enough to keep your mind off of having not eaten. But as the day wears on it becomes tougher, much tougher. In fact, I distinctly remember the first night when something seemed to click on in my brain and I just HAD TO EAT!
Fortunately, I went to sleep without much trouble but the next morning I was very hungry. I wanted to eat so badly. But, I persisted. Needless to say the feelings of wanting to eat were overwhelming the rest of the week. It seemed to consume me at all times. That, in fact, was the most difficult problem: the constant feeling that I needed to eat. I actually choose to chew gum most of the time I was awake to give my mouth something to do.
There were other problems too. In particular, I remember feeling very agitated, quick to temper, confused at times, I salivated constantly at first, among other issues. This was especially true a few days in. Eventually–and perhaps unexpectedly–most of those feelings began to subside near the end of the week. I was actually mostly content the final day most probably because I knew I was going to be able to eat again.
The times I’ve fasted since then I shoot for three or four days maximum because I feel that’s an adequate amount of time to fast that my body can handle and that I feel like I get the results I’m looking for.
Now, how does this apply to prepping for a SHTF situation? The first and most important reason is because we may very well find ourselves in such a situation that food is scarce or we need to stretch reserves whether we like it or not. Needless to say we should do our best to stockpile and procure food but who knows the circumstances you may encounter that require little if any food consumption.
I can tell you that the first time I fasted even though I thought I was ready for it, I was’t mentally ready for the process. My brain went wacky. Since then I’m better at it and have learned to better deal with my brain’s constant impulse to eat. That’s not to say the feelings aren’t there but I seem to be able to control them to an extent.
I also believe it’s important to train your body to deal with the physical lack of food that it’s so accustomed to receiving each and every day, multiple times a day. Your body sends the infamous hunger signal when it’s missing food that it thinks it needs and it can be a very profound signal with lots of grumbling tummy time.
Obviously it’s best to have the food that you need stored so that you do not have to fast unless you choose to do so like me. But there may be times when you don’t have the option. Perhaps you want to increase the length of time you can rely upon your food storage or maybe you want to look like you fit in better and actually lose weight because you WILL lose weight fasting for any length of time. Or maybe you’re on a lengthy bug out and cooking isn’t an option at all times. Who knows why.
It doesn’t have to be a fast for days on end. Even a single day once each week will extend a years worth of food storage for almost two months. Or if you prefer you might skip just one meal a day a few days a week or whatever works for you. I’m sure most of us can afford to do that without much problem.
Ultimately we don’t need nearly as much food as we consume as Americans. On the other hand there is no magic bullet that will allow you to skip your caloric needs so don’t believe that fasting is a cure all or even a great idea over long periods but it can be a viable strategy to include in your long term survival philosophy.
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