A simple solution for any future disaster/situation

If we know for sure that something bad is going to happen in the near future, food would probably be hard to come by right? So in order to be better fit for survival, whether you have to be holed up in a cave somewhere or stuck in your house and the stores are closed, it would be a good idea to accumulate a lot of body fat. If you think about it, if you were in that situation you would burn about 1500 Calories per day which is a little over half a pound. Now since the average person can survive about 30 days without food, you can make that 60 days by doubling your amount of fat. And muscle is not nearly as efficient for this sort of thing, as I think only 600 calories are in a pound of muscle.
So you can think of this idea as internal food storage that you don't have to carry around and cook/eat, as your body does it for you. So would anyone consider getting fat if you knew you a situation was going to occur that would leave you without food for a long time?

Hey that's a great idea but I just passed it by my teen daughters and they dont like the idea of putting on 60 pounds.

Now what?

Interesting idea........ it's sort of expanding upon why nature imposed fat build-up upon humans in the first place, isn't it?

Before Hurricane Paloma hit here, I was about 30 pounds overweight. Now, we're prep people from way back and had plenty of food, water, resources stored away. I'm 6' 2", pretty stocky frame and weighed 260. The idealized average for my height suggests I should be 180 I weighed that in High School when I played football. In college, gain 30 lbs. played football again (not a scholarship, I wasn't very good). I could take a hit, that was it, pretty much.

So after the hurricane, all the repairs and bustling about, I dropped 30 pounds, and I mean like in a month! I think had the hurricane taken all but our BOBs, my weight would've probably sustained me for a period. Feel pretty good at this weight. I don't think even if I knew TS was about to HTF, I would intentionally gain weight, though. A person needs to be able to move efficiently, and fast sometimes and I've just turned 51.

You know what I noticed? I've always had a huge water demand. Way back when when I was a first responder to disasters and other emergencies, my water demand was a real and serious detriment. I found it hard to pack enough water to meet it. Now, I was the mule of the SAR team. What did I notice? I noticed that once I lost weight, my water demand was MUCH less than before. I can survive on a quart a day. If I'm working hard in the sun, I'll drink two gallons easily, but could do with less than half that if I had to.

Good topic, interesting.

reply to post by bl4ke360

The persom would probabliy died of ketoacidosis, or heart attack from all the poisions floating around in their blood stream.
I've gone for 10 days without food lost 1 pound a day, but I was in perfect health at time.
I don't think blubbers is answer, but it might help not to be on thin side.





[edit on 6-5-2009 by googolplex]

Originally posted by wonderworld
Hey that's a great idea but I just passed it by my teen daughters and they dont like the idea of putting on 60 pounds.

Now what?

haha, that was pretty funny.. I doubt the OP meant this thread to be humorous, but you did a good job of making me laugh.

The idea isn't very practical, as if nothing happens we would have a bunch of fat people walking around America. Ohh wait, thats precisely what we have.

reply to post by googolplex


Have to agree with your post. What you're talking about is striking a balance, and being in the most beneficial health you can be. That sounds right to me.

Originally posted by sticky

Originally posted by wonderworld
Hey that's a great idea but I just passed it by my teen daughters and they dont like the idea of putting on 60 pounds.

Now what?

haha, that was pretty funny.. I doubt the OP meant this thread to be humorous, but you did a good job of making me laugh.

The idea isn't very practical, as if nothing happens we would have a bunch of fat people walking around America. Ohh wait, thats precisely what we have.

I wasnt sure either. I just figured the OP had been to the survival boards and came up with a new plan.

I forgot to add any extra blubber would also put a damper on my social life and if SHTF it would be too late.

Yes there are no fat people in France. America does have an obese problem. I dont know about the EU?

This in no way implies an insult to overweight people. O.K foot in mouth.

reply to post by bl4ke360


An extremely important aspect of survival is to be as fit as possible. There may be a time to grab your bug out bag and split.

Carrying extra body weight would hamper your survival escape plan. Maybe an extra 15 pounds would be O.K.

Physical fitness and psychological preparedness are crucial to any survival plan. We may be pulling our Great Grandma on a stretcher but it's less effort than pulling along Aunt Edna that weighs 400 lbs.

I just wouldnt want people to only sit around and gain weight, rather than preparing the basics.

reply to post by bl4ke360


Sorry but thats too funny, whilst a good idea in theory , putting into practice will take some doing.
Having a disaster and either having to run, sorry waddle to your bugout place isn't my idea of fun, or having a few 'larger people' ( no offense) taking up my bunker ,no thanks...
I'd rather be a couple of pounds overweight and be able to run away from any dangers. Besides if someone in Sit-X sees a overweight person they'll immediately think they'll have food and try to turn you over for it.

Mind you when the first series of 'Lost' came on and the adverts went up , When I saw the 'overly large chap ( don't know his name but you know who I mean) all I could think about is, " well, at least they'll be alright to snack on him for a while till they get rescued - yum yum)

reply to post by bl4ke360


Humans aren't whales if your over weight you will undoubtedly end up with the associated problems . Besides being over weight and unfit will not help you if you have to Bug Out . If your really into planning calculate the weight of what your Bug Bag would be and then go to sand dunes and try carrying the equivalent weight . Then you will get a better idea of how fit you need to be .

Anyone who has ever manipulated their body composition (such as wrestlers and bodybuilders) knows that this won't work. The calories, minerals and nutrients stored in your lean mass (bone and muscle) are more readily useable than the fat. If you were 60 pounds overweight and went into starvation mode, you would become too weak to survive with that extra weight long before you burned it off.

Plus, your fat stores toxins and chemicals that your kidneys and liver can't handle. A fairly common side effect of rapid weight loss is toxicity that can be very serious.

A little fat is certainly healthy; premiere female athletes battle this problem a lot. As their body fat drops, they develop a lot of feminine problems, so you do not want to be all lean-mass.

As in all things, moderation is key. Get in shape, eat healthy-organic food, don't trust any of the fads, and listen to your own body.

Just something as a note ,back in I Ithink it was the 70s, when those Irish guys went on starvation diet, the Doctors found when all of a persons fat stores were depleted they died.

Another note if I am correct the Roman soilders when on the move, would carry nothing but a bag of sesame seeds for emergency rations.
And can you imagine getting paid in salt, I live by salt mine and can see thousands of tons of salt from my front door. If I had areally big time machine I could go back and rule the world.

Fitness is more important than being thin. All things being equal, a fat and physically fit person will survive longer than a thin out-of-shape person. The problem is that people equate thinness with being healthy and overweight as being unhealthy. Your cardio fitness level is a more accurate predictor of health.

The really big problem is an extended illness, like flu. If you have no stores of fat, you're going to have real problems.