trail mix bars (+/- 600 - 800 calories) = try the Soldier Fuel bars found in the MREs now. Great tasting and nutritious. (no milk in the ones I tried...)
how about Pemican, home made trail mix snack bars, loads o nuts and stuff, with a honey filler. Used to be able to buy a flat of them locally a few years ago, cut them up, put in zip locks and they were great on the trail or as a very hearty snack.

Good suggestions by the way.

(in a post in New Zealand folks) http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/8080522/Cheapest-food-to-store-for-an-emergency
http://internationalpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=2709

We will be having a Natural Foraging Walk in Feb, hopefully with a follow-up one late spring/early summer.

Evenin' WildE,

Thanks for the input. You make some great suggestions on foods to use for bugging out. That is a good idea.

I was trying to focus on the lesson of what it feels like to be hungry. That will be a lesson many may learn in the not-to-distant future whether they want to or not. For those who want to be prepared, it is a good lesson to learn early.

Best success on your February foraging hike!! Spring and summer are usually easy. Autumn a little tougher, depends on the summer weather as to the plant health. Winter is by far the toughest season to forage for plant based food. Critters and insects have their seasons too.

I will check out the links, thanks.

MM.

Some random observations.
Since I started a Paleo diet I don't get gnawing hunger pangs anymore.
Since I laid off the caffeine my blood pressure went down 10 points.
I always carry a few cup a soup packets with me. Gives a lot of flavour to mostly bland wild stuff. Toss in whatever you can find, some dandelion leaves and cattail shoots, maybe some wild leeks is pretty satisfying.

My Mom used to make "desert cookies". Desert as in dry. Oatmeal, butter, eggs, nuts, coconut, chocolate chips. Damn little sugar. Amazing how far you could go on just a couple.
Great trail food.
1/2 cup sweetener - honey, raw sugar etc - really nice with maple syrup.
1 cup soft butter
1 cup shredded coconut
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups oats
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t vanilla
1/2 to 1 cup each chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruit

Mix and roll out to thickness of chocolate chips
Cut in 3"-4" circles
Bake at 350 12 - 15 min till light brown.

I wrote this post for gc_mountainmans thread... but then went off on a tangent and by the end of it I relized I wasnt even responding to his initial question at all. So sorry gc! not trying to hijack your thread! just thought this was to different to fit in yours. please read his thread as well as it discusses something completley different then mine.

I will share some diet tips that I feel are relative for preppers. It doesnt matter if you are slim, overweight, or just right. this idea is simply to start getting your body used to living "without" things like grain based carbs and sugars which could become very scare after shtf, and to shed some light on just what exactley the human body NEEDS to live, as opposed to what it has been taught to want. (also as a side note, if you have any stored grains, and you dont need to eat them... guess who just became the richest prepper at the barter table after shtf!)

prior to training for the [municipal civil servant] department I went on a fairly strict diet. At the time I was not prepping, but in hindsight I believe the diet plan I was using could be very useful for "preparing to go without" certain food items. Ok... most food items lol. But please dont be frightened, let me explain.

When I began my "diet", my goal was to lose weight and body fat, while keeping as much lean muscle mass as possible. The results were drastic in my opinion, and when combined with any sort of exercise (mine was high intensity, but even something like getting out and walking for awhile is benificial and will show similar results), and the principle behind it is really quite simple:

Protein. Protein, protein, and protein.

The human body runs Glucose. It does not run on carbs... it does not run on fats. it does not run on aspartame, it does not run on salt or sugar, or McDonalds frenchfries. The ONLY place that our body gets energy from is Glucose. This is essentially a sugar (but not white table sugar, or any other kind of granulated sugar. its a naturaly occuring sugar in our bodies). The human body uses glucose to perform EVERY SINGLE FUNCTION from thinking, to walking, to shivering, to digestion, and so on. EVERYTHING. And here is how the typical person gets glucose for their body:

carbohydrates = easily broken down by the body into glucose (things like grains, sugars, potatoes, other starches, etc). They are quickly digested by the body into large ammount of glucose, often leaving you hungry a short time later. Often, they produce so much glucose so quickly that the body doesnt NEED all of it... so it instead stores it for a time when it may need the extra reserves. The body stores this glucose energy in FAT. Our bodies can only turn carbs into glucose.

fat = large ammounts of glucose energy (in the form of calories) are stored by the animals we eat in their fat. We also get fats from things like oils (vegitable, canola, etc). The human body does need some fat to function properly, as well as certain fatty acids such as omega 3 (found most often in fish). When we have so much glucose, it is turned into fat. it is digested at moderate speeds by the human body. our bodies can only turn fats into glucose, or back into other fat (stored glucose energy)

Protein = complex strings of amino acids most often found in animals or their byproducts (eggs, etc). It is the building block of life. Not as much glucose per serving as a carbohydrate or fat, but has more then enough to sustain healthy life. much longer digestion period, resulting in you feeling "fuller" longer. our bodies can turn protein into glucose, muscle, bone, ligament, nerves, hair, fat, skin, scar tissue, and anything else your body could possibly need.

Again as I said earlier, my goal was to lose body fat and weight while maintaining as much lean muscle mass as possible. For 5 weeks I literally ate nothing but 90% lean protein (mostly chicken and egg whites). the remaining 10% I will chalk up to the occasional "cheat day". I lost 20 lbs, going from 230 down to 210. I lost 8% body fat, and approximatley 3 lbs of lean muscle. And here is the best part:

I WAS NEVER HUNGRY. NOT EVEN CLOSE!!! after the first 2 or 3 days (the body doesnt like going from a carb loaded sugary diet to a healthy protein diet and you feel it as hunger. scientifically though your actually just thirsty lol. drink a glass of water and it goes away) I never had a hunger pang. I could eat as much LEAN PROTEIN (notice I say lean... that doesnt mean eating 20 big mac patties a day. that means lean chicken breast, egg whites, turkey, lean beef, tuna, salmon, etc). I cant tell you how satisfying it can be to be really and truely full, and not be hungry again an hour later. there were times when work was so busy that I would have my big protein loaded breakfast in the morning, and not be able to eat again until 10-12 hours later. no problems.

Now of course some of you might say "Buggie! how is this relevant?"

Here is why my friends: of course for me, it was a controlled and restricted diet (like we will all have after SHTF). But the benifets of it were many fold. Asside from the obvious weight loss and improved general health, I discovered how my body "felt" and "functioned" when deprived of the sugary grain based diet that we all live on for the most part (asside from those who have their gardens and hunting skills up to snuff. oh how I envy you!). I also learned that I dont need sugar or coffee to have energy. The reason I felt I did was because I had a carb (sic: high glucose) diet, and was in a constant high/low crash cycle in my glucose levels. I would need coffee and sugar in the morning to "feel right", when in fact the problem was that i had a giant bowl of pasta for dinner the night before, and my body burned and stored all the glucose from it overnight, and I woke up with extremely low natural glucose levels. By eating mainly protein, I was able to keep consistan glucose and energy levels throughout the day and the night. I honestly felt like a million bucks all the time. And now if I eat a big mac I actually feel sick. I crave things like steak, and chicken breast, or a nice plank of salmon.

And so we finally come to my point. Wouldnt it be nice to have you body READY to deal with life without a carb heavy diet, and be ready to exert yourself at anytime of anyday at a moments notice (such as when bugging out)? you wont be able to stop at timmys for a quick double double on your way out of dodge. Many people argue that having high energy foods like chocolate or energy bars, candies, etc are the way to go for bugging out. I disagree wholeheartedly. Sure you will get a quick boost, but then it will fade. So you will follow it up with another high calorie sugar bar, and you will get the boost you need... but then it to will fade. eventually your supplies will run out and you will be left with the same food that everyone in the history of the world (up until the invention of industrial grain farming) has survived and thrived on: PROTEIN!!!!!!! in the form of animals and their byproducts. Humanity had survived for millions of years (depending on your religious beliefs I suppose) on animals and plants... not processed grains or refined sugars. its only been the last 10,000 years that grains have been a staple of our diet, and that is simply only because its easier to feed a population with wheat and corn syrup then it is to do with salmon and chicken. it was a FINANCIAL DECISION. not a health based one.

One more thing to add quickly, in a survival sense. The Human body is an amazing thing. It can turn carbohydrates into glucose. it can turn fats into glucose. it can turn protein into glucose. It can use protein to build and maintain muscle, bones, skin, hair, and everything else in the body. it CAN NOT however turn carbs into protein, or fats into proteins. it only gets protein from one place and one place only. Your diet. So do your body a favor, and feed it what it wants. Treat yourself like a car. if you want to be a beat up old car, then go ahead and fill it up with regular gas. But if you want to be the hotrod, then you need supreme grade. Make the right choice

Do some research on high protein diets. If you want to challenge yourself, try something similar for a week. If you dont cheat yourself, you will be amazed at the results. Just make sure you are drinking ALOT of water (2 liters a day if possible).

Sorry for the rant guys! i have to re-read this because I think I went off on a few tangets. But thanks for reading.

ps: I am not a dietician. I recommend you do further research outside of this post. I do not recommend a "pure protein diet" for extended periods of time. I went for 5 weeks until I hit my goal weight, but that is as long as I would like to go ideally. Your body needs vitamins and minerals (i took flintstones picky eaters childrens chewables), as well as electrolites (salts... but you should get enough salts from the proteins...especially if you season them), carbohydrates (in the form of fiber, as found in vegitables... NOT sugars or starches found in grain products) and other natural occuring substances. When I did stray from my diet and ate something other then protein, it would be dark green vegitables. If you are really serious about something similar, or just want to do some research, I recommend looking into the Dukan DIet, or the Paleo (caveman) diet. both are very similar in theory, just different in their application.

GC.. yes your right, since I know your ex army you have known deprivation of all things especially hunger and sleep. Most North Americans have never known either so yes this is a much overlooked SHFT training.
Hopefully I was adding into things that they could be looking for and adding to their knowledge base and was not trying to take away from this exercise.

Perf..
I have thought of looking into the Paleo Diet again, thanks for the feedback
your recipe might be modified to 1 cup coconut butter for the allergy peeps and the Vegans.
also no milk chocolate chips or carob chips

Hi Buggie, excellent post. Low-carb diets are great for weight loss, fat loss, and has been one of the only diets that has ever worked for me - to the point of being able to see the veins running across my abdominal muscles.

To add to your point, I'd recommend and emphasize the word "low" carb and not "zero" carb. Reducing carb intake and substituting with a healthy mix of fat/protein (and tons of veggies) has enormous health benefits, but cutting out carb sources entirely can trigger the body to develop a starvation mode. Essentially, the diet has to be sustained indefinitely at that point because if you stray even a bit (having a week off and eating pasta, bread, ice cream, some cake, etc), the body will automatically convert it into fat stores as it rarely gets a carb treat and thinks you'll need it.

I brought my body fat percentage down to 4% at one point during the diet. After a full 16 months, I took a 4 week break and gained 20 lbs, despite eating reasonable portions and maintaining a training regimen for running marathons.

To add a completely different, contrasting diet:

I'm currently on a purely fruits and veggies diet. This is completely counter-intuitive to the low-carb diet. Did I lose weight? Absolutely. I suspected that it might be purely because of my workout volume and not the fruits/veggies, so I took a month off from working out and kept an absolutely sedentary lifestyle which included driving to work and watching TV on the couch (two things that I never do). Lo and behold, my weight and body fat percentage did not fluctuate. My rule was that I could eat as much veggies as I wanted, until bursting point. This didn't apply to salad dressing or fruits, ONLY vegetables. No meat/nuts/seeds/eggs/tofu/beans/grains/bread/pasta/etc. Only fruits and veggies.

My typical day consisted of:
Breakfast - 3 bananas, 3 large carrots and a bowl of grapes
Snack - a salad that contains 3 chopped cucumbers, 5 tomatoes, 1 large carrot, 1 full head of lettuce, and a balsamic vinaigrette
Lunch - 2 full heads of lettuce, 1 onion, 10 tomatoes, 1 chopped cucumber, 2 tbsp olive oil, and a dash of salt.
Snack - same as the last snack.
Dinner - 4 apples, 6 oranges.

Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? It took me over 2 hours to finish grazing on each of the major meals. However, that only comes out to just under 2100 calories. AND I was full all day long.

Anyway, just a bit of food for thought, pardon the pun. Understandably, this wouldn't be sustainable in a SHTF situation, but it'll get you prepped and ready for it. 😉

gc_mountainman - Living without food is something most people in North America are unaccustomed to. I appreciate your post very much. There were several hard years when my family and I have had to go hungry when I was 7 years old in southeast Asia. I've had to watch people eat pizza across the street, and I would pretend that it was me that was eating it. It was tough. It also made me toughen up. A person can easily get by with a bowl of rice and a 4 inch long dried salted fish every 2 days, and still have enough energy to work a manual labor job lifting bags of cement off trucks. Especially if it meant that his kids could have soy sauce or salt to add to the bare rice on the table.

Here in Canada, when I go camping in the mountains, I usually bring compact, calorie dense food like cashews and pop tarts. No need for a fire, no need to cook anything, and a handful goes a long way. Anything more is just a luxury to be enjoyed, but not essential.

Perfesser, WildE and RabbitTeeth,

Thanks for the input and feedback. At this early stage, it would seem the choir is first to chime in, I appreciate the support. For those who have never been hungry, maybe you will enter into this and post how your experience went.

Cheers,

Mountainman.

Paleo Diet, is that akin with the Caveman Diet promoted by Mark's Daily Apple?? Heavy on protein, veggies and fats, light on anything from grain or preprocessed convenience foods??

Hey Buggie,

You did not hi jack anything. Both threads are trying to do the same thing, get folks to think about food now and later on the run; as well as, how their bodies will respond or react.

Lots of good info.

RabbitTeeth,

Great suggestion on the veggie meal plan.

Cheers,

Mountainman.

One thing I'll add, in a diet scenario, coffee isn't a bad thing. If you are inclined to take a morning walk a couple of cups of coffee with a teaspoon of sugar in each cup isn't a bad thing, on an empty stomach. Caffeine promotes fat cells to release the fat into the blood stream for a short while (30 mins or so if memory serves). Fat mixed with 'some' sugar provides fuel for muscles during exercise. The plan is to have your coffee fix with sugar, walk/run/jog your posterior off until you start to feel a blood sugar crash, then slowly wander home before your body starts consuming muscle protein to feed itself. Caffeine only releases the fat cells for a short (30 to 45 min) period of time. After that the remaining fat goes right back into the fat cells. CASE CLOSED!

Now if I could just get really active after that morning coffee...

bookmarking thread, will read later.

ps. they say Men who drink 2-3 coffee's a day have less Colin problems. I can see that as it acts like a diuretic for me, #1&2 .. LOL...

Buggie,

I hope you don't mind, but after a bit of review of our two topics, I have merged them together to hopefully renew interest and activity.

Cheers,

Mountainman.