How Long Have You Gone Without Food?

[AZ Prepper]

How Long Have You Gone Without Food?
http://www.azprepper.com/blogs/how-l...gone-with.html




In thinking through emergency preparedness, food is always foremost on the list. That is usually where the preparedness starts. Extra food is put away for when food is needed, but not available.


But how many average people in America know what it’s like to go without food? Fortunately, most people I know haven’t gone more than a couple meals without food. Many have never gone more than one meal. Rarely have I met anyone who has gone more than 24 hours. In fact, the only people I personally know who have gone longer than 24 hours are in the military and because of situations in their military duties, went for longer than I’d like to go without food.


So a couple weeks ago, I decided to see what it would be like to go without food for a few days. So Monday I ate normal meals. Then Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I didn’t eat. Friday morning I ate some fruit (something light to give my system a chance to get working again) and then went back to my normal diet. During that time I drank more water than normal so that I stayed plenty hydrated (this is extremely important).


During those few days, I never felt hungry, dizzy or less energy than normal. Of course, this was a very short time, but still interesting to try out. It showed me that for short periods of time, as long as water is available, my body can function normally without food (short term, not long term). Food storage is critical and you’ll die without sufficient food, but knowing that during tough times I can go several days without it with no adverse side effects is empowering. Knowing how my body will react if I had to go a few days without food is important to me because if/when that time comes, I’ll not have to stress and worry. If I’d never experienced this, I might not know what to expect. Who knows… maybe I’ll try it for longer periods of time in the future.


I’m not advocating that you try this yourself (especially if you have any special health issues). I’m just sharing my own personal experience so that if you’re ever facing a situation where you’ll be without food for a few days, you’ll know that with the proper mental mindset, (if you’re body functions like mine), you’ll be fine. The body is much stronger than we often believe it is.


Know how your body functions in various situations. Know what kinds of foods your body needs for optimal performance and what it needs for minimal performance. Know how far you can run and for how long you. Stay healthy and get in shape. So when the hard times come, you’ll be able to get through anything.

[idmedic]

I'm curious to know what you did for those three days. I don't see any challenge with day to day activities, but could you haul and split wood, dig a trench, hunt for a meal and repeat it for two days? That's not a challenge, I'm curious about energy levels over a prolonged period.

[AZ Prepper]

I don't think it would be a problem. I did exercise, but didn't run a marathon. There are juice diets out there where people can go for a long time on juice, but I wanted to see what would happen with just water.

I think that fear is the greatest conqueror. Many people would probably scare themselves into believing that if they didn't eat for the day, they wouldn't be able to function. Then as a result of this belief, they actually wouldn't be able to function. Now I know through experience that if I needed to get from point A to point B without food, or if I had to go a certain amount of time without food, as long as I had water, I would be no less effective than if I ate. Beyond that time frame I don't know, nor do I think it would be healthy to try. But I know that my body can is much stronger than I previously thought.

This was just a little experiment I wanted to try for my own personal reasons... more mental than physical.