The Thirty Day SHTF Test Diet: Day 15

Today was Day 15 for my test of Mountain House food packets as emergency food, The Thirty Day SHTF Test Diet. Lots of preppers recommend storing food for a disaster; this series tests it out. As detailed earlier, this diet has turned into a weight-loss diet too.

I'm half-way through, and am still shaking off the effects of the low-energy spell I've been going through. Funny enough, my sleep has gone topsy-turvy: up at night, asleep during the day. This could be a sign of the blahs or an attempt by me to shake them off. One thing I found, although it's a psychological commonplace, is that disclosing my woes helped pick me up. In a real SHTF event, this might be problematic.

Today's Meals

Again flip-flopping through the two varieties of breakfast packs, today's was the Scrambled Eggs with Ham and Peppers:

It took the usual cup of boiled water, two rounds of stirring and less than ten minutes of reconstitution/cooling time.

This packet had a fair bit of fluid left, a fair bit of "egg soup." Since I didn't cut short the wait time, this variation comes with the packet. Some will absorb virtually all the fluid, some less so. The taste was the usual, although it did take a bit more stirring to change the egg part from cubes. Again, a variation of the individual packet.

The dinner was Rice and Chicken:

the second most common variety I got in the 30-Day Emergency box. Unlike the breakfast, there was no fluid left over. After the two cups of boiling water, stirrings and waiting, it turned semi-solid:

The rice is good at absorbing the water, plainly.

It could have used a wee bit more: a few of the grains were crunchy. As per usual for this variety, it was spiced.

The Nutrition Facts for each, with the Scrambled Eggs on the left and the Rice and Chicken on the right, were:

As per usual, the values on the right are per half packet; for the full, they have to be multiplied by two. The one on the left has numbers for the full packet.

Both were high in sodium. The dinner alone supplied almost all the daily requirement. Unlike yesterday's, today's meals had a fair bit of Vitamin C. Some of the meals don't have much, which could result from Vitamin C breaking down quickly.

Effects, So Far:

As I sketched out in the intro, disclosing my woes did help shake me out of the low. But my day-night cycle has gone topsy-turvy: sleeping for most of the day and staying awake for most of the night.

Complaining does help, if used sparingly. In a real disaster, it might not be appreciated (especially by folks who don't complain easily.) One way around this could be a special set-aside day where people are encouraged to let loose with their woes.

Weight-wise, I've stalled:

which is something that comes with the territory. It helped to hear from someone close than me that I do look less fat. But again, plateauing is part of the dieting territory: its inevitability shows why you shouldn't become hooked by what the scale says. As the old investment adage says: "Watch the calendar, not the clock."

Conclusion For Day 15

Today was a better day, even if it was accompanied by me sliding into the graveyard shift. :) The food was good, as per standard, and the sodium was high, as per standard. Although it's hard to disentangle seasonal effects from diet effects, it's clear that I've had a challenge put in front of me. But it is a challenge with a payoff: half-way through, I've lost a little more than ten pounds.

Thanks for reading.

And feel free to comment below!

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Day 1
Day 2
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Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
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Day 10
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Day 12
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Day 15
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Day 21
Day 22