The Thirty Day SHTF Test Diet: Day 16

Today was Day 16 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.

One day past the half-way point, and my insomnia had turned into sleeping twice a day; it's the result of me not being able to scrape up the energy to bull through when exhausted. Again, this might be seasonal. There are no real health effects other than continual hunger. My early-on luck has vanished, turning the novelty into the regular diet grind. You'll find out below how I "knocked" myself into the twice-a-day pattern.

Today's Meals

The two varieties of breakfast packets make the breakfast routine something like a mutex. Today, I flipped back to the Granola with Blueberries and Milk:

As with the others, it reconstituted to make the granola moist and the blueberries edible.

As has been the case with a few of these packages, I had a fair bit of excess fluid after I stirred in the half cup of cold water. Eating directly from the packet meant that I could upend it and let the fluid drain right into my mouth. :) Useful.

The dinner was a less-common variety in the 30-day boxes: Lasagna with Meat Sauce.

Even though it was the first variety I had more than two weeks ago, today's was only the third. Like all the dinners, it reconstituted with 2 cups of boiled water, a few stirrings and a wait of less than ten minutes:

Unique among the packs, the Lasagna leaves cheese clinging to the spoon. If you're planning to use these packets in an off-grid situation, like camping, you should know that this meal requires you to clean the spoon with soap, water and a fair bit of scrubbing.

Taste-wise, it tastes like the real thing - at least, the prepared-frozen real thing. Mountain House didn't skimp on the meat.

The Nutrition Facts for both,

with the Granola on the left and the Lasagna on the right, shows something interesting. Because of the tomato sauce, the lasagna dinner contains much more vitamin C than the other dinners. It also contains the fewest calories: since its values are per half packet, its total is (310 * 2) = 620.

Effects, So Far:

As the old saying tells us, it's ain't a sprint; it's a marathon. The grind is still there to grind through. I wish it were not so, but this diet got a bit tougher after my Hiatus Day last Monday. There may be something to sticking to it religiously until you're done.

As I noted above, my insomnia has turned into sleeping twice a day: the result of me trying to bull my way through the day but not succeeding. In righting myself, I'm waking up while groggy. This morning, it had its amusing side when I stumbled and whacked the top of my right leg into a chair. That got me wide awake, quickly. :)

Weight-wise, it's steady as she goes:

which does give teeth to the saw about the second ten pounds being harder than the first ten.

Conclusion For Day 16

I'm slowly righting myself to a more normal schedule, though it's presenting a difficulty or two. :) My energy is still normal, but the peppiness early on is gone. The tomato sauce in the lasagna added a lot more vitamin C than usual, which is something to mull over if you're preparing for a real disaster.

Thanks for reading.

And feel free to comment below!

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