The Thirty Day SHTF Test Diet: Day 8

Today was Day 8 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 ticked along fine today. The insomnia I've been noting is prolly me shifting to a more night-owl cycle. One interesting facet of this diet is that I'm slowly becoming used to the restricted calories; the "hungries" are less extensive. As per usual, there was no issues with the food and no health effects, not even exhaustion.

Today's Meals

Since Mountain House supplied only two varieties of breakfast packets, I'm on the flip-flop. Similar to Day 5, today's was a packet of granola with milk and blueberries.

No boiling water, no waiting after adding the 1/2 cup. As per usual, it looked a bit of a mess:

but tasted good. The "mess" is actually sweetish fluid that looks like it had been dyed with blueberries. :)

Dinner was a new variety, one of the packets that Mountain House didn't supply much of. Namely, Beef Stew:

True to its name, the liquid in the reconstituted pack was not a sauce; it was a thick broth:

Lots of vegetables, including cubes of potato. There were also chunks of beef in addition to the broth. The veggies were a bit on the crunchy side. I couldn't detect any difference in taste between this meal and a Campbell's can full of chunky beef. The main different was the size of the beef chunks, which are much smaller in the packet because of the freeze drying and the need to reconstitute.

Effects, So Far:

Evidently, I'm becoming used to the regimen. My energy level is still at the new normal, and the feelings of hunger are diminishing. I can't say for sure, but the lessening hunger dovetails well with me hitting that weight plateau. The tetchiness I had experienced is gone too.

To get back to the weight:

I'm still stuck on that plateau, but the flatlining might come to an end soon.

Conclusion For Day 8

The new normal is still in play, and my frustration has all-but disappeared. In addition to any lack of symptoms, my feelings of hunger have diminished during the day. There's been no concern or issue with the food, and the standardized reconstituting routine is a help.

In the woods or bug-out retreat kind of homestead, the packets leave behind very little waste. I should also mention that the food leaves little "waste product" of the digestive kind. After I finished yesterdays post, I had my first #2 in a week and part of it was diarrheic. Not fully, but somewhat. I haven't counted this as a symptom because its mildness compared to some, uh, full attacks. :)

Note: I've posted this installment early because I'll be attending Decentral’s 4th Anniversary Meetup Celebration in Downtown T.O.

Thanks for reading.

And feel free to comment below!

Day 0
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13