In part two of The Health Nut’s Guide to The Apocalypse we’re going to shift over to an often considered subject that doesn’t get quite enough attention in most scenarios. Food.
There are quite a few differing views as to the availability of nourishment in both fiction and nonfiction genres. On one side we have the idea that food will be scarce, the stuff having been either destroyed or somehow poisoned by circumstance. Survivors would be left only with what they were able to gather during times of preparation. On the other side we have the possibility that a major decrease in population would leave enough supplies (canned goods, dehydrated packets, jars of chunky peanut butter, etc.) to last for nearly an eternity of pilfering.
Which is more viable? How could we possibly know when we aren’t sure what could happen? Sadly, everything will be guesswork until somebody drops a nuke on us or sends their favorite zombie, Fido, to start the infection. Too bad for us, right?
The real question isn’t whether we’ll be able to find food or not, but how well we can be physically prepared beforehand and how to maintain that state of being.
Eat Right or Be Eaten!
In my first book, The Dark Roads, there are three main protagonists. Richie, Buddy, and Elvis are making their way from South Florida to Alaska in hopes of finding a respite from the savagery of a sun burnt world. Moments spent in the sun can result in serious physical harm or possibly death, so traveling at night is their only option. Add in the roaming packs of cannibals that want to take a bite out of life and their existence becomes almost unbearable.
Shall we take a look at Richie, a prime example of “Every Man” via his proportional splendor, to see how well prepared he is for the coming trials? For the sake of simplicity, we’ll use a 1-10 rating system with 10 as the high point.
Richie
Age: 22
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 170 lbs.
Strength: 5
Stamina: 7
Intelligence: 8
Luck: 6
Will Power: 9
Lifestyle Before SHF: Active
Weight. That’s an issue in itself. I’ve read quite a few books on this subject matter and the ideas of food and weight are normally utilized as another conflict to be overcome, which makes perfect sense. We have no food. This sucks. Yay! We found tortilla chips and sardines! Conflict resolved!
Here’s the truth of the matter, though. We can survive for quite a while without sticking to a proper diet, but the effects of going without are much more obvious when a person starts out on the wrong track. We’re looking at Richie for this one because of his average height/weight ratio. He’s also the active type, fairly healthy, and the character I beat on the most throughout the chapters.
To maintain his current weight, Richie needs 2,446 calories per day. Anything more than that number and Richie will start putting on the pounds. He starts to lose weight at 1,957 calories per day. At 1,468 calories per day he’s gone into extreme weight loss. How many calories do you think those tortilla chips and sardines contain? I’m betting that there aren’t nearly enough to keep him going for very long.
Your diet before SHF is far more important than you think. Don’t go stocking up on calories with the mindset of the hibernating bear because that added fat will burn away much faster than you’d think when those calories are reduced. If we doubled Richie’s weight extreme weight loss would occur at 2,720 calories per day. That wouldn’t end well at all.
Knock him down twenty pounds, by making Richie far underweight and he likely won’t have the energy for all of those nightly miles he has to make.
Proper diet is everything. Eat the right foods for your body type and lifestyle and do it with the right frequency and amounts if you want to keep moving when the thing behind you is holding a fork and knife.
Throw some veggies on your plate once in a while, too. Your mom will be super proud of you for not feeding them to the dog, or yourself to the zombie.
“My kid survived the apocalypse because he ate all his broccoli!” she’ll probably say.
