# Survival > Bushcraft Medicine >  The Diet

## kyratshooter

It is now time for me to declare the new diet in progress.

It is now mandatory that I lose down to what I never should have been up to.

Befitting the spirit of the forum this will be a cave man diet.  I thought that was only appropriate.

Let it be known that I have done this before and did not die due to the heavy meat intake.  I actually thrived on the beef steak and bacon with lots of greens thrown in as forage.  

Last time I lost 80 pounds but I have let it creep back up over the past three years, but not to the previous poundage, through the judicious application of bread, french fries, chocolate pie and icecream with the occasional waffle for variety.  It seems that I simply convert carbs directly to fat and can no longer tolerate them in my diet. 

Hopefully I will lose enough by summer to be back into some of my reenactment duds which will no longer lace and buckle.  I am also hoping to make it to the mail box and back without stopping for a nap.

I am on day three and I am well into the icecream withdrawal stage with the accompanying anxiety and compulsion to jump into the Jeep and head for a large blizzard at the dairy queen.  They are closed now, it's 1am, but I think I can get in through the little window at the drive through if there are no cops around.  :Thumbs Up:

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## natertot

I hear you Kyrat.  I am the biggest I've ever been.  Last week I put myself on diet and exercise. Gets easier with each day. Lost 4 lbs so far, another 30 or so to go.......

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## crashdive123

Good luck.

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## Rick

I wondered why your typing was looking shaky. I don't always eat ice cream but when I do I choose Blizzards. Stay hungry my friends.

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## Ted

Eating a lot of meat will drain your natural energy levels. Yes everything the body does robs our energy levels, EVERYTHING! Digestion is no different. If you eat a lot of meat you lose a lot of energy just digesting it.

I would suggest go heavy on  your foragings and fruits and veggies. Preferable raw to get the most out of them. And exercise! You'll lose weight, and increase energy levels!  It even helps with mental clarity!

I'm sure if you do a web search on natural diets you'll find something to your liking. I'm not saying go veg and don't eat meat by any means, just a diet heavy on meat will leave you wanting to nap and not get off your a$$ and just go for a walk. Which by the way is great exercise.

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## BENESSE

Hang in there Kyrat, you've done it before, you know what works for you.
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## hunter63

Good luck....That has to be and gonna be hard.

I really can't relate as weight has never been a problem, but I do eat a lot of fruits, veggies and whole grains.
Never have been one for a lot sweets.....but do enjoy a treat for time to time.

My big thing was smoking......and took major surgery (they hurt me) to be able to give that up.

I still do my works outs 3 times a week, and many of my fellow survivors work at the diets and weight maintenance.

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## kyratshooter

> Eating a lot of meat will drain your natural energy levels. Yes everything the body does robs our energy levels, EVERYTHING! Digestion is no different. If you eat a lot of meat you lose a lot of energy just digesting it.
> 
> I would suggest go heavy on  your foragings and fruits and veggies. Preferable raw to get the most out of them. And exercise! You'll lose weight, and increase energy levels!  It even helps with mental clarity!
> 
> I'm sure if you do a web search on natural diets you'll find something to your liking. I'm not saying go veg and don't eat meat by any means, just a diet heavy on meat will leave you wanting to nap and not get off your a$$ and just go for a walk. Which by the way is great exercise.


Yea since it work so well last time I think I will abandon the plan I know works and go with your idea, which has never worked for me in the past 60+ years.

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## 1stimestar

Yep I'm right there with ya.  Fighting really hard to not become a fat old lady...as it seems all my friends are doing.  I still have too much fun to have to go that route!  Summer, get ready!

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## primitiveskills

Same boat brother. Remember that sugar is an addiction comparable to heroin and opiod addiction. Worse, our culture is hooked and sold on "food" that will kill us. I ballooned to 230 twenty years after my 180 pound days in the Corps. Step one is get the stuff out of your house. If it is there, we eat it. Step two, pre-plan and prepare your meals at least a week ahead and have emergency healthy food in the house, car, and work place. Last, make drinking LOTS of water a priority to lessen the cravings. We all fall and fall hard. It's called relapse. But each time we recover, we do so stronger and with more resolve. Here is to quick and few recovery toward massive success. Stay motivated and take back your own health.

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## 1stimestar

Several years ago I cut Cokes out of my diet and lost 10 lbs magically without changing anything else.  Well, a couple of months ago I cut sugar out of my coffee hoping for the same magical boost.  Blarg, I got nothing!

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## BENESSE

We often talk about surviving SHTF and TEOTWAWKI. 
We talk about our stores and arsenals and hunkering down and preparing to hang in there until. We hang tough and we are ready to do whatever it takes. But...
We believe it's this extreme challenge that will surely compel us to do what we aren't quite prepared to do when all's OK. But if we're honest with ourselves we'd realize that giving up smoking, ice cream, bacon, donuts, booze or, you name it,  is actually way harder because what we need to conquer is _ourselves_ not some external threat. And we are our toughest enemy. 
We know deep down what's right...we know what it takes...we know when we're making excuses that we wouldn't be buying from anyone else. 

But we can surely agree with this because we've either experienced it ourselves or we've suffered through it with a loved one: if you don't have your health, you don't have squat. No amount of money, firearms, ammos, food stores, bunkers, BOLs or BOVs can make up for being sick and incapacitated. So wouldn't it make sense we start with our health and work our way from there?

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## crashdive123

Tried to give you a little rep B, but I've got to spread the love first.

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## hunter63

Got it....Wise advice.....
BTW quitting smoking was a $5200 buck a year raise......

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## crashdive123

> Got it....Wise advice.....
> BTW quitting smoking was a $5200 buck a year raise......


I should have waited to quit.  When I quit I was still able to get sea store cigarettes at $2.50 a carton.   :Innocent:

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## hunter63

Ahhhh, Death at a discount......I hear ya.

Quitting anything is hard.

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## nell67

I LOVE bread, particularly homemade bread, with homemade cinnamon butter. I have not felt like making bread for several years because of the constant pain that I am in.

Two weeks ago, I visited a pain management clinic, since my current meds regimen gave me no relief. The doc changed my meds and after three days, the reduction in pain was amazing (will be doing injection in my neck (3) and lower back (1) on Monday.  

The improvement in my pain level has brought back one of my favorite past times, making homemade bread, although I have always loved the physical aspect of kneading the dough, my Kitchenaid mixer is now does that part for me, other than the aforementioned Kitchen appliance, I still have the knack for making bread, did I mention that I LOVE that carb laden foodstuff? But those beautiful golden loaves and rolls sure have made great thank you gifts for the family and friends who have brought food, taken care of our dog, and our wonderful neighbor loaded our porch down with wood so I wouldn't have to try, and knowing that Steve definitely is no shape to carry the wood for now, Steve had the latest and greatest defibrillator  technology implanted on the lower portion of his left rib cage. Looks like someone hit him with a baseball bat. They want him on the transplant waiting list,but he won't do that, so it is up to me to make changes to his diet the best I can, without boring him to death with bland food. 

We had already all but given up buying bread in January of last year, only buying for loaves the whole year, although hamburger buns we have bought maybe every six weeks, so my search has been on for a low carb bread recipe that will allow us still have hamburgers and even an occasional sandwhich without adding tons of carbs via the bun.  Today, I found the recipe for Cloud Bread, it looks like bread and functions like bread for burgers/sandwhiches, supposedly tastes good, i t contains no flour so it is carb free and gluten free. I really hope this stuff tastes good

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## Billofthenorth

I've officially been a cardiac patient now for 6 months. I was doing the exercise but not looking after the diet so much. Now I've increased the exercise and cut back on the sugar and flour and fats though I really need to cut back more. Weddings, holidays and family get togethers make that difficult sometimes. 
Just remember that you may lose weight eating a lot of meat but replacing some of that meat with green veggies will also help keep your arteries clear. Vegetarian meals now and again aren't a bad way to go.

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## tundrabadger

Good for you Kyrat....I knocked off candy entirely 5 years, 10 months and 23 days ago.  the fact that I can tell you, down to the day, how long it's been, and the serious weight I lost just from that tell me  that I was probably eating way too much...  if you were eating junk food in comparable quantities,  the next little while is going to suck,  bt  you'll get through it.   Try and throw some salads in the mix though, eh?

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## kyratshooter

I have become pretty much adjusted to the new diet inside a week now.  

Not dealing with the serious sugar cravings after about 3 days but still dealing with the "carb cravings", which for me never end.  I was on this diet for two years and they persisted.

Living alone makes it more difficult.  For us loners "meals" often become sandwiches and not having bread requires more meal planning than normal due to the absence of any way to make an "air sandwich".

I too am a cardiac patient.  One of the group that has beaten the odds.  

Averages say that 50% die within 5 years of being diagnosed.  My Doctor says the real numbers in my area are 80% in 3 years.  He claims the patients take themselves off the required meds, refuse to stop smoking and drop dead inside 3 years.

I remember asking him "When will I get off these meds" a few months after the last attack.  His answer was "You can stop taking them just shortly before you wish to die."

I am 12 years past the last attack.  Still ticking along but still grateful for the borrowed time I have used up.

One reason for the diet, yes, I am stressing my heart.  The other reason is my bad back, constant sciatica pain.  I have used up my surgical options and I am down to "pain management" at this point.  If I control the weight I can reduce the need for procedures to reduce the back pain.

The back pain and some problems with my feet slow weight loss for me.  I do not have the option of "working out" as a weight loss program.  That is a less than cost effective weight loss method anyway.  Why would one engage in hard physical activity for a full hour  to burn up 500 calories when they could just skip ingesting the 500 calories?  Sweat equity for pie has never made sense to me.

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## hunter63

I checked....the tread mill at the cardiac unit gym is marked off in calories burned ...but not "Big Mac,.... Fries,.... Shake"...Super sized....will take two weeks.

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## BENESSE

> Why would one engage in hard physical activity for a full hour  to burn up 500 calories when they could just skip ingesting the 500 calories?  Sweat equity for pie has never made sense to me.


The benefits of exercise go way beyond weight loss. 
This from a Harvard doctor:
"I often tell my patients that if we had the ability to put what exactly  exercise does for us into a pill, it would be worth a million dollars,  says Dr. Cheng. The irony is, of course, that exercise itself is  actually free. 

"Many of the benefits of exercise have been known for quite a long time,  notes Dr. Cheng, the author of Interrogating the Age-Old Wisdom of  Exercise, an editorial in a recent issue of the journal Circulation. * Exercise reduces weight, lowers blood pressure, prevents diabetes,  improves cholesterol, increases muscle strength, improves sleep quality,  improves mood, and even sharpens the mind."

*http://www.health.harvard.edu/stayin...nd-weight-loss

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## crashdive123

Yep - lots of benefits from exercise.

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## Rick

You bet. I could watch it all day. 'Specially those yoga, spandex thingy classes. One class and a hot fudge sundae and I'm good for an hour at least.

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## tjwilhelm

Sending you best will-power wishes, kyratshooter!  I'd say, "good luck!" but luck has nothing to do with it.

This is probably old stuff; but, have you looked into the so-called Paleo Diet?  Having become a semi-sedentary, half-blind, old cripple, I was tipping the scales at 242 lbs. on New Year's Day.  At 5' 9", that's way too high.  I started eating Paleo-like, and since January 2nd, have lost 15 pounds.  It's not like being on a diet, and I don't feel deprived.  For the most part, I've stopped eating sugar and starches (junk food and bread).  I'm also NOT avoiding fats -- good fats.  I eat plenty of bacon, and I use coconut oil for cooking.  For treats, I bought a NutriBullet and a load of frozen blueberries.  I throw a mix of baby spinach and kale into the bottom of the blender, load it up with frozen blueberries, and add apple cider for liquid.  One minute of blending and I have a nutrient-rich blueberry smoothie.  Can't taste the raw spinach and kale.  It tastes really good and is both filling and satisfying.  I also keep a bowl of nuts -- almonds, cashews, pistachios, and raisins -- on the counter and grab a small handful whenever I need a quick snack.  I also snack on hard salami and cheese.

I weigh myself every morning, at about the same time each day.  My weight goes up and down, day to day; but, I keep trending down.  My average loss is a tad over 1.5 lbs. per week, which the Doc says is a good, healthy rate at which to be dropping the pounds.

Don't know if my experience will be useful to you, or not; but, just in case...

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## kyratshooter

That is basically what I am doing.

I am big on vegetables, although not vegetarian, and I consume most of the bulk diet as green fodder, either cooked veggies or as salads.  That way the paleo thing does not get boring and bland.  

Everyone seems to think the paleo or Atkins diets are all meat but that is not true unless what you were doing already was a pure meat and potatoes diet.  

Right now I am down 5 pounds for the week.  If I follow the pattern of the last effort I will lose 20 in a month, then hit a plateau for about two weeks, then lose steadily until I stabilize at just over 200.  It is the part where I try to get below 200 when I hit a real wall.  I should really be sitting on 180-190.

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## crashdive123

TJ!  Good to see you back.  Hang in there brother.

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## BENESSE

Different things work for different people. If, at the very least, you consume less calories than you burn, you _will_ be successful. Kinda like buy low, sell high...a no brainer.

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## kyratshooter

I am really looking for the foods that burn more calories through digestion than they contain and require no more exercise than the chewing activity provides!

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## Solar Geek

> Several years ago I cut Cokes out of my diet and lost 10 lbs magically without changing anything else.  Well, a couple of months ago I cut sugar out of my coffee hoping for the same magical boost.  Blarg, I got nothing!


1st time me too! Cutting sugar out did NOTHING!  So I now use organic agave both for taste, less needed per cup, and apparently it is lower glycemic than any sugar or maple syrup (which I love in my coffee). I also cut out cream in the coffee and that did ZIP.

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## hunter63

> You bet. I could watch it all day. 'Specially those yoga, spandex thingy classes. One class and a hot fudge sundae and I'm good for an hour at least.


You mean on some one else, Right?

I re-upped at the cardiac unit gym.......3 days a week for an hour.

No one wears yoga stuff and spandex.....so sweats are kinda the norm....for good reason.

Most all are older "survivors" or some sort of life threatening condition or surgery, doing their work outs where the emergency unit is just one floor down.
Several walk the track only, some even with canes and walkers....but are "Doin' It'.
Members wonder where the others are, if some one misses a day.....

You don't worry about who you "used to be"......as we are all in the same boat now..... and many have a bad time remembering names...so nick names are common.

Work out music ...they play oldies that we danced to, in the 50's and 60's and many know all the words.....LOL

Seems this is what many people need to "stick with a program"....is a group....and seems to be working well.

I do think the "Cupcake Wars" on the food channel on one of the TV by the treadmills is a little over the top.....

But all in all, it beats the alternative....and I don't want a pace maker....unless they put in on the left side ...away from the firearm shoulder.

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## Rick

Yeah. The girlies go to the Yoga thingy classes. I don't understand it. I set up a lawn chair outside the window and I no more than sit down and the cops are there telling me I have to move. I keep telling them it's a big window and they should bring their own chairs.

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## hunter63

Had a lady leading one of those classes crewed us out for watching.....which we would not have been doing if she wouldn't have complained our racquet ball warm up being too noisy...so we stopped,... Until...3:00 PM, WHEN OUR HOUR STARTED.

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