In this article, I am writing from my own perspective as a prepper who is in the midst of a fairly substantial weight loss that (I will admit publicly) has not been easy. As I worked on the research to support this article, I wondered if it was going to be unpopular.

If so, let it be. 

I think you all know me well enough to know that I always do my best to tell it like it is and write about what I think would truly be helpful to folks, not just what will get a lot of “likes” or emoticons (or whatever those darn little things are called).

Gaining Weight: My Own Backstory

Most of my life, I have been a fit athletic type. In my youth, I was a competitive athlete in several sports, including swimming and various running events. In my 30s, I was out rollerblading with my dog for hours at a time. We both loved it! In my forties, I was running 5 miles a few times a week, even through our northern Michigan winters, with ice spikes on.

Fast forward to 2015, when my husband died of cancer. I was 46 years old, alone, and miserable. I ate many foods that were poor choices to console myself during those long winter nights. I have to be honest, it didn’t take long, and I found myself the heaviest I had been in my life: around 210 pounds. Strangely, working at manual labour didn’t seem to help me trim down. It all sort of crept up on me. 

One day, I was hauling a large feed sack. It weighed 50 pounds. I was humbled to see I was having trouble managing it, staggering under the weight as I headed for the trough. I did the math and suddenly realized that this was the amount of weight that I had gained. OUCH! I remember that moment. I was able to reconnect with wanting to go back to being fit. 

Now let me clarify: I was never skinny. My Irish genes go back through generations of farming. I was solid and fit. Not long after that moment, though, a serious back injury ended my manual labour work and put a big dent in my ability to lose the weight. OUCH AGAIN!

Does Weight Really Matter to a Prepper?

These days, our society seems to have gone to an extreme position where it is now unpopular to talk about being above a healthy weight and to recommend weight loss. Instead, we are called on to celebrate all bodies equally. I do agree that it is a good idea to have women of more healthy body weights being seen in the modelling industry. That is not what this article is about.

I am talking about my own experience with weight gain. As I was already carrying a 50-pound feed sack of body fat with me everywhere I went, I had trouble carrying an extra REAL feed sack for work when I needed to. That moment I mentioned above got me thinking: I had been wanting to do some long-range walking with my BOB backpack on. I realized that my weight gain was also more than the weight of my BOB! I realized that I would have similar difficulty with my BOB, just like the feed sack. I got motivated to make a change. 

My motivation came from this powerful realization. Everything that I might need to do in a severe SHTF situation would be hampered by this 50 pound feed sack of fat that I was carrying everywhere: recon, going for water, anything else I needed to carry, wear and tear on my knees long term (certainly helpful to have good knees in SHTF!), any kind of conflict or fighting. That was it. I knew I needed to change.

Where I am Today and How I Did It

I have been genuinely working on this weight loss for a number of years. There are several reasons for that. One is that I needed to get my ducks in a row and develop some other strategies to manage stress, other than eating chocolate-covered almonds (true story, folks!). I accessed whatever services I could for free at a local mental health centre and got support to improve my coping strategies. I got back to meditation and committed to sticking with it during difficult times. I became more open with my friends about my struggles and made efforts to make new friends.

Another is that I needed some time to heal from my back injury and get active again. Finally, a lot of sh*t happens in life outside of SHTF. I had a rough year last year and gained back some of the precious weight I had lost. 

Today, I’m solidly down 40 pounds and confident that I will lose the last of this weight by Labour Day. I took it slow, real slow, and without any kind of rigid diet. One of the most important steps for consolidating the weight loss and preventing future gains was to completely remove all processed sugar from my diet. Yes, ALL OF IT. In that, I was mainly motivated to protect my brain from the large sugar spikes that can bring on dementia, but it also helped me lose more weight. You can read more about this lifestyle change here.

The good news for those considering a diet change like this is that my taste has changed. When I eat a sugar-laden treat that I used to enjoy (and I do allow myself to indulge from time to time), all I taste is the sugar. I don’t enjoy them as much as I used to, and I actually prefer my naturally sweetened treats, like date-sweetened hot cocoa, much more.

For health, mental health, and weight loss, I started with a modest walking program. It began with a wheezy 10-minute walk a few times a week and has worked up to a brisk 30-minute walk almost every day. I consider this the foundation of my health program. Although I had concerns at the beginning if this would hurt my back, I have found the opposite. The walking actually loosens up some of the tension in my back around the injury site. If I am hurting, one of the first things I try is to head out for my walk. 

The Science

I won’t belabour this. There are meaningful benefits to your health to getting your weight down to a healthy one. According to the American Heart Association, you will lower your chances of the following: “diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, gallstones, osteoarthritis, breathing problems and sleep apnea.”

If you think about this from a preparedness perspective, beyond the physical benefits of carrying and labouring in SHTF, you can avoid these diseases at a time when health care many be minimal or impossible to access. Many Americans are already facing difficulties accessing health care right now, too.

Final Thoughts

I’m not going to say that this has been easy. However, in terms of what I think about my own preparedness, I think this is one of the most important things I have done in my life. It’s not glamourous, doesn’t involve a high tech scope, and involves (sigh!) making the right choices day after goddamn day. I am a fish swimming in a sea of sugar, and that can wear on my sometimes. Heck, I don’t think there’s one thing I can eat now in my local Dunks. 

I Took a Weight Off My Mind

Although I’m not there yet, losing weight has helped me feel more prepared as I approach the age of 60. Do you think weight loss is a prep? Why or why not?