I have experienced two different times in my life of going hungry. The first time I went with very little food for three months. I went from 145 lbs to 115 lbs. I am 5’8 and my weight should be around 140-160 according to the Body Mass Index (BMI). The second time wasn’t as bad because I knew what to expect. I went from 175 lbs to about 135 lbs. I now weigh a comfortable 190 lbs. I purposely gained weight above the recommended 160 but I try to keep my weight maintained just under the obese level. I do exercise and I eat healthy.
I have learned several things from going hungry, at least for my experience:
1. Candy bars are not good for trying to ease hunger pains. Yes they can help give a very short term boost in energy, but they leave you feeling hungrier within an hour, some starch or protein is better.
2. Starving leaves you feeling lethargic. Going without food leaves your body without energy to perform necessary functions for survival. You have to be mentally prepared to go hungry. If you do not have the willpower to continue to push through your weakness you will give up and die, literally.
3. Having some stored fat helps you to continue going hungry for longer. Having too much fat will just make you a target when everyone else is hungry too. Yes you can live off of stored energy but do not endanger yourself by becoming obese. You will increase your risk of diabetes and heart problems, as well as decrease your ability to survive in TEOTWAWKI. I purposely am a bit overweight because I have found that when I go hungry it is easier to go down to 135 lbs and function than it is to go down to 115 lbs and function, however I do not ever gain weight above 190 lbs because then I cannot run or do heavy work as well. TEOTWAWKI may not come for another 20 years and there is no sense in putting yourself in risk of a heart attack.
4. You can survive on beans alone. For over thirty days I had no food at all and then I was given a box containing nothing but cans of kidney beans. For the next twelve days I had a can of beans a day and I felt much better and gained a little energy.
Both times I have gone hungry was because I had no or very little money to buy food, it was not a choice and if I can prevent it from happening again I will. I now make sure to have plenty of canned food from my garden in storage, but if I have to go hungry again I know that I can go at least three months on very little food and still work and function.