Letter Re: Predator-Proofing Your Property

Greetings Mr. Rawles;
First, allow me to thank you for your work.  I have only recently become aware of your site, having heard you on Mike Ruppert’s radio show.  In the short time since, I’ve gathered many useful facts and sources from the material on your site.  We all owe you a debt of thanks.

The post on protection from predators by John L.  is very valuable.  I have no disagreements with any of his approaches or solutions.  I would like to offer an alternative that has worked for us for the last 15 years, and may be suitable for some of your readers.

John L. is certainly correct that dogs are the worst predator problem for most people.  They can also be the solution.  I am referring to livestock guardian dogs (LGDs).  

Our property is located on the ridges running east from the Continental Divide in the Northern Rockies at 5,500 foot elevation.  We are very fortunate to own a small piece of a large private wildlife preserve.  We’ve been on this property for the last 11 years.  Although not as remote from neighbors as John L, we are on the edge of wild country with all the large predators either resident or transient on the property, including the neighbor’s sled dogs.  We keep goats, chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys on the place.  We also have two Great Pyrenees  LGDs.  In the 15 years we’ve kept Pyrs we have never lost a goat to a predator.  In the 11 years we’ve been here we have not lost one chicken to a predator- either raptor or four legged.  I did lose two little chicks and a duckling to a raven – but that was my fault. 

On our place we have two and a half acres fenced off – roughly in an oval shape.  Within that perimeter are the house, outbuildings, poultry enclosures, small pond, garden beds and young permaculture orchard.  The poultry -except the geese- are pretty much free range inside the perimeter.  We keep them out of the garden beds during the growing season, but otherwise they are generally free to chase ants and grasshoppers wherever the hunt may lead.  This cuts way down on insect damage to the gardens.  The goats are housed immediately outside this fenced area because of their taste for fruit trees.  Goats will be as tough on your orchard as deer.  The goats’ main task has been brush and weed control in this fire-prone country, thus they are not penned, though they do tend to stay within sight of the dogs and the homestead.  This arrangement has made it possible to easily move the poultry – if we need some of them in a particular area – within the fenced perimeter without major interior fencing or structure.  We do this to prepare garden beds and soil by letting the animals do most of the work.  A few short step-in posts and 3 feet of 2″ poultry mesh will tend to enclose any of the birds as long as there is plenty to eat.  I’ve built movable lightweight shelters for the poultry that are easy to re-locate.  To be accurate, the turkeys can fly, so we do have to be careful they haven’t landed in the lettuce.  You can clip a turkey’s wing, but we prefer them to be able to roost in the trees at night during the warmer season.  Also this allows them the ability to leave the main enclosure and forage for food in the surrounding woods – they fly over the fence and fly to avoid predators – returning in the evening.  Sounds risky, I know, but they stay close to the perimeter and the dogs.  We haven’t lost a turkey yet.

The dogs are free to patrol within the 2 1/2 acres because they are completely trustworthy with all the other critters.  As long as the perimeter fence holds predation is simply not a problem.  We’ve installed the 8′ deer fence that is a plastic/graphite combination for the perimeter.  This fence is used by the Forest Service, BLM and various state agencies as an “exclosure” in areas where it is necessary to keep the elk, moose and deer out–protecting stands of aspen trees.   We reinforce it with either snow-fence, poultry wire (along the bottom to keep rabbits from chewing through the fence) cattle panels, or some combination of these.  The elk and deer have not challenged the fence because of our dogs.  Only one of my neighbor’s sled dogs (which he occasionally seems unable to control) was ever stupid enough to actually try and dig under the fence to get at our turkeys.  I can’t say if missing half an ear has an effect on his ability to pull.

In the last 16 months the property has been visited by the usual assortment of fox, coyotes, feral dogs and bobcats.  No sweat for our dogs.  Although we’ve had several cougar on the property they stay at least 200 yards from the homestead.  What has made the last 16 months special are the wolves and bear.  In December/January adolescent wolves will leave the main pack and strike out on their own.  We have not had a pack here but have seen several of these loners.  They don’t even stop for coffee.  About a year ago a grizzly sow and yearling cub came through the place when they first woke up.  Our lead dog (female in this breed) bit through the poultry wire and the graphite and went out after the griz which were near her goats.  The grizzlies left and raided the neighbor’s barn for horse grain.  This last fall a large old boar black bear came through the place with much the same result.

When a predator is in the area the goats will crowd up against the outside of the fence as close to the dogs as they can get.  The fun part is that the deer that come in close at night to clean up the goat’s hay get the same idea.  The dogs try to bark the deer off the goats’ hay but otherwise recognize that the elk and deer are no threat.  This time of year when both mule deer and elk can be seen in large numbers the dogs will sit quietly and watch a group of 20 head or so grazing and browsing less than a hundred yards away.

These dogs are fabulous with kids.  When my grandchildren visit they simply do not go outside the perimeter without at least one dog – that’s the rule.  The kids climb on the dogs.  I even have a photo of a chicken standing on one of the dogs.

A good livestock guardian dog is as aware of birds of prey as it is other predators.  However, we see very few raptors here because there is a raven nest close-by.  The ravens, of course, despise hawks and owls and drive them away at first sight. 

LGDs are known to locate sick or injured stock and stay with them until the shepherd arrives. 

Disadvantages?  Well, the fact is that LGDs work at night.  They bark a lot to let the predators know about their territory.  My closest neighbor is more than a quarter mile away and keeps dogs himself so this is not a problem for us.  I have gotten used to the barking and find it reassuring, sleeping through much of it.  I’ve never had a problem distinguishing between this normal patrol barking and the “Boss, you better get out here!” bark.   In those instances I take the warning seriously, and just as John L proposes, I stumble into my boots, fill my hand with a 12 gauge and go deal.

Also, the Pyrenees will tend to wander a bit if not well fenced.  They don’t run away.  They are patrolling their territory.  It is just that their idea of their territory and yours may not match up.  This is a generalization and I’ve had a female Pyr who never needed a pen or fence.  She just stayed home.

Besides the Great Pyrenees there are numerous breeds of livestock Guardian dogs including Akbash, Anatolian, Kuvaz and Komondor.  They all have much lower food requirements than most dogs of a similar size and though there are differences between the breeds they all share the great protective instincts.  They are not attack dogs.  They are guardian dogs.  If you think an LGD may work in your situation, please do your research.  If someone were considering LGDs I’d strongly recommend getting a pup from working parents.  That imprinting maximizes your chance of having a good dog.  You can occasionally find adult LGD dogs through rescue services.  We have a rescue Pyr now who is absolutely the best guardian dog you could ask for.  I’ve had another rescue Pyr who was a pleasant doofus and completely useless for watchdog work.  Of course, if you have a good dog, bringing in a pup to learn from the older dog also increase your chances of success.

By keeping LGDs in this manner we’ve cut way down on the bomb-proof building requirements that would otherwise be necessary to keep the critters and the young trees safe.  In the times to come, when keeping electronic security items charged up and running may be a challenge, LGDs offer a low-tech security option.  It’s true, I really like these dogs.  Any critter actively guarding us and willing to give its life to keep the family and homestead safe deserves my affection. Thanks again for your work. – M.F.

Letter Re: Ammunition Storage and Do-It-Yourself Desiccants

Hi Jim.  
Dry wall is made of Gypsum, which is composed of Calcium Sulfate Dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found naturally and also made Synthetically by Flue Gas Desulfurization at some coal-fired electric power plants. Synthetic Gypsum can be used interchangeably with Natural Gypsum in some applications. There was a problem with drywall from China which contains too much Sulfur probably from the flue gas desulfurization process. When Water is absorbed by the bad drywall, Hydrogen Sulfide is formed which induces corrosion in some metals. I would not trust using drywall as a desiccant for ammo storage. Just think about opening your ammo boxes, finding the contents corroded! That would be "Penny wise and Pound foolish." – Chuck M. from the Northeast Kingdom

Economics and Investing:

The truth behind the “budget slashing” rhetoric: Debt Jumped $54.1 Billion in 8 Days Preceding Obama-Boehner Deal to Cut $38.5 Billion for Rest of Year

If you thought that the systematic looting of the Social Security trust fund was bad, then read this sad portent of future thievery: Treasury may borrow federal retirement funds in debt emergency. (“No cause for alarm. Nothing to see here, move along…”)

Over at The Daily Bell: The Story of Entitlement Addiction

Items from The Economatrix:

Shopper Spending Surprisingly Strong in March (Monetization as stimulus?)

Ron Paul:  Gold, Commodity Prices “Big Event” Signaling Economic Collapse

Who Would Sell Gold or Silver Now?

Banks in Illinois, Nevada Fail; Makes 28 Closed in 2011

Odds ‘n Sods:

Christopher Y. sent us a news item about England’s NHS to file under Dulce et decorum est: Socialized Medicine Director Dies Waiting for Operation

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Pat Buchanan asks: Is tribalism the future?

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I just heard that Emergency Essentials has some Iosat Potassium Iodide Tablets in transit that are scheduled to arrive early next week. They wrote: “After we have filled all backorders, a limited quantity of additional tablets will be available. Order today and you’ll be put into the queue for this shipment. We’ll stop taking orders after this shipment is sold out. We do have more on order, but we don’t have a time table for when they will arrive. Be sure to order some today.” 

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Scott P. wrote to mention: California: Anti-Gun Bills Scheduled to be Heard in the State Senate and Assembly Public Safety Committees on April 12. Scott’s comment: “From what I can tell, it bans the possession of all ammunition capable of penetrating body armor. That would mean all rifle ammo larger than .22 rimfire! I hate living in California.”

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A new, sad, chapter in the history of space flight: “Houston Discovery, For the Final Time, Wheels Stop”.

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 34 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and B.) Two cases of Alpine Aire freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $400 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo , and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, C.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and D.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.) , and B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value.

Round 34 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Self-Sufficiency or Communal Living?, by Lisa T.

Is it truly possible for someone to be self-sufficient? I like to garden, grow medicinal herbs and believe it’s good to learn whatever we can about the old-fashioned ways of doing things. Some of my friends like to make their own soap, keep bees, garden, can vegetables, make wine, make their own bread, hunt, butcher their own deer, and raise chickens, and I would love to raise goats, sheep and cows if we had enough land.

It appears to be part of a nationwide trend toward natural living. The reasons for the trend, at least in the beginning, appear to be a mixture of:

– An increased awareness of how unhealthy processed food is;
– The aging of the population leading people to try eating healthier;
– People becoming more involved in their own health care (a trend which began in the 1990s);
– Concern about peak oil and environmental sustainability;
– An awareness of living in the end times and getting ready in case they need to survive without buying or selling (Revelation 13).

The movement has gained momentum in the past few years, mostly due to the economy. More women home schooling their kids, necessitating some home budget cutting measures has also added to the movement. Recently, another reason to be self-sustaining in regard to electricity has been presenting itself: rolling blackouts and brownouts in Texas and elsewhere due to environmental regulations and new power plants not being built. If this becomes more widespread, and it probably will, the less we have to rely on the electrical grid the better off we will be.

Some survival sites encourage people to learn how to do everything – from blacksmithing, marksmanship and candle making to midwifery, weaving and setting up your own solar electric system. It would be great if we could learn all the old skills and some new ones like energy production. The thing is, it really isn’t possible to be totally and completely self-sufficient.

It’s worth trying to learn all we can and to have access to instructions in print, in case the need for something arises. But there isn’t enough time in each person’s day to be able to learn more than a few of these things, at best, at an expert level. I wonder just how many people believe they’re really being self-sufficient while still relying on consumer goods. We may be fooling ourselves since almost everyone still has to rely on regular grocery store trips, maybe ordering ingredients, things that are not produced locally, anything made of or packaged in plastic which is made of oil, shipping to stores or delivery which requires oil, anything requiring electricity or municipal water, or a vehicle that we can’t repair ourselves, especially if it has any computer parts. Even if we have everything we may need, it will eventually wear out and need to be replaced.

Since no one can be truly self-sufficient, I believe we will see a trend toward more communal living. Throughout history, families and tribes tended to live together or near each other and to divide labor. Most people living far from their families and not knowing their neighbors is mostly a recent Western phenomenon. Older people took care of and taught younger children while the more able-bodied adults did the manual labor. There have always been economic systems and trade, and the more intricate the system and the more specialized the labor, the better quality of life was in general.

Capitalism remains the best system, of course, because the other extreme, communism, doesn’t provide enough incentive for production and innovation. I especially dislike the fact that in communism, the hardest workers get the same credit and compensation as the slackers do. We may end up with something in-between at some point in the future, at least temporarily. The idea isn’t an extremely pleasant one but it may be necessary at least for awhile if one of the following or something similar happens to occur:

– The economy completely collapses
– We have war in our own country – civil war or invasion
– If peak oil really is true. We will never suddenly, completely run out of oil. Its easy availability will decline (very slowly at first) and over time become prohibitively expensive. There’s “plenty” of oil left, but it will require more energy to extract it from shale and to find it in harder-to-get-to locations.

I believe it would be a good idea to start thinking about ways to cooperate within a family or community. Read about intentional communities and how they organize, their criteria for membership, and their division of labor. Maybe adapt some of their ideas to use in a family household. If you happen to have the opportunity to make some type of alternative living arrangement, you could benefit from taking it and doing it early. It’s always better to choose something than have something forced upon you. Maybe you could find out what skills or products others could offer for barter in your area, and figure out what you could offer that isn’t already being done. If everyone you know has chickens, you could raise sheep. Find a need and fill it, something that most people can’t do. For example, don’t rely on growing tomatoes or sewing for barter (unless you have an unusual level of expertise, like making clothes without a pattern). Learn a more unique and valuable skill.

There’s a fascinating guest article on a blog owned by Dmitry Orlov, author of Reinventing Collapse. It’s about a 1,050 acre commune in Tennessee [called “The Farm”] that was started in 1971 by 320 people on a 50-bus caravan from San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. While I don’t advocate their lifestyle and don’t think we all need to rush out and join a commune of course, it’s informative and interesting. They weren’t totally self-sufficient either but they had a pretty good system set up.

At its peak, there were over 1,000 people living there plus numerous guests always coming and going, which dwindled to 200 people years later, and lately their population is increasing again. When they got there, they lived in tents and buses while they were building structures for sleeping, bathing, sanitation, and a kitchen. Later they had buildings for canning and freezing, a motor pool, school, clinic, and used an old log cabin already on the property for a business center. They got water from a springhouse, stored in a reclaimed water tower. They had a party line telephone network set up that went to the buildings and even the tents, and was dialed by using Morse code. There was even a line dedicated to emergencies.

Some of the skills they used were welding, auto mechanics, construction, ham radio, printing, teaching, food preservation, and a lot of technical creativity. They had positions for fire marshal, night sentries, gate and patrol security, and medical personnel. They printed a weekly newspaper called “Amazing Tales of Real Life” and printed do-it-yourself books.

Communes are a type of “Intentional Community.” An organization called Fellowship for Intentional Community has a list of over 500 intentional communities of different kinds, and the common ingredient is shared values. Most members are between the ages of 30-60.  Some are just where people live near each other to form a nice family neighborhood. Some are ecology-oriented, many are artists’ enclaves, and some share the same religion. Most of the religious ones tend to be of the New Age variety, but there are some that claim to be Christian. They tend to be egalitarian and democratic. Most are rural or suburban, and some are urban. Very few are true communes, where they share all their possessions.

A few intentional community dwellers deliberately live in crime-ridden areas to be lights in the darkness. More of them, however, form communities to get away from crime. Dmitry Orlov (mentioned above) lived in Russia for 12 years and had an opportunity to frequently visit Russia after their economic collapse. He says jobs providing security detail proliferated and he expects the same thing to happen in the U.S. Many experts advise setting up a serious version of a neighborhood watch if crime gets too rampant in the future.

Communal living, BTW, has gotten a bad name from communism and the recreational drugs and promiscuity of some of the hippies, and rightly so. Remember though, that the early Christians “had all things in common” – they sold their possessions and pooled the money. Some Jews in Israel have taken it a step further, forming kibbutzim (Hebrew for “communal settlements”). They were founded around 1940 mostly by Eastern European immigrants, so they probably were influenced by Soviet Communism. That’s just the lifestyle they were accustomed to, so that should come as no surprise. It’s worth noting that although the atheistic form of Communism has failed, the worshipers of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have made it work for much longer – assuming they kept their Jewish roots and didn’t adhere to the atheist aspect of Soviet Communism.

There are around 700 kibbutzim in Israel now, with 40 to 1,000+ members each. Most members live in their own home and have communal playgrounds, dining halls, auditoriums, libraries, swimming pools, tennis courts, medical clinics, laundry, and grocery stores. It’s largely due to the kibbutzim that the “deserts are blooming” with agriculture in formerly barren land. They grow a large percentage of the produce that Israel exports around the world. They have businesses manufacturing a wide variety of things, specializing in metal work, plastic and processed food. They also cater to tourism, with guest houses, swimming pools, horseback riding, tennis courts, museums, exotic animal farms and water parks. They don’t have enough workers for all the labor available, so they host volunteers to live and work there for awhile, and hire locals.

Whether you get inspired to join or start an intentional community, use some of their ideas within your own neighborhood or household, or set up a bartering situation, these people are on the vanguard of what appears to be a positive trend and we can learn from their mistakes and successes.

Two Letters Re: Living Proof: It All Comes Down to Diet and Exercise

Sir,
I have to agree with this article.  I first heard about the South Beach diet from a coworker who lost over 100 pound and kept it off for many years this way.  I’ve successfully used it myself, me, who thought I could never stick to a diet.  It was developed by a cardiologist with the goal being to provide his patients with a diet that would greatly lower their risk of stroke and heart attack and improve their cardiac and blood profiles.  My only caveat is I don’t agree with his recommended use of Splenda and NutraSweet.  Use all natural Stevia instead. – Kathryn N.

JWR Replies: I concur! As I’ve mentioned before in the blog, I recommend minimizing the intake of aspartame-based artificial sweeteners (like Benevia, Canderal, Equal, NutraSweet, Equal, and Spoonful.) They have some profound negative health effects that are just starting to be revealed. I predict that in the long run, aspartame will have a reputation as bad as Red Dye #2.

Mr. Rawles-
I felt I must respond to the article that was presented on the South Beach Diet as a tool to get into shape before TSHTF. It is an excellent way to eat for those who suffer from hypothyroidism and in fact is one that is highly recommended by many endocrinologists for those with Hashimoto’s Disease (of which I deal with and have dealt with for years). The body turns carbs into sugar which causes an inflammatory reaction within the body and for those with hypothyroidism this means muscle aches, pains and low energy. When I stay away from processed foods, fruit and what I will term ‘bad’ carbs, I feel really good even when my TSH levels are way out of whack. Eat one doughnut, one piece of white bread or drink one soda, I can feel. I believe that if your readers who suffer from hypothyroidism just tried the diet with no other intentions except to feel better that they would find that many of the symptoms of hypothyroidism would either be lessened or go away. Protein is the hypo’s suffers best friend and carbs are not!   Blessings – Rev. L.B.

Economics and Investing:

Avoiding Federal Government Shutdown: The agreement included some $38.5 billion dollars of extra spending cuts. We are swimming in red ink and all they can agree to is a miniscule cut? Do they think that people will be fooled by the “big number” of $38.5 billion? They will never balance the budget! The congresscritters have doomed us to a Dollar Disaster of epic proportions.

Frequent content contributor C.D.V. sent us this: U.S. Dollar Crisis Looms, Spike in Interest Rates Following End of QE2

Also from C.D.V.: Toxic Dollar: Why Nobody Seems to Want US Currency (Finally, the mainstream media is catching on!)

Items from The Economatrix:

Natural Gas Drops; Oil Jumps Above $110

Euro Sinks on Fears of Bailout

Silver Is Getting Too Popular, Right?

When The Saudi Monarchy Fails

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader R.W.M. sent an interesting report on violent crime ratings per state: “U.S. Peace Index”.   

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Stephen M. spotted this: Oklahoma sees driest four months since Dust Bowl

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My wife Avalanche Lily suggested this article about home dairy goats in the cities and suburbs: A Pet That Makes Milk. (Well, “pet” is probably not the best term, since bucklings are traditionally sold for eventual butcher, and retired does usually go in the chest freezer.)

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Reader J.H. suggested Conservapedia, “…as Yin for Wikipedia’s Yang”.He also mentioned that it is a good resource for homeschoolers. JWR Adds: At least Conservapedia admits it has a bias. But the cabals of partisan agitprop rule Wikipedia with an iron fist. Wikipedia is noticeably biased toward socialism and against Christianity. The cabals systematically engage in POV pushing, Wikilawyering, and manufacturing artificial “neutral” viewpoints. They are relentless, yet they maintain their Teflon sheen. Even the very existence of cabals is denied. (You have to look hard to find any evidence in Wikipedia, itself.)

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Denny V. wrote to note: “Recently, the LDS [Bishop’s Warehouse] cannery here in North Carolina has changed their policies and non-LDS members can no longer use their facilities unless accompanied by a LDS member. I am told it is now a nationwide policy change. You may wish to check on it. I had an appointment for April 6th and it was canceled by the cannery, since I am not a LDS member.”  

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.

Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.

Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.

Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou [art] the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they [have been] ever of old. – Psalm 25:2-6 (KJV)

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 34 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and B.) Two cases of Alpine Aire freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $400 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo , and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, C.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and D.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.) , and B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value.

Round 34 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Living Proof: It All Comes Down to Diet and Exercise, by Midwest Hiker

I would guess that most SurvivalBlog readers would agree that the mind, including state of mind and skill set, is one’s most important asset during TEOTWAWKI. Additionally, I would argue that being physically fit runs a very close second place. I have always been a prepper to a certain degree; even before I had ever heard the term. However in the back of my mind I knew that my body would not make it far even if my family’s survival depended upon it. In addition to being pre-diabetic, I was taking medication for high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I subtly tried to acquire a stock of my medications from my doctor, but was unable to secure more than a few months’ supply. I also spoke to my doctor about my weight and he mentioned that I should take a look at the South Beach Diet. I bought the book and the ideas sounded reasonable. However, I failed to act upon the information until in January 2010, when after several years of working in front of a computer monitor, I hit 300 pounds. I decided that day that I would not gain another pound and I would do everything in my power to regain my fitness.

In my youth, I had been a muscular 200 pounds at 5 foot 11 inches, and I thought that I would never see that level of fitness again especially now that I am in my forties. After all, I had eliminated soda, and started eating more salads and less fatty foods all to no avail. A few years back I had lost quite a bit of weight while on the Atkins diet, but the way I had implemented it was very unhealthy. In fact I developed gout from the all of the red meat I was eating. Once I went back to my old habits, the gout never returned, but I regained all of the weight I had lost and more. Exercise had proven to be even more of a challenge because I was perpetually tired. It’s amazing how just a day at the office can exhaust you when you are carrying an extra hundred plus pounds.

In my mind diets always represented a short-term state. The problem is that as soon as you stop dieting, even if you had reached your goal, you begin to regain the weight because you go back to your old habits. In order to be successful at permanently losing weight, I knew I would have to make lifestyle changes. I studied the Paleo diet and the South Beach diet. I even revisited the Atkins diet, which had even been revised since the time I had tried it to be more healthy. I found a growing body of evidence that avoiding fast carbohydrates and embracing good fats in moderation would cause you to lose weight, balance blood cholesterol as well as blood sugar. In fact, the low-fat, grain based diet that has been advanced by the FDA, which I had believed in as gospel, could actually have been working against me.

The main concept of this movement (at least to the extent of my understanding) is that your body will burn carbohydrates first until they are gone and then it will burn the fats. The more carbs you have in your diet, the less likely it is that you will burn significant amounts of fat. When your body absorbs carbs it produces insulin to break down the sugars, and if you intake a significant amount of carbs that can be quickly absorbed by your body your blood will get a huge spike in insulin to help burn those carbs. Once the carbs have been processed you still have the insulin in our blood, which will cause you to crave even more carbs. The resulting situation can be self-perpetuating and quite addictive. Some sources of quick carbohydrates that I expected to see were sugared soda and sweets. Other sources were more of a surprise such as white flour, white rice, potatoes and fruit juice. As it turns out, while fruit juice is much healthier, it puts just as much sugar into your system as soda and just as quickly. Once you have stopped yourself from riding this carb pendulum, your body will start to process fats, which will naturally lower cholesterol and help you to lose weight.

I started by eliminating almost all carbs from my diet for the first two weeks to break myself from the carb addiction. Meals consisted lean meats, cheese, and lots of green vegetables. I avoided anything made from grains, beans, fruits, and milk. During this time, I was not concerned that I probably ate even more calories than before I started. I felt that I was missing something from my diet and I was trying to make up for it. By the end of those first two week, I had lost 10 to 15 pounds without counting a calorie or working out, and I was starting to get used to the staples of my new way of eating.

After those first weeks, I started to add a serving of slow carbs each day such as beans, a slice of 100% whole wheat bread, a bowl of oatmeal, brown rice. Be careful with bread and especially more processed foods. Many “wheat” breads still have enriched white flour in them, and most processed foods have an incredible amount of added sugars and other hidden carbs. If you are not eating a whole food, it is imperative that you read every label. You will be absolutely shocked at what you find. I also tried to avoid any carbs first thing in the morning, which helps to lower the possibility of a spike in blood sugar.

By the first couple of months, I had lost about 40 pounds, and began eating smaller portions. I was still not counting calories or letting myself feel starved. If I had cheated, then I just restarted the next day. But, I didn’t cheat that much because I was seeing some serious results, and I wanted to see more. Additionally, I was feeling much better, had more energy, and started to walk every day. A visit to my doctor around this time revealed that my blood pressure had dropped and my cholesterol was spot on for the first time since it had been measured in spite of my long history of taken satins to lower it. As a result the doctor took me off of half of my medications for blood pressure, and reduced the amount of statins that I was taking.

About this time, my wife, who was seeing similar results, and I decided to plan a backpacking trip for midsummer. We knew we would have to work hard to prepare, but all of the hiking and workouts we did in preparation started to seem much more like fun than work. Just before leaving for our trip, I visited the doctor again. By this time I had lost about 70 pounds. My blood pressure was perfect as was my cholesterol. I was allowed to discontinue both medications altogether as long as I promised to self-monitor my blood pressure and go in for regular check-ups to monitor the cholesterol. To this day both my blood pressure and cholesterol are right where they should be without the help of medications.

As it turns out, our backpacking trip went without a hitch, with one exception: we had significantly underestimated how fit we had become, and could have traveled quite a bit more distance than we planned.

Today I have lost a total of 95 pounds, and I have added weight training in the last few months. I find that I actually enjoy exercise now that I have energy and my body has become used to it. The remaining weight has been a bit more difficult to lose, but I am building lean muscle. I am within five pounds of my original goal, and I can comfortably hike all day with a 40 pound pack. Well, okay, I am mostly comfortable. I still get sore feet and am glad to sit down at the end of the trail, but the hike is enjoyable and not a strain.

Now that I am close to maintenance weight and have started weight training I have been changing my diet to reflect that fact. I now eat 2 or 3 servings of slow carbs a day including whole fruits. I also try to limit the meat portion of each meal to the size of a pack of cards while each plate is ¾ vegetables. In fact I now eat much of the things that we have in our food storage, such as dried vegetables, canned or in season, dried or canned beans, whole wheat, whole oats, and dried, frozen or canned meats. The closest we come to eating processed foods is bread, which we still eat in moderation.

I intended this article to show others what is possible. It was not possible in an article of this length to fully cover all of the topics you will need to be successful. If these ideas sound interesting, please spend some time studying how to implement a healthy low-carb diet, and discuss your findings with your doctor. I have found The South Beach Diet to be a wonderful resource. The author, cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston, does not try to sell you foods, but provides the science behind the diet as well as real world examples and recipes. I do believe that understanding the science is quite important because that’s what enabled me to work the concepts in to my daily life and around the types of foods we eat and have in our larder (we never stored processed foods). Believe me if I can do it, so can you!