# Let's call it... the "bug out" diet



## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Some of you may recall a few weeks back when I shared information from an article I read in a survival magazine.
The article was written to show what you could do to avoid starvation if needing to bug out, when carrying 2 weeks worth of food isn't practical/possible.
The idea was, you could supplement your body with vitamins and glucose to avoid the detrimental aspects of starvation, and still function.
Carrying glucose tabs and multi-vitamins is much easier than carrying bags and backpacks of groceries.
The scientific description was given than, if you don't have food to eat, you can take a multi-vitamin to give you your necessary vitamin C to avoid scurvy, and Thiamine to avoid beriberi. The other vitamins are beneficial as well, but not as necessary day to day.
You also have to keep your brain well fed, thus you take glucose to fuel your brain.
When you aren't eating, your body will start to switch over to breaking down fatty acids in the liver to create ketone bodies that your brain and muscles can use for energy.
Once you've gone into this mode, sometimes referred to as "ketosis", your brain gets ~70% of its needed energy from ketone bodies, but still requires some glucose. The accepted idea is that you still need about 30 grams of glucose per day to support your brain.
Your other bodily functions can continue just fine working on ketones alone.
So, your fat breaks down, you lose weight, and you keep your brain bathed in glucose.

The article prescribed a daily consumption of a full day complete multi-vitamin, and two glucose tabs.(what size of tabs will come into play later)
Of course, water should be readily available, as it is intended to be drank constantly, both to avoid dehydration, and to satisfy a grumbling tummy.
In fact, one of the first signs of dehydration is a grumbling tummy. We aren't taught that, thus we generally eat food when our bodies actually need water.

So... my brain started the dangerous process of taking this information and making up ways to utilize it in such as manner as it was most likely never intended.
It asked, "How can I lose weight by following this regimen?"
Studying ensued.
As luck would have it, I was already into week one of a low-carb diet, so ketosis was already starting to take hold.
At the beginning of the low-carb stint, I weighed in at a hefty *247lbs*. My highest has only been 250, but I didn't like this any better than that.
To top it off, I have a Caribbean cruise coming up, and that added its own motivation.
My studying lead me to find information on "starvation diets" and studies relating to "caloric restriction diets".
I read about the effects, what was allowed and what wasn't in each experiment, and what the results were.

I came to the conclusion, most likely against sound medical advice, that I was going to try this and see what happened. It's my body, I'll do what I want, right?
I continued the low-carb option for another two weeks while I worked up a plan in my head.
By the end of the third week, I had reached *235lbs*. A loss of 12lbs in three weeks is darn good in my book, but it was tough.

(SIDE NOTE: You are most likely already asking yourself, "why in the world would you choose to not eat over just doing a diet where you still get to eat, but are limited in options?" I have an answer for that. It's all psychological with me. Denying myself *this* while forcing myself to eat *that* was like playing tug-o-war with myself. I felt like I lost either way, even if the end result showed success. I decided I'd rather not stress over whether my food options were available at any given place, and just choose to do without. This actually brings a bit of peace. The mental struggle was gone.)

I spent the weekend of the third week preparing. I found a multi-vitamin that offered more than enough vitamin C and B1(thiamine), as well as the rest of the B family, and iron, and some electrolytes. I also picked up two small tubes of glucose tabs from the pharmacy section, under the diabetic supplies.
My idea was to run this experiment for 1 week, and see the results. People have fasted for this long, and suffered very little, so it isn't really that drastic when you think about it.

I'm in day three now. How did it go, you ask?

Day 1: (weigh in at 7:00am after morning "elimination", *235lbs*)
No breakfast, downed the vitamin and a single glucose tab and headed to work. Packed my glucose tabs to take with me.
No lunch, popped another glucose tab. Consumption of water was kept constant throughout the workday, and hunger was kept at bay.
I actually didn't fell *any* hunger pangs until the drive home.
Water consumption while at work, 2 liters.
I had read a little more on the calorie restriction studies, and decided that a little bit was probably good for me, but I didn't want carbs, which could slow the ketosis cycle. I stopped and picked up large sliced pepperonis and colby/jack cheese cubes from the store on the way home.
I popped a third glucose pill, and one serving of each of the food items. 6 cubes of cheese wrapped in 6 cubes of pepperoni. I considered it a good sign that both serving sizes were '6'.

Day 2: (weigh in at same time, *232lbs*)
Ditto on breakfast. A slight "knotting" feeling in the lower abdomen for about 10 minutes. Felt different than hunger.
Ditto on lunch. A bit more of a hunger feeling than the day before, and passing dull headaches.
Ditto on water.
Dinner saw an increase of 1 additional pepperoni and cheese to combat earlier symptoms.
The rest of the night was fine.

Day 3: (weigh in, *230lbs*)
Ditto on breakfast, ditto on knotting felling, but shorter duration(2 min).
Around mid-morning, I started to feel light headed. I did a little more looking into low blood sugar, and found that most people consume ~15 grams of glucose if they start to experience low blood sugar symptoms. This set off a bit of a flag.
The glucose tables I'd been taking were only 4 grams each!
I'd only been taking a total of 3 a day, or 12 grams!
I started looking online, and found that there is another size sold, 15 grams in one pill.
D'OH! It was then that I realized that the article had left out the size of the glucose tabs.
It started to make sense, based on the research I'd done about supplying glucose to the brain, that 2 tabs of 15 grams each would provide *30 GRAMS*!
*_LIGHTBULB_*
To combat the effects of apparent low blood sugar, I popped two pills at lunch, instead of just 1.

Here I sit, the middle of day 3. Still no strong feelings of hunger, 1 liter of water consumed, wooziness starting to clear up a bit, and planning to head down to the truck to grab more glucose from my EDC. (I never expected when I added the glucose tabs to my EDC/FAK bag, that the first person to need them would be *ME*! I love being prepared.)

I'll continue to update this as the week progresses.
The only times I start to even feel hungry is when my habits kick in. "The clock says BLAH, time to eat... oh wait."
Smells of food are almost enough to satiate, instead of induce, hunger.
I could smell the Fuzzy's Taco place two blocks away, and it was magical.

Status update:
Days on regimen: 2.5
Weight lost: 5lbs
Vitals: strong
General comfort: slight wooziness, still functional, short dull headaches
Hunger level: mild (the water helps tremendously, I was never getting enough before)
Energy level: Unchanged
Irritability: slight increase

I'll be bumping my glucose consumption accordingly.

I'm open to all manner of responses.
I know we have some medically inclined members, and I'd like to hear their opinions, whatever they may be.
There is little chance this will kill me, so little chance I'll be persuaded to stop, but have at it!


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## Arklatex (May 24, 2014)

So are you still taking a morning shit. Wonder how long it takes a person to clean out.


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## Dinah (Sep 22, 2014)

Would pedialyte help. You are drinking lots of water but may not really be absorbing it ..perhaps some extra vitamin C.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Arklatex said:


> So are you still taking a morning shit. Wonder how long it takes a person to clean out.


I was trying to be as non-descriptive as possible about that part...
My morning ritual involves only liquid elimination.
Solids have always been an evening affair. 

For now, both are still recurring at normal intervals.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Dinah said:


> Would pedialyte help. You are drinking lots of water but may not really be absorbing it ..perhaps some extra vitamin C.


The multi-vitamin I chose contains 417% of the daily recommended dose of vitamin C.
I think I'm good there.

I had looked in to using an electrolyte drink, like pedialyte, in the past.
However, unless one is suffering from dehydration and loss of body salts, such drinks over an extended period increase the risk of painful kidney stones.
I've had only one such stone in my entire life, and I NEVER want another one.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

Kauboy, I am not trying to be critical, but I have a couple of concerns. First of all, your poor pancreas must be doing back flips trying to keep up with the sugar loads. Your insulin levels must be all over the place. Jacking the sugar up and down (without protein to modify the extreme swings) is pretty hard on the whole glucose/insulin response system.

Second, this may keep you alive in a survival situation for a short time, but protein deprivation will eventually take its toll. I've seen villages of people who were never hungry, eating a diet of mostly sago paste, fruit and greens. Lots of vitamins and tons of carbohydrates, as sago is pure starch (the equivalent of eating sugar all day long like you are doing.) The kids had pot bellies and orange hair due malnutrition from protein deficiency. They became stunted as soon as they stopped breast feeding. No one was hungry, but the lack of protein was very evident. Your muscles, particularly your heart may well suffer.

I would really suggest finding some sort of protein supplement to add to your survival diet. I think there are protein tablets you can get. There is certainly a variety of protein powders. Or you could have the perfect "bug out" diet by using dried cricket flour (70% high quality protein.) 

PS: the weight you are losing is mostly water (from stored starches that are no longer in your system) and the cleaned out gut. You have basically prepped for a colonoscopy and cleaned out your bowel.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Thank you for your input, RN!

To put your mind at ease, I do still get protein in the evening, from the meat and cheese dinner.
I also don't intend to keep this going for extended periods.
My plan is to take the weekends off, and eat small but normal meals.

Your mention about losing water weight is something I will have to disagree with.
During the first two weeks of a low-carbohydrate diet, the primary loss of weight is due to water, which I had already went through prior to starting this.

You mentioned that insulin fluctuations throughout the day would be detrimental. I chose to spread out my glucose consumption throughout the day to decrease this effect.
Do you believe that taking it throughout the day(8g every 4-5hrs) is worse than taking it all at once(30g)?


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Day 3: (continued)
Consumed more glucose than previously, after learning I was taking less than I should.
Dinner consisted of the same meat and cheese ration as the night before, along with 3 more glucose tabs.

Day 4: (weight: *228lbs*)
Breakfast was a vitamin and 2 glucose tabs. No knotting feeling this morning.
My glucose consumption has been increased to 2 tabs every 4-5 hours in order to hit 28-32 total grams for the day.

I'm now back to the very shortest hole on my belt, and my wife says she is noticing a diameter reduction of my waist line when she hugs me.

Status update:
Days on regimen: 3
Weight lost: 7lbs
Vitals: strong
General comfort: wooziness drastically decreased since bumping glucose consumption
Hunger level: mild (the water helps tremendously, I was never getting enough before)
Energy level: Unchanged
Irritability: slight increase


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

I've always believed that if you want to lose weight you need to change your eating/exercise habits. Change in a way you will be able to live with the rest of your life, not some temporary thing that isn't good for your body. But that is just me, to each his own, best of luck.
It's been my experience talking to other people when a person does something drastic to lose weight, once they go back to eating normally, they put on the weight they lost plus more.


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## Arklatex (May 24, 2014)

Here is something I copied and pasted from a search on fasting. This is a common thing in the Buddhist world. Kauboy, be careful when you prepare to go back to a normal diet. :



"When a practitioner adopts a supervised fasting practice he or she eats dry bread for three days to prepare the stomach for no food. The standard fasting period is eighteen days and only a small amount of water is drunk daily. Most important is the ending of the fast, which requires small portions of thin porridge or gruel every few hours for three days, until the digestive system has come fully back to life. If this first fast is successful and beneficial to one's practice, then one can attempt a thirty-six day fast. Some fasters have extended the period gradually over years to include fasting for up to seventy-two days. This is an extreme practice that is only recommended to one who has taken all the required steps with the supervision of an experienced teacher."


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Moonshinedave said:


> I've always believed that if you want to lose weight you need to change your eating/exercise habits. Change in a way you will be able to live with the rest of your life, not some temporary thing that isn't good for your body. But that is just me, to each his own, best of luck.
> It's been my experience talking to other people when a person does something drastic to lose weight, once they go back to eating normally, they put on the weight they lost plus more.


That is always a concern, with any diet program.
You are quite correct, a drastic change in diet is not a solution.
Altering one's lifestyle is the proper way to achieve longevity. No denying this.

I started this as an experiment. I wanted to see if the article provided a real world option for leaving one's preps behind.
I think I've proven that 72 hours on this diet is more than feasible for just about anyone, thought I've altered it a bit by adding about ~275 calories of food each day to the <100 from the tabs.
That should be salvageable from your environment, if you have an eye for edibles.

Today will see a change in my eating.
We have a team lunch at work, so I will be shifting my evening meal to lunch time, and comparing the results.
Trying to stay around the same caloric intake will be tricky at a Chinese buffet:shock:, but I will try my best.

I've heard that prolonged periods without food can lead to a shrinkage of the stomach, or a lack of elasticity in the ability for the stomach to stretch.
How long does this take?
Should I expect this, and could it help to curb my appetite once I return to a normal eating schedule?


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Arklatex said:


> Here is something I copied and pasted from a search on fasting. This is a common thing in the Buddhist world. Kauboy, be careful when you prepare to go back to a normal diet. :
> 
> "When a practitioner adopts a supervised fasting practice he or she eats dry bread for three days to prepare the stomach for no food. The standard fasting period is eighteen days and only a small amount of water is drunk daily. Most important is the ending of the fast, which requires small portions of thin porridge or gruel every few hours for three days, until the digestive system has come fully back to life. If this first fast is successful and beneficial to one's practice, then one can attempt a thirty-six day fast. Some fasters have extended the period gradually over years to include fasting for up to seventy-two days. This is an extreme practice that is only recommended to one who has taken all the required steps with the supervision of an experienced teacher."


Thanks Ark!
I'll keep this in mind.
Since I'm still including a low amount food and no reduction in drink in my daily consumption, I would expect my return to a normal schedule won't be as drastic, but I will certainly take it easy when I do.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

Kauboy said:


> You mentioned that insulin fluctuations throughout the day would be detrimental. I chose to spread out my glucose consumption throughout the day to decrease this effect.
> Do you believe that taking it throughout the day(8g every 4-5hrs) is worse than taking it all at once(30g)?


Whenever you eat glucose, it raises blood sugar. The pancreas responds by releasing insulin to drive the blood sugar down. Eventually the cells of the body get tired of the insulin floating around all the time so they become resistant to the affects. Then more insulin is pumped out and more resistance results. "Insulin resistance" can be a precurser to Type II diabetes. It also causes cortisol to be released with adds fat to the belly region. It is so much better to take a little protein with the glucose so that it is absorbed more slowly. This prevents the big surge in blood glucose and the subsequent surge in insulin.

That being said, 8 gm is a pretty small amount and spread over the day, would be better than a big, one time surge. However, I think it would still be healthier to take some of your protein allotment and eat it with the glucose.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

RNprepper said:


> Whenever you eat glucose, it raises blood sugar. The pancreas responds by releasing insulin to drive the blood sugar down. Eventually the cells of the body get tired of the insulin floating around all the time so they become resistant to the affects. Then more insulin is pumped out and more resistance results. "Insulin resistance" can be a precurser to Type II diabetes. It also causes cortisol to be released with adds fat to the belly region. It is so much better to take a little protein with the glucose so that it is absorbed more slowly. This prevents the big surge in blood glucose and the subsequent surge in insulin.
> 
> That being said, 8 gm is a pretty small amount and spread over the day, would be better than a big, one time surge. However, I think it would still be healthier to take some of your protein allotment and eat it with the glucose.


If I'm not mistaken, doesn't protein consumption cause a rise in insulin when broken down by the liver?
If consuming both glucose and protein, would that not increase the insulin in the blood moreso than glucose alone?

Thanks for your info!


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Day 4: (continued)
I went a bit overboard at lunch, but not bad. A bit of crab meat, a few bites of grilled chicken, a few bites of peppered pork, and some salmon.
Only one plate, which is record when you consider my past trips to this particular buffet.
I did take a single glucose tab with it.
After work, I needed to mow the yard.
I cheated a bit here, and popped a few cheese cubes before starting.
I could fell that my energy level was not what it was. I was worn out from doing a task I'd done many times before.
In a sedentary state, the energy difference was not noticeable. When doing anything active, that changed.
A few bites of pepperoni after mowing, and another cheese cube.
Two glucose tabs...

Day 5: (weight *228lbs*- no change) 
It would seem my cheating had more of an effect than I realized.
Breakfast was two tabs and the vitamin. Today was a "donuts with dad" day at school, so I nibbled a mini-glazed donut with my son.
I will limit food for the rest of the day to my normal regimen.
I want to try to reach 20lbs lost in total(8 for the week) by Saturday morning. Only 1lb away at this point.


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## Arklatex (May 24, 2014)

I feel like Kauboy is taking one for the team with his experiment. In all honesty I believe that there are healthier and more effective ways to lose weight quickly but that aspect of the experiment isn't what interests me. I am more interested in how starvation effects an individual who is used to a nice American lifestyle that is suddenly lost. This gives us insight on some possible effects of post shtf on unprepared people. Attitude, energy levels and such. Or if we somehow lost our stash and had to make a run for it without food. Kauboy, I think you should increase your activity level to get a truer sense of how this diet is affecting you. In a bug out you won't be sitting around, you will be working your ass off. I think you should go for a jog and do some crunches and push ups. Then report back. Thanks for sharing.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

Kauboy said:


> If I'm not mistaken, doesn't protein consumption cause a rise in insulin when broken down by the liver?
> If consuming both glucose and protein, would that not increase the insulin in the blood moreso than glucose alone?
> 
> Thanks for your info!


When you eat glucose, it is absorbing into the blood before it even leaves your mouth. It results in an immediate rise in blood sugar, peaking at an hour and dropping to baseline level (or lower if the insulin response is strong) in two hours. This can result in weakness, shakiness, and a desire to eat more sugar (yo-yo effect). Protein eventually breaks down into glucose, but it is a more complex mechanism involving stomach acid and bile from the gall bladder. It takes longer for the breakdown and the entry into the bloodstream is longer. The rise in blood glucose levels takes about twice as long and does not rise as high. This is why a protein meal will stick with you longer and not give you the shakes an hour or two later. Eating protein along with glucose or simple carbohydrates does not cause the blood levels to spike even higher, rather the protein helps to temper the insulin
response.

Glucose tablets are meant to be used in emergency situations for insulin dependent diabetics who may experience a dangerous drop in blood sugar which can be life threatening. The glucose tablets increase the blood levels very quickly for them. They are not meant to be used as dietary supplements or substitutes. Again, I'm just trying to explain - not criticize. What you are doing is not going to hurt you in the short term, but there may be better ways to restrict your calories for weight loss without the fluctuations of glucose and insulin that the tablets will cause.

OK, the exception is that athletes will use glucose supplements when they are in the midst of intense activity. Their muscles are burning glucose as fast as it is ingested. Bike racers do this during races. It gives them instant glucose that goes straight to the muscles. High blood levels of glucose are not really a problem because it is getting sucked up immediately.


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

How about a new diet Kauboy, it's called "help Moonshinedave build a cinder block building in the hot sun"? I am about to get started in a few minutes.
*EDIT*
*Comes with free beer on ice, don't worry about the calories in the beer, it'll burn off*


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Day 5: (continued)
A little more intake for dinner, but not much.
Tabs as regular.

Day 6: (weight *227lbs*)
I did it! That is 20 pounds total since I started the low-carb diet.
The weekend was treated as normal with a low-carb diet.
Moderate breakfast of eggs and bacon.
Lunch was pepperoni and cheese.
Dinner was pizza toppings from a birthday party.
No tabs, no vitamin.

Day 7: (weight *226lbs*)
Came down with the stomach bug that the wife brought home. She works at a daycare, and was so angry with the parents that kept bringing their sick kids.
Not much for breakfast, mostly stomach cramps...
Light lunch.
Dinner is about to be awesome based on the smell.
Zero carb pizza! Mozzarella, pepperoni, and eggs baked together in a cooking pan.

For the next week, I will be spreading my caloric intake to the rest of the day.
Intake will remain ~500 calories, but will be spread out through all 3 meals.

I will address Ark's request that strenuous activity be attempted.
I've come to the conclusion that this diet will NOT provide adequate energy for sustained activity.
Muscles burn through the glucose too fast, and pain sets in quickly.
This will keep you alive, you will only be comfortable if activity is kept low.


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

@Kauboy, congrats on the weight loss! I think you would've had an easier time without the glucose tabs, though. 

BTW, I'm gearing up to loose some more weight. I bought a dress for my son's wedding that's too tight, and I've got the better part of two months before the wedding. Wish me luck!


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Annie said:


> @Kauboy, congrats on the weight loss! I think you would've had an easier time without the glucose tabs, though.
> 
> BTW, I'm gearing up to loose some more weight. I bought a dress for my son's wedding that's too tight, and I've got the better part of two months before the wedding. Wish me luck!


Good luck to you.

Sadly, as far as my losses... COVID lockdowns and my low will power saw to it that those were all "recovered".


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## inceptor (Nov 19, 2012)

Kauboy said:


> Sadly, as far as my losses... COVID lockdowns and my low will power saw to it that those were all "recovered"


Usually when I lose something, it takes forever before I find it. This type of loss though seems to find its way back quickly. And the lockdown only made it worse.

Wait until you get old. You have lots to look forward to.


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## wraithofroncollins (10 mo ago)

I thought the Bug Out diet was when I lived off Mainstay Bars for a year because they were going to go bad soon and gave away like 3 years worth. 1200 calories a day and 150% of your needed vitamins a day was great. Wasn't even hungry most of the time.


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