Everyone has bad habits. I don’t believe there is a human being alive who doesn’t. In everyday life, most of these aren’t a big deal. So you forget to put your shoes away, no one is going to die from that. You’re not a bad person if you have a weakness for chocolate.
Survival situations, however, are different from real life. A bad habit that may simply be an annoyance to your spouse on a regular day could have severe consequences in an emergency. Here are 5 examples of bad habits that will kill you when your survival is on the line.
1. Eating out
It’s no secret that eating out too often is detrimental to your health and your wallet. It’s much more expensive to eat at a restaurant than it is to cook your own food at home. New York Times columnist Mark Bittman breaks it down in this article.
He calculates that a trip to McDonald’s will set you back $28 for a family of four, whereas a home-cooked chicken dinner with vegetables is only $14. And, it’s not only the expense. It’s also much easier to overeat at restaurants because portions tend to be larger. Then there is the issue of making healthy food choices, something that may be difficult in a restaurant setting. Even when you ask for nutritional information, you still have no idea about the additives in the food.
TIP: Has eating out put a dent in your budget? Remember that financial preparedness is one area in which most survival experts have little to say. I recommend Dave Ramsey’s advice for budgeting and saving.
But here is the biggest reason why the habit of eating out too much can be a bad thing. Even if you choose an establishment that primarily serves healthy food, an over-reliance on outside sources for the preparation of your meals can make you less likely to develop cooking skills and habits of your own. Even if all you have in your food storage is freeze-dried, ready-to-eat, just-add-water meals, what will you do when they run out? Do you know how to cook from scratch, and are you comfortable enough with the process that you could do it every day?
2. Being out of shape
An emergency situation, whether in the short term or in a long-term SHTF scenario, will put a significant strain on your body. It is impossible to foresee the specifics of what that strain will entail.
Difficult circumstances might require:
- Walking long distances
- Lifting heavy objects for an extended period of time
- Going without the comfortably large amounts of food or water to which we are accustomed
- Doing hard, manual labor all day, every day
A fit person who exercises with some regularity will be much better placed to meet these challenges. That doesn’t mean that you should sign up for the Marines’ wilderness survival training, even though I am sure it wouldn’t hurt. If you live a mostly sedentary lifestyle, it is never too late to become more active. Even the smallest amounts of exercise are better than nothing.
Read the Remainder at The Survival Mom
Reblogged this on Starvin Larry.
Reblogged this on The way I see things … and commented:
Personal Responsibility People — that is what it all boils down to!
That and dumping Political Correctness when National Security is at stake. Giving Speeces in Mosque that are connected to terrorist does not help either btw.
^^^ all truths! People have played into this “war on Christians” – even the Jews — blindly, not realizing they are #Infidels and for that reason alone #muslims want to destroy them and will LIE to anyone to do so!
With Iran on the offensive with cyber-attacks on Israel’s electrical grid and Hezbollah and Hamas making moves in the West Bank plus the recent hacks into the FBI and DHS employee data banks, here in the U.S., Israel and America have to be ready for War.
Sadly though Hammerhead – saying Israel and America should ready for war at this point is an oxymoron – Will America stand with Israel? I find that highly unlikely — Now Putin just may do that and as evil as I KNOW he is – he has been one to at least step forward for the Christians and Jews that are persecuted in the Arab world.
Well you have a point in that IF Iran strikes it will have to be while BHO is still in office.
IMO, Iran’s likelihood of success goes down from that point forward if a Republican with Balls is elected. See, we really screwed Israel badly with this nuclear agreement…because Netanyahu was PLEADING with the U.N and BHO to let him BOMB Irans nuclear facilities while they were still above ground…the whole time all these nuke talks were going on Iran was busy moving everything underground, away from Israel’s bunker busting bombs. Now not only is Irans nuclear arsenal safe and sound, they also got Billions more dollars infused to buy more weapons so Hamas and Hezbollah can keep attacking Israel with impunity…while Europe has a RAPE epidemic, Israel has a STABBING epidemic..”Palestinians” stabbing Israeli civilians everyday.
Here is the bottom line: IF The U.S. does not stand with Israel we are DONE as a Nation and I mean DONE. Take all the bad stuff that has happened in the last year and multiply x 1,000… natural disasters, terrorist attacks, epidemics…I am talking mass carnage and destruction. And No I am not a “doom and gloomer” just a Realist. This is why I say Prepare now, not only physically but spiritually. Life is gonna get very hard very soon.
AMEN AMEN — Can’t agree more with all you said! I too am prepping and have been for about 5 years. My family has concerns 🙂 but too much of what I have warned them about has come into fruition. Not all in the time frame I have noted (especially the financial crisis on the horizon) and that seems to give them HOPE I am wrong! I labor on warning them and preparing.