FOOD Mainstays Survival Rations - Human Experimentation!

[mikeho78]

I was supposed to use the quarantine time to get buff and clean the house and learn a new trade like breadmaking (I am jealous of that one). Instead, I learned I can polish off a Party Size bag of Lays in one sitting and motivating myself to exercise is something I need to work on.
I have decided that in order to properly motivate myself, I need the assistance of silent judgement and the need to prove myself to complete strangers (my wife loves me "no matter what" so she doesn't ask me to lose weight).
To keep it interesting, I need to make it a challenge and be educational. I have tried the Mainstays Survival Rations before and was pretty impressed with them. They claim to have 400 calories per serving and contain all necessary vitamins etc. to be a standalone source of sustenance in an emergency. They taste like lemon shortbread cookies. I looked for them on Safecastle first, but bought them off Amazon when I couldn't find them. (Sorry).
I want to see if these would be viable for an extended period, so I bought enough for 24 days. ($100 total). I plan on eating 3 bars a day for 3 weeks and 4 days. My beverages are only going to be water and perhaps deathwish coffee, although I have a difficult time drinking plain water without any flavoring.
I am a fairly large 43 yr.old man. 6'2" and pushing 300#. I USED to be athletic, having played rugby for 10+ years, but I have been on "sabbatical" for 7 years now that started when my first daughter was born.
When they arrive - between the 1st and the 4th - I will post pre-pics (no nudes, sorry) and try to give weekly or as-needed updates.
I welcome critiques of my methodology. Please understand that these are nothing like C-Rats or K-Rats or real rats. I just want to see if these would be viable to store for any unforeseen emergency.

 

[wvstuck]

What if you could eat "normal food" and lose 5 to 9 pounds a week without purchasing any program? Just using real knowledge and still eat things you like... Once the weight starts to drop you start slowly moving into a simple exercise program and working up from there. Diets never work because...well they are diets or designed to get recurring money from your pocket.

 

[bw]

I picked up a bunch of those for free a couple years ago. Yeah, they'll keep you alive. Dunno the effect of several weeks of them, but that's what they're designed for - lifeboat rations for an indefinite period. Suspect they're going to get boring quickly. We keep a couple pieces in our car in case we get stuck waiting for a ferry and get a bad case of the munchies.

 

[1911user]

I always keep a case or 2 of them available. I prefer the 2400 calorie bars due to size/shape. I was going to order a new case of them earlier this year, but Survivor Industries (the manufacturer) was not taking new orders at the time. If anyone keeps them for emergency use, especially in a kit or pack, protect the foil packaging and inspect for damage regularly (quarterly?).

 

[Cardinal]

Look into the carnivore diet. Men do really well on it quickly.
There are several great youtube vids about it.

 

[mikeho78]

What if you could eat "normal food" and lose 5 to 9 pounds a week without purchasing any program? Just using real knowledge and still eat things you like... Once the weight starts to drop you start slowly moving into a simple exercise program and working up from there. Diets never work because...well they are diets or designed to get recurring money from your pocket.

I agree with you on every aspect. The paleo and Atkins routes have worked awesome for me in the past, but are difficult to maintain because they are too expensive or differ too much from my norm. I believe most of my empty calories actually come from beverages. I don't drink alcohol or soda, but anything else is fair game with me and that ends up being a lot of sugar.
I'm mainly doing this as a form of motivation and a way to learn something in the process. I haven't been able to find any testimonials for these other than one or two samplings. I figured I can go balls out on this one and give you all a yay or nay on them and then ease into a workout/reduced calorie maintenance diet afterward.

 

[Cardinal]

When I went carnivore my food budget was halved.
Now, I did it because after a lifetime of eating "normal" I had insulin resistance issues.
The carnivore diet cures it naturally.
it is easy to maintain because you lose your desire for junk foods.
And something as easy and enjoyable as walking can take the weight off.
Although for men it usually falls off without much exercise.

 

[Chicken Mama]

Looking forward to your critique Mike. This isn't a weight loss plan, I understand. Let us know the hunger between rations, cravings, side effects. Wishing you well.

 

[wvstuck]

I agree with you on every aspect. The paleo and Atkins routes have worked awesome for me in the past, but are difficult to maintain because they are too expensive or differ too much from my norm. I believe most of my empty calories actually come from beverages. I don't drink alcohol or soda, but anything else is fair game with me and that ends up being a lot of sugar.
I'm mainly doing this as a form of motivation and a way to learn something in the process. I haven't been able to find any testimonials for these other than one or two samplings. I figured I can go balls out on this one and give you all a yay or nay on them and then ease into a workout/reduced calorie maintenance diet afterward.

If you decide to abandon for any reason, get in touch with me before you give up... I can teach you a method that works every time and the results are your motivation. I'm not selling any products or any other program. I detest the diet industry as a whole and spent years researching how it all works together, to hit goals with normal foods and moderate exercise. I am working with a girl here at the dealership that had failed every program and she is losing 8-10 pounds a week and is hyper motivated. Keep us posted on the bars please.

 

[mikeho78]

Looking forward to your critique Mike. This isn't a weight loss plan, I understand. Let us know the hunger between rations, cravings, side effects. Wishing you well.

Will do. Thank you.

 

[mikeho78]

If you decide to abandon for any reason, get in touch with me before you give up... I can teach you a method that works every time and the results are your motivation. I'm not selling any products or any other program. I detest the diet industry as a whole and spent years researching how it all works together, to hit goals with normal foods and moderate exercise. I am working with a girl here at the dealership that had failed every program and she is losing 8-10 pounds a week and is hyper motivated. Keep us posted on the bars please.

225 would be my ideal goal, which ain't gonna happen in 24 days, so I may do that regardless of the results.

 

[MinnesotaSmith]

I am working with a girl here at the dealership that had failed every program and she is losing 8-10 pounds a week and is hyper motivated. Keep us posted on the bars please.

That's too fast a loss rate to be healthy for anyone not about to die from overweight.

 

[bev]

What if you could eat "normal food" and lose 5 to 9 pounds a week without purchasing any program? Just using real knowledge and still eat things you like... Once the weight starts to drop you start slowly moving into a simple exercise program and working up from there. Diets never work because...well they are diets or designed to get recurring money from your pocket.

Where do I sign up?

 

[mechanic 217]

Yes do tell, time grows short

 

[wvstuck]

That's too fast a loss rate to be healthy for anyone not about to die from overweight.

With all due respect, you're wrong. That's what the diet industry has pushed for for years. 1-3 pounds a week they say.

Her doctor is good with it, while I don't make medical claims I can tell you she is off blood pressure meds now and her husband has his diabetes under control for the first time. It really isn't about the amount of weight lost over a certain period, it's about keeping your body fed, not adding unhealthy weight at a rate that is not safe either. The body loses what it wants to lose and it gets the nutrients needed to stay healthy. People fail because the plans restrict too many things you enjoy or they add too much to make you happy.

That's why different people lose different amounts. As you get closer to your ideal healthy weight the loss will slow. My doctor, Her doctor and dozens of other doctors for people I work with have no problem with the weight loss these people encounter. It is not forced, it is not designed around a certain amount it is what the body decides to shed naturally. Zero carbs is the biggest lie, very few people succeed and they don't stay true to the plan. Carbs are awesome and you don't have to kill the enjoyment from your life to lose massive amounts of weight. Balance is more important.

The diet industry is a powerful lobby, at 1 to 3 pounds a week they can keep you buying, potions, powders, pills, beach shakes and unrealistic expensive products and workout programs for a much longer period. But you don't need any of it. All you need is education and the ability to accept it is easier than most people think, a little science and a little math and a growing amount of knowledge.

Most diet meals are nasty, unhealthy and really set people up for failure. The industry will take your money for as long as they can, then you move to the next fad or company because their extensive, planned manipulation through advertising makes it all sound too good. Why do you think all the videos are full of people with chiseled bodies ready for the beach.

Just one company as an example. Beach Body, I went into their "coach" program and quickly found out that the daily, weekly and monthly meetings were not about helping clients with weight loss, it was about helping coaches take money from clients. The best commission comes from the overpriced Shakeology so they push it hard to make commissions. "superfoods" is the push, but in amounts that make no difference and really don't help you lose weight BB is an MLM company and the coaches have no training in real health and diet, just sales training being pushed all the time, build a team that pushes products and make more money when you level up.

The entire industry is a scam. I am certified as a health and diet coach, I have many certifications and over 200 hours of training and classes.. I don't follow the diet industry, they are in it for money only, billions are wasted on programs that don't work. I educate clients and if they are serious about shopping for new clothes in smaller sizes they are successful, if they are looking for a magic pill or some goop you drink before bed that magically makes you thin, they aren't ready and I'll wait. It takes effort to be successful, but it can't be complicated and impossible.

 

[Luddite]

Thanks for doing this. Will be glad to hear about your experience.

Been working the low carb, high protein thing here for a couple of months. Lost 10 here. Seem to have hit a wall. Can't walk by the potato bin without wanting to take a dive head-first.

Feel a little weak when doing extended manual labor. Might be in my head. Done it all my life and never learned to like it.
IMO, you won't do much sweating after a few weeks of that diet. Still a good test though.

Thanks again.

 

[Cardinal]

Zero carbs is the biggest lie, very few people succeed and they don't stay true to the plan.

I'm no diet coach but we are gonna have to agree to disagree here.
Far too many people, including Doctors, are doing fantastic on true zero carb diets.
There are thousands of people ( and the movement s growing) who are healing serious medical issues with zero carb diets.
There have been no serious studies of it because there is no money to be made from it. (except for farmers and ranchers who raise beef)
And weight will often fall off just as rapidly for a carnivore as for someone doing other diets, as the body resets it's hormones, cures insulin resistance and generally gets healthier.
Lots of videos out there by Dr. Ken Berry, Dr. Paul Saladino, Dr Kevin Stock, Dr.Sten Eckberg, to name a few of the better known ones.

 

[Freeholder]

I looked those bars up -- as emergency rations, I suppose they are better than starving to death, but the ingredients list is a bunch of garbage! My suggestion is, go ahead with your experiment, but carefully monitor your health. If you start feeling ANY adverse effects, including joint or muscle aches and pains, brain fog, etc., STOP! Those are signs of systemic inflammation, which is also increasing the bad cholesterol in your arteries, and you are risking a heart attack, as well as auto-immune diseases including diabetes.

Please keep us posted on the results of your experiment!

Kathleen

 

[nebb]

I didn’t start “eating right” because of weight issues but for my BP......I struggled with alcohol issues 35yrs ago and remember the difficulties of kicking the dependence.

For me kicking the sugar craving is as hard or harder than the alcohol craving I had.......I’m doin it cause I wanna be around for my grandsons.....but it is an ongoing “thing”.......moderation is working .....instead of a big bowl of ice cream every night it’s a cone with the boys once a week....same with other goodies

 

[tm1439m]

One thing to consider is protein. You need it. Also fat is important. I have lost hundreds of pounds over the years and successfully achieved my goal of getting in shape many times throughout my 58 years. If you go to long without enough protein and or fat you start feeling weak and even brain fog or delirious at times.

I always drink only water. No alcohol. No soft drinks. No juices. Juice is like eating pure refined sugar. They took the fiber out so it is no longer a "good" sugar.

I do occasionally drink milk with chocolate chip cookies if I am having a cheat day.
My cheat days are days that I follow no rules and eat whatever I want but do try to keep the portions to a reasonable level. I am a huge hog when it comes to food and can devour piles of it. Far more than most normal people. I am very active so that helps. These cheat days give me a goal to reach and seem to help me hold off pigging out until my next chosen cheat day. I never notice an increase in weight from a cheat day so I guess its because my body devours the extra calories and all.

As far as exercise I do mine many times when I first wake up and still laying in the bed. I do stretches, crunches, leg lifts, bicycles and about any floor exercise you can think of. I do it with little effort when first starting out and low reps. Then as the days pass I do more and increase intensity. You would be surprised at how easy you can tone up with this method and my reason for starting my bed exercised was originally because my back was in bad shape and a solid surface hurt my back when doing exercises. So one day I started doing them on the bed and it did not hurt near as much. In recent years I was in my best shape by doing these bed exercises and then walking a couple miles a day. I am not saying I had the most or biggest muscles ever in my life but I was the most toned and fat free which was my goal at the time.

Recently I have lost several pounds by eating fruits including tropical fruits, vegetables, nuts and berries. And I have been eating salmon for my fat/protein. Its working great for me. Down about 30 pounds from a few months ago. Notice I did not say "salads". People think if its a "salad" then anything goes. Dressing and a lot of the extra toppings negate the term salad in my opinion. I stick to my guns on restricted days but eat anything I want on my cheat days. Cheat days are generally at least a week apart and then its just junk but not lots of it. Then maybe every third or fourth week I will eat anything I want for one day. Maybe a birthday or holiday. Again I see little change in weight on the cheat days if I am sticking to the plan on the restricted days. Once I get on a roll and things are going good I generally loose about 2 pounds a day until I loose most of the fat.

Good luck!!

 

[wvstuck]

I'm no diet coach but we are gonna have to agree to disagree here.
Far too many people, including Doctors, are doing fantastic on true zero carb diets.
There are thousands of people ( and the movement s growing) who are healing serious medical issues with zero carb diets.
There have been no serious studies of it because there is no money to be made from it. (except for farmers and ranchers who raise beef)
And weight will often fall off just as rapidly for a carnivore as for someone doing other diets, as the body resets it's hormones, cures insulin resistance and generally gets healthier.
Lots of videos out there by Dr. Ken Berry, Dr. Paul Saladino, Dr Kevin Stock, Dr.Sten Eckberg, to name a few of the better known ones.

I'll agree to disagree.. However just as much weight is lost with carbs, healthy carbs fuel the brain, when you have no carbs the body just creates them from other substances to use as needed. The biggest problem with the zero carb diets are the number of people who fail. They get bored and give in, usually adding more weight back than they started with. There are a lot of studies every direction. I just don't like to see people fail, give up everything they enjoy and eat boring meals. If one cut outs the refined sugars, gets healthy carbs they will lose weight just as quickly if not faster, while keeping the brain functioning at higher levels. There are plenty of other methods that work. I've put over ten years into studying what works, the failure rates and the health effects. Failure from boredom is one of the top failures. :-)

 

[bw]

And I have been eating salmon for my fat/protein. Its working great for me. Down about 30 pounds from a few months ago.

We did a couple cruises last year, and I was eating all the salmon I wanted, and meat generally. Their buffet was great. I lost weight each trip - about 5 lbs.

 

[1911user]

These are coast guard certified as lifeboat rations. That requires a 5 year storage life in extreme hot and/or cold conditions.

The nutrition and ingredients label for a 3600 calorie Mainstay food bar.

(click to enlarge)

 

[cyberiot]

Appetite fatigue is a real thing. By Day 4 on bars, I'd start looking at Fido with hungry eyes. And you might want to avoid sharing a bathroom with me.

 

[tm1439m]

We did a couple cruises last year, and I was eating all the salmon I wanted, and meat generally. Their buffet was great. I lost weight each trip - about 5 lbs.

The local meat shop has Scottish Salmon which is supposed to be some of the best on the planet. He searches the world over looking for great sources of meat. Gotta say it is delicious but pricey at about $19.99 per pound.

 

[eXe]

The newer mainstay style rations are not half bad, sort of like cinnamon crackers, Still kind of rough but better than nothing if you are starving.

 

[MinnesotaSmith]

These are coast guard certified as lifeboat rations. That requires a 5 year storage life in extreme hot and/or cold conditions.

The nutrition and ingredients label for a 3600 calorie Mainstay food bar.

(click to enlarge)

View attachment 217281

White flour, sugar, corn syrup, the unhealthiest type of margarine, and a ground-up vitamin pill.

Outside of actually being in a lifeboat/Andean plane crash/ real famine/ Donner Party overwinter situation, pass just from the health aspects. Anyone looking at this for a good diet food is looking about 175 degrees in the wrong direction.

Thanks for providing the info.

 

[thompson]

I am certified as a health and diet coach, I have many certifications and over 200 hours of training and classes..

Where did you obtain your education and what sort of certifications do you possess? Who issued the certifications?

 

[wvstuck]

I have several from different sources and always in CE courses. PN is my primary.

 

[Ragnarok]

That's too fast a loss rate to be healthy for anyone not about to die from overweight.

I lost 13 pounds in 4 hours once

 

[K99]

When I went carnivore my food budget was halved.
Now, I did it because after a lifetime of eating "normal" I had insulin resistance issues.
The carnivore diet cures it naturally.
it is easy to maintain because you lose your desire for junk foods.
And something as easy and enjoyable as walking can take the weight off.
Although for men it usually falls off without much exercise.

Nice.....best place to get data regarding this?

 

[lanningro]

Lost around 30 pounds this summer on the Coffee and Bourbon/Tonic diet.

Must be the Tonic water.

 

[K99]

We did a couple cruises last year, and I was eating all the salmon I wanted, and meat generally. Their buffet was great. I lost weight each trip - about 5 lbs.

did a cruise once.....walked on as a passenger.....rolled off like cargo!!!!

 

[mikeho78]

I lost 13 pounds in 4 hours once

I believe it. Cutting weight in HS for wrestling was a pain. I'll never forget though that a gallon of water weighs 8 pounds. You must have been sweating your balls off

 

[Topusaret]

I lost 13 pounds in 4 hours once

Pre-colonscopy? That was my method.

 

[MinnesotaSmith]

I lost 13 pounds in 4 hours once

Green or brown?

 

[mikeho78]

Green or brown?

Maybe gambling in London

 

[dioptase]

I have to say that the only times I have ever lost weight have been on a very low carb diet. My problem is that I can't stick with it. I love bread (except olive bread), I love potatoes (roasted potatoes or potato chips), I can't do salads without a dressing that has some carbs, I like pizza, and I have a bit of a sweet tooth. I also have a bad problem of going for carby snacks (pretzels, popcorn, cookies, brownies, other similar stuff) when I am stressed or depressed. (In the summer I want an occasional popsicle or ice cream.) The only diet improvement I've really been able to stick with (except when we are traveling) is to not drink soda. I drink tea (hot or iced) or "lemonade" (water with a squirt of lemon juice) sweetened with liquid stevia drops. Occasionally I will drink water with a little bit of grapefruit juice mixed in, or in the winter, I might have some hot chocolate for a treat.

All of which is to say, thumbs up for very low carb as an effective diet (it WILL get the pounds off), but for me it simply isn't sustainable, especially during times of stress.

 

[Cardinal]

Nice.....best place to get data regarding this?

Anything in particular or do you wanna research in general?
The Drs I mention above all have youtube channels and they all site studies in their lectures. Just type something into the search bar, like, say, insulin resistance and you will get a course in it.

 

[Ragnarok]

I believe it. Cutting weight in HS for wrestling was a pain. I'll never forget though that a gallon of water weighs 8 pounds. You must have been sweating your balls off

LOL!

Was playing full court basketball in a gym that was registering 104 degrees.

Got so dehydrated that I couldn't move from my bed for 2 days. My muscles just locked up on me. My girlfriend at the time was kind enough to stay and bring me a continuous flow of Gatorade...