One note regarding the sections excerpted below: those who are worried about the quantity of food they are able to keep on hand might spend a few minutes reviewing credible intermittent fasting resources from Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and elsewhere. For example, Hopkins describes the 5:2 approach this way: “the 5:2 approach… involves eating regularly five days a week. For the other two days, you limit yourself to one 500–600 calorie meal. An example would be if you chose to eat normally on every day of the week except Mondays and Thursdays, which would be your one-meal days.” This CBS interview with Harvard and Yale faculty who practice IF is also informative.
It may be difficult to jump into intermittent fasting in the context of a distressing disaster, but I hope this gives some comfort to some readers: many individuals can average <14,000 calories a week with a 5:2-style plan for extended periods without putting their health at risk, a fact that may be worth keeping in mind in a crisis.
Food is also not as limiting as water. You can survive much longer without food than without water.
Many online sources agree you need about 2,000-2,500 cal per day. Closer to 2,000 if female and closer to 2,500 if male. Need will also vary with exercise.
...How else can I preserve calories?
If you’ve run out of food or you know you’re going to run out of food. You can reduce your need for calories by . . .
Exercising less—exercise causes you to burn calories
Staying at a reasonable temperature—if you are too cold or too hot your body has to use energy to thermoregulate.
Thank you for writing up this series, Finan!
One note regarding the sections excerpted below: those who are worried about the quantity of food they are able to keep on hand might spend a few minutes reviewing credible intermittent fasting resources from Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and elsewhere. For example, Hopkins describes the 5:2 approach this way: “the 5:2 approach… involves eating regularly five days a week. For the other two days, you limit yourself to one 500–600 calorie meal. An example would be if you chose to eat normally on every day of the week except Mondays and Thursdays, which would be your one-meal days.” This CBS interview with Harvard and Yale faculty who practice IF is also informative.
It may be difficult to jump into intermittent fasting in the context of a distressing disaster, but I hope this gives some comfort to some readers: many individuals can average <14,000 calories a week with a 5:2-style plan for extended periods without putting their health at risk, a fact that may be worth keeping in mind in a crisis.