3rd day of NOT eating junk food, detoxing and preparing for war! ( see over dramatic re-enactment of fainting with hunger above). I’ve felt a few hunger pangs today. I absolutely should get over it as I am lucky enough to have NEVER known what real hunger is….
I’m still working on my sustainable rationing system to help me continue losing weight this year and get healthier. Eating ultra-processed foods really grabs hold of me so quickly and makes me crave it more. That’s why, living simply on rations, has always worked so well for me in the past. Just got to find that sustainable middle-ground. I’m almost there with the planning.
And of course, right now there is the ongoing and ever looming topic of WW3. Could this really happen? How does that make you feel? I’ve always kept a small stockpile to get me through hard times for a few months but do we now need to start putting something extra by every month for the inevitable?
I cherry picked this snippet from an article, talking about the preparedness of countries in Europe. It seems Finland have been on a slow burn war footing for quite some time.
Please share your thoughts, much love, C xxxx
I’ve got a few extra tins in the cupboard in case the worst happens, yes. I do keep adding to them also. My paternal Grandad (born in 1899) lived through the two wars and when he passed in the early 1980s he had a larder full of tinned food. He wanted to be prepared in case of another one.
Gosh, I imagine he would have put stuff away after living through two World Wars! It amazes me what our Grandparents had to endure, hugs xxx C
Yes even out here on west coast canada, I read articles that could make one think of another war. Yes it is frightening. Makes one feel powerless to change world direction. I always keep a small pantry but certainly not enough for a war. I need to grow more veggies! Ann
Agree, what will be will be and quite honestly we don’t have any control to change things as much as we wish and pray. I think being prepared for the worst but living life to the fullest is all we can do (and put some extra cans away!). C xxx
My boy lives in Finland as knows where his ‘shelter’ is…it’s much easier with a population of 5 million opposed to 47 now nearly 80 million in the UK
That is really interesting! When I read that they have suitable shelters in place for the whole population that blew my mind!!! xxx
From The Daily Express 1/4/2024, quote “Finland trains more than 21,000 new conscripts every year, with 285,000 reservists ready to go to war at any given moment – making it the biggest wartime reserve infantry in Nato. Putin said in 2023 that Russia “would take the necessary measures to counter the aggressive decisions of Finland and its NATO allies”
Evening Carolyn, I couldn’t agree more with trying to build up a store cupboard of essential food stuffs, loo rolls etc. You only need look at the shelves in local supermarkets when it snows, the shelves are depleted really quickly, and also frighteningly so when we first entered lockdown in 2020.
I think all of us who struggle with our weight completely understand the whole UPF situation, easy to grab, highly tasty, no prep and easy to eat! An apple is just as easy to eat and requires no prep, and yet I need to be in the right mindset to choose the apple, and I really like apples, yet for some reason my impulse is to grab the UP foods.
Thank you, as always for your inspiration and support. I know you’ve gained some of your tremendous weight loss, but you are still healthier than a year ago, and we are all supporting you as we in turn struggle with the same demons.
Love Frances x
You are such an inspiration, Carolyn! I grew up with WW3 drills in school, where we would, upon the bell, hide under our desks with our hands folded behind our necks, head down. This would not have saved us from a nuclear warhead, and my little town had a nuclear warhead aimed directly at us because of a particular federal facility one block from where my house is right now (naming it would reveal my location). I think this has taught me that it is wise to have a reasonable amount of preparedness, but then to just let go of fear and keep carrying on. As Winston Churchill said, “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.” Fear can open us up to manipulation, so we should always guard against it, in my humble opinion. Welcome back to rationing, dear lady! I hope you enjoy it. Best wishes.
Oh my gosh Holly!!!!!! As scary as that sounds, those actions show how serious the threat was taken. I love what you said here “to just let go of fear and keep carrying on” – that’s exactly how I feel. It’s silly to be in denial and not be prepared but life is for living and I can’t imagine living every day in fear for something that has yet to happen. Thanks for sharing your story xxxx C
The thought of another global war is terrifying and the millions of people who could be killed is overwhelming but there is no point allowing the fear to ruin our lives. Live for today and keep our joy and happiness by living in the moment 🙏🏻❤️
100% agree!!!! We never know for sure what happens tomorrow but we can always enjoy today! Xxxx
Detoxing from junk food is so very hard. But you can do it 😀. When I gave up candy I craved it so much but I did it and so can you. I love the dramatic picture 🤩
Yep our brains try and convince us we need sweets and junk food to thrive by throwing us those horrid detox headaches, it’s very convincing!!! Haha xxx C
One would think that it’s always a good idea to have some food stores set aside for emergencies. It’s not just war; it’s power outages, natural disasters… But there is war in the air. I’m not sure how to feel about it, other than very sad.
In the meantime, I am so very proud and happy for you for going back on this Ration journey! I’m going it alongside you, albeit from a distance. Rationing cheese and butter will be my big challenges…
You are so right! My small store is literally mostly there for that but I need to add more canned fruit and actually go through it all and sort it out. We never know when life could change and we may need to rely on our supplies more to see us through some lean months xxx
YES! I will find limiting my margarine a challenge as I have got into the habit of slathering it on somewhat!!!
Good luck xxx C
You are wise to put away emergency foods..
I have read that certain chemicals and preserves can cause you to crave their products.. Sadly the good whole foods cost more..
I wish you all the best, and must say your skin and hair look lovely, you must be doing something right 🙂
You are very kind xxxx 100% agree about the cravings caused by Ultra Processed Foods!!! It’s real for sure!!! C xxxxx
Are you most addicted to sweets or salt? I know sugar today leads to sugar tomorrow. For me salt cravings draw me to high carbs like chips. I’ve been at my target weight for about a year, but I got here using a dangerous method of zero carb. I went too far and looked like a skeleton and damaged my nervous system; You’re a lot younger than me. you can do it. Try to zero in on the cause. Once you purge your body of toxic processed food it gets easier and the cravings lose their power.
To prepare, stockpile enough food to get through one growing season, but invest heavily in seeds.
Hi Diana, for me it is mostly sugar in food but also sugar/ fat combos like cakes and chocolate. I love salty food too but don’t really have uncontrollable cravings for that so much xxx Congrats on getting to your ideal weight and hope you recover from the zero carbs, that sounds awful xxxx hugs YES I have found after detoxing from UPFs for a week or two, things get much easier xxxx C take care
I’m currently on a sugar detox and feel so bad lol
But on a more serious note I’m putting more effort into my victory garden and in to sticking to rations in preparation for potential war in the future
Love the dramatic picture … you little drama queen!!
Imagine the chaos that rationing would bring to the UK if it had to happen again. Lockdown and all the shopping greed gave us just a little glimpse of the difference in characters of a section of the population here now. A larger section than there would have been during WW2.
I hope it all goes well for you in this fresh start at rationing, and I can’t wait to see the changes that you are implementing.
I’ve never been able to maintain the rationing as well as you have Carolyn and I would love to be able to. I have been going back through your older blog posts when you started out and also Grandma Donna’s blog for inspiration. https://gdonna.com/living-like-the-past/here-we-go-again-2071/
She is in the US and does history studies where she and her husband try to live more like the past. Very down to earth and a good read. She started 1943 with this post and I found it interesting to follow along. Might be fun for folks to have a look.
Wow! That’s quite a project, but so necessary for these coming hard times. My mother always used to talk about her “salty-sweet craving yo-yo” where she’d drink something with an artificial sweetener in it, then crave something salty, then crave something sweet again, and on and on. I have food allergies and stomach issues, so I’ve been looking at not necessarily rationing but relying on eating less and being more mindful about what I eat so I get the nutrients I need every day. Definitely following your journey!
Hi Carolyn,
There is an other war coming; it’s called Armageddon in the Bible.
Did you know that the UK and the commonwealth belong to the papacy?
You can find the history of how this came about on this video. Most people are not aware of this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlyUQaz8sH8
God bless