Why being prepared mostly has nothing to do with the guns, ammo and gear you posess....

Whenever you browse Prepper websites or YouTube channels, you see people reviewing holsters, guns, backpacks and the like.
We all love our gear and of course it is very important that you have those things taken care of, depending on your budget, but the first thing you need to do to prepare starts in your home, with you.
I think we've all secretly laughed at seeing overweight preppers , pushing 350 or more lbs, holding new gear into the camera; but quite honestly we ALL need to be in better shape and we need to do it NOW. If you have followed the news recently, then you know that we are running out of time.
Just this morning China announced to send troops into the fight against the Islamic State and other terrorist groups. Sound like WW3 to you?

More and more studies have been piling up that link "endocrine-disrupting chemicals" (EDC's) to obesity, auto-immune diseases and cancer. EDC's enter our bodies through
 a variety of sources — natural hormones found in soy products, hormones administered to animals, plastics in some food and drink packaging, ingredients added to processed foods, and pesticides sprayed on produce. They act in a variety of ways: by mimicking human hormones such as estrogen, by misprogramming stem cells to become fat cells and, researchers think, by altering the function of genes.

So to break it down even further... our body makes all the estrogen and testosterone, as well as any other hormones that we need to function properly and to thrive! Many do not know that BOTH men and women make estrogen and testosterone and the EDC's are believed to have opposite effects in the different genders - meaning in men it causes the estrogen levels to rise, which means more fat is being stored ( think of the beer belly and the "man boob"); in women it causes testosterone levels (and estrogen) to rise, which leads to obesity and problems with a woman's menstrual cycle (PCOS - polycystic ovarian syndrome is a good example of this).
Unfortunately, at least as far as women are concerned, often times the medical solution to control the symptoms ( mind you, not the source) is to prescribe pharmaceutical hormones in the form of birth control. So hormones are out of wack because we EAT hormones that we shouldn't be and then to solve it with throw some more hormones in the mix to try and even it out. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? ( Please note the sarcasm).

This is why the first and probably most important step anybody wanting to be prepared needs to take is to take a good look at their body. Yes you may have the perfect bug out bag - but can you hike 10 miles with it? Thankfully several well-known prepping advocists like James Yager from Tactical Response or Patriot Nurse  have already put the word out there and frequently talk about physical health and fitness - if you haven't seen James Yager hike through the woods in one of his older videos it is definitely worth a few minutes out of your day!

So really think about your preparations and plans. Does any of it involve walking/ hiking a certain distance? Even if not, your fall back plan will probably include more physical activity in the near future and to wait until you are knee deep in the situation and the shortened food supply will take care of the extra pounds on your hips is simply stupid.

Here are just a few tips that we believe you should follow in order to heal your body and get it prepared in the nick of time:

1) Stop eating processed crap.

Yes you've heard it a million times and believe me, I know that it is much harder than it sounds, but there is no way around i

t. Reading labels and realizing how much junk is in most foods should help, I know it did for me.

2) That also means stop drinking all the sugary drinks - you'd be surprised which ones that you think are healthy are actually loaded with sugars ( "flavored" waters and whatnot)
We recommend sticking to water as your main fluid intake and for flavors you can substitute with tea, coffee, natural juices or kombucha and you can of course add fruit and herbs to your water to give it some flavor!

3) Cook and preserve your own foods.

This is not as horrible as it sounds. We are all busy and after a long day at work nobody wants to spend hours in the kitchen and so take-out always sounds fabulous.
But really it is as simple as throwing some things in your crock-pot in the morning and coming home to a cooked meal. The same goes for making bigger batches of things that you want to freeze or can! Simply make them in your crockpot and this cuts the time down to a minimum.

4) Grow/Raise your own food.

We are by no means experts on this. This year will be the second year of us having a garden, but have more space now so we will experiment with different growing techniques. This goes back to the fact that having and acquiring skills is more important than having "stuff"!
If you grow heirloom fruits and vegetables and master a seed saving technique, then this will supply you with an endless supply of food, that has not been filled with cancer and illness-causing substances.

One of the even bigger issues than fruits and vegetables in my opinion is meat. Growing up in Europe, I was never used to meats being filled with hormones, antibiotics and god knows whatever else is in the meat we but at the store nowadays! Now in the US, there is fortunately a ever-growing movement for naturally, pasture-raised meats but this is attached to a hefty price tag. With the new law that was passed in June of 2015 which removed the "country-of-origin" labeling, many of us are left clueless as to what went into the meat that we buy, which in turn gets pumped into our bodies.

A few solutions for this:
- eat less meat, but higher quality. This brings you back to the past, when meat was a luxury item and when studies called for meat more than that frequent would be unhealthy. Today, studies are proving both, so in the end it is up to you, which route you pick.
- a simple solution is raising your own meat. We already have chickens and will be adding rabbits in the near future as a simple meat source that doesn't require a lot of space or cost.  If you can add goats, sheep or cows then go for it!

5) Figure out what works for you and your family.

This is the bottom line. There are endless diets and recommendations out there. Some do better eating 5 meals a day, others do better with just 3 a day. Figure out what works for you so you can drop the pounds and get in shape and of course please keep any underlying illnesses that you may have that may affect your diet in mind and discuss any changes in diet and exercise with your primary care physician first!