Index to National Preparedness Month Articles

By Tim Gamble

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September is National Preparedness Month. In recognition of that, I've posted a long series of articles aimed mostly at people relatively new to preparedness, or who just need a good review of the subject matter. Here is the index of those 21 articles: 

Outline of Preparedness https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/preparedness-month-outline-of.html

FOOD! https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/food-national-preparedness-month.html

The Truth About Expiration Dates https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/the-truth-about-expiration-dates.html

WATER!!! https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/water-national-preparedness-month.html

Water Collection and Treatment https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/water-collection-and-treatment-national.html

Situational Awareness and the OODA Loop https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/situational-awareness-and-ooda-loop.html

Home Security https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/home-security-national-preparedness.html

Personal Security https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/personal-security-national-preparedness.html

Your Vehicles https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/your-vehicles-national-preparedness.html

The Bug Out Plan https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/the-bug-out-plan-national-preparedness.html

Family Communications Plan https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/family-communications-plan-national.html

No Electricity? https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/no-electricity-national-preparedness.html

Personal Finance https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/personal-finance-national-preparedness.html

Training https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/training-national-preparedness-month.html

Your Body https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/your-body-national-preparedness-month.html

Fitness and the Aging Prepper https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/fitness-and-aging-prepper-national.html 

10 FREE Ways To Improve Your Health and Fitness  https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/10-free-ways-to-improve-your-health-and.html

Make Plans For a Long-Term Emergency  https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/make-plans-for-long-term-emergency.html

Nuclear War Preparations https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/nuclear-war-preparations-national.html 

Civil Defense https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/civil-defense-national-preparedness.html

Community https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2024/09/community-national-preparedness-month.html 

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We Survived, But Parts of Western NC are Destroyed

 Folks,

As some of you know, I am in Western NC, parts of which were absolutely destroyed by Hurricane Helene. Fortunately, my particular location was not hit nearly as hard as Asheville and some other areas of WNC. We lost power for a few hours Friday morning, and Internet/Cable was out until about an hour ago (this is Sunday night as I type). One tree on my property fell, but no buildings or other property was damaged. My area is extremely soggy, but not flooded. Considering everything. I feel very fortunate. 

Please keep everyone affected by this storm in your prayers, especially those who have lost everything, even loved ones. 

Tim Gamble

Community - National Preparedness Month

By Tim Gamble

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September is National Preparedness Month. In this article, we look at the role of community in preparedness.

Community 

Many preppers, survivalists, and even religious folks are looking to form communities to foster their prospects for long-term survival. This may mean building an intentional community from scratch, or simply creating a community of like-minded friends and neighbors for mutual assistance. This is a great idea. However, I still find some resistance to the idea of community by those folks who seem to favor the lone-wolf or small, isolated family retreat modes of survival. However, I believe a larger community is the better path to survival. Here are four reasons why:

1) Humans are social creatures. We are designed to need interaction with other people. This is why solitary confinement is considered such a severe form of punishment. We suffer mentally and emotionally when we are cut off from other people. Loneliness, depression, and mental illness will result from long periods of isolation, whether as individuals or even in very small groups.

2) We have physical limitations. We get tired. We get sleepy. We can typically only do one task at a time. Some tasks require more than one person. And there are time factors to consider. Security, for instance, will require full attention. You are not going to be able to pull security duty AND work in the garden or do other chores at the same time. You are not going to be able to pull 12-hour security shifts for any length of time. Try to do so, and you will become tired, distracted and ineffective. 

3) We have limited skill sets. A truly self-reliant survival group will need a large variety of skills sets. Yet, we all have a limited number of skills as individuals. Remember, there will likely be no outside help of any kind during a long-term grid down scenario- no fire departments, EMTs, police departments, hospitals, grocery stores, pharmacies, tailors, electricians, plumbers, mechanics, or repairmen, except for that which we have within our community. We will have to provide for all our needs ourselves. Of course, we should all work towards becoming as self-reliant as possible, but no one person, no one family, will ever be able to truly do it all.

4) Safety in numbers.  The idea many have is that a family in an isolated rural area will survive by hiding. But reality tells us something different. Fernando Aguirre in his book, The Modern Survival Manual (Amazon link), writes about the experience during the economic collapse in Argentina during the early 2000s. Far from being safe, small isolated farms were actually hunted down and targeted by well-armed gangs. This experience has been mirrored in other historical, real world examples, such as during the Bosnia War in the 1990s. 

Why do we have such a difficult time finding community?

A large part of the reason is that we are looking at the issue in the wrong way, or at least in an incomplete way. We seem to focus on the external - Who should be in the group, who should be excluded, where to find group members, when/how to talk to them about preparedness, how can they be integrated into a group, and so forth.

We largely ignore the other half of the equation, the internal. We ignore ourselves, and our own attitudes and problems. It is these internal issues that may be blocking our efforts to find/build community. It comes down to our inability or unwillingness to trust others.

Let's face it: many of us are very independent-minded (I want to do things my way and only my way), cling to our own individuality, see "compromise" as a dirty word, and delegation of duties and responsibilities is difficult (what if they don't do it "my way'). 

Most of us are not very trusting by nature, which is part of why we are preppers in the first place. After all, if we really were trusting, we would trust the government and other authorities to take care of us in an emergency. Instead, we are suspicious of others by our very nature.

A successful community requires we trust each other, but most of us are not wired to be trusting of others. We end up looking for "perfect" group members, folks we can absolutely trust and feel extremely safe bringing into the community. Yet there are no perfect people, so we are doomed to look continuously without success.  

 

Perfect is the Enemy of Good

Understand that I am not advocating blindly trusting everyone and anyone. We do need to consider the character, trustworthiness, and compatibility of folks we let into our lives and community. But, if we are to be successful, at some point we have to be willing to say "This person isn't perfect, but they are good enough."  Hopefully, they will be willing to say the same about you. After all, you are not perfect either.

Tips for Building Community With Your Neighbors

1) You don't need everyone. Not every neighbor is going to be like-minded, or even friendly towards your efforts. That's okay. You don't need to get every single person in your neighborhood on-board with your plans. Some community with some folks is better than no community at all. 

2) Knock on doors. Or at least wave at mailboxes. In other words, you have to take the first step. Waiting around for your neighbors to come to you won't work. Go. Introduce yourself to them. You don't have to tell them your a prepper when you first meet. Just meet them. 

3) Avoid religion and politics, especially in the early stages. Basic preparedness doesn't depend on religion or politics. You don't need to be of a certain religion to store food and water. You don't need to have a certain political viewpoint to learn first aid. 

4) Don't talk prepping, at least at first.  The preparedness talk can come later, for now simply get to know your neighbors. Find out what you might have in common. As things progress, you can start dropping prepper lines and see how they respond.  

5) Form a Neighborhood Watch. It can official (working with your local police, posting signs, etc.) or informal (exchanging phone numbers and agreeing to keep an eye out for strangers or anything else suspicious in the neighborhood). The point is for you and your neighbors to get to know one another and to start watching out for each other. You can build from there.

6) Have a community yard sale. We have been doing this in our neighborhood for a few years now. About twice a year we'll get together and advertise a community yard sale. Not every household participates, but many do. Even many of those that don't participate in the selling walk around looking at what others are selling. 

7) One by one. Two by two. Everyone doesn't have to get together at the same time. A neighborhood-wide barbecue may be too much to put together, but you can host a barbecue maybe once a month and invite one or two neighborhood families over. Barbecuing not your thing? Try a Game Night instead. Or a Movie Night.

8) Advance slowly but surely.  Turning your neighborhood into a community is a one-step-at-a-time activity. Get to know each other. Then work on building friendships with those who seem willing. Then start talking preparedness with those that seem receptive. It is a gradual process.

9) Building community is about more than just preparedness. Preparedness for some future crisis might be your ultimate goal, but it cannot be your only goal, otherwise you'll scare people off. Community is about building friendships and relationships of trust. Community is about watching out for each other, encouraging each other, and helping each other. The cold fact is that you are extremely unlikely to get your neighborhood converted into a 100% prepared for doomsday survivalist community. But the more of a community that you're neighborhood is, the better off you'll all be if and when the SHTF.     

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Civil Defense - National Preparedness Month

By Tim Gamble

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September is National Preparedness Month, and I am continuing my series of preparedness articles (this is #20 of the series). In the last article we took a look at nuclear war preparations (article link). Next it makes sense to examine civil defense. Fortunately, I did a series of articles last year on Civil Defense that I can point folks towards (the one on Sweden is especially useful):

Civil Defense (part 1 of a series) = https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2023/08/civil-defense-part-1-of-series.html

Civil Defense: Sweden's Example / Prepare for War = https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2023/08/civil-defense-swedens-example-prepare.html

Civil Defense in the United States = https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2023/08/civil-defense-in-united-states.html

Civil Defense in the United States (Propaganda and Misinformation) = https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2023/08/civil-defense-in-united-states_23.html

Civil Defense: The US Government's Last Real Act of Civil Defense = https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2023/08/civil-defense-us-governments-last-real.html

Civil Defense in Russia = https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2023/08/civil-defense-in-russia.html

The American Civil Defense Association (TACDA) = https://www.dystopiansurvival.com/2023/08/american-civil-defense-association.html

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Nuclear War Preparations - National Preparedness Month

By Tim Gamble

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September is National Preparedness Month. For my general outline of preparedness, see my first article in this series (article link). The next 17 articles in this series are more detailed looks at various aspects of preparedness. In this article, I want to look at a much more advanced and scary subject - nuclear war preparations. 

As horrible as it is to contemplate, the possibility of a nuclear war, either all-out or limited in scope, is real. Unless you die instantly from a direct hit from a nuclear warhead, you will survive the initial nuclear attack and have to deal with its aftermath. How do we do so? How do we prepare for nuclear war and its aftermath? Here are some ideas and resources to get you started:

1)  David Kobler (aka SouthernPrepper1) has a book, entitled Nuclear War Survival: A One Hour Crash Course - Learn the basics fast, just in case. It is a short book that is exactly what it says it is - a crash course covering the basics for nuclear war survival. Only $8.99 for the paperback at Amazon. 

2) The 1987 edition of Cresson H. Kearny's Nuclear War Survival Skills is available for free download at http://www.oism.org/nwss/. This is the highly-recommended classic nuclear war survival guide commissioned by the US government. It is also a good idea to have a hard copy of this book instead of relying solely on a digital copy. The paperback of the 2022 edition is available on Amazon. This book is often recommended by Pastor Joe Fox (aka Viking Preparedness).

3) Potassium Iodine (KI) tablets are used for radiation poisoning. They are not expensive, and are available without prescription, but learn how and when to use them first*. Click here to find them on Amazon or click here to find them at Refuge Medical.

* According to the CDC "People should take KI (potassium iodide) only on the advice of public health or emergency management officials. There are health risks associated with taking KI." Learn more on the CDC website by clicking here.

However, get them now and put them somewhere you can quickly find them. Once the event happens, it will be too late to order them!

4) SouthernPrepper1 has done many videos over the years on preparing for nuclear, radiological, and EMP events. I highly recommend you look up those videos on his YouTube channel. 

5) Nuclear fallout is survivable. Dust kicked up by nuclear explosions can travel great distances, but the good news is that the fallout dust is contaminated by gamma radiation, which degrades very rapidly. You will need to protect your homes/shelters, and especially your skin, eyes, and lungs, for the first 48 to 72 hours after a nuclear event. I recently bought some extra plastic sheeting, tarps, and gorilla tape to build dust barriers (covering windows, doors, attic access points, etc.) from potential nuclear fallout. 

6)  N95 masks and even those ear loop facemasks we all have now are actually pretty good for protecting against fallout dust (the dust being considerably larger than viruses). Long pants, long sleeves, shoes, safety glasses, ski masks, and gloves also can help protect your skin and eyes. Reduce the amount of exposed skin as much as possible. You don't have to have really expensive gear. If you do want to go the extra step, check out protective suits and N 95 masks on Amazon. 

7) You do NOT need a gas mask to protect yourself from nuclear fallout. Again, the irradiated dust particles are quite large compared to viruses or gas molecules, and N95 and even earloop masks will suffice. 

8)  Keep Preppping. Any nuclear war, even limited in scale, will be disastrous for the economy and for supply chains. All other forms of prepping - from stockpiling food, water, and medical supplies, to establishing a family communications plan - will come in extremely handy in surviving a nuclear war, so keep up and even intensify all your current preparations. 

9) Distance + Mass = Safety. This is the important formula to remember in preparing for a nuclear war. The more distance, and the more mass, between you and a nuclear event, the safer you will be. If you live in or very near potential targets (large population centers, important cities, military bases, etc.), you may want to consider moving further away. There likely won't be much advance warning of a nuclear attack. 

10) Don't be far from home or your survival retreat when the event happens. Travel back home may be impossible for weeks to months to years, depending on where you are at, the extent of the event, and the scope of the world war that will certainly surround it. Watch world events closely. If you feel that the world is getting closer to a possible nuclear war, I suggest cancelling travel plans.

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TimGamble.com is my #Resistance website. I cover politics and current events from a "red-pilled" perspective, as well as providing strategies, information and resources for resisting the forces of tyranny attempting to enslave us all. Much of my attention is given to exposing technocracy, and building alternative systems to those being foisted on us by the technocrats. Please check it out. 

Robert Pavlis - Plant Science for Gardeners

By Tim Gamble

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Robert Pavlis - Plant Science for Gardeners: Essentials for Growing Better Plants 

I only recently became aware of this author, and his book and YouTube channel, but I am quite impressed and want to make my readers aware of this excellent resource for gardening. I've added an RSS feed for his YouTube channel in the right-hand column of this website. If you are interested in his award-winning book, you can purchase it at Amazon using my affiliate link: https://t.co/4YMVftj94P. (Making purchases through my affiliate links helps support this website at no extra cost to you - Thank you!) 

Robert Pavlis' book is entitled Plant Science for Gardeners: Essentials for Growing Better Plants. It is exactly what its title implies - a book written for gardeners, by a gardener, that explains the latest plant and soil science that will help gardener's grow better and more productive plants. 

From the Amazon description:

A little plant science grows a long way

Plant Science for Gardeners empowers growers to analyze common problems, find solutions, and make better decisions in the garden for optimal plant health and productivity.

Most gardeners learn by accumulating rules – water once a week, never dry out snowdrop bulbs, prune lilacs after flowering, plant garlic in October―the list is endless.

Rules take years to learn and yet leave you floundering when the unexpected strikes and plants look unhealthy, produce poorly, or die.

There is a better way.

By understanding the basic biology of how plants grow, you can become a thinking gardener with the confidence to problem solve for optimized plant health and productivity. Learn the science and ditch the rules! Coverage includes:

• The biology of roots, stems, leaves, and flowers
• Understanding how plants function as whole organisms
• The role of nutrients and inputs
• Vegetables, flowers, grasses, and trees and shrubs
• Propagation and genetics
• Sidebars that explode common gardening myths
• Tips for evaluating plant problems and finding solutions.

Whether you're a home gardener, micro-farmer, market gardener, or homesteader, this entertaining and accessible guide shortens the learning curve and gives you the knowledge to succeed no matter where you live.

The Amazon link for this book is https://t.co/4YMVftj94P

Make Plans For a Long-Term Emergency - National Preparedness Month

By Tim Gamble

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September is National Preparedness Month. If you didn't catch the first article in this series, The Outline of Preparedness, please check it out (article link). The 16 subsequent articles in this series delved deeper into those aspects of preparedness from the outline. This article covers what to do next once you've mostly covered those basics.  

Develop the plans & skills needed for a longer-term emergency.

Intermediate preppers need to understand and plan for the potential consequences of a "grid down" situation, particularly one that lasts for months or longer before things even begin to return to normal.

Don't think that will happen? Remember the empty store shelves in the early days of Covid, and all the supply chain problems? It could happen again. Political or economic collapse will do it. Just take an honest look at the state of politics in America right now, and America's over $35 Trillion national debt, and the highly likely anti-business, anti-energy, and high taxation policies of a Harris-Walz's administration.

It will happen again if we eventually have a war with China over Taiwan. But that will be even worse and longer lasting than the Covid problems. And any nuclear war with either China or Russia (or both) will take years, if not decades, from which to recover. 

A long-term disaster will result in the temporary or permanent loss of most of the “comforts of civilization” we are used to enjoying. Comforts of civilization are those things that are provided to us by modern civilization that we tend to take for granted. It would be difficult for most modern people to provide many of these things for themselves, especially without learning new skills, stockpiling tools and supplies, and preparing well in advance for their loss.

These comforts of civilization we may lose include:

   * Readily available running water that is safe to drink.
   * Readily available food from stores and restaurants.
   * “Flush and forget” human waste disposal.
   * Modern medicine and health care.
   * Readily available electricity for lighting, heating, cooling, and cooking.
   * Readily available natural gas for heating, cooking and hot water.
   * Readily available liquid fuel for cars, trucks, tractors and planes.
   * Instant long distance communication (phones, email, etc.).
   * Ready access to education.
   * Ready access to emergency services such as fire, police, and paramedics.
   * Most modern luxuries (television, smartphones, and the Internet, etc.)
   * Ability to spend money without having it (credit cards, mortgages, etc.)

How will the loss of these modern luxuries affect you and your family? When the tap water stops running, and your water storage is used up, what will you do then? (Answer: Before it happens, learn various ways to collect and treat water.) When your food storage runs out, and the grocery store shelves are still bare, how will you feed your family? (Possible answers: Before it happens, learn how to garden, hunt, fish, forage for wild edibles, raise chickens for eggs and meat...) 

How will you stay warm and heat your home without electricity or natural gas? How will you buy things when cash is worthless and the credit card and banking system is down? These are the type of questions you need to ask yourself, and start making contingency plans now before it happens. These contingency plans will likely require learning new skills, making attitude adjustments, and acquiring special gear and supplies.

Start planning for a long-term (years) grid-down situation. Start learning the skills and acquiring the tools you will need, before you need them. Once you need them, it will be too late. 
 

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How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times, by James Wesley Rawles.  Rawles is a well-known name within the survivalist community, and this book gives coverage of most topics within survivalism and prepping, not just food storage and bugging out.

Tools for Survival: What You Need to Survive When You’re on Your Own, by James Wesley Rawles, details the tools needed to survive anything from a short-term disruption to a long-term, grid-down scenario. Chapters include:

• Gardening, Farm, and Ranch Tools
• Food Preservation and Cooking Tools
• Sewing and Leatherworking Tools
• Electrical and Electronics Tools
• Medical and Sanitation Tools
• Knives and Traditional Handtools
• Rifles, Shotguns, and Handguns
• Archery
• Timber, Firewood and Lumber Tools
• Fire Prevention and Firefighting Tools
• And chapters on many other tools...

10 FREE Ways To Improve Your Health and Fitness - National Preparedness Month

By Tim Gamble

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September is National Preparedness Month. 

Health and fitness should be at or near the top of everyone's list of priorities. The good news is that improving your health and fitness doesn't require expensive sneakers, gym memberships, personal trainers, special exercise equipment, or over-priced "health foods." Here are some FREE ways to improve your health & fitness:

• Drink water instead of sodas or sweet tea. You don't have to buy bottled water, as tap water works just as well (and the dirty little secret of most bottled water is that they really are just tap water).
• Skip the desserts. You'll lose weight and save money at the same time.
• Skip the late night snacks. Another way to lose weight and save money at the same time. A general rule of thumb for losing weight is "No snacks after 8pm."
• Eat healthier. This doesn't have to mean buying special health foods or more costly organic foods. Instead, it means eating less junk foods, fast foods and sweets, and more veggies, especially leafy-greens and cruciferous vegetables (like broccoli and cauliflower).
• Go for a walk. Walking is great exercise, and its FREE! Start with a 15-minute walk each day, and over the next several weeks try to work your way up to 45-minutes or even an hour. You can walk around your neighborhood, in your local mall (a great way to walk on a rainy day), or at local parks & greenways. I even know an older couple who walk laps inside their local Walmart most mornings, rain or shine. Everyone has somewhere they can walk for free. Once you start walking, don't quit. The key to walking for fitness is consistency. 
• Be active. Yard work - such as cutting grass with a push mower, gardening, raking leaves, chopping wood - makes great free exercise. In fact, anything that raises your pulse rate and causes you to lightly sweat counts as exercise. 
• Check out your local parks. Local parks often have walking/jogging trails, tennis courts, basketball courts, obstacle/fitness courses, and other opportunities for free exercise. 
• Stretching exercises and calisthenics are free. Jumping jacks, sit-ups, toe-touches, leg squats, and push-ups require no special equipment and cost nothing. You can also find lots of free YouTube videos with fitness exercises and workout programs.
• Stop smoking. Yes, this is hard. But it can be done for free and it will even save you hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dollars a year. 
• Get plenty of sleep. Sleep is much more important to our long-term health than most people realize. Lack of quality sleep not only impairs our immune system, reflexes, and reasoning skills, but has also been proven to increase our risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, and even certain cancers. We might be able to "get by" with less sleep over the short-term, but we are damaging our health over the long-term.

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Fitness and the Aging Prepper - National Preparedness Month

By Tim Gamble

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September is National Preparedness Month. The previous article talks about your body's role in survival (Article link). This article takes a deeper look at fitness and the aging prepper:

Full disclosure: I'm a diabetic in my 50s. I'm recovering from stage 4 cancer. My knees aren't what they used to be, and my left shoulder doesn't work quite as well as it should. I'm no young whippersnapper who doesn't understand the difficulties older folks face. When it comes to fitness and the aging prepper, I am the aging prepper. 

This article will address three issues when it comes to fitness and the aging prepper. First, what fitness objectives we should pursue as we grow older. Second, how we can meet these objectives. Third, how we can overcome the many obstacles we face in pursuing these objectives. 

Fitness Objectives for the Aging Prepper

I have decided, as an aging prepper, to center my fitness plan around three main objectives. Here are those objectives in order of importance to me:

     1) To achieve and maintain a healthy weight. What is a healthy weight? It will differ from individual to individual depending on factors such as sex, height, build, and age. An even better indicator to go by would be body mass index (BMI). Consult your doctor to decide weight is right for you.  

      2) To improve and maintain flexibility, agility, and balance. Flexibility is the ability to move your joints. Agility is the ability to change direction quickly. Balance is the ability to maintain a specific body position while either being still or in motion.
All three tend to decline as we age, especially if we don't take steps to maintain them.

     3) To improve and maintain physical endurance. Physical endurance is the ability to maintain effort or activity over extended periods of time. The better your endurance, the longer it will take before you become too tired or weak to continue your efforts. And the less sore your muscles and joints will be the next day.

Other fitness objectives, such as improving and maintaining speed and strength, may also be important, but these three are the ones I prioritize. 

Meeting Fitness Objectives

Meeting these fitness objectives will take time and effort. Fitness is not something you can buy from Amazon and have it delivered tomorrow morning. You have to work at it. And the results won't be instantaneous. Fitness requires patience. But meeting your objectives will be very worthwhile.

However,  it can be done. And it doesn't require a lot of money. You don't need a gym membership, or expensive equipment, or even fashionable workout clothes.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Go for a walk or a hike. Walking is great exercise, and free. Start with a 15-minute walk each day, and over the next several weeks try to work your way up to 45-minutes tor even an hour. You can walk around your neighborhood, in your local mall (a great way to walk on a rainy day), or at local parks and greenways. I even know an older couple who walk laps inside their local Walmart most mornings, rain or shine.

Yard work - such as cutting grass with a push mower, gardening, raking leaves, or chopping wood - makes great (and free) exercise. In fact, anything that raises your pulse rate and causes you to lightly sweat counts as exercise. 

Stretching exercises and calisthenics are easy, don't require special equipment, and can be done just about anywhere. Just remember the exercises you used to do in gym class back in your school days - jumping jacks, sit-ups, toe-touches, leg squats, windmills, push-ups, and so forth. You can also find lots of videos on YouTube with fitness exercises and workout programs, ranging from basic beginner videos to much more advanced workouts.

Exercise balls (Amazon link) aren't expensive, with many under $30 and some under $20, and are a great for yoga, Pilates, and other types of exercise, as well as helping improve your balance. You can simply sit on an exercise ball while you watch television or work on the computer. You'll work on your balance and burn a few more calories at the same time.    

Speaking of balance, walking around the house with a book on your head really does help. It'll improve your balance and your posture at the same time.

Consider yoga or tai chi. Both will help with all these fitness objectives. Again, you can find lots of videos on YouTube. Avoid the new age and eastern spiritual aspects if you are uncomfortable with them, but the physical exercise part is great. 

Whatever exercises you choose, be patient. Start slowly, and gradually increase your workout as your fitness improves. And, of course, consult your doctor before starting any new exercise program or making major changes in your diet, especially if you have a chronic health condition.    

Overcoming Obstacles  

"I'm too old."  
"I'm too out-of-shape."  
"I have bad knees."  
"I have a bad back."  
"I don't have the time."   

Excuses. We all have them. Often times those excuses are very real. But they are still excuses. They are still reasons we give to not do something that we know we should do. 

Everyone has obstacles in their life. Those obstacles seem to only grow as we age. But an obstacle doesn't have to be an excuse. Instead, find a way around that obstacle. It won't be easy. It will take effort. It will take determination. It may take creativity. But you can do it. And it will be worth it.

The oldest person to climb Mount Everest is Yuichiro Miura, who did so at the age of 80 years and 224 days. At least five other people successfully climbed Mount Everest after the age of 70. Other successful climbers of Mount Everest include blind people, amputees, folks with chronic diseases such as MS, cystic fibrous and diabetes, as well as cancer survivors.

I am not telling you to climb Mount Everest. I am saying that if these folks found a way to climb Mount Everest despite their very real excuses, we can find a way to improve our own fitness despite our real excuses. 

What excuses, real or imagined, are holding you back? What can you do to eliminate those excuses? Or to find a way around, over, under, or through, those excuses? Obstacles are real, but you don't have to let them become excuses.

Want a great in-depth guide to health and fitness at all ages? The American College of Sports Medicine's Complete Guide to Fitness & Health (Amazon link) isn't just for young people or professional athletes, but covers the entire life span - from birth through our senior years regardless of their level of athleticism. It has a chapter devoted to flexibility, as well as chapters on specific health conditions such as diabetes and cancer. 

Regardless of the current state of your health and fitness, or your own unique circumstances ("excuses"), everyone can do something to improve their health and fitness. You might never be able to become a world class athlete, but you can still improve from where you are now. 

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Your Body - National Preparedness Month

By Tim Gamble

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September is National Preparedness Month. This article covers the importance of having and maintaining a healthy and fit body, which will pay tremendous benefits in both normal times and especially in an emergency of any sort.

Health and fitness is a skill, because it is something that doesn't come naturally, especially in the modern world. Like any skill, it must be learned, and takes time and effort to develop. It can't be bought from Amazon and delivered to your front door the next day, like you could buy your food storage. Developing the skill of health and fitness requires work, sacrifice, and time. Perhaps that is why its still on many preppers' "to do" list, waiting to be checked off when we finally get around to it. Well, its time to get around to developing this fundamental survival skill.

Being sick doesn't just feel bad, it is expensive! In our emerging dystopian world, healthcare will only get more expensive, more rationed, and more intrusive to our private lives. The technocrats plan to use healthcare to control the general population. Don't forget, the Left wanted to use Obamacare to force doctors to ask about and report on the presence of guns in their patients' homes. More recently, we have seen a push for vaccine mandates, even to the point they are willing to deny life-saving healthcare to the unvaccinated. Vaccine passports, not only for travel but even to enter your local stores and other businesses, still loom as a possibility as many on the Left have not given up on the idea. And it won't just be Covid-19 vaccines that will be required, but many others, too. Expect even more of this healthcare tyranny from government in the future. 

The less you need the healthcare system, the better off you will be. This should be one of your top priorities for you and your family as you prepare for the future. 

You probably already know the basics of what you should be doing, but are you actually doing them? Here is a checklist to start you on the road to health and fitness: 

1. Stop smoking and abusing drugs or alcohol. 
2. Get adequate sleep on a consistent basis. 
3. Learn to relax and manage stress.
4. Eat healthy. 
5. Eat less sugar (a lot less!). 
6. Build your strength and endurance. 
7. Be physically active every day (walking, hiking, gardening, yardwork, biking, swimming, tennis, yoga, Pilates, and exercise videos are just a few ideas). 
8. Reach and maintain a healthy weight.
9. Maintain tight control of your blood pressure and blood sugar.
10. Take care of any issues with your health, teeth or vision, sooner rather than later. 
11. Early detection of disease is crucial to successful treatment, so please get regular health check-ups.

The next article in this series will be on Fitness and the Aging Prepper. 

Note: Tim Gamble is NOT a medical professional. Nothing in this article is meant to diagnose or treat anyone. Rather, it is meant a "food for thought" and a starting point for your further investigation. Please consult with an appropriate medical professional regarding your particular concerns. Early detection of disease is crucial to successful treatment, so please get regular health check-ups. 

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