Stay fit, stay alive

Health is extremely important to the true survivor. To that end I put together some tips to help everyone in this goal that will not only get you more prepared but get you more out of life before the fall.

Here are some general tips:
Make time - Set aside the time, no matter how long or short. Make sure that 9:30-11:30 each day in my case or whatever you choose and can fit into your schedule is set and you treat it like an appointment that you won't miss.
Set goals - Set realistic goals for yourself. Examples could be losing a certain amount of body fat by a certain date. Mine is to loose 4% by the end of May (almost only one day left!) Or by a number of pounds, like losing 5lbs this week. Or even gaining weight, gaining 10lbs of muscle by the end of the month. Note that each of these goals has an end date. A date at which you see if you've achieved your goal and set a new one.
Get support - Having a strong support group is make or break for many people. Start hanging out with and talking to people who are encouraging of your fitness goals. People who already have body's you strive toward and who have the same or more knowledge in the area then you have. If they do have the same amount of knowledge make sure it is a person who is looking to find more knowledge like you are. If you have no friends like this and aren't good at meeting new people try a personal trainer. The benefits of a trainer are countless.
Inventory - Take stoke of what is in your house. You don't have to throw everything away but once you've eaten any unhealthy food DO NOT replace it. Never buy unhealthy food again. I'll mention it again later but if it has more then one ingredient, it is probably junk food.
Fitness test - Take a fitness test. Most gyms will do this with you for free as a trial session. Get a rough idea of where you are at physically and then do another one in three months and see how you've changed. If you've met those goals and improved or if you are on a downward spiral.
Health journal - Keeping a health journal is a great way many people keep track of how they are doing. This can be as simple or as complicated as you like. Believe it or not my journal is so simple it almost doesn't exist. But keeping track of results and how you got those results is very important. For me, once a week, at the same time each week (the morning of my cheat day) I measure my chest, waist, hips, arms, thighs, calves and take my weight, body fat percentage and water percentage. And I write those down. That is all I do for my journal, sometimes I will note if I took an extra cheat day that week or if I tried having an egg heavy week or something like that to see if it made any large difference. But your journal could be more in depth, including meal plans, what you ate each day, calorie break-downs and even how you feel about achieving certain goals or about eating an extra dessert.
Eat breakfast - This is the most important meal of the day. Your parents probably can't tell you why but I can. It's because your metabolism works the best in the morning just after you've woke up and slows down during the course of the day. This means in the morning your body uses most of the nutrients, protein and calories put into it instead of storing them as fat. So your biggest meal should be breakfast and smaller meals as the day goes on.
Eat protein every three hours - Any health specialist worth their weight will tell you to eat every three hours. Eat small meals instead of big ones. Again this keeps you metabolism going longer instead of sitting dormant. But what most people might not mention is to make sure each of those small meals has some protein in it. This protein makes sure that it's your muscles getting those nutrients and the calories get turned directly into energy and not just floating around your system.
Get 30 minutes of exercise a day minimum - This is sort of a general tip. I suggest more then this especially to people already at a decent fitness level. But everyone should be getting at least 30 minutes a day that pumps your heart rate up. This will keep your heart strong, your muscles in use and burn off a least some of those calories. I try to get 2 hours in every day, it doesn't always happen but it's one of my goals.
Veggies! - Eat as many veggies as you can. Veggies are the water of solids. You virtually cannot eat too many. And veggies will give you nutrients as well and stave off hunger.i
No sugar - This one is so obvious but so few people do it. Cutting sugars out of your diet will instantly make you feel better. I trained a man who literally lost over 100lbs just by cutting out pop and chips for six months. He did the same amount of exercise and ate the same amount of calories each day but just by getting rid of those two sugar sources he went from 330lbs to 224lbs! And he has kept going from there and feels better then ever.
More fruit - Fruit is a source of sugar so some people believe it is possible to go over board, while overs swear it is impossible. But there are two facts that are completely true, most of us do not eat enough fruit. And fruit will fill you up and in a healthy way. You can easily drink five juice boxes and still want more food, but try eating five apples and see if you are still hungry.
No calorie drinks, only tea and water - Even juice is bad for you, with only a small percent of the nutrient and none of the fiber of actual fruit (plus added chemical sweeteners or sugar) it's not nearly as healthy a choice as people believe. I know most people can't get away from their coffee addiction either but consider these points: caffeine IS NOT energy, calories are energy. Caffeine is a drug that tricks the mind into thinking it is more aware, when in fact it actually does not even raise awareness. Also good coffee will be harder to come by after the fall, easier to get rid of the addiction now while it is a choice.
Swap out habits - We all know the bad habits we have. But it is very hard to break bad habits cold turkey. Instead try to switch a bad habit for a good one, for instance whenever I got hungry out of boredom I would do crunches no matter where I was. This is a great thing for health but also in other aspects of life, when I feel the urge to crack my knuckles I go and brush my teeth instead. Eventually your body gets retrained so I no longer got hungry when I was bored, instead I felt the urge to do crunches.
One ingredient foods - A rule I try to stick to (especially during times when I am getting ready to do a show or in general want to be in top fitness level) is to only eat foods with one ingredient. If it has a list of ingredients I don't eat it simple as that. Our bodies were not designed with multi-ingredient foods in mind. The entire body works best when it is fed the simple things found in nature that it knows how to use.
No grains - Kind of playing off the last tip, the human body doesn't do well with grains. Bread, cereal, even many of the "healthy" brands of those are not good for our bodies. Most people are actually slightly allergic to grains and don't even know it. Try cutting 100% of grains out of your diet for a week and see how you feel at the end. This can be really hard because grains are in almost everything that is processed and sold in stores. I only eat grains on cheat days or if I'm trying to build muscle.



A lot of people also have issues because of time. Time is no excuse, if you want to be fit and healthy you will make the time. Get of the couch and go for a run. Or do butt squeezes on the bus to work or school, it's something small but it is at least doing something. Try these simple steps to help turn your workplace into a healthier environment:

• Walk. Just move around. Walk to the printer every time instead of letting it build up. Walk up the stairs. Walk around the building on your breaks. Walk to a co-workers desk instead of calling them.
• Stock the office fridge with fruits and veggies. Or bring your own mini-fridge if you are allowed.
• Bring healthy lunches instead of eating out (this will also save you money.)
• Keep some light weights in your desk drawer. Use them on your breaks.
• Try an exercise ball instead of a chair if you work in an office (just tell your boss you need it for your back, any doctor will gladly give you a note to this end as well to help increase your fitness level.)
• Plant a few motivational post-its around your desk to help remind you of your goals and boost positive thinking.

Now onto some more general tips that aren't coming from me but have been gathered from personal trainers:

• Never eat fast food again.
• Never order food from a phone or online again.
• Choose one junk food you will only eat once a week.
• Eat a big breakfast.
• Avoid anything from a package, if you didn’t make it don’t eat it.
• Limit or better yet avoid food products that have “natural or artificial flavoring”
• Avoid all processed foods. Stick to the outside edges of the store when shopping.
• In cereals look for at least 7gms of fiber per serving and make sure sugar is not one of the first four ingredients.
• Read food labels, if you cannot pronounce the ingredients don’t buy it. If there are dozens of listed ingredients chances are that food product is not healthy for you.
• In protein bars look for the fiber to carb count. Make sure there is at least 25% as much fiber as carbs. Also look for at least 25grams of protein, 32+ is ideal.
• Treat food as a fuel source for your body. Your body is not a garbage can. If you can't imagine the food helping your body, don't eat it.
• Water should be your main liquid, tea and coffee without sugar or cream is allowed.
• If you can buy organic, do it. You minimize toxins and chemicals your liver has to filter out. This puts less stress on your organs and hormonal system.
• When buying meat, organic free range is the best choice. Most of our meats are factory farmed. The animals are treated poorly, stand in their own feces, are injected with growth hormones and fed chemically altered, left over grain products.
• Buy a healthy cookbook. Learn how to prepare the food in a low calorie way that is tasty to you. Having a few easy to make recipes is vital to consistency in my plan. The Heart and Stroke Foundation has great recipes on their web site.

The CBC is currently running a program to help raise health awareness in Canadians but the knowledge is good anywhere.
One of the greatest health advice and personal trainers out there also has a blog and newsletter that are absolutely free. He also has a book that explains the simple truths about health and having a body that is a lean-mean-zombie killing machine.

Stay fit, may laziness never hold you back, and you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Zombiegeddon

This could be a post about the lesson of never blowing something off based on appearances.

Imagine this: a hobby shop, there are comics and manga and board games and action figures and character busts. Enter me. Looking for zombie books or board games. Looking through the board games I see a big box with the title Zombiegeddon. Looks lame. $25 (it's cheap) probably lame. I get something else. Repeat this scene a couple of times over a few weeks. Finally the scene changes, the game is now $10 and I have bought almost everything else is the store zombie related. So I buy the game.

In a new scene we see my home. My shelves of zombie games, books, films, weapons, survival guides etc. I am having some friends over, I go to the shelf and look at my pile of board games. I see Zombiegeddon, I shake my head and pick something else. Finally the scene changes, someone else goes to the pile and picks out Zombiegeddon. So the game finally makes it's way into my experiences and I wish I had not waited so long.

First off it's an entertaining, QUICK game. In a world of three hour complex games which might as well be RPGs and weekend long RISK tournaments, a nice 45-minute board game is a rare find.

Now I will get into the training that can be taken out of this game. The biggest thing of note is without weapons you basically have to let enemies walk all over you. Now obviously in real life this is not completely the case but if you are not a trained, experienced fighter when raiders or even aggressive looters come to take things from you and you are unarmed there isn't much you can do. So either train up or make sure you aren't without the proper gear. It can also be noted that there are a lot of barricades and this, while annoying, makes complete sense. Everyone who isn't dead is going to be putting up barricades every where they sleep. That means every night there will be almost as many new barricades as there are people living. Meaning after a while many areas will be literally covered in barricades to try to navigate through.

The main point of the game is to gather supplies which is also a very important lesson to be instilled in any survivor. Gathering supplies has become the goal of life and without food and water, you're "kill count" won't mean any more your empty canteen. The best way to win the game is actually not to focus on gathering supplies yourself but on cutting other people off from doing so. This reflects real life in how raiders, looters and even survivors will have to contend for supplies and be prepared that as things get worse that fight will become more and more brutal.

And I suppose I should talk a little about the strategy of the game. The first half of the game talks place after the zombies but before the nuclear bombs get dropped. The main thing here, get your supplies into the barricades while collecting new supplies and provisions. Having weapons and kills is the quickest way to get big points but the provisions multiply in the end so they are worth more. After the bombs drop the zombies aren't gone! They just mutated! So there are more enemies and less weapons but the main goal is still to get supplies, or more specifically to stop your fellow players from getting supplies. Try to cut off their markers while they are focusing on other areas and narrowing the options they have. Remember though, it's just a game, don't ruin any friendships over it.

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

Zombies in film: The Crazies

"Fear thy neighbor."



Film: The Crazies
Directed by Breck Eisner
Written by Scott Kosar and Ray Wright
Produced by Overture Films, Participant Media and Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ
Year: 2010

Story: Town sheriff, Dave, shoots the town drunk after he pulls out a shotgun during a high school baseball game. Suddenly people start to go crazy all over and kill one another, all hell really breaks loose once the military shows up and starts quarantining everyone. In the chaos, Dave's wife gets taken away for further observation while Dave is led away with the uninfected. In the chaos he manages to get back to her and a small group begin to try to escape the insanity. As the group is whittled away the truth is slowly revealed about bio-weapon that caused the whole event. Finally the military prove their relentless pursuit of mankind's safety in the final scene of the film.

Zombies: Sorry to all the people who told me to watch this film. These are not zombies. Zombies are most often undead. But even getting around that; zombies cannot speak, think, fight, shoot guns, lay traps or make any decisions. These people are more likely fallen pray to something removing their emotional controls, making them prone to obeying their impulses and desires. They also probably have increased hormone and anger-inducing chemicals which puts them into a rage and leads them to murder. Whatever reason, these are not in anyway zombies besides the fact the are led by a virus to kill. The film itself makes no claims to be a zombie film or that the infected are in anyway undead (as many zombie films don't.) I almost want to start a category of "not zombie" movies.

Survival Lessons:

• If the whole town blame you for shooting someone who points a gun at you, something is wrong.
• Kill the psychos now so you don't have to deal with them later.
• Having someone to fight for isn't always a bad thing.
• Marry a bad ass.
• The military will go to any lengths to contain the infection.
• Grunt soldiers know nothing as they will be expendable and expected to be ruthless.
• Car washes are scary places.
• Warned you about those psychos...

Warnings: Below are spoilers.




In the end I enjoyed this movie about as much as I thought I would before people told me it was a zombie movie. I'm pretty good at picking out zombie movies, even from vague trailers or references and I didn't think this was from the start. But once told it was I decided to check it out with a whole different mindset. There are some similar elements and over all it was an enjoyable movie, but not a zombie movie. More then anything though it made me want to see the original by Romero to see if that one was a zombie movie or was similar to this one. This film did not seem to have much of Romero's style to it, too much of a "happy ending" feel to the whole thing.

This will be the first time I really go on about a movie like this but I would like to point out how the heroes of this film are not the sheriff and his wife. The heroes are actually the relentless military. If the military was not to brutal and efficient in it's moves to quickly shut down the infection it would spread across the whole globe very quickly. We can only hope that the military of the real world moves so quickly to contain any threats like this and keep them to a class 3 outbreak or smaller. This movie is one example of many where the bad guys are actually the good guys and the heroes are simply people who managed to survive and gain empathy. Now Dave and Judi as it turns out were not infected. I also disagree with the way the military handled the uninfected at the truck stop. Disagree is even fairly light terms, but on the flip side would I rather the smallest chance the infection get out? Perhaps more tests, bigger surveillance centres, quarantine camps: there are many other ways to deal with the situation then to simply kill everyone who might have come in contact with the virus. Then of course, the nuclear explosion which of course all writer's like to throw in as the military's last resort. At that point have they gone too far over the top? Maybe, perhaps teams of specialists could have swept the area. Or just tried to keep the area locked down until the infection died off. But if the team got infected, or if some nosey kid slipped through the lock down, or a local bad ass sheriff and his wife turn out to not be infected but carriers of the virus? Sometimes as the situation may merit, extremes must be taken for the safety of us all.


Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

1,000 survivors!

Well survivors I hadn't planned much for this humble blog. My hopes are to simply help people sort through the mess of zombie misinformation out there. Now after only a few short months we have reached over 1,000 readers per month.

I've been harsh in my mission, specific in my use of outbreaks and definitions, real in my search of truths and causes, but have been proud to not stray from where I began.

I am very glad to be reaching so many and the e-mails I receive are very encouraging. I also encourage people to post comments as well. And to continue to spread the word, the site will only grow from here. The night is long and cold; but the true survivor does not simply wait it out untl the break of day. The survivor I know you can all be, is the survivor who learns to live and thrive in that night.

Let the dead come. We will be ready.  For what we learn can be passed on to others, just as I to here, at the ZLC.

Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.

A resource page

Zombiehub.com is a zombie site of some worth to the beginner survivor. It is a site which more or less directs the reader to more information while providing the basics itself. As such the most useful page on this site is the Zombie Network. A page which gives a long list of other resources, all broken down by category. You have fan sites, communities, survival groups and general horror sites.

Another interesting thing about this website (though at all the only one that does this) is the community element. The blog portion is submitted by readers. This leads to a lot of good discoveries but can also have a lot of mixed or bad information included. Forums tend to give a better community opinion because it is easier to remember this is one person's view point and ideas, not a general authority on the matter.

There is also a shop very similar to the one here. In which you can find zombie related clothes, books etc.

ZombieHub also presents an area for readers to post their own reviews of books or movies as well as very good (i.e. relatively complete) lists of books, movies and video games which focus around zombies.

The site provides a break down of zombie types and categories that can more of less be skipped over. The categories are poorly put together as they are too specific and yet don't actually define the type of zombie. The same goes for the size of hordes they present. It is much more specific (and widely accepted) to go by the Outbreak system.

So while the information about zombies on the site itself is general and little more then a quick read. I do recommend this site for the purpose of continuing to find other sites, communities and to look for films or books on the matter. Just keep an open, yet cautious, mind when reading the blog section.



Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.