Watching the show Out of the Wild - Venezuela, I've noticed that some of the 'adventurers' appear to be losing more weight than the others due to malnutrition. That got me thinking about preparing for such a situation, so I have this question:
If you knew a month ahead of time that you would be in a situation with little to no food for 3-4 weeks, should you prepare your body by changing your caloric intake?
I can see the advantage of starting out 10-20 pounds heavier than usual, thus having more energy stores to live on. But I am wondering if having your metabolism used to a lower caloric intake (~1500 calories, compared to the usual 2500-3000 a day usual for Americans) might be better? What approach would be best for the short term (during the event) and which would have fewer long term health effects?