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Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: mike g on January 18, 2008, 11:59:00 AM

Title: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: mike g on January 18, 2008, 11:59:00 AM
Ok guys and you to Killy....
I know you can dress for the Cold....But can you also eat certin foods befor a Hunt that will make you warmer....?....If so....Do you eat just befor ya go, an hr. befor ya go....
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: vermonster13 on January 18, 2008, 12:03:00 PM
Mike I sent you a PM about this and another matter.
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: TimZeigler on January 18, 2008, 12:10:00 PM
mike, the Marines used to give us different MREs for our cold weather missions, they were almost double the amount of calories since your body will burn more off to warm the body.  It also came with powdered soups, this made you intake hot liquid to prevent your body from having to warm up cold water prior to digesting.
  http://www.mreinfo.com/us/older/rcw.html  

4500 calories per menu, thats alot when your eating 3 of these a day.
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: BFinegan on January 18, 2008, 12:46:00 PM
Be sure to drink water. Even though you might not be sweating you can still dehydrate in cold weather. One less stress on a body working harder to maintain "performance".
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: Orion on January 18, 2008, 01:04:00 PM
A couple shots of George Dickel before the hunt does it for me.  Doesn't warm me up, but I don't feel the pain.(LOL)  Just kidding, of course.
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: mmgrode on January 18, 2008, 01:09:00 PM
Protein!  You need protein to keep the body producing heat.  This can be in the form of meat, nuts, milk, etc. Also, it's very important to drink lots of water.  Oh, and be sure to pee when you need to.  You'll be much warmer afterwards.  Bring something(preferably soup or warm water) warm to sip on from a thermos.  Stay away from caffeine. Have a good time out there Mike.  Cheers, Matt
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: Blackhawk on January 18, 2008, 01:40:00 PM
Meat...eat meat.  I read that the men with Lewis and Clark had daily rations of 7 lbs. of meat a day.   :scared:  

And they only lost one fellow who had a bursted appendix.  (or was that his stomach?  :D  )
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: Lost Arra on January 18, 2008, 02:45:00 PM
Now in handy gallon jugs:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/LostArrow/Tabasco-Gallon-Jugs.jpg)
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: mike g on January 18, 2008, 02:56:00 PM
Thanks guys....
Me Mr.Chuck and Bill Curlis are going on another Brown water Patrol tonight for the Beaver....
and Racoon and Muskrat and Posums if they show, Pretty much anything with 4 legs and fur, Notice I said 4 legs for you guys with the one tract minds....
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: heydeerman on January 18, 2008, 03:34:00 PM
Get some cayenne pepper capsules (?). Eat one with some food before you hit the cold. Put a couple in a baggie, if your feet get cold take your boots off and bust one into your boot and put it on. Get cold? take one and it will warm you up from the inside but your better off eating something with it...can cause heartburn if your not used to em.
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: Kingstaken on January 18, 2008, 03:40:00 PM
4500 calories aday???? There goes eating healthy Guess I'll have to move way down south and hunt the warmer climates.
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: Curtiss Cardinal on January 18, 2008, 03:53:00 PM
A thermos or two, one with soup and one with tea or coffee or even just hot water and a non spill sealed thermal drinking cup to sip them from will go a long way to warming your core. Before hunting in the morning eat a big breakfast with oatmeal, eggs and ham and fried potatoes. They are all foods that lend themselves to heating your core and sustaining you for hours. Before the afternoon stand Texas Beef stew(pretty close to regular beef stew with the addition of several chili peppers) is a good choice.
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: hunt it on January 18, 2008, 04:08:00 PM
Carry thermos with hot water and then packets of instant oatmeal,soup and tea or hot chocolate. The high calorie stuff is for high energy output during cold weather. This means hours of snowshoeing, skiing or mountain work not the average hunt. Dried fruit and nuts pack light and are a good energy source. Keep hydrated as mentioned. If you have some concerns re dehydration and rapid energy get yourself some packs of energy gel from local running store. This stuff is worth it's weight in gold if you need instant energy and electrolytes. For $3.00 a pack it weighs nothing and is super recharger if expending alot of energy and calories in cold weather. During my timberwolf hunts I find myself on snowshoes up to five hours straight at times in the thickest most miserable bush you can find. A pack of gel per hour keep me going strong.
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: TimZeigler on January 18, 2008, 06:56:00 PM
Kingstaken, from the mreinfo site:

4500 kilocalories (8% protein, 32% fat, and 60% carbohydrate

thats one meal brother, and they expect you to eat all of it, gotta keep the energy up in the cold.
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: Curtiss Cardinal on January 18, 2008, 07:06:00 PM
Oh I forgot to post something. Lemonade mix add hot water you get hot lemon. Something the Mormons I was in the Corps with drank on cold days because of their resriction agains coffee and the like. I post it here as I know not everyone likes coffee and tea and plain hot water is something some people wouldn't care for either and hot lemon is pretty doggone good too.
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: MYSTIKBOW on January 18, 2008, 07:14:00 PM
I make sure I always have a small thermos of somthing hot. Water,tea or soup. Also, soup with LOTS of noodles does wonders. The carbs for low activity/still type hunting is what works best. For me anyway.  Temps. can easly get down to 10 degrees or much colder during hunting season around here.
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: Bonebuster on January 18, 2008, 07:27:00 PM
Simply eat healthy, and hearty. Stay away from too much of anything. Especially sugar, salt, and grease.

Noodle dishes, like spaghetti, and macaroni, and good lean meats, are good, as they are easy to digest.

As already stated, stay hydrated. At any temperature, being hydrated properly, puts all of your body functions at maximum efficiency.
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: woodchucker on January 18, 2008, 07:40:00 PM
Mike,

After YEARS of "big woods" hunting in the mountains of N.Y. and Maine,the most important thing I have found is to eat a BIG.....HOT.....BREAKFAST!!!!!

Pancakes,French toast,Eggs,Bacon,Sausage,Ham,Hash,etc.

Any (or all!!!!!) of the above are good for starters.   :thumbsup:  But my point is this,A bowl of cold cereal and a glass of O.J. just don't cut it when it gets really cold outside.

Years ago,rifle hunting in the mountains,we would all eat a big hot breakfast,then go out and track deer all day long,then come back and eat a HUGE dinner.(none of us ever carried a lunch,we were on the move all day)

Now I'm not telling anyone "do not eat lunch".....I'm simply pointing out that a big hot breakfast gives you the "fuel" you need for the day,and the big dinner builds up and stores calories for the next day.
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: Roadkill on January 18, 2008, 07:45:00 PM
The USMC meals had oatmeal and nuts and some pasta stuff.  I have a couple of those meals left over from my time at MWTC Bridgeport.  The big deal is drinking to keep the nutients moving in your system.  HOT-WETS  hot fluids of any kind-except alcohol.  Coolaid, lemonaid, tea, slow down on coffee as it tis a diuretic.  Drinking wa the key to digestion, absorption and keeping your system going.  I spent many many days on skiis and snow shoes while stationed there and one can actually feel when you don't have enoughfluids...
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: Jerry Jeffer on January 18, 2008, 08:02:00 PM
Pizza or pasta with meat. Carbo+ energy.
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: mike g on January 18, 2008, 08:30:00 PM
Thanks for all the info guys....
I just ate an all meat and cheese pizza....
   And I will take a thermos and some water with me....
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: Killdeer on January 18, 2008, 08:36:00 PM
I always thought carbs were the thing. I go for the pasta the night before a cold-weather hunt, and don't skimp on the fat-filled cheese sauces. The carbs release sugars slowly into the bloodstream, giving heat and energy. That's my myth and I'm sticking to it.

Peanut butter sanniches and dry socks go a long way, too. Don't eat the socks. Change into them a little more than halfway through your hunt. And folks are right to advise against alcohol. It throws blood from your core into the capillary beds, which flushes and warms you briefly, but actually serves to chill you down.

'Nother box of mac'n'cheese, please!
Killdeer
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: UKarcher on January 18, 2008, 09:14:00 PM
Killie you're right. Stock up on the carbs before you go, then eat carbs in the form of dried fruit, trailmix etc as you go. The trick is to eat little and often which will keep your carb levels topped up. If you stop for lunch it will take a couple of hours for your body to process it. Plenty of liquids keep the electrolytes up. Save the alcohol for around the campfire at the end of the day.
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: Killdeer on January 18, 2008, 09:19:00 PM
Beans will keep you warm, too.  :)  
Killdeer  :campfire:
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: Barney on January 18, 2008, 09:23:00 PM
I've done the "beans and bibs" before at work.   :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: bayoulongbowman on January 18, 2008, 10:14:00 PM
I like hot green tea myself...just the ticket..or package soup mix that all ya do is add hot water, that and somehomemade jerky...that will work...I always have canteen and water jug at camp or my truck... :)
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: TFM on January 19, 2008, 09:08:00 AM
your body is like a furnace and burns calories to produce heat. So like a wood stove you have to keep feeding it. You also need liquids to assist in breaking down the food. However, do not drink liquids and restrict circulation. caffine is out of the question, as well as alchol. also use a kidney belt with hand warmers in them.
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: Tom Leemans on January 19, 2008, 09:30:00 AM
Yup, spice that meat with pepper. Water will be your best drink.
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: IB on January 19, 2008, 10:18:00 AM
"BLUBBER"   There it is PLENTY of "BLUBBER"  :goldtooth:
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: -Achilles- on January 19, 2008, 12:04:00 PM
not sure of why or how but chocolate seems to keep my blood pumping...anyone have this experience?
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: Killdeer on January 19, 2008, 04:17:00 PM
Chocolate is good for what ails you. I always have a huge bar of it in my pack. Hershey's Special Dark, the biggest one they make.

 :)    :)    :)    :)
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: Gene Roberts on January 19, 2008, 04:55:00 PM
Thanks,I could really use these methods.
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: sealevel on January 19, 2008, 05:19:00 PM
Eat fat cracklens off a pork roast . a can of sardines is good for a snack a can of salmon has lots of protien . Stay away from sugar .
Title: Re: Eating for the "COLD"
Post by: BFinegan on January 19, 2008, 06:08:00 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by Iron Bull:
"BLUBBER"   There it is PLENTY of "BLUBBER"   :goldtooth:  
I just read "ENDURANCE Shackleton's Incredible Voyage" By Alfred Lansing

28 men wet and cold for almost 2 years in the Artic around 1916. They survived mostly on seal meat and BLUBBER and sometimes just BLUBBER.

I'm no book critic, but this is an excellent read and I think traditionalist would enjoy it as they had absolutely no modern conveniences. I don't want to say to much. It's worth getting a copy.