Eating for the "COLD"

[mike g]

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....

[vermonster13]

Mike I sent you a PM about this and another matter.

[TimZeigler]

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.

[BFinegan]

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".

[Orion]

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.

[mmgrode]

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

[Blackhawk]

Meat...eat meat.  I read that the men with Lewis and Clark had daily rations of 7 lbs. of meat a day.    

And they only lost one fellow who had a bursted appendix.  (or was that his stomach?  :D  )

[Lost Arra]

Now in handy gallon jugs:

 

[mike g]

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....

[heydeerman]

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.

[Kingstaken]

4500 calories aday???? There goes eating healthy Guess I'll have to move way down south and hunt the warmer climates.

[Curtiss Cardinal]

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.

[hunt it]

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.

[TimZeigler]

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.

[Curtiss Cardinal]

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.

[MYSTIKBOW]

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.

[Bonebuster]

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.

[woodchucker]

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.    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.

[Roadkill]

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...

[Jerry Jeffer]

Pizza or pasta with meat. Carbo+ energy.