Calories Burnt in Field/on OPs

[orange.paint]

Something to also keep in mind is the effects on your body.If you are commissioning your body all day during a military exercise 3600 calories will be burnt,and keep you going.However if you are sitting in a QM tent for the duration of an exercise you may consider reducing your caloric intake.Finding your BMR(basic metabolic rate) http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/ns421/BMR.html and calculating your work expenditure will reduce the extra pounds finding it way onto your body.

This topic was brought up at the armored school a couple years back when a high ranking person addressed the school about eating correct.As most junior members spend 9 months of the year in the field,eating right as he suggested seemed to some to be out of the question during field operations.However with a little math,combined with physical activity when time permits a soldier can care for his personal health.

Imp's are designed so the common infanteer does not go hungry.However it's a generic meal that has one design in place.It's up to the individual soldier to arbitrate what his basic needs are and consider his individual health requirements.

Edited to fix link

 

[PMedMoe]

Very good point, EX_RCAC_011.  The IMPs were obviously meant for someone performing hard work and others who are not working so hard can reduce the amount they are eating.  That being said, the field is certainly no place to be on a "diet" as I have seen some people do, especially in the winter when you need some extra calories to keep warm.
I used to save the extras for snacking on during sentry, radio watch, etc.

 

[aesop081]

You guys should see the caloric content of the Galley on a CP-140  ;D

I never actualy ate everything that was in an IMP, even at peak times of exertion, but then again, i wasnt counting calories either.  Must be a "new army" thing

 

[geo]

IMPs with the 3600 calories...... have seen plenty of Infantrymen and Sappers who burn thru that faster than the rats will put it on.... brutal!

Then there are the REMFs (although it's hard to define rear echelon anymore.... Inside the wire VS outside?)

 

[aesop081]

IMPs with the 3600 calories...... have seen plenty of Infantrymen and Sappers who burn thru that faster than the rats will put it on.... brutal!

Geo, i remember times in 2 CER where i would have eaten 2 IMPs......

combat arms or not, people in the field , IMHO, should eat like its their last meal in a while, you never know whats going to happen later

 

[geo]

I tend to agree with you.  The last thing you need is to run down your reserves.  For those CP types who might put on a couple of pounds, a couple of laps of the football field / Leager / parking lot should take care of business...........

No matter how much they might want to improve ratpacks, over time, it all becomes sooo bland and ho hum and you really aren't going to eat much more than you have to.

 

[orange.paint]

IMPs with the 3600 calories...... have seen plenty of Infantrymen and Sappers who burn thru that faster than the rats will put it on.... brutal!

Then there are the REMFs (although it's hard to define rear echelon anymore.... Inside the wire VS outside?)

Agreed.On op Tempo I cannot comment as I have yet to visit Afghanistan.However on field exercises here in Canada it may be wise to choose your food as per you task.As you said that you have seen plenty of sappers and infantrymen bun through it,as I have seen tankers pounding track all day burn it off.However I have also seen the CP guy,SQ staff,and drivers pound back 3600 calories day after day when their expendure is obviously quite low over a long period of time.When your expenditure is around 1500 BMR within days your putting on stored fat.

Just to put it into perspective (I'm not calling anyone dumb,just a good little bit of information) 3500 calories of unburned energy adds one pound of fat.It's not a mere few laps,actually for a 150 lb man it would take over 50 km to burn 3500 calories. http://www.clinics.runningroom.com/calculators.php



People eat what they want.But here are a few things for a guideline if you had not realised.To better inform the "new army".Hope someone finds this helpful.

 

[17thRecceSgt]

I had always thought that LMCs were a supplement to IMPs.  We used them (when we could get them...) for anything from having some chow on patrols, night OPs, stuff like that when we would be dismounted from the patrol for any amount of time.  IIRC, it was always a good thing to get the jerky LMC vice the cheese one.

From my limited experience which doesn't include anything overseas, the colder the weather, the more of the IMP the troops would eat. 

They were never as popular as a good crew-cook IMHO.  Nothing like a army Egg McMuffin in the OP base... ;D

 

[Armymedic]

OK, thanks for all the chaff.

Here is some wheat from my research:

The average adult North American male requires a min of 1600 calories a day to survive. Less, you starve. Obviously, more if you are doing physical activity.

A complete IMP, with the sugar in your coffee, the drink mix and all the goodies is roughly 1200 calories. The meal portion themselves are 150-300 calories, the deserts (mostly fruit) are 200-500 calories (damn baked Chocolate). Throw in a chocolate bar at 300, and the bread with PB or jam at 250 then you might get close to that 1200.

People who eat IMPs exclusively generally do not get "fat".

 

[orange.paint]

You're right if as you said someone was doing physcal activity.If a persons BMR is 1600 as you said and he burns 1000 extra calories from CP duty that add's up to 2600 calories his body must have to survive without a calorie deficit.Now 3600 calories a day (which is what the rations power is expressed as)x 3.5 days would add up to a extra 3500 calories(1 lb stored fat) after lunch on the 4th day of ex.

While I agree your "wheat" is a generalisation of MOST soldiers daily activities,I was pointing out rather those mundane sitting/sleeping duties some people carry out for the duration of an exercise.I made this valid point to illustrate to people what the caloric energy in a ration is equal to.

For example my BMR is 1675 calories per day.If I was eating 3 rations a day I would have an extra of 1925 calories for work energy.
For ease of explanation I will use running as an example:
1925 calories (for my body) I would need to run 12.5km.However basic movement may take up 800 calories per day.Which leaves me with extra energy to be stored 1125 actually.Within a few days in a "sloth like" job you WILL put on body fat.Chaff wheat what ever you want to call it.I personally call it basic math.

However I will agree that most field soldiers will not put on fat due to their job's etc,as stated by Geo and cdnaviator in the earlier post.However for peoples education(who don't understand caloric needs/expenditure) I left this as an example as this is the foods we are consuming in field work in Canada.

And as I said before,I cannot comment too much on Afghanistan etc.However heat would play a role,how much I wouldn't hazard a guess.

I posted this information as it seemed to be a large topic during a school "O gp".Information is a soldiers best  weapon to keep himself fit.

 

[Armymedic]

Most of us are too busy on deployment in Canada or overseas to bother to count calories. In fact, counting calories like that (intake vs used) is counter-productive may lead to eating disorders and rebounding wieght problems. Thats why most diet programs have done away with calorie calculations.

Fitness and fatness is in other threads like this one:

http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/48433/post-419930.html#msg419930

The military issued IMP provides you with roughly 3600 calories a day in three meal packs, if you eat the entire contents of all three meals.

What you chose to do with those meals is entire up to you.

 

[geo]

also, for what it's worth, most people I know will leave sundry items that don't interest them too much.....unless they are truly, truly hungry.


Moderator Edit : Geo, i removed your double-post

 

[orange.paint]

+1 Geo.No bread for me thanks.Thats what we had an extra ammo box for,all the stuff we "may" eat later.

Most of us are too busy on deployment in Canada or overseas to bother to count calories. In fact, counting calories like that (intake vs used) is counterproductive may lead to eating disorders and rebounding weight problems. That's why most diet programs have done away with calorie calculations.

Most are.Some are not.Here's some information.There is NO way to lose Fat (not weight) without caloric reduction.Unless your talking about the miracle pill's,or eat all you want diets.Even the diets such as the popular "Zone diet" recommended on the crossfit webpage is basically a calorie reduced diet.Only difference is how it is marketed.
Do you have examples of a diet that does not use calorie counting or reduced caloric intake?Either way they are planning a negative week consumption,be it the zones balanced nutrition to ANY diet plan that actually works.However dieting without physical activity proves to be detrimental to lean body mass,leading to a lower BMR and thus weight gain.

Your body is a tool and as you said do with it what you want.I didn't post this to argue about it.Just proven basic math and facts.

 

[Michael OLeary]

Just proven basic math and facts.

To be clear, there is a difference between "counting calories", which in its most basic form didn't bother tracking what was eaten, and exercising balanced meal planning and portion control.  When followed for weight loss, the latter will also result in caloric reductions, but it is not a calorie counting approach, and most modern plans with that approach do not deal with tracking the calories in the food that is eaten.

 

[geo]

In the mess hall... use smaller plates if you are trying to reduce portions

Go easy on the starches, don't tripple dip... Bread, Potatoes & rice / pasta

don't go back for seconds!

AND of course, Give the desert table a pass...

 

[Jimmy SG]

As Micheal O'Leary stated the problem with counting calories is that it doesn't specify what your eating. Just because you consume 1675 calories in a day doesn't mean you aren't going to put of weight. Carb's and Protein both contain 4 calories per gram whereas fat contains 9 calories per gram. So and item of food may be 100 calories but when it has 10g of fat 90% of your calorie intake was from fat.

 

[orange.paint]

To be clear, there is a difference between "counting calories", which in its most basic form didn't bother tracking what was eaten, and exercising balanced meal planning and portion control.  When followed for weight loss, the latter will also result in caloric reductions, but it is not a calorie counting approach, and most modern plans with that approach do not deal with tracking the calories in the food that is eaten.

Absolutely right.But the basics of it all is portion control (Zone refers to it as eyeballing you food) and balanced meal planning is key,which in a eyeballing manner of "counting calories".However I posted this out there to give people a basic understanding as MANY people really don't have a clue what a calorie is.Exercise is also huge as I mentioned in another post.

As Micheal O'Leary stated the problem with counting calories is that it doesn't specify what your eating. Just because you consume 1675 calories in a day doesn't mean you aren't going to put of weight. Carb's and Protein both contain 4 calories per gram whereas fat contains 9 calories per gram. So and item of food may be 100 calories but when it has 10g of fat 90% of your calorie intake was from fat.

Absolutely.However what is the energy difference between 100 calories of fat and 100 calories of protein?None.
However you must have a balanced meal plan,and be aware (not obsessed)with caloric intake.I recently bought the zone book off Amazon and it has some awesome meals.All balanced and not counting calories per say(6 meals a day).However If you look at the caloric intake it is around 1700 calories per day.It teaches as I said the eyeballing method,sectioning your plate.How to look at you plate and ensure its a balanced meal,thus "counting calories".

A big problem I believe in the army is the empty calories many people consume.Pepsi/cola Coffee with everything added to it,all add up.Drink 6 medium  double-doubles a day?That's 900 calories a day.With hardly any nutrition.
Can of coke 150 calories a can.4 french vanillias a day=1000 cal.
http://www.timhortons.com/en/menu/menu_info.html

Listen take what you want from it.For all you guys/girls exercising your butts off trying to be fit,yet find no change,maybe look into the empty calories your putting in your body/your diet.900 calories of food can be way more beneficial to performance that 900 calories of coffee.(Except in the morning..I know)Try it black,0 calories.

In the mess hall... use smaller plates if you are trying to reduce portions

Go easy on the starches, don't triple dip... Bread, Potatoes & rice

don't go back for seconds!

AND of course, Give the desert table a pass...

How can anyone disagree with that?And mess halls wil not post nutrition information on salad's it makes(sauce already mixed)or any foods it serves as they cannot regulate portion size.I have already looked into that.

 

[Jimmy SG]

Very good advice. Don't misunderstand me. I think we are in a "the light is on" "no, it's not off" kind of discussion.
The only thing I think I would add is to be aware that calories from fat must be stored as fat before they can be converted to energy. That Krispy Kreme doughnut may be the 800 calories you are planning to burn off at the gym later on today, but all that fat gets stacked on your *** before you can access it as energy to burn.

 

[aesop081]

any foods it serves as they cannot regulate portion size.I have already looked into that.

They certainly can regular portion size.  At 17 Wing they post at the start of the steam line, how much a portion is for the meal being served.

Class act bud.If your so busy how do you spend "51 days, 20 hours and 21 minutes" online bitching?

Feel free to use the 'report to mod" button but this is your free warning. I wont tolerate comments like that.

Edit : nice edit there EX_RCAC_011......too bad i saw it......you've been warned

 

[orange.paint]

The post was deleted by myself when I realised that I had placed my comment in the topic window instead of my PM which was open in a second window.If you read the sentence as to where it was placed it makes no logical sense.Also check the time...I would have been referring to myself.

Why is this posted?