Do you eat an entire mountain house?

[Steeliedrew]

My plan for my Elk hunt this September is to eat a mountain house each night for dinner. I'll probably do oatmeal with protien powder in the morning with coffee and just snacky type stuff throughout the day. My question though is that since there are 3 servings in most of them and most of them have insane amounts of sodium, should I be portioning them in half at least? I was kind of figuring that since I'll be burning probably thousands of calories per day that my body might be able to use a full mountain house at the end of the day but all that sodium just seems bad. I actually ate an entire sweet and sour pork with rice one the other night and felt like a balloon when finished. haha!

So do you ration or just eat the whole thing? I will be with a buddy so if we plan it out we could split em i guess.

 

[muleman]

I find I have to force myself to eat at night and rarely eat (gag down) a full two serving commercial backpack meal.

 

[JustOneMoreShot]

My buddy and I would not have a problem each eating a Mountain House at the end of a long day hunting when looking for moose a few years ago. We would do the same thing as you suggested a morning meal, snacks throughout the day and MH for dinner. We were tired and hungry. If we were too tired to boil water and make the MH sometimes we would just rip open an MRE and call it good for dinner. I also ate a fair amount of protein bars during the hunt.

 

[Stid2677]

If you like smaller servings try the Pro Pacs,, they are the vac sealed single serve Mountain House meals. They don't come in all flavors, but they are what I pack for sheep season.

 

[gelton]

I don't mind the taste of mountain house at all but I never have an appetite at altitude therefore I have never finished a full mountain house in one sitting. I have reheated one on the same day to finish it though.

 

[gelton]

If you like smaller servings try the Pro Pacs,, they are the vac sealed single serve Mountain House meals. They don't come in all flavors, but they are what I pack for sheep season.

I picked up a couple of pro packs this year for that very reason...also lighter to carry.

 

[Brock A]

I eat the whole thing and usually want more.

 

[unm1136]

I tend to eat when I am bored, so I will fix a full MH or a home made dehydrated meal at about 1200-1400, and nibble on it for a couple of hours, particularly if I am spot and stalking or ambushing. Then at night my boy scout pals all got me hooked on hot tea before bed time, so I usually eat a snack around that time with a steaming cup of white tea. I try to make snacks salami, cheese, nuts, or something with a bit of fat to keep the metabolism stoked.

pat

 

[wapitibob]

^ this

Perfect Man size portion. LOL

 

[Screamrider]

I eat a full mountain house every night in the backcountry, and have never not finished one. Oatmeal and coffee for breakfast, and snacks all day. Gotta feed the machine.

 

[GoatNuts]

I put down a Mtn. House without any hesitation at the end of a full day. However, a week straight of Mtn. House and I would be in for some horrendous gas. I usually mix it up with some mac n cheese/pasta dishes in between Mtn. House dinners.

 

[rodney482]

Whatever you do.. I highly recommend the MH fajitas.
I take a pack of flour tortillas.. Little hot sauce and I am in heaven

 

[Nick Muche]

At the end of the day, this guy is hungry. I have no problem eating an entire mountainhouse with potatoes or tuna mixed in.

 

[Becca]

I easily finish a whole two serving MH/Natural High/ Alpine Air entree myself for dinner, but like many others, I have breakfast and then typically just snack the rest of the day so dinner is my main meal of the day. If you keep an eye on calorie contents, there is a fair amount of variety available depending on your entree choice. I try to save the truly high calorie meals for days where I really worked hard, and eat a lower calorie entree on days where I didn't expend quite as much energy. For reference, I think the MH White Chicken chili is around 400 cal for the whole pouch, the lasagna, chili Mac, and stroganoff run about 600 calories per pouch, and the chicken a la king and macaroni and cheese are closer to 900-1000 cal in the whole pouch.

 

[TEmbry]

At the end of the day, this guy is hungry. I have no problem eating an entire mountainhouse with potatoes or tuna mixed in.

This x2. I guess I just have a big appetite but it seems I eat 24/7 in the backcountry and still lose weight. Monitoring sodium content on a week long trip for an otherwise healthy adult is completely blown out of proportion. Eat what you want, don't sweat it (besides the weight being packed in), and eat healthy the other 358 days out of the year at home when your diet really matters. Definitely make sure you get plenty of carbs and protein out there, but don't worry about sodium sugars and fats and all that nonsense. Stay hydrated and eat as much as you can stand to.

 

[NoWiser]

Putting down an entire MH is no problem for me, and I've been known to do two at times. If I split one I'd be starving for sure.

 

[5MilesBack]

Sometimes I eat two.

 

[krueger]

I easily eat a whole mountain house plus some fresh caught trout and often times still wake up a couple hours later starving. I think it really depends how hard you are hiking/hunting/busting ass. I've seen my 110lb girlfriend eat a whole mountain house and then ask to split another one with me on the long, deep and steap backpacking/scouting trips during the summer.

The places we hunt are steep, high and off trail so that adds alot of extra effort to the daily routine.

 

[ACC]

Pro Pack and I eat the whole meal.

 

[desertcj]

Whole 2 serving meal and I usually add calories and fats by throwing in some cut up cheese and pepperoni slices. Trying to avoid MH meals this year and using other starters like instant rice, stuffing and instant potatoes so I'll see how that goes.