# Am I going to starve in St Jean???



## DrSize (12 Mar 2005)

I accepted a position as DEO Infantry officer and will be going to St Jean for the Sept 12th IAP/BOTP and then SLT.......My concern is I am 6'3 275lbs(really muscular athletic build) ......Naturally I eat alot, so what is the food like there, is it buffet style or are you only allowed one meal at breakfast lunch and dinner???  I normally eat 6-8 times a day, I am worried because the hunger pains hurt!!! I am ok with losing some muscle, that is to be expected (muscle memory is a great thing) .... just worried about the hunger pains driving me insane


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## Big Foot (12 Mar 2005)

DrSize, I wouldn't worry about it too much. You are allowed as much food as you can eat in your allotted time. So that means if you can get through the lunch line 3 times, you can have 3 helpings at lunch. The food isn't too bad, just watch out for the pizza...


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## Gouki (12 Mar 2005)

My friend was allowed to bring and use his protein powders while there since he is a bodybuilder. He still lost about 6 lbs but it's better than the alternative.


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## Glorified Ape (12 Mar 2005)

I lost 20 Lbs. on IAP - I went from 180/185 to 167. There's plenty to eat, it's more a matter of whether you have enough time to eat. 15 minutes to get through the line and eat lunch only allows for one pass so stack your tray as much as possible and don't forget to stay away from the milk at breakfast and lunch.


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## DrSize (12 Mar 2005)

Thanks for the feedback.....thats cool it is unlimited...thats what I was hoping to hear.  I'll just load my tray up like crazy so I only have to go up once....I'll bring some shakes for night when I can't get food either....I figure I'll go in around 265lbs in Sept and when I am done in Dec I'll weight about 235ish..haha

I am really looking forward to it, just wish I didn't have to wait until Sept!!


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## Loadmaster (12 Mar 2005)

The instructors normally take any suppliments and vitamans as soon as you get to the base.


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## bobtiji (13 Mar 2005)

why do you suggest to stay away from milk?


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## Loadmaster (13 Mar 2005)

Because, if it is hot outside and you have a drill class after breakfast or lunch you might get sick after it curdles i your stomach


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## jermeytinling (13 Mar 2005)

lol well i guess thats a good reason ;D


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## Island Ryhno (13 Mar 2005)

Hey that unlimited food thing might be true for officers but not for NCM's, you go through a line and pick what you want  but there are crusty old b*stards who give you like two strips of bacon for breakfast and will not give you any more unless you go through again. I know because I have the same big guy problem.  So you might get 2500 cals a day which is good if your 165.bs do massive amounts of work but when your 285lbs and you need 3000 cals on a regular day...well I bet you get the idea Dr Size. They will take supplements etc away...if they know you have it, you do have a personal box. Just an opinion


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## Pte. Bloggins (13 Mar 2005)

It also helps if you're a fast eater. On my basic (reserve, but basically same idea here) I always ended up throwing alot of my food away cause I didn't have enough time to finish it. If you can pile up the food and shove it down your throat in the alloted time, all the power to ya. 

BTW, I'm a pretty average-sized female and I lost over 10 pounds during my basic.


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## Da_man (13 Mar 2005)

I also lost 10 pounds during my basic.


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## TCBF (13 Mar 2005)

I have eaten in mess halls all over the world, and I think our Cdn ones can usually hold their own.

But...

As a recruit, you will have a time crunch.  Do a good Recce of the salad bar.  Often, you can find ceasar salad with that mornings bacon in it, and cold plates of cut up sausages and chicken, cut up steak, etc.  Both the main kitchen and the WO and Sgt's kitchen in Wainwright have good salad bars.  In a pinch, you can almost live off it.  

I don't recall the St Jean kitchen, as I ony used when I was on duty.

Tom


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## patt (13 Mar 2005)

TCBF said:
			
		

> I have eaten in mess halls all over the world, and I think our Cdn ones can usually hold their own.
> 
> But...
> 
> ...



i work at the messes on base and we usually do put that days bacon on the salad and if theres any left the next day they do it agian. The reason they dont give out large portions is becuase there is alot of wasted food


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## Glorified Ape (13 Mar 2005)

Island Ryhno said:
			
		

> Hey that unlimited food thing might be true for officers but not for NCM's, you go through a line and pick what you want   but there are crusty old b*stards who give you like two strips of bacon for breakfast and will not give you any more unless you go through again. I know because I have the same big guy problem.   So you might get 2500 cals a day which is good if your 165.bs do massive amounts of work but when your 285lbs and you need 3000 cals on a regular day...well I bet you get the idea Dr Size. They will take supplements etc away...if they know you have it, you do have a personal box. Just an opinion



In St. Jean the officer cadets and recruits eat at the same mess - there's no difference in food allocation. The cook staff will only give you so much per trip but you can usually get enough from the fruit bar, salad bar, entree bar, soup/cracker/bread bar, dessert bar, and leftovers bar to fill your tray. The cook staff only hand out the food at the entree bar, but the cashiers will bust you often times if you have more than you're entitled to (IE: two desserts instead of one).


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## chriscalow (13 Mar 2005)

Island Ryhno said:
			
		

> Hey that unlimited food thing might be true for officers but not for NCM's, you go through a line and pick what you want but there are crusty old b*stards who give you like two strips of bacon for breakfast and will not give you any more unless you go through again. I know because I have the same big guy problem. So you might get 2500 cals a day which is good if your 165.bs do massive amounts of work but when your 285lbs and you need 3000 cals on a regular day...well I bet you get the idea Dr Size. They will take supplements etc away...if they know you have it, you do have a personal box. Just an opinion



Well, I agree that what you get is not much, but I wouldn't go so far as to call the staff "crusty bastards", I definitely agree that the servings in messes leave much to be desired for some of us bigger guys, but the staff are just doing their job like they were told.    I definitely agree with the suggestion of the salad bar, those things really can be a lifesaver in a crunch.


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## Island Ryhno (13 Mar 2005)

Just being my curmudgeonly underfed old self, I know everyone has a job to do, they just seem to particullarly enjoy it in St.Jean...NO SOUP FOR YOU, MOVE TO THE EXTREME LEFT.  ;D


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## TCBF (13 Mar 2005)

Just to cheer you all up, I wan't to say that one day around Kandahar Airfield, I ate four (count'em: four) Black Bean and Rice Burrito MREs.   Had to open all of the hatches in the Coyote.   Rest of the crew wouldn't talk to me.   ;D

Tom


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## Ghost (15 Mar 2005)

You can't survive on 3 meals a day?


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## P-Free (15 Mar 2005)

So you're a General, eh?


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## Island Ryhno (15 Mar 2005)

Ghost said:
			
		

> You can't survive on 3 meals a day?



Here is some nutritional guidelines, doing 90 minutes of high level activity on most days of the week would require a 140lb adult to consume 3000-3500 calories a day, to stay at a high enough energy level to function( at a very high level of activity) that's 22-25 calories per pound of body weight. So if you go in at 235lbs like Dr Size there, you would need 5170 calories per day at the low end. Geez I love science. Yeah he can survive on 3 meals a day but he will probably lose a significant portion of his muscle mass. Just an observation


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## NiTz (16 Mar 2005)

I heard something about muscle memory, it was about the muscle's ability to recover fast it's previous size after a big mass loss. Don't know if this is true, just toughed somebody could enlighten me! By the way, I hope they got lots of food too, i'm also a weightlifter (altough I'm a lot smaller than dr.size) and I wouldn't want to see all this precious work fade away in 10 weeks because of food deprivation! Anyways, how bad do I want it? Bad enough to lose 20 pounds without crying, for sure! If you got something on muscle memory, post it i'm interested! 



Cheers!


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## Glorified Ape (16 Mar 2005)

P-Free said:
			
		

> So you're a General, eh?



Pretty impressive, eh?


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## Thirstyson (16 Mar 2005)

In St-Jean the food is decent and you can each as much as you want in the time alloted. Some things are restriced (desserts, main courses) to one helping per pass through the cashier (card swipe... civvies etc have to pay).

There will be some meals (~1 per day) that are very stressed for time, so eat what you can.

Usually supper is eaten at your own pace as there's no courses after dinner on most night, so you end up with a full half hour to EAT.

Of course the field is another story


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## Island Ryhno (16 Mar 2005)

TCBF said:
			
		

> Just to cheer you all up, I wan't to say that one day around Kandahar Airfield, I ate four (count'em: four) Black Bean and Rice Burrito MREs.   Had to open all of the hatches in the Coyote.   Rest of the crew wouldn't talk to me.   ;D
> 
> Tom



Tom I bet you smelled like a freakin Coyote after that, holy...well you get the point


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## Glorified Ape (16 Mar 2005)

Thirstyson said:
			
		

> Of course the field is another story



The best eating situation in the field is lunches on Grizzly (for Ocdts). Often times you have a full hour to cook and eat your food in your syndicate. It was utter bliss - find a shady, concealed spot, break out the IMP's and chem tabs, have time to actually get them hot, and lounge with a smoke. Absolutely glorious - we actually had time to make coffee and soup and, as though God himself had smiled down on us - some of us napped for 10 minutes or so. It brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it.


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## Ghost (17 Mar 2005)

> So you're a General, eh?



Yep I am also a crime fighter in my spare time.


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## Glorified Ape (17 Mar 2005)

Ghost said:
			
		

> Yep I am also a crime fighter in my spare time.



Ah.. isn't there something in the Conduct Guidelines about falsely using rank avatars?


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## Good2Golf (17 Mar 2005)

Glorified Ape said:
			
		

> Ah.. isn't there something in the Conduct Guidelines about falsely using rank avatars?



Unless Ghost is an EA or an ADC...then where's the Gen avatar with a pair of shoes protruding from the rear?   

Back on thread, DrSize, how much carb to protien do you eat?  The salad bar is pretty good for decent carbs (p.salad, some hard boiled eggs, etc...) then you just need to make sure you're good on the protiens and figure out where to store your jar of creatine (citric, not mono, right?)

Cheers,
Duey


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## Ghost (17 Mar 2005)

You guys sound like the old bat across the street from me who calls my house telling me to turn the music down or she is gonna call the cops.


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## Infanteer (18 Mar 2005)

It's good to see you wish to be taken seriously by your fellow soldiers on this site.


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## Franko (18 Mar 2005)

Infanteer said:
			
		

> It's good to see you wish to be taken seriously by your fellow soldiers on this site.



We'll see......     :

Regards


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## Clipse (19 Mar 2005)

You dont have to pay for food at BMQ do you?


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## Loadmaster (19 Mar 2005)

If you have a house or apartment and a family to take care of, you will not have to pay rations or quarters.

Bring a copy of your lease/mortgage and a copy of your marrage certificate/common law papers, and kids birth certificates.

The recruiting center probably already told you about this but I have taught a lot of students in St-Jean that when we asked for this info nobody could seem to find it.


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## the 48th regulator (19 Mar 2005)

Clipse said:
			
		

> You dont have to pay for food at BMQ do you?



Yes, only if you come back fom the hunt empty handed...

Catch yourself on man...

tess


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## 28Medic (23 Mar 2005)

Not enough food...
Find yourself a smaller female on your course to go through the food line with.
During my BMQ I would gladly give away my main entree items to the big guys on my course...army meat is not my fav and I hated to waste food, and the mess staff do give the same size portions to a 115 lb female and a 200+ male....


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## LittlePammy (25 Mar 2005)

I am also worried about losing muscle.  I am currently a competitive bodybuilder and seeing as I don't know when I will get that call for BMQ I am continuing to bulk up so that I have a little extra fat to lose before I start losing the muscle.  And sorry but this lady doesn't share her food.  lol  When you are used to 6 meals a day and 220 and up grams of protien a day, it sure is going to be tough to cut down to 3 meals.


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## Clipse (25 Mar 2005)

Lol I know what you mean, its going to be tough mentally to get used to 3 meals rather then 6 thats for sure.  And I dont think its all "clean" food too.


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## jarko (26 Mar 2005)

How much do they charge you for rations in BMQ??


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## Charlie (27 Mar 2005)

jarko: That has been answered in a very very recent thread.


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## Bender.db (27 Mar 2005)

i dont know.. take the food u can get... its a good thing lowering your level of eatting.. if you ever get deployed on an OP you might not get a fine deal of food so its best to adapt to not eatting so much.. kind of like getting used to not sleeping so much.. i usually wake up around 10ish AM and i start my BMQ in 2 weeks and ive being getting up at 5:30 every morning just to get in the routine.. so.. its not a bad thing u arnt getting your full food.. its like... decipline


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## canadiancarebear (7 Apr 2005)

Hey there. I did IAP/BOTP last September and a little bit of advice.  When you go out in the field for the entire week 3 times  and for a few days another time your food intake is severly decreased because of the IMPs. Buy Vector bars and things like that in the canex and take them with you in the field so you dont starve...just dont get caught mowing down on them,,,they do however make a good night snack when your cleaning your rifle in your tent before going to sleep.  Good luck.


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## Bull_STR (7 Apr 2005)

I find when I am really working out a lot that my metabolisim goes way up and all I want to do is eat.  So will they give you more protions when you ask for them or am I going to have to get back in line again within 15 min?  That would kill.


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## Clipse (7 Apr 2005)

Bull_STR said:
			
		

> I find when I am really working out a lot that my metabolisim goes way up and all I want to do is eat.   So will they give you more protions when you ask for them or am I going to have to get back in line again within 15 min?   That would kill.



Yes exercise raising the metabolism thats why your hungry...I wouldnt worry about eating after, rather then before...I mean you dont want to puke all that good breakfast out while doing your PT now would ya? lol


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## armyrules (7 Apr 2005)

Yeah eating a lot then doing PT is a bad idea waste of food. I am used to eating a lot so when I go to BMQ I will try to eat healthy and stay away from the junk if thats possible!!


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## Island Ryhno (7 Apr 2005)

Load up on carbs and get as much protein as possible, this will assist with energy spent (carbs) and muscle mass loss (protein) Don't worry about eating right on BMQ/SQ/BIQ etc. The main thing is to get enough food into you to maintain energy levels, if you skip the bacon and eggs at breakfast and go for a cereal and some juice, you'll pay for it by the time 12:00pm comes, you have to remember that you are eating at 6:00am, 12:00pm and 5:00pm roughly when you are in barracks. That's a long time between feedings and you will have pt after breakfast, where you will have spend upwards of 1000 calories. EAT, when you get a break eat some chocolate then EAT some more, remember what Napolean said "An army marches on it's stomach"


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## Clipse (7 Apr 2005)

great advise, but can you get chocolate there lol?


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## Island Ryhno (7 Apr 2005)

Yup in the vending machines in the break room, chocolate, nuts, potatoe chips, pop, what ever your little Buddah belly desires  ;D


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## Clipse (7 Apr 2005)

Man the only fear I have is getting big again, after losing 105lbs, and now going to the army knowing you will be eating what you had to stay away from, its going to be a mental challenge just in that area lol.


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## Bull_STR (8 Apr 2005)

Clipse said:
			
		

> Man the only fear I have is getting big again, after losing 105lbs, and now going to the army knowing you will be eating what you had to stay away from, its going to be a mental challenge just in that area lol.


I hear ya!

I lost 115lbs in about a year just so that I could be in shape for the Physical Exam.  I really dont want to put it back on again.


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## Island Ryhno (8 Apr 2005)

Guys and Girls, you will NOT put weight during BMQ or SQ, it's physically impossible as you are expending way more than your intake, as an example to burn a pound of fat you would need to burn about 3500 calories, now take into account that you could burn about 1200 calories a day watching TV..well you'll be doing more than watching TV and you will have about 2000-2500 cals intake so eat up and worry about dieting once you are done all your courses...Allons Y


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## Glorified Ape (11 Apr 2005)

Island Ryhno said:
			
		

> Guys and Girls, you will NOT put weight during BMQ or SQ, it's physically impossible as you are expending way more than your intake, as an example to burn a pound of fat you would need to burn about 3500 calories, now take into account that you could burn about 1200 calories a day watching TV..well you'll be doing more than watching TV and you will have about 2000-2500 cals intake so eat up and worry about dieting once you are done all your courses...Allons Y



Indeed - I can't think of a single individual on my course that wasn't skinnier at the end - myself included (20 lbs. skinnier). No matter your metabolism, no matter your ability to ingest food, you WILL lose weight on basic/IAP. Whether you want to come out looking like a twig (me) or with a decent physique depends on how much protein you ingest so I'd take Rhyno's advice and BULK UP ON PROTEIN for those muscles. Don't discount the carbs but make sure you're getting the max. possible amount of protein. Sounds easy to do but if you actually stop and take a look at your tray most days, you'll notice that very little of it is actual protein. Take the meat dishes from the entree bar, buttloads of cheese and yogurt (avoid milk except at dinner and only if you're not doing anything athletic after), and a goodly amount of non-filling carbs for energy (like fruit and veggies - non-filling because you want as much space as possible for the protein which will undoubtedly fill you, given enough time to eat it all). The fries are probably the most useless item at the mess - lots of bad fat and cholesterol with questionable energy payout. That being said, I stuffed a fair share of them down my maw but that space would have been better put to use for protein.


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