What's the food like on course? (BMQ, DP, ect...) [Merged]

[Saberi]

I checked out almost every other post on this site related to "Food and BMQ" but found nothing that actually states the amount of calories one can consume on a daily basis in BMQ. I was told that my BMQ would be soon, and my question is would it be hard to eat between 2500-2600 calories every day? I am a powerlifter and a natural bodybuilder, and would like to know wether I should lose some wheight or gain some before BMQ. I am 6 ft at 165 lbs with 8% body fat.

Any responses would be appreciated.

 

[runormal]

How fast can you eat  >?

 

[Saberi]

How fast can you eat  >?

I think I just got my answer! Haha! Thank you! 

 

[Saberi]

Just one more question. Would I have access to a gym during BMQ? Mine is 3 weeks longs since I'm applying for the Primary Reserves.

 

[DAA]

I checked out almost every other post on this site related to "Food and BMQ" but found nothing that actually states the amount of calories one can consume on a daily basis in BMQ. I was told that my BMQ would be soon, and my question is would it be hard to eat between 2500-2600 calories every day? I am a powerlifter and a natural bodybuilder, and would like to know wether I should lose some wheight or gain some before BMQ. I am 6 ft at 165 lbs with 8% body fat.

Any responses would be appreciated.

You don't need to do anything in advance.  Once at BMQ, your weight will adjust itself based on the training and meals.  You might go up and you might go down.

 

[RedcapCrusader]

I checked out almost every other post on this site related to "Food and BMQ" but found nothing that actually states the amount of calories one can consume on a daily basis in BMQ. I was told that my BMQ would be soon, and my question is would it be hard to eat between 2500-2600 calories every day? I am a powerlifter and a natural bodybuilder, and would like to know wether I should lose some wheight or gain some before BMQ. I am 6 ft at 165 lbs with 8% body fat.

Any responses would be appreciated.

You will be given 3 meals a day. However, your time to actually eat will be short with timings to meet. If you're late for a class, you'll be late for your meal which means less time to eat in order to be on time for the next period of training. So, to answer your question more realistically: you probably won't be able to get in all your desired calories a day; 2000 sure, but probably not a whole lot more.

Here is some reading for you:

Body building and the Canadian Forces

Meals served at bmq?

Reply #19

As far as BMQ goes, you'll be glad of the food, if you get enough time to eat it.

Muscle loss and basic training

Maintaining strength on basic

 

[ZacheryK]

Yes without question you will be fed. All thats left to consider is how much time you'll have to actually eat.  As for using the gym, I doubt youll have the free time on a PRes BMQ.

 

[RedcapCrusader]

Yes without question you will be fed. All thats left to consider is how much time you'll have to actually eat.  As for using the gym, I doubt youll have the free time on a PRes BMQ.

Other than morning PT, highly unlikely.

Morning PT will usually consist of running and maybe some circuit type body weight exercises (some using sandbags and/or rifles). Our PT guy was a MCpl given "Most fit soldier" award 6 years in a row. Total beast.

 

[JSoff]

in 3 weeks of being at RegF BMQ I lost about 15 pounds, though I ate like a maniac. If you don't eat they actually considered it disobeying orders..

You have 3 meals a day (something I wasn't used to), and usually you can grab many different portions to your meals, EG: Dessert, fruits, salads etc.... I loved the food at BMQ but I had to visit the bathroom a fair bit haha.

Doubt you'll have gym access, but like everyone said your morning PT and such usually is as sufficient as it can get.

 

[drbones]

We had a guy in our platoon submit a memo that got approved to use the pool on weekends off after indoc. You could always try to submit a memo asking permission to use the gym, but that being said be careful what you wish for  >

 

[Poacher434]

As of right now the PRES DP1 BMQ is 23 Training days. That is standard across the CAF IAW the QS and TP. Depending on which calender days (parades, holidays, weekends, etc) will vary the actual contract length, but generally you are looking at 22-24 days of actual training.

Those calender day differences will be the cause of why one course is 3 weeks and another is 4.

For example, if there is a change of command parade on that base/TC, than it is likely that the course will stop for 2 days in order to conduct that parade (Meaford July 2015), if there is a holiday and the TC is giving the candidates the holiday off that will again add a day within the contract and push back the training days.

As for meals, the quality of the food will differ from kitchen to kitchen, but the actual alotment of meals will be the same. You will be given three meals per day and possibly four a day when in the field.

If your instructors are keen they will adhere to the meal timings layed out by the Base HQ in order to keep the line in the mess hall as short as possible.

for example, I just recently finished teaching an DP1 Infantry and a BMQ(L), all of my students were given meal timings of no less than 25 minutes.

As for food specifically, most mess halls will have a hot meal line (entree, pasta, side, vegetable), a salad bar, desert bar, soup/sandwhich bar. There is usually never a time where a troop has not enough time to eat. Even if your timing is shortened....for poor time management on the instructors part, troops will generall skip the hot meal line and just grab soup, sandwhich, fruit, etc.

In terms of using a fitness facility is entirely up to your course staff. Some may grant you that privilege to access the fitness facility after your training hours, some will refuse. The morning fitness training on BMQ is generally very poor.

It is an introduction to uniformed fitness to all students and is conducted at a slow pace and then progresses. Runs, ruck marches, etc are generally very poor. Depending on the individual running the session, some members may get too much of a workout, and some may not even get winded.

Worse comes to worse, bring your self some protein or anything to keep with your personal kit and have a protein water mess drink during your off time to fill in the calorie gap. and if your worried about your fitness level, you will probably end up leaning out since your morning fitness will not likely include anything weighted.

Hope that helps, have a good course and good luck

 

[Al101]

Hello,

I looked through every post that had "Fasting" in it to see if the answer to my question was anywhere there, but no luck as the only real fasting post was about Ramadan, so here I am. I am not 100% sure if this is the correct subforum to be posting in regards to this, but recruiting sounds about right. I have a few simple questions related to fasting. Anyways, I'll get to it.

With a quick google search, wikipedia shows the "routine" time-wise for BMQ, whether it's accurate to the letter or just a rough estimate. Going by THAT, you'd be eating three times a day.
However, I actually fast daily, for many months now. I stick to one meal a day, hitting all the macros I need and all, and it has worked out beautifully. On top of that, I also do low carb, which has also worked out beautifully.

Please understand, I am not religious, and I am not doing this for religious purposes.

Having said that, if you -do- fast and all, are you able to do the same at the initial 8 months of training (Infantry) or do you -HAVE- to follow the eating routine provided no matter what?
Also, if the answer to the above would be that you must follow the routine, would I be correct to assume that -after- all the training, you'd be able to continue your eating habits on your own again?

That's all for now, if I remember anything else, I'll edit.

Thank you.

 

[BeyondTheNow]

Hello,

I looked through every post that had "Fasting" in it to see if the answer to my question was anywhere there, but no luck as the only real fasting post was about Ramadan, so here I am. I am not 100% sure if this is the correct subforum to be posting in regards to this, but recruiting sounds about right. I have a few simple questions related to fasting. Anyways, I'll get to it.

With a quick google search, wikipedia shows the "routine" time-wise for BMQ, whether it's accurate to the letter or just a rough estimate. Going by THAT, you'd be eating three times a day.
However, I actually fast daily, for many months now. I stick to one meal a day, hitting all the macros I need and all, and it has worked out beautifully. On top of that, I also do low carb, which has also worked out beautifully.

Please understand, I am not religious, and I am not doing this for religious purposes.

Having said that, if you -do- fast and all, are you able to do the same at the initial 8 months of training (Infantry) or do you -HAVE- to follow the eating routine provided no matter what?
Also, if the answer to the above would be that you must follow the routine, would I be correct to assume that -after- all the training, you'd be able to continue your eating habits on your own again?

That's all for now, if I remember anything else, I'll edit.

Thank you.

Personally speaking here, fasting might be working for you for whatever purposes you need it to right now, but fasting during BMQ? I can almost guarantee that whatever workout regimen you’re doing now is still burning fewer calories than what you will burn during an average day on course. Some days are physically easier than others, but all-in-all, you need to fuel your body consistently. Keep in mind the fact that you’ll also be sleeping, thus laying still, considerably less. One meal a day...even if you stuff yourself (which will feel awful if you have PT or obstacle course or ruck march or forced march or drill or what-have-you immediately following a meal, and there’s a good chance it could come back up...)

I’m not a dietician or personal trainer or anything...like I said at the beginning—personally speaking. You’ll need the fuel consistently throughout the day where you can get it. You won’t be doing super-crazy, hardcore, weight training for hours or anything like that. Instead, you’ll be engaging in a ton of activities that require endurance, lots of cardio, lots of stair climbing and such at any given time. There’s down time, yes, and some PT classes are far less strenuous than others, but I simply couldn’t have imagined not eating. At some point, maybe not right away, you’ll risk passing out, if not, then feeling physically awful at best. BMQ is a very different environment that you can’t simulate at home—you’ll need the calories/macros, whatever. The last thing you need is your body giving out or being even more stressed than it needs to be making you more prone to injury.

 

[sidemount]

You arent force fed food, you go to the mess at the designated time with your course mates.
You then choose what you want to eat or not eat. Im not going to lecture youon if its a good idea or not.

Adjust your eating routine as you see fit.

When I did basic a few moons ago I did not eat breakfast...never did before, still dont unless its a crazy Ex and Ive been up for 30ish hours.

You know your body so its up to you.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

 

[ModlrMike]

You will probably find that your caloric needs are greater at BMQ than they normally would be. I suggest you may want to go with the flow until BMQ is over and you can manage your meal plan more independently.

 

[George Wallace]

You arent force fed food, .......

Ah! Yes!  Foie gras    :sinister:

 

[Jarnhamar]

[quote author=Al101]
However, I actually fast daily,

[/quote]

Why?

 

[sidemount]

Ah! Yes!  Foie gras    :sinister:

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[Al101]

Hello,

Thanks for the replies. It's good to know you're not "forced" to eat. This will help me tons.

My question has been answered, so I will no longer reply.

Thank you.

 

[dangerboy]

Having taught Infantry courses before I recommend that you don't try fasting during your Infantry course. The course is a physically active course and you will burn calories, majority of pers on the course lose weight during it. Even if you eat small portions it will be better for you, they will not like it if you collapse because you are not eating. Just my advice.