Thread: Hypothesis: Disproven?

Funny micky, I've tried the noodles things before They fill you up, but there's no guts in them to keep you going.

And I have to be careful about what I eat now at home. Having said that I don't worry about it too much on the hill. I figure you're burning that many carbs it shouldn't matter too much. Especially when you're carting dead deer our.

Sweat out, fluids back in. Pinch of salt in your water keeps the cramps at bay.

yeah its like ol croc dundee says"tastes like shit but you can live on it"
I use them as fillers..but cinderella mashed spuds are better still. the biggest issue with dehy is its biggest advantage..no weight=no water
Ive gone for overnighter leaving home in afternoon and home by midday next day and realised I hadnt eaten as such whole time away..but NORMALLY stopping for cuppa tea,bit of boston bun and /or jelly jetplanes is a big part of the day..like stopping to smell the roses halfway down footpath when carrying furniture...it just makes you appreciate life more when take time to stop. bush stalking I get to point where I start to stumble/get noisy. time for cuppa,even stop and eat something and drink water will hit reset button and llow much better progress to be made. back in the day it wouldve been stop and roll up a ciggy...LOL,not for 25 years.

Originally Posted by jackson21

Interesting, does your body have the excess to draw on from fasting? If you are a skinny runt it's probably not going to work.

If you have a metabolism where your weight fluctuates quite a bit due to love of carbs etc and smashing beers it would be a good way to burn off. But you are correct you need to keep the fluids in you and maybe a little to keep you going when required like a miso soup or something, don't be a fasting Nazi on yourself if you need a wee boost.

I've never been hunting fasting, have always wanted to try this experiment myself actually. What I do find is, once fasting starts kicking in your eyesight and even hearing sensitivity improves as you must start entering a "caveman zone", of your body going you need a little help to go kill some food or something. Also quite the opposite, I can't sleep so that's when I quite often have something to eat. The crazy thing is though, even when you don't get much sleep you don't seem to feel tired.

One thing I am convinced of is if you fast when sick, you actually get better much quicker.

Yeah that heightened sense of awareness and focus is what I love about fasting. I'll crush a day of mentally intensive work fasted so there was some logic - in my mind at least - to try have that focus during hunting.

Originally Posted by Link

You were likely experiencing symptoms related to hyponatremia. All that water you were drinking was effectively flushing your body of sodium etc. As others have mentioned while you may be able to fast effectively when relatively dormant, throw some decent exercise into the mix and your body will struggle without fuel. I've done the same (gone light to try & go far/fast) with the plan to eat what I shot. Suffice to say old hare doesn't taste great when wolfed down with minimum preparation.

Thanks for that insight! I thought there would be a scientific term to explain "I'm feeling fkked!" haha

Originally Posted by MarkN

Scrub cutting back in the day, I got so sick I thought I was going to expire, miles from town.

I decided to drink a couple of cups of strong salt and water 30/70, to kill what was making me sick.

3 hours later all better.

No fasting.

Biologically we are evolved to get hungry and go hunting , so fasting per se, is not the issue.

I always have salt at the ready, these days.

When I got home the thing that made me feel the best was lots of salty olives and drinking the olive water. By that point I was well aware I needed the salt.

Originally Posted by tac a1

Interesting.

I've also pushed myself that hard physically that I have vomited. Some water with salt and feel better shortly thereafter.

I don't think I would go bush with no food though. Even if it was just a couple of moro bars or something.

Salt loss thru sweating is a big issue in hotter climates. I remember reading a book about guys in Vietnam having to take salt tablets all the time or they would go down.

Good on you for the safety gear. If things really turn to shit you'll be ok.

P.S I hope you take a lighter and a couple of bits of rubber. can always get a fire going that way.

I remember doing a two week Army training exercise in Brunei jungle. We were drinking six litres+ of water a day and every now and then suck on a sachet of salt when the vision started getting blurry. I remember at one point patrolling through a chest high river and it making no difference in how wet I was. You couldn't put your shoes on without breaking out in a sweat. But that was double the heat and humidity so didn't think it might be a similar situation here in NZ.

Originally Posted by stug

If you watch some of Brian Call, Gritty stuff he often fasts at the end of a trip, when they run out of food after they have extended their hunt. He reckons he doesn’t really notice a difference. But I think the key is he casts at the end of the trip.

Love Brain Call, one of the best cinematographers in the game.

Originally Posted by SPEARONZ

That’s a happy looking dog you have.

Ever run until you hit ‘the wall’? In my un educated opinion a lot of it is blood sugars going to hell when doing long duration effort. Good nutrition is so important man. My body needs small but regular snacks otherwise I grind to a halt on the hill.

Yes I have, but this was the first thing in awhile where I had to hit the wall and push through. I think I hit it about three times on this adventure. I'm normally pretty good on low blood sugar, But I do know that I've had problems with sodium/mineral loss in the past.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

you do realise a six pack of 2 minute noodles weighs sweet F all ?????
read the back of the packet and its actually not such bad tucker.....the salt thing is taken care of too.
by all means try your experiment again but take a couple or 6 packs with you for SHTF moments.
if your food weight is what you believe is slowing you down on hill.....your going to be rooted if shoot something to carry home,same goes for pack space,if you leaving stuff at home becuase it wont fit in on outward leg of journey,how the heck are you going to add venison for homeward leg.
lovely looking dog.

Agree 100% noodles and dehydrated mashed potato's are your friend on the hill. My main motivation in this doing this was chasing efficiency and focus beyond just the weight cut benefits. I was the OP on the hunting section asking "should I have shot this deer?" as I said there I carried out 50kg so humping the weight isn't a problem.

He's a great dog. Rescued him from a farmer the day before he was going to be shot. "To soft for a farm dog" apparently. Interestingly he often likes to follow at my heels but in the final leg of the exit journey I think he could sense my exhaustion and switched to walking 10-20m in front, then kept coming back to check on me every time I stopped.

Originally Posted by Average-Lad

Love Brain Call, one of the best cinematographers in the game.

I watched a video of his a year or so back and he’d lost 20lbs over the hunting season .

Originally Posted by paremata

I watched a video of his a year or so back and he’d lost 20lbs over the hunting season .

I think in a video from a couple months back he was saying he'd lost 30lb. I'd say it would be hard not to spending several months constantly hunting.

Not an option for me.
A condition on my firearms licence is: must remain fully fuelled.
Avoid getting hangry at all costs.

My daughter is an Olympic level athlete in a power sport and she used to fast into some really brutal sessions but big top up afterwards, part of that was about weight loss but also a performance edge...the idea that we hunted when we were hungry.

there is another issue... you are clearly not keto adapted. If you were your body would be functioning by converting fat into glucose. It takes time to get into ketosis and stored glucose will not last in you system for days when you are burning it aggressively.

I have been tempted to do the same thing, but would only attempt to do so if I was fully fat adapted, and I would still ensure access to electrolytes.

Apologies for double post but I have used this recipe and recommend it - add the mix to your water til you can just taste the salt and you are good to go - salt is your friend if you have cramps