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“Addictions can be very, very bad but addiction itself is not bad.
It’s a case of what you’re addicted to.
You better live each day like it’s your last, ‘cos one day you’re going to be right”.
Ray Charles.
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How to use the product:
One or more 100 gm packets are mixed with warm or cold water, then shaken and consumed – it’s that easy.
There are 3 sweet flavours and one savoury and while we’re confident that you’ll find the cream of chicken soup flavour damn tasty, it takes someone pretty hard core to drink cold chicken soup, so to mix the chicken version with hot water is the way to go.
Remember though; have the water hot but not at boiling point – remove the pot from the stove before it boils and therefore have the water at a temperature where you can immediately drink it comfortably without needing to cool it first. This is important; boiling water kills dangerous things such as bacteria but will also do this to valuable ingredients within FIRST. We really need to be clear on this, DON’T add boiling water into the chicken soup (or any of the other flavours either) – yes to hot water, as in able to drink it straight down without cooling is fine but not boiling.
One final point on this point; if you need to boil water to kill bacteria etc, then boil away but let it cool down to a drinkable temperature as we’ve said above.
The typical way to mix and consume the product is to put the amount you need into a container like a Nalgene bottle, add the amount of water you choose to make it the consistency you like – we suggest 1 X 100 gram sachet to 200mls of water, shake vigorously and simply drink it.
The amount of water it is mixed with can be determined by what a particular individual needs per day given their environmental and physical demands, e.g. hot weather = more fluids. And also an individual’s preference regarding how thin or thick they like to consume the product also affects how much water you choose to use.
How much to use:
This is totally up to you; are you going ultra-light weight and hard core and thus use a lot of it? Or is FIRST going to be supplementary to your regular diet?
We need to state that Australian and New Zealand food laws requires that we state on the label - “Do not use as a total diet replacement”. This is a requirement and therefore we need to recommend that the product is used in conjunction with other sources of nutrition. And frankly to only consume nutrition in shake form, regardless how good it tastes is not exactly a complete dining experience so we genuinely do recommend having FIRST as part of a mixed diet.
(Nutritional information here).
That being said, we believe that the following grid may be of value as it was created as a result of our outdoor activity and expedition testing and it was created when the product was being used as the sole source of nutrition but it’s still relevant when FIRST is being used with other food types.
ACTIVITY LEVEL AMOUNT OF FIRST CONSUMED
| MODERATE | 6 x 100gm packets per day for MODERATE energy expenditure such as hiking while carrying a medium weight pack in +10C temperatures, mountain bike – touring, non-alpine climbing. |
| HIGH | 8 x 100gm packets per day for HIGH energy expenditure such as cross-country skiing, caving, mountain bike racing. |
| EXTREME | 10 or more x 100gm packets per day for EXTREME energy expenditure such as polar man-hauling, multi-day adventure racing, cold water kayaking, mountaineering. |
Using FIRST in conjunction with other food:
As has been stated above, we understand that most people will use FIRST in conjunction with other foods and Australian New Zealand food law requires that we state on the label - “Do not use as a total diet replacement”.
So if you’re taking “normal” food on your trip as well as FIRST, how much of our product do you take?
Easy – think of it like this ……
Decide where the activity you’ll be undertaking fits in the Activity Scale.
Then decide what meal or meals you want FIRST to replace. Say you’re going on a multi-pitch rock climbing day in temperate weather, that would be in the MEDIUM category or 6 packets per day if FIRST was all you were consuming.
But on the day in question you just want FIRST to be your mid-day meal and therefore you’d take 2 packets for it to be your lunch. Whether you consume 2 packets at 12 noon or 1 packet at 11.00am and the other at 1.00pm is again – up to you.
Ensuring that FIRST is compatible with you – what we advise you do:
You wouldn’t buy a pair of new hiking boots and expect them to be perfectly shaped to your feet the minute they leave the factory; you’d expect to have to wear them in.
Similarly, we recommend if you’re going to have FIRST as a key part of your diet that you to do some checking to establish the right amount of the product for your particular physiology.
To do this, we recommend that you consume the product exclusively for several days during for instance some day hikes close to home and gauge its effectiveness.
* Are your energy levels appropriate to the activity you’ve been undertaking given the amount of product you’ve eaten?
* Are you consuming the right number of packets?
* Are there any unexpected reactions?
- Pitterak strike; 250 klm winds, 5 days and nights, tents gone, bivvy bags in a snow scrape, piss in a bottle - ahhh, good times .....
Regarding this last point, it’s unlikely this will occur because during the field testing of FIRST over three years, no adverse effects have been reported but if the product’s to be a key source of nutrition, you the consumer, must assess its possible physiological impacts in your particular case.
What it is not:
It is NOT a weight loss product; it was never designed to be this and its Calorie content is far too high for it to serve this purpose.
FIRST as “insurance”:
In conjunction with the product being consumed on a trip, we’ve designed it to also be kept in reserve as an emergency food source. It is sealed at manufacture and safe to be stored for at least 1 year but ensure that the packaging is not compromised.
Sodium levels:
We have chosen to manufacture FIRST with different amounts of sodium (salt); please click here to read more about when to use which flavour.