I think about food in terms of calories, not packets or serving sizes.

Depending on your size and lifestyle, your dietary needs will be different. This makes it very difficult to determine how much Mountain House you need. For what it’s worth, I weigh 145 and can easily devour a 2.5 serving MH.

Serving sizes are based on a 2000 calorie diet that represents the average adult woman weighing 132 lbs- she won’t gain or lose anything on that diet. If you’re above 132 lbs, add 15 calories per pound (and vice-versa if you’re under). The resulting number is the amount of calories you should take in each day if you want to maintain your weight. This is a ballpark number- you’ll want to hone it based your level of exertion, metabolism, specific dietary requirements, whether you want to gain/lose weight, etc.

Serving sizes are deceiving: A MH meal may be 2.5 servings for a 132 lb. adult woman, but for a 300 pounder it would be more like 1 serving.

Figure out your personal caloric needs and go from there. It’s like the culinary version of a gear shakedown.