In the very good book "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose, about the Lewis and Clark Expedition, it was recorded by Lewis that the men ate about seven or eight pounds of meat per day (if it was available). They did perform very hard labor, poling the boats. I cannot see how a person could possibly eat that much.
When I was in my twenties and single on returning home late at night from work I used to eat two to three pounds of meat and a can of vegetables and some bread before turning in.
One could certainly envision those fellas doing so much activity being extremely hungry. Of course that much would be more than one meal’s worth