Hi all,
Apologies for the post being from another account, I can't post from my own account yet.
I am co-leading your Arctic adventure with Woody. Just had a quick look through the forum and saw there seems to be a little panic over food. Due to the importance of this and the worry over costing I've put together an article to help you simplify the process and show that it doesn't need to max out your credit card.
The supermarket in the area is basic but has everything you will need for your expedition foodwise. Myself and Woody will be able to aid you more with food choice and ideas when in country so please don't stress too much about the issue. If you choose to cook together in buddy teams this can work out cheaper for buying fresher produce, again we can aid you with ideas for this in country.
I look forward to meeting you all in the Arctic and catching up with those of you that I have already met.
Counting down the days!
Meg.
www.meganhine.com
Nutrition ideas for Arctic Expedition 2012.
Planning a menu for an expedition is pretty confusing, there is so much info out there when you google it, weight considerations, GI, calories, protein, carbohydrates, balanced diet, the list is endless and what on earth do all the numbers mean? It is a minefield of info out there, most people understand the fact that food and the type of food is important but without having a doctorate in nutrition we are overwhelmed by the amount of info and the fast changing ideas on what we can or shouldn't eat. The only way I have found of understanding the fuel my body and mind need to function at their optimum is to experiment with my own diet in different environments and at different levels of activity.
Here are some hopefully simple bits of advice that I have gained through my years of working and personal adventures in cold environments. Food as fuel is such an important part of your overall enjoyment of the expedition experience. Having got it wrong on numerous occasions and learnt from my mistakes, I now know what my body needs to survive in different environments and what my body needs for enjoying the environment and getting the most out of my experience. Below is a bit of info to hopefully simplify the process and some possible ideas for you to aid in your menu planning. I have not put any numbers of calories required down as I find that everyone is different and no exact calorific intake can include everyone. Work on the fact that you know your body and how much you normally eat and then factor in the extra exercise and cold and add extra, better to have too much than too little.
Exercise can possibly decrease your appetite whilst active yet the energy demands of the cold and for some the increased level of exercise or use of new muscle groups are high. Therefore it is important to eat regularly and the fuel that you are putting into your body will be important in maximising your enjoyment of the expedition and the Arctic environment.
Assuming you already eat a reasonably healthy diet this does not mean radically altering what you eat but adapting it to take into account more intensive exercise and the cold environment.
An example day of what I will eat on the expedition is as follows:
Breakfast:
In our modern lives a lot of people do not have time to prepare and eat a proper breakfast. As I am sure your mother told you when you were a child and you are sick of hearing...'Breakfast is the most important meal of the day'. In our urban lives a lot of us replace a breakfast of slow release energy with coffee and run on the caffeine and quick release energy from the sugar we put in it. We then find that for the rest of the day we need to keep returning to the coffee machine and crave sugary snacks. In the outdoor environment after several days of missing out on a good dose of slow release energy first thing in the morning the brain starts becoming fogged and sugar lows followed by mood swings are more pronounced and the body finds it hard to warm up as the furnace in your core is relying on the quick hit of sugar to keep you warm. Therefore a good breakfast is essential in maximising your performance and overall enjoyment of the whole experience.
Here is a breakfast idea that I rely on for my own personal ski mountaineering and climbing trips which is simple, cheap and packed full of slow release energy and fibre. A pre-prepared sandwich bag with porridge oats, chopped dried fruit (normally prunes, apricots and raisins) and milk powder in. For a bit of sweetness depending on how you like the flavour I might add sugar or carry a squeezable, resealable tube of honey/condensed milk. I normally will soak this the night before so all I need to do in the morning is heat it up. The great thing about porridge oats is they are super cheap and there are so many combinations of ingredients to flavour them, nuts, nutella etc... Breakfast should be an enjoyable experience not a forced act of shovelling some revolting, super healthy concoction down your throat mid retch.
I will also cook up some bacon and eat with or without bread. Pork is great for giving me protein and fat which is necessary for operating in the cold.
I also start the day with a ginger lemon and honey kick. A hit of hydration, Vitamin C with the warmth of the ginger and a bit of natural sugar. This I normally take as a small ginger root with the small plastic bottles of squeezy lemon (looks like a plastic lemon).
'Snack Pack':
In the cold and in high energy expenditure activities I always package myself a daily snackpack. This is my fuel for the day. I want it to be a mixture of slow and quick energy release and will maintain my sugar balance throughout the day and avoid the sugar lows, highs and the sleepiness after a large lunch and help keep my brain active.
My 'snack pack' normally consists of a bag of what I call scroggin (trail-mix), this is a mix of nuts and raisins with a bar of chocolate broken into it. The nuts contain the slow release energy, the chocolate the quick and both contain fat which is necessary when operating in cold environments. All the ingredients when bought budget and in larger quantities are cheap.
Lunch:
When out for myself I normally rely on a large breakfast and graze all day missing out on sitting for lunch and have a large evening meal to replace the energy spent during the day. We are not travelling 'light and fast' and will have time for a lunch. In country I will buy bags of 'Polar' bread. A flat bread which comes in white and brown with cheese and salami/dried meat. Great for not getting squashed and great to toast on the fire, these give the necessary carbohydrate, fat and proteins.
Dinner:
A simple, lightweight, cheap option would be pasta, again pre-measured out in a sandwich bag. Powdered, just add water sauce, some of the steak sauces taste pretty good with pasta. Tuna and grated cheese possibly with some dried/fresh vegetables in. A more exotic option is to buy pork chops in country. Meat is expensive but if you club together it works out relatively cheap to buy a large bag of pork. Vegetables are quite expensive but again if bought in bulk are far cheaper and it beats pasta or rice each evening. Lentils and pulses are a great option for protein and carbohydrates but take preparation if in the dry form. If you can find puy lentils, these cook much faster from dry. If possible it is best to stick to quick cooking options to minimise on fuel used.
Hopefully I've bought across that feeding yourself on expedition need not be expensive! It is possible to eat a well balanced meal without maxing out the credit card.
The more expensive option are the freeze dried adventure style meals. These are great and give a usually well thought out balance of energy. They are light to carry, easy and quick to cook and negate the need for washing up. Mega thumbs up there! The downside of this option is firstly the cost. Secondly, although they seem to have improved the taste massively over the past couple of years the taste can sometimes be a little suspect, fishy muesli etc... Finally I have found that, depending on the brand, one of the packs contains only just enough food to make me feel full. In the Arctic I do not find that this is sufficient for me. I have found that male clients in the Alps struggle with this after a couple of days. Therefore if you do go for this option I suggest you bring some emergency spares.
Bedtime Snack:
A sugary snack just before bed gives fuel to the furnace and helps you go to sleep warm.
Hot drinks:
Just a quick one on hydration, we will cover this more in country but I am sure you have heard that tea and coffee are diuretics ie they make you pee more. This is true but at the same time if this is the only way you normally get liquid into yourself then the current train of thought is that any hydration (except beer ;-)) is better than none. Therefore don't go crazy but definitely indulge in your non- alcoholic tipple. If you like your coffee milky then the sachets of coffee with milk in already are ideal.
In conclusion:
Buy food you like eating. Although a nutritionally balanced diet is ideal, if you cannot face putting it in your mouth, don't take it, some energy is better than no energy.
60-70% of food needs to be carbohydrate, this is your main energy source and is a slow release energy which will help maintain sugar levels and directly aid in maintaining your sugar levels.
Eat a hearty breakfast
Eat little and often throughout the day to maintain fuel and energy levels. This is best achieved in the form of 'snackpacks'
Divide food into daily ration packs, this helps eliminate eating all your favourite food first and in my case means I might have chocolate left on day 6 (the will power is not always that strong however)
Remove excess packaging, removing any packaging not directly responsible for preserving your food or repacking your food into sandwich bags or equivalent mean less rubbish in country to dispose of and more room in your bag for more thermals.
When packing food ensure it is away and protected from any chemical fuels in your bag. Paraffin and Hexamine are notorious for infiltrating food stuffs and a week of eating Paraffin flavoured pasta is not an experience worth experimenting with.
