The sweet science of Fat. Getting the skinny on how to fatten-up with Simone Allen from Nutrition Works. To offset the energy expenditure the daily calorie intake is in excess of a whopping 10,000 calories per day. That's 25 Big Mac's people!!Nutrition
The Challenge
I love a challenge. I've had athletes want to cycle from Kalgoorlie to Perth in under 24 hours (did it in 19 hours) and compete in 7 day 280km Adventure races in Chile carrying all their food and supplies (race successfully completed), so when Tom Smitheringale rang me and said he wanted to walk to the North Pole – I was excited.
Working as a Sports Dietitian I see a great variety of athletes from those doing their first local triathlon to those competing at a World Championship level and every case has their own individual challenges but this was pushing the boundaries. I always aim to provide advice that works in the real world, fine-tuning a nutrition plan in training so that on the day it all works, but again, this was completely different.
Tom is 200cm tall, ~110kg and will be spending approximately 70 days out on the ice, not only contending with the freezing weather and the odd polar bear but also having to take the occasional dip in the water (!) to complete his expedition. The limited data on such expeditions and how to replicate such a trip in training makes this nutrition challenge so much more interesting.
The data that is available is all based on 75kg people so everything essentially needs to be doubled! Tom is pulling everything so while keeping in mind his "fuel" requirements he has to be able to lug it around with him so food choices are crucial. Hydration is another hurdle and again carrying the fuel to produce adequate water to hydrate Tom creates more weight to be carried.
All in all an exciting and challenging puzzle that I look forward to piecing together.
Simone Allen
Sports Dietitian
www.nutritionworks.com.au
Tom’s Daily Fuelling Plan
Breakfast
High Energy Porridge (HEP) Porridge pre mixed with full cream milk powder, sugar, and fortisip. Tom to add Gorp fruit and nut mix, olive oil sachet and hot water Scandishake coffee.
Morning Tea
Duo bar
Loprofin crunch bar
Gorp fruit and nut mix
Olive oil packet (this can be mixed with gorp or eaten as a frozen “lolly”)
Lunch
HEP with added Gorp mix, olive oil and hot water plus a Scandishake OR
Freeze dried meal with fortsip powder and olive oil and hot water plus Gorp mix and a scandishake mixed with hot water
Afternoon Tea
Duo bar
Sesame bar
Peanut butter sachet
Gorp mix
Dinner
Freeze dried meal with fortisip powder, olive oil and hot water plus a hot scandishake, with cheese and peanut butter for dessert.
What’s that?
Fortisip powder: Produced by Nutricia. A complete nutritional supplement powder that is a high source of carbohydrates with moderate amounts of protein and fat plus essential vitamins and minerals . Each fortisip packet weighs 57g and has been individually weighed and mixed into porridge or bagged to be mixed into freeze dried meals on the ice.
Total number: ~130 mixed into porridge and ~115 individual serves
Gorp fruit and nut mix: An energy dense snack containing a mix of dried fruit, nuts and chocolate covered candy
Scandishake powder: Produced by Nutricia. A nutritional supplement powder that is a high source of carbohydrates, moderate fat, low protein plus it provides a wide range of vitamins and minerals.
Duo bar: Produced by Nutricia. A chocolate style energy bar that provides carbohydrates and fat and little protein. Tom packed a variety of flavours including strawberry, vanilla and chocolate.
Loprofin crunch bar: Produced by Nutricia. A chocolate style bar with rice crispies that provides carbohydrates and fat and is also low in protein.
Tom’s foodie facts:
1.Each of the 5 meals vary between ~7100 and 11000 kJ. The average daily intake for an adult is 8700kJ. This means every meal or snack Tom eats is equivalent to an average adult’s total DAILY intake.
2.Tom aims to eat 40,700 to 42,500 kJ DAILY to assist with meeting his huge energy requirements.
Why so much? - The process to developing Tom’s Fuelling Plan
3.Special testing by our teams Exercise Physiologist estimated Tom’s Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is ~9000kJ daily.
4.They also estimated with the type of exercise Tom would be doing and, dependant on the length of time each day, Tom would burn ~18,800kJ to 35, 250 kJ while on the ice DAILY.
5.To ensure Tom met these daily energy needs (without taking into consideration any other factors such as the cold, illness or stress, we needed to make sure he was fuelled with ~40,000kJ daily BUT
6.Tom’s daily food packs had to be limited to ~1.2 kg so that overall his total food weight on his sled was ~85kg. Not an easy task to fit so many kJ into very little kg!
7.Plus we wanted to ensure Tom received optimum nutrition for daily recovery, preventing and repairing muscle damage, preventing or aiming for minimal weight loss and optimum concentration levels!
8.Prior to Tom leaving, from June 2009 to January 2010 we worked on “fattening” Tom up with regular monitoring of weight, skinfold assessment and gradual buildup of kj from a baseline of ~17,000kJ daily. Tom gained ~11kg in this time with at least half estimated to be added fat mass.
9.We developed a daily menu of foods that were light in weight, energy dense and primarily were high in fat (as, per gram, fat is TWICE as energy dense as carbohydrates or protein) and carbohydrates (essential for fuelling Tom’s muscle and brain). Through the sheer amount of food, protein requirements were still met even though most foods were low in protein.
10.Tom has two different “menus”.
a.Pack A, of which he has ~45, each providing ~40,700kJ and weighing 1267g.
b.Pack B, of which he has ~25, each providing ~42,500 kJ and weighing 1363g.