The ups and downs of piling on the pounds
Despite my own best attempts at putting an end to my 4 month ski trip from the Southern most point of Norway to its Northern most point by breaking a rib (see blog Oh no! not again!?) the adventure is still going ahead.
There has been a minor change to the start date, which has slipped by a couple of days meaning we are now scheduled to start on the 3rd January rather than the 1st. The silver lining to that particular change is that I get to spend more of Christmas at home with Mrs P and her family. I’m very pleased about that.
There was a point, only a few days ago, when the whole trip was in jeopardy. David, my partner in this epic adventure, spotted that more than 20 of the huts we are entirely reliant on for shelter had updated their web sites to say that they were all closed until mid-February. These huts are NEVER closed.
For a rather tense 16 hours, during which 20 went up to 30, it looked like we would have to cancel the whole expedition.
Fortunately, a rather long phone call to the DNT (Den Norske Turistforening - The Norweigian Trekking Association) in Oslo, Norway (who administer all the huts), with the help of a native Norwegian speaker, put us back on track. It would appear that, due to covid-19 (it gets blamed for everything) the “sections” that administer the huts have not been able to replenish, wood, gas and/or food at any of the huts, so made the decision to list them all as CLOSED because they cannot guarantee there will be sufficient supplies for anyone turning up. This doesn’t mean we can’t use them it just means they can’t guarantee there will be food and/or fuel.
So, after a tense day, we are back in business. We must however be prepared for some potentially cold and hungry nights.
“How cold?” I hear you ask. Well, dear reader, I read one account where a skier arrived at a hut with an outside temperature of minus 25 degrees C (-13 degrees Fahrenheit). Inside the hut, which had been unused for months, he recording a temperate of a balmy -24c (-11.2f).
I REALLY hope there is some wood!
These joyously chilly statistics mean that operation Put on Weight has taken on a much more serious note.
Just a very small selection of the food we will be eating on our trip
Operation Put on Weight does what it says on the box. I need to put on weight. I don’t have a great deal of spare body fat at the best of times and, as usual, lost a bit of weight on our recent trip to Europe (I blame Mrs P’s boot camp).
The plan therefore is to put on at least 7lbs (half a stone in old money, or 3.2kg in new money).
THE PROBLEM:
On our return from France in October I weighed 160lbs (11st 6lbs or 72kg). At 6 feet tall and with a bit of muscle to boot this makes me pretty lean. This lack of body fat is bad for 2 reasons. Fat keeps you warm and if you are burning lots of calories per day (between 6,000 and 8,000 calories during our ski trip) and if you can’t eat enough calories to maintain a balance then you want to burn fat, not muscle.
The upshot is, I could do with laying in some decent fat reserves between now and our departure.
THE SOLUTION
“Eat more. Exercise less.”
That’s my new mantra. Like a hedgehog stocking up for hibernation I am now forever looking to eat. This sounds like fun. It means I can eat anything, whenever I want, whenever I want. To a certain extent it is, but it’s actually quite difficult to eat the amount I should.
The following is an example of my best food intake day.
7.30 breakfast: huge smoothie made from whole milk, oats, peanut butter and a banana
9.30 breakfast number 2: 3 large pieces of sourdough bread, lashings of butter and enough marmalade to impress even Paddington Bear
11.00 - coffee and chocolate biscuits (I blame the mother-in-law for those)
12.30 lunch - Full English breakfast (if British you’ll know what this is. If not, look it up. Yum!)
16.00 snack - Large bowl of cereal with whole milk, seeds, yogurt and honey
19.00 dinner - large pasta dish and seconds
20.00 snack- milk chocolate. To “take the taste away”
Needless to say this is working. I have managed to put on. A few pounds (nearly 2kg!).
It’s harder than you might think though. 2 breakfasts! And a mid-morning snack!! I feel permanently full, so eating more is pretty trying. I’m putting a brave face on it though. As you would notice if you invited me round for tea and biscuits and I clean you out of sweet treats. People say such things as, “Would you like a biscuit/piece of cake/ )insert any food type)?” To which my body wants to reply, “No thanks, I juts ate and am full to busting.” But my mouth, which is imagining long cold days and nights with little food, says, “Oh, yes please. Can I have two?” “Groan!” says my stomach.
Other areas of planning are going well. The loft (attic) is full of 100kg of dried food, peanuts, energy bars, chocolate bars etc. ready for shipping and the pile of “kit” rucksack, coats, sleeping bag in the corner of the office is getting so large that there have been complaints from Mrs P (I take that as a good sign). Admittedly the task of staying fit has gone out the window due to the rib thing, but you can’t have everything. Though even that is looking up. I think I will be back n the bike soon.
Mrs P and I are off to Norway in a few weeks to deliver some stuff and collect some stuff and do a bit of practicing. Hopefully the ribs will be better by then. And hopefully I will still be able to fit into my trousers!
I’ll keep you posted.
