Daily Update 4.2
Week 7: Module 4: Date 3/13/13
Yesterday we talked about an affliction that sometimes causes you to expel the contents of your stomach. For the next few days we are going to learn about the food the crew is consuming and how they ensure they have enough energy to row across the Atlantic.
We are going to begin this discussion by looking at the menu for this journey. The following picture is 1 page of the 15 page menu. 
In this menu the crew has broken down the meals into serving size (on the left) and portion size (on the right). The portion size is based on knowing how many calories they need to consume for each meal. Within these distinctions they are keeping track of weight, calories, volume and calories/grams. These numbers all become important when you are exerting a large amount of energy. They become even more important when you are exerting a large amount of energy for 70+ days and have a limited amount of space and weight capacity. 
What exactly is a calorie and why do we measure our food intake by them? A lot of people hear the word calorie and think: that’s what makes you fat. The definition of a calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius. How does that relate to food? Calories are the energy that we use to live, very similar to gas in a car. 
When counting the number of calories in food you are looking at the potential energy stored in that food. Within these foods there are fats, proteins and carbohydrates that combine to create the caloric content.
Tomorrow we will look at these and see how they combine to give your body energy.