Live Below the Line: Day 4

I am so hungry that food—real food—in TV shows makes me tear up. I tried to distract myself with some Modern Family episodes, and food was everywhere. Gloria and Cam cooked up something. I don’t know what it was, but I wanted a taste sooo badly. Alex staged a Norman Rockwell painting (below) with the fam, complete with a giant turkey. But it was an apple from a tray of fruit that set me off first. Oddly enough, commercials for sweets don’t bother me. And fast food commercials still gross me out.

I am so very tempted to cheat.

That turkey doth call to me.

The weird part is that yesterday was relatively easy, and I thought I was through the hardest part. I almost felt normal yesterday. Energy was low, but no headaches, no hunger pangs. The day went by in a dreamy, almost meditative state. Today, though, I couldn’t even hold lunch until noon, when I had been holding off until past 1pm for the first three days.

I wish this was the last day. I am also extremely thankful that I can revert back to a full, nutritious diet. 

Live Below the Line: Day 2

It’s insane how much the 500+ calorie deficit makes.

Going on a diet that provides at most 1100 calories, I figured I would be hungry. What’s surprising is how I’m questioning what hunger is. Normally, I feel a pang in my belly and I am impatient and perhaps annoyed at whatever or whoever is keeping me from my meal. Now, I’m just tired and plagued by intermittent headaches. Maybe I am hungry and am finally feeling the manifestations of real (or more extreme) hunger?

So tired. Still, I woke up 20 minutes before my alarm in this weird, dissociative state. I distracted myself with 1.5 hours of yoga and felt positively giddy when I left. Not sure if it was from the fatigue, the release yoga provides or the delicious dream about the oatmeal I was about to consume. My bet is the latter.

There were a few administrative things I needed to take care of, including paying a West Virginia traffic ticket (for going 76 in a 70 zone…as 2 people were passing me). It was kind of funny to me until I went to pay the fine. No one has picked up the phone or returned my messages. Normally, when I have a hard time getting through I become angry. Now, I’m just exhausted. After a few calls, I decided to rest on the couch. 2 hours later, I woke up a little refreshed from the impromptu nap. Sheesh.

Live Below the Line: Day 1

Tis the start of the challenge. My head hurts.

Breakfast was fine. My meal of oatmeal and banana is just like a normal day. The preparation was different, though. It took conscious effort to use water instead of milk. The Pros: this way it’s stickier, which seems filling. The Cons: it lacks the rich taste I am used to.

In fact, the meals themselves aren’t bad. I normally have eggs for lunch, but it was weird not to have a salad. I also frequently make a dish of rice, vegetables, and beans, only this time it was a much smaller portion and lacked spice and vegetable diversity. Like I said, the meals themselves aren’t the hard part. But for an hour or so afterwards, I just feel hungry, like I didn’t get enough. Luckily,  the hunger goes away.

Dinner (above) looked like the meal the school kids receive in Bayonnais, Haiti. Many of these kids only have this one meal. If they miss school, they miss their meal. It also means that they struggle through the weekend without food. The crazy thing? I’m following the guidelines of this challenge, and I still have more at this one meal than they do at lunch (or more than they do all day, for those who rely on the lunch).

Right now I’m not hungry, but my head hurts. Normally I turn to food to treat such a malady. In fact I’m craving one of my extras—some nuts, chocolate, yogurt, a cookie or an orange? Nope. Instead, I’m hoping for Neil deGrasse Tyson to distract me with the secrets of the Cosmos. 

Live Below the Line, Part 1

Part 1: Prep Work

This year I am participating in the Live Below the Line Challenge. It’s a global 5-day challenge to live—or rather eat—on less than $1.50 per day. This $1.50 represents extreme poverty and unfortunately 1.2 billion people around the world. This year the challenge is taking place next week from April 28^th-May 2^nd.

Due to a plane flight on Friday, I will be moving the challenge start up to this Sunday. You see, the last time I flew into Boston (indeed, the last time I flew anywhere), I had a problem and was greeted by a team of medics. The solution was food, water and sleep. I don’t want to meet anymore medics, so I will be a pansy and eat like a regular Western girl on Friday to avoid a repeat of this fate. But to complete the 5 day challenge, I'll start early.

Clearly I will not be living below the line in every aspect. My fancy apartment, access to health care, wardrobe and a host of other items pretty much guarantee that. I’m focusing on understanding one aspect of poverty: food. And so far, even before this challenge has begun, the task has been illuminating.

Figuring out a $1.50/day menu took hours. I essentially made a cheaper version of my normal 3 meals. Basically, I budgeted smaller portions and eliminated snacks. Once I had done this, I realized that it would not provide enough energy. A lot of the foods I normally value do not provide nearly enough energy. I’m looking at you, vegetables!

Making the menu fit the budget required quite a bit of shopping around. I also felt like schmuck pulling into the Walmart parking lot in a brand new car in order to buy the cheapest food I could find. Although those who face these constraints every day probably do not use the internet to find coupons and the best deals or have a car to drive miles to benefit from said deals, approaching this challenge with my current means only further serves to highlight how lucky I am.