Final minutes

Well, it's about half 11 now so just minutes before the official end of our challenge. Unusually for me I am still wide awake with not much prospect of sleep for a while. I'm trying hard to resist a trip down to the kitchen at 1 minute passed midnight for the luxury of popping a grape into my mouth. I feel as though it would be more significant to do that than to wait for morning and just slip back into my old routine. I think I will be making some changes to my eating and drinking habits. I really think I ought to try and drink less alcohol. I'm shamed to confess I'm a bit of a binge drinker, or at least I have been known to overindulge in vast quantities, which is perhaps starting to seem a little adolescent not to mention way above my job seekers budget. So I am going to make a conscious effort not to drink lots of alcohol all in one go, but since a glass of red wine is scientifically proven to be good for you it seems silly to give up entirely. I am also going to eat much less fat. I like fatty foods, they taste good, but on the whole they are unnecessary. Like alcohol I won't give up entirely-cake is in my life for good, deal with it- I'm just going to make a conscious effort to cut down. 
I set out to do this challenge to raise awareness of the fact that millions of people are living off less than £1 a day. I'm not sure I've done that. Another reason to take this challenge though is to have a personal experience, to learn something about yourself and to become more personally aware of the challenges millions of people around the world face. The funny thing is I've also not done that to the extent that I expected. The problem is that most of the time, between other thoughts I would have had anyway, I've mostly been thinking about food, the lack of food, what foods I would like to eat, and there is something else...oh yeah, that I'm hungry. I've ended up doing what we all do every day, think about myself. We can't blame ourselves for that, I am important to me after all. What is interesting is the impact being able to go back to eating and drinking what I like will have. I think that I'm going to be more aware of people's deprivation and their lack of choice and their hunger when I am no longer deprived or hungry myself. Over the next few days whenever I switch on the kettle, grab a snack from the cupboard or enjoy a pint I'm going to think about the 1.4 billion people that have very little choice and can't ever do those things. 

It's almost bed-time on day seven. Tomorrow I can climb back Above the Line once more. How fortunate I am that I'm in a position to make the switch. How differently would I feel if this was my life for the foreseeable future?

Today I have been hungry, I've been busy decorating and generally DIYing so no time for cooking any of the  very limited menu of ingredients left in the basket by this stage.Normally I would have nibbled.... fruit, crackers, biscuits. Who would have thought that doing hard physical work would require more fuel than sitting in front of a computer or driving a car? Supper with Lynne and Zoe was a Tanzanian special of rice and beans with a chapati, and was really delicious, followed by five raspberries and one strawberry from Katie's garden-it really has been a poor growing summer.

What have I missed? Interestingly I have missed caffeine, in it's various forms, more than alcohol. I have missed tomatoes, green salad and olives. I'm surprised that I haven't missed biscuits, crisps or cake, although it would have been comforting at times to eat these, but they are not the foods I am thinking about enjoying tomorrow.

Living below the line has taught me that I waste far too much food; that  quite often I eat before rather than when I feel hungry; that even bland and boring food tastes much better when you share the meal with other people.


Tomorrow I am really looking forward to my early morning cup of tea, followed by a bowl of cereal with cold milk, some fresh chilled orange juice. Not too much to ask really, my mouth is watering at the very thought.

Hungry!


Thankfully this is the last day and I will be so happy tomorrow morning when I can have All Bran and grapefruit for breakfast, with COFFEE!  And then I have requested mackerel and green salad for lunch, followed by plenty of green vegetables for my tea.... lovely!  And I will be able to eat grapes and plums and cherries and nectarines, and drink as much COFFEE as I like, though I will probably limit myself to 3 cups!


Tennis has just started, more later....

Final day

Real low point-cabbage with fried onion for lunch. Not very nice, I haven't even finished it. Luckily for me I'm having a lazy day mostly spent watching the tennis so not much call for calories. Looking forward to tea, Tanzanian special-rice and beans with homemade chapattis. 

Day 6...feeling OK today.


Zoe has learnt that food = happiness for her, and for me too. But what I have really learnt is that I can lose weight, and that the same science applies when you are in your 50s as it does when you're in your 30s i.e. put in less calories than you take out and you will lose weight.  Funny how I try to kid myself that it is harder because I'm older. 


So what has been different?  I think my motivation has been about raising awareness about global poverty and because this is not about me, I have found it very easy to stick to the task.  This has meant I have put a lot less in than the energy I need to live and consequently I have lost 2 pounds, that's weight not money!  So next time I think I need to lose some weight I must ask myself what my motivation is and how important losing weight is to me?  


If like me you believe losing weight gets harder as you get older....think again...it's more like losing weight is less important to you than that glass of wine, piece of chocolate, extra helping of pudding......


Anyway I'm going on holiday soon so the 2 pounds will most likely be found again!


If you have been inspired by what we have achieved please visit our donations page, thank you!

end of day 5

I am guilty of believing food=happiness. Today I was feeling, let's just say naff. I'm trying to find a job in what is currently a pretty slim market in a field that I'm starting to realise is even slimmer. Add to that a general feeling of 'naffness' we all get from time to time, especially us girls and I was suddenly hankering after something sweet to cheer me up. Ordinarily I would have bought myself a chocolate bar or made some cakes or at the very least enjoyed a hot ribena, but all of that was off limits today. I couldn't smother my emotions with chocolate or cake this time, I had to swallow them with another steaming cup of hot water instead. We probably all use food to change how we are feeling, I just didn't realise how unconsciously I do it or how effective it is. I'm not really sure where I'm going with this but it just goes to show that not only am I lucky enough to have, so close at hand, all the food I need to literally survive I also have the convenience of using food (mostly cake) as a way to survive those miserable days when although the job I really want is out of my reach I have all the sponge and icing to make me smile again right at my finger tips. Lucky girl. 

Finding my resolve.....


It is day 5 and I can see why the live below the line challenge generally lasts for 5 days.  Its the weekend, a time when I and many others would usually binge!  But not this weekend, which will be doubly hard because we have people visiting.  


Not to worry...to cheer us up I have just made another batch of crumble to go with the apples we purchased last night plus a few raspberries from the garden.  In fact from now on I will always make crumble with plain flour and sunflower oil (the ratio is 4:1, if you are interested), mix together, add some sugar and porridge oats and hey presto, perfect crumble mix in minutes.  Cheap and healthy!


So think of us this weekend when you binge on wine, chocolate and a host of other goodies, we will continue to 'live below the line' and hopefully raise some money for UNICEF!