By Wednesday, I had noticed I was running low on food and had to go back to Walmart to purchase more food for dinner. I bought more pasta and canned veggies, but nothing else. It was inconvenient to go back to the store all together.
Mentioned earlier, Thursday I forgot to leave enough time before my 8am to make breakfast and pack lunch so I could not eat from 8am until 1245pm when I finally had time to go home and make a sandwich. I was irritated about the whole situation of having to come home during my class break when I study. I would rather have purchased food on campus.
Friday was easier just because I felt like I didn’t care anymore. I thought, “this week is almost over, and you’re almost done, suck it up.” It also helps I don’t have class on Fridays because sleeping most of the day helped with my low energy and sluggish mood. Food by this point became less appetizing and it wasn’t something associated with pleasure or happiness, instead thoughts towards food had a negative connotation. I was sick of eating the same thing everyday, and I wanted to buy food that was tastier and that I was used to eating (ie. sushi). My dad visited Saturday evening, and this was helpful because we went out to eat and he bought my appetizers, dinner, and dessert at the Deli. This helped me greatly with my mood and getting the last few days over with. I ate my usual breakfast and lunch, but dinner was different. I couldn’t find many of the things I ate on Myfitnesspal but I had a nacho platter appetizer, crab cake sandwich, and chocolate cake for dessert. I felt very sick afterward but I didn’t mind. Sunday I kept to the planned meals until after dinner time, when I cheated a little by snacking.
Each day, I was very under my healthy caloric intake. I could feel the physical toll that was taking on my body but it was alarming to see the numbers. My sodium levels were high and I wasn’t eating as many fruits and vegetables as needed. It is much more understandable, now, why low-income families have certain eating habits and I am very thankful to say that this was temporary because many people do not have that choice.
My written reflection sums up my week best:
WRITTEN REFLECTION
- My first impression after reading the entire list of SNAP Challenge rules was difficult but manageable. I try and eat healthy during the week, consuming an average of 1500 calories a day. This diet will be stricter and leave even less room for snacking, from which many of my calories come from. It will be slightly less than sufficient but probably still healthy for my needs. I will face more difficulty on the weekend, a time when I don’t take into account my caloric intake or the amount of money I am spending.
- My shopping experience left me shocked with the little amount of food in my cart. Usually I have no limit to the amount of food I can buy when grocery shopping and generally never take into account the brands I purchase. During this challenge, if I wanted something like peanut butter, I had to get the generic version because it was cheaper and fit my budget accordingly. I was making choices that could make or break my budget, down to deciding whether or not I should get three or four apples. This experience was truly something never experienced.
- I needed to cut out caffeinated beverages, such as Starbucks double shot coffees. Also, unhealthy snacks like muffins or cookies I buy on the go have been excluded from my routine to stay on budget.
- It would be substantially different in many ways if my partner or children were also limited to the budget I have for the week. To start, I would have to buy a larger quantity of food. Being the only one person with this budget allowed for some room of quality of food. I think that would be irrelevant trying to feed more mouths. I also would have to consider not only the things I like but what kids like to eat which is much different.
- Eating on a limited budget impacted my mood because I was hungry and irritable. Also, I typically need caffeine in the morning to concentrate, however I am not able to get coffee which is frustrating. Often I eat a snack around 8 or 9pm when I’m feeling very hungry again but do not have any snacks to eat which isn’t ideal.
- I did worry about running out of groceries by the end of the week. I thought the frozen broccoli I purchased would last a week with my pasta but only after making and seeing how little there was did I think to look at how many it served which was only a serving size of three. I don’t think I am eating a healthy, well balanced diet because I am eating the same three meals almost every day, not getting enough variety of foods in my diet. I am lacking with fruits and veggies.
- My perspective on families facing hungry has changed because unhealthy eating no longer seems like a conscious choice, but rather the only way to survive. I could imagine if there were many other bills to pay that healthy food would not be as important, just being able to purchase food all together and not go hungry would be the goal.
- Cutting the budget on SNAP benefits will negatively affect program recipients because with an already low budget to work within, less money will mean less food for individuals and families and increased purchasing of unhealthy food to get more with less money. This week would have been worse with less money for food because I was already not reaching healthy caloric daily intakes, I would also have less food and less variety to choose from. The same food every day and not much to eat takes a toll on the body and mind.
