Day 1

Breakfast normally consists of espresso and maybe a piece of fruit if I’m feeling really keen. Whenever I get hungry I have the luxury of making myself whatever I fancy at my work in a busy downtown restaurant. However today this is not an option so I get up extra early to prepare myself some breakfast.

I made myself rice with sauted green beans and onions and it came to the grand total of $0.70.

It was actually filling and pretty tasty but so time consuming – costing it all out, cooking it and writing about it. I was almost late for work!

I also sliced a huge chunk of my thumb off while cutting onions. This is why I don’t make a habit of cooking in the morning. Ouchy!!

I started to get hungry again in the middle of the day but as I hadn’t bought anything with me I just had to wait until I got home. I’m getting a taste of what it’s like when there’s no food available.

When I got home after work and a vigorous hot yoga practise (Canadian spelling, when in Rome..) I was really hungry. This is usually the time where I go through the cupboards, making myself little snacks as I prepare dinner and maybe have a glass of wine. Today I look at all the yummy things in my fridge wistfully while chopping my evening allocation of vegetables and boiling more rice.

Dinner consisted of:

Green beans, bok choy and half a tomato

Cup of Rice

Soy sauce and dash of pepper

After I ate I still felt really hungry. I usually find rice fills me up quickly but I’m usually combining it with lots of other things. This is the point where I think, maybe I should have tried to vary my shopping list somewhat, the next five days with the same meals makes me feel rather despondent. This is going to be a lot harder than expected, but I suppose that’s the point.

Day 2

I woke up feeling like I was coming down with flu, not ideal as I had a 12 hour shift to get through! Maybe it was caffeine withdrawals, or my body adjusting to less calories. I hauled myself out of bed early and prepared my breakfast and lunch for that day, more of the same with some hot chilli peppers thrown in for extra taste.

The hardest thing is being surrounded by food all day and not being able to eat any of it!

By the time I got home it was after 11pm so I didn’t eat dinner meaning I’m under budget for the day so maybe I can have an extra cup of rice tomorrow – woohoo!

Day 3

I cannot stop thinking about food. There is an abundance of fresh fruit salad in the kitchen at work, free to a good home. Every time I walk past it the temptation to eat a juicy strawberry or delicious mango is getting stronger and stronger but I just haven’t got the budget for it, even if it is free to me I still need to include everything I eat in the $1.75. I start to think how much I’ve taken for granted being able to eat whatever I want. I will certainly be a lot more mindful and appreciative of food after this challenge is over (only 2 more days!!). I just saw a tweet from a participant who has doubled her sponsorship money by extending the challenge for another 2 weeks!! Huge respect, there’s no way I’ll be following suit I’m afraid!

I’ll admit, a daily hot yoga practise seems a bit insane while Living Below the Line, however I’m sticking to it! It gives me a full hour and a half in my day where I’m not thinking about how hungry I am and how much I would love a coffee right now as I’m too busy concentrating on the perfect transition between chaturanga and upward facing dog. Yoga is perfect for shutting off your brain and reconnecting with your body;  after class I feel so good, not even the prospect of more rice can dampen my mood.

When I get home my wonderful boyfriend takes pity on me, tells me to relax and cooks me dinner using my allocated allowance of ingredients. It’s beautifully presented and you could easily imagine paying $15 for it in a fancy restaurant and I felt pretty smug that it cost under a dollar, and I had a top chef to make it for me.

Day 4

You know the drill, early morning yoga, rice and vegetables, work, more rice and vegetables.

The best thing about the challenge is being able to talk to everyone about it. The response has been encouraging, everyone at least pretends to be interested and asks all kind of thought provoking questions, mostly on how the Global Poverty Project came up with $1.75 (answers here). The more people that are sharing ideas on solutions to poverty the better, and that’s the whole point of Live Below the Line.

Torontohas gone from -25 to 25 degrees practically over night and after work Jimmy and I head straight to the park, sweating in the city heat. He packs cold beers in a makeshift esky (ice in a carrier bag – genius) but of course I cant have any and I’m salivating while I sip my water.

However, even without beer I can appreciate how beautiful the city looks now that winter has released its grip. After months in hibernation, every tree is now an explosion of colour and the familiar streets have changed beyond recognition. It’s like switching to colour TV after watching black and white for months. This is my first Spring in three years and I’d forgotten how magical it is.

Day 5

A customer tells me how ‘energetic and vibrant’ I’m looking. Maybe a break from sugar and coffee is the cause of this. Maybe it is bad for you after all!!

I’m actually feeling pretty good, now that I can see the end in sight. The day is almost over and I’m in the middle of cooking the last of my provisions, amazingly the food has lasted pretty well! Tonight’s meal is definitely more meagre but I’m not worried because in 3 hours I can have a midnight feast ahaha.  As I’m writing this, Live Below the Line have raised $92,000 for the four partner organisations, Raising The Village, CUSO, Spread the Net and Results Canada. When I started helping to promote the initiative with Raising The Village our target was to raise $20000. We’ve more than doubled that and are now on $41,480! This is so fantastic and I’m thrilled with the amount of media coverage and the momentum this movement has created.

All funds raised for Raising The Village are going straight to the village of Murole “the village at the end of the world”.

We’ve just had reports that these fine looking goats have arrived at the village and the goat co-operative is underway! For more info on Murole and the goats check out this short video and the Raising The Village blog.

Tomorrow morning I will be heading straight to my local farmers market to gorge myself on coffee and delicious organic treats.

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported Live Below the Line this year. There’s still time to participate and of course donate!

So yes it was hard, when you’re surrounded by food all day at work, you leave work and are surrounded by restaurants and take aways and food advertisements EVERYWHERE. I’m proud of myself for completing the challenge and I will now think twice before buying unnecessarily. Hopefully I can keep this style of mindful eating up for the rest of my life. It certainly has made me happier – Barry Schwarz you were right!