Day 5 of living below the breadline

With ignorant arrogance I began this quest knowing that the biggest challenge for me would be that I would be hungry for 5 days. I am, still slightly dazedly, startled by the experience I have actually had. 

I have been a bit hungry, but nothing too terrible but what has hit me the most is the change of my outlook on life. OK so 5 days isn’t that long, this experience hasn’t been unbearable, i’ll be told by many people that I’ve got far too serious and “deep” about the whole thing as I’ve still laughed and managed to get things done at work but I have gone about it all more begrudgingly than usual. The lack of energy, fuzzy vision, short fuse, short concentration ability and with much less of a sense of humor the week has been less satisfying than normal life and for me, that’s a big deal.

Living on this type of budget isn’t just about not being able to go for a beer with your mates, or not getting a steak with dinner, this is about getting the vital vitamins to function at your full potential. Living life when you are half arsing it just isn’t enough for me. Some people will choose to live like that even with the right food but everyone should be given the chance to make that decision surely? 

At the beginning of the week I thought my spaghetti and cheap tomato sauce tasted fine but 5 days in, a few bites of this made me gag…

Food has lost its appeal. It’s a bizarre experience as I am the sort of person who will eat even when they aren’t hungry, just because something yummy is in front of me. Eating for survival is much more boring than eating for enjoyment, I guess I never realised having a variety in my diet was such a luxury.

After 5 days of living on £1 a day I would never have guessed that there would be food left over, but quite a large chunk of frozen veg, pasta and rice all sit threateningly in my kitchen.

This is my final appeal; the past 5 days I have been a worse version of me. Give people the chance to be the best version of themselves by sponsoring me;

https://oxjam.everydayhero.com/uk/izzy

For those of you who don’t know, living below the breadline is just a small part of a larger project. Myself and team are leading the Oxjam Music Festival project for Cambridge this year. ‘Oxjam Cambridge Takeover’ is part of the UK’s largest national music festival and it’s all in aid of Oxfam. Over 100 local music acts will entertain over 1000 eager audience members, over 6 venues and 12 hours in central Cambridge. If you want to get involved as a volunteer on the door, to perform, to provide technical support or want some events management experience then please contact me on oxjam.cambridge@gmail.com.

You can join in the conversation here: 

Twitter: @OxjamCambridge

Facebook: www.facebook.com/OxjamCambridgeTakeover

 

Day 4 of living below the breadline

I woke up this morning with what can only be described as a “carb hangover”. Unfortunately this hangover hasn’t lifted all day. I’ve had a fuzzy head and occasionally forget a really simple word and have then had to replace it with multiple simpler words.

Yesterday evening I got the chance to experience what my social life would be like if I lived like this all the time. For those of you who don’t know, I have a slightly brattish side to me, generally, only in regard to food, for example, if I am our socialising and I can’t have access to food or drink and have to sit there with a pint of tap water it makes me grouchy. This is me behind the camera spitefully looking at my water, and feeling grouchy:

And here is proof of my admirable self control whilst my friend munched on scampi and chips…

(I should add she felt very guilty about it but I thought that being near it would add to the pain of this experience and therefore add to the gain too)

With a mixture of various frustrating, upsetting and tiring circumstances over the evening I ended the day yesterday nearly in tears. I am starting to feel really pathetic. I have no energy and I have a short temper which is horrible because I am not usually like this. I am starting to count down the hours but getting to this low state makes me start thinking how on earth people can do this all the time. Being hungry and not eating the right food makes you tired, grumpy and completely off your game…I feel slightly more stupid without the nutrients I need. If I lived like this all the time, this person, who I don’t like very much, would be the permanent me and I know for sure I wouldn’t have the same friends or career prospects. It’s really quite miserable and really sad for those people who have this life. Living off £1 a day is not just making me hungry but it’s making me less of a person, less employable, less enthusiastic, less smiley, less interesting…

 

I didn’t eat breakfast again today. I don’t feel that hungry but I know I should eat and then when I do I get that growly hungry feeling in my tummy. I treated myself at lunch though, I added frozen veg to the mix!

 

I have rice again for dinner but the thought of it is making me feel actually quite sick. I may substitute dinner for toast, jam, a cup of tea and an early night.

 

I apologise for any typos…I’ve checked with my squinty vision which may not have been too effective.

Just over 24 hours to go…please sponsor me and make this experience really worth it!

https://oxjam.everydayhero.com/uk/izzy

Day 3 of living below the breadline…

 

Just typing the word “bread” in the title makes me feel a little queezy. No more bread PLEASE!

 

Like anything, you get better at living on a £1 a day over time and practice. I think if I had my time again I could make it more enjoyable but I am not convinced that I could do it healthier…I can’t help but think about the correlation between expensive food in the UK and obesity. I had a little gander online and Freakonomics found evidence supporting a link between obesity and food prices and I totally support their ideas. You can read it here.

 

 

I skipped breakfast this morning to relieve my stomach of starch and had a banana mid morning. I’ve eaten very little today because I feel so full and my trousers definitely feel tighter today! I never thought this experience would tap into my insecurities of becoming overweight but it adds another level to the challenge, which makes me feel even better about the money everyone has donated. It was never going to be easy!

 

On a lighter note, I don’t for a SECOND regret sacrificing something potentially better for me so that I could buy tea bags and milk!

 

Don’t sit at home tonight with your beautifully balanced meal and feel gluttonous…DONATE and it’ll help you enjoy your dinner even more! 😉

https://oxjam.everydayhero.com/uk/izzy

Day 2 of living below the breadline …

So not much to tell you about my dinner last night apart from that it was rice, frozen mixed veg and onion…it was fine. The curry my other half devoured looked much more appetizing!

Today this happened…

An epic fail in my organisational skills…whilst managing to organise INTERNATIONAL FOOD DAY in the office to suit all staff members, I neglected to recognize it was during my £1 a day week which means this beautiful array of food (including an Iranian curry I made for everyone) was at my fingertips but I was unable to take part…I sat there staring into this…

So after more toast and more pasta I’m starting to realise my error in judgement for this task. I was so caught up in thinking that I would be hungry all the time that when I spent my £5 I went for the carbohydrates. Yes, it is keeping me full but not in a good way. I am tired and I am bloated, my stomach is growing by the day and by 4pm at work I don’t have much concentration.

Ever dreamt of a salad? Stranger things have happened…

 

Just £14 to reach my target fundraising goal! https://oxjam.everydayhero.com/uk/izzy

Day 1 of living below the breadline

1.2 billion people live in poverty around the world.

This week I will be eating and drinking on just £1 a day for 5 consecutive days. 1.2 billion people (that’s 20 times the population of the UK) live like this everyday going to bed hungry. I am looking to raise awareness, change the way people in the UK think about extreme poverty and raise money to fight against world wide suffering.

SHOPPING:

I completed my shop for the 5 days. I bought everything to cover for 5 days totaling to £4.97. I was able to have three meals a day including tea bags and milk – a good English cuppa is a necessity for my survival!

 

DAY 1:

Thin white bread with strawberry jam got me off to a good start following by a cup of tea. The tea bags I bought for 40p and were surprisingly good…I am very fussy with my tea usually but this is good enough for 5 days of tea drinking! I had a good fresh banana for a mid-morning snack which kept me happy right through until lunch.

For lunch I has spaghetti with pasta sauce. Again, I was surprised with how tasty it was and I couldn’t finish my whole helping so I have even saved some for tomorrow! It is now early afternoon and I am starting to feel full and sleepy. My limited budget didn’t allow me to include many greens and I can imagine this taking it’s toll after a few days.

 

For dinner I have white rice, frozen veggies and some onion which I can’t imagine will keep me satisfied for a full 5 days. What this food will do though is keep me full. I was concerned about now getting enough to keep me going but I won’t be hungry. However, this is not sustainable over a long period of time. Without getting the nutrients needed I will be prone to getting sick and feel lethargic a lot of the time…I guess, only time with tell!

 

If you want to help change people’s lives then please sponsor me to complete these 5 days, you can find out how to do so here:

https://oxjam.everydayhero.com/uk/izzy

£3 buys a life saving emergency water bucket
£31 trains a midwife
£800 buys 350 mosquito nets
£1700 builds a whole classroom