Day 2 was definitely better than day 1–I actually brought enough food to get through the workday. Yay beans and rice.
But I’m worried about Day 3. How will I fit in time for food?
I start the day with a 7:30 a.m. Better World Breakfast, only I won’t be eating breakfast. Then I’m in meetings solid until 1:30 (including the “show and tell” brown bag lunch).
Here’s where things get cramped. I won’t have much time in the morning for oatmeal, so it will probably be PB&J for me, and we don’t have much in the lines of leftovers from tonight’s pasta and sauce, so I might be looking at PB&J for lunch too.
Not exactly a balanced meal.
And I don’t think we have enough bread to get through with making multiple sandwiches each day.
In the scope of things, it’s a minor complaint. Still, it makes me realize how much harder working life is when you can’t just hit the coffee shop, vending machine, or restaurant to tide you over when you need to dash from one thing to another.
4 comments ↓
Chuck,
To conserve your bread make 1/2 sandwiches and put as much pb&j on it as you would a full sandwich.
Also, eating a little at a time throughout the day will help…did you buy anything to “snack” on like carrot sticks or pretzels? (Sorry I can’t remember all that you bought…)
Drinking water will help keep you feeling full too. It’s free if you get it from the tap and it’s not bad for you (although it is not going to give you protein, carbs, vitamins or minerals)
Good luck. I know you can do this!
An
It all worked out–I set the alarm for earlier and cut back on a few hours of sleep.
My point in writing this isn’t to whine about my situation, but as another example of how much harder things are on a limited budget in ways that folks who don’t have to watch every penny don’t necessarily realize.
I expected the social isolation of not being able to join friends for a bit to eat or a coffee or a beer. I expected taking more time to cook. I expected missing chocolate.
I didn’t foresee how hard it would be to figure out the food in time when I don’t have the budget for higher-cost convenience foods.
It’s just one more challenge that those of us who don’t experience these hardships should remember.
We took a call in the office today from someone FURIOUS at us for organizing the Challenge. She was spiteful against people who get food stamps. What I’m learning in this short week is that it isn’t easy to get by on a food stamp budget.
(And yes, good tip with tap water. I’ve been filling my belly with water this week. It does help prevent feeling hungry).
I didn’t take it as whining!
The time factor is something I also am learning about. Last night when I came home (starving) instead of ordering up a pizza on the way home or grabbings something I could easily nuke, I had to actually cook my rice and veggies.
Then, this morning, I was running late so I totally forgot to make my peanut butter sandwich and ran out the door. Luckily I had stashed an emergency banana in my handbag yesterday - because that was lunch. My co-workers did smirk a bit as they walked by the office with their Tio’s bag.
So another lesson - it’s not all about the food, it’s about how you have to structure your life. And it’s not easy.
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