SNAP Challenge Day 5: The Most Enlightening Diet I’ve Ever Gone On

This post is part of a series.  Read post one, post two, post three, post four, post five and post six.

I’ve tried my fair share of diets over the years.  I’ve done Atkins and South Beach, I’ve eaten Special K cereal for two meals a day.  (You should know that this, of course, was nearly a decade ago before I finally realized that I could teach myself to love exercise, but could never learn to love passing up chocolate and cheese).  I’ve tried juices cleanses and persevered through the Whole30.  One time I went vegetarian for a month.  But the SNAP Challenge is far and away the most enlightening diet I’ve ever been on.

Can we please talk about what’s wrong with what I just said?  This is the reality year round for more than 23 million households in the United States.  Nearly half of beneficiaries are children under the age of 18.  This should not feel like a diet!  But it does.  I am a small albeit active female, and I’ve really struggled to get enough calories at $4.83 a day.  I cannot imagine trying to feed a growing boy on this budget!  I’m often hungry in between meals, but my snack options are limited.  I’ve found myself using many of the same strategies I used in some of the calorie-restriting diets I mentioned above: drinking water when I feel hungry, trying to wait as long as possible to eat the next meal so I’m not hungry again as soon, ultimately going to bed before I notice my stomach growling.  Today it’s really catching up with me, I just can’t seem to stay full.  And the thing is, this is all having done a pretty darn good job planning nutritious meals and stretching them to be sure I never had to skip one.  In the scheme of things, I’m eating pretty well.

Could I have allocated my money in a way that would have bought enough food to get me the calories I need to keep me full all week?  Without a doubt.  If I had put back the broccoli, cauliflower and apples I could have bought five pounds of pasta.  But that would have meant eliminating my already meager fruits and vegetables in exchange for sheer calories.  That’s not the diet you want to be on either, and it’s not a choice people should have to make.

Meal Log:

Breakfast: Two boiled eggs and half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
I had to fast before my doctor appointment this morning, so I packed breakfast to go.  Usually I treat myself to a muffin at Whole Foods after a doctor appointment, since it’s right next door, but I don’t think the $1.01 I have left in my budget would even be enough to breath their air.

Lunch: Leftover Thai Coconut Lentil Curry with a side of broccoli

Afternoon Snack: Carrot slices and 1 T Peanut butter

Dinner: Leftover Curried Cauliflower and Chickpea Stew and a slice of bread

Johanna