Watch me spend only 50 cents per day for food in the month of February.
One upping random people on the internet.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Day 30 - The Last Day and the Aftermath...
Day 30 was really no different than most of the other days. I was still feeling drained. The next day I woke up ecstatic that I was through with the experiment. I decided to have a kings breakfast. I walked into my kitchen and soon realized I didn't have any food. Doh! I had to settle for oatmeal again. The day after that is when I had my first big meal. I went to Johnny Carino's and ordered a calamari appetizer and chicken pasta. I could barely finish a third of my meal because I felt stuffed.
My reintegration back to normal food has not been a very difficult experience. The first few times I ate meat I would feel sick afterwards, but I'm okay now. I've just been eating less because my stomach has shrunk over the past month. After 13 days, my weight has only crept up to 152 lbs, a minor 2 lb increase. Its a good thing this experiment ended when it did. I had pretty much exhausted my food supply.
This whole experience has taught me how vital this basic necessity is and how painful it can be to not have enough food to eat. We all must take it upon ourselves to ensure that no person goes hungry. Surely there is enough wealth throughout the world for us to accomplish this task. Granted it is a large task, but we must start somewhere. My check to the local food bank has already been sent, and I intend on seeking out other charities which provide food to the more malnourished parts of the world. This world has gotten incredibly small, and we can no longer turn a blind eye those we know are in need.
My most difficult challenge was not the pain induced by the diet. It was my willpower that was tested the most in this experiment. I hope this served as an exercise for my willpower and that I am able to use this willpower in other parts of my life.
I'd like to thank Evan for spearheading this experiment. I would have not even considered something like this had not read his blog. I would also like to thank my family, friends and co-workers for their support.
When asked if I would ever attempt something like this again my response was, "not unless I lose my mind again."
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Day 29 - Closing in on Home Base...
Even though I feel I was very compassionate to begin with, I can now truly say to those people "I feel your pain." This has also motivated me to donate towards ending world hunger. I will be taking Evan's lead and donate that which I have saved towards a charitable feeding cause.
I am truly blessed to be able to say "one more day to go."
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Day 28 - I've been hibernating for a week...
At this point I really don't care about getting back to eating what I want, rather I want to start eating food which will properly nourish me. This is now turning out to be be much more difficult than I had originally thought.
My food stock looks good, and will be enough to take me to March 2nd, and then some days.
My weight 150.6 lbs. May not break the 140's after all...
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Day 22 - Fewer Calories, Higher Quality
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Day 21 - More Purchases... Now Im broke
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Day 20 - Acid Reflux...
This event coincides with my including ramen noodles into my diet. I was starting to run low on rice, so I purchased some packs of ramen noodles. Ive been eating half a pack a day for lunch. Maybe my system is not used to it. Lets hope this is temporary, even though this is the third time this day I'm feeling crappy.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Day 19 - Newfound Respect for Bread Crust...
Day 18 - Arbitrary Information
The standard deviation for this data is 0.54 lbs, which is essentially the average weight lost per day. Since there are approximately 3500 calories in 1 lb of fat, I would say that I am short 1894 calories in a day (if I wanted to maintain my existing body weight). That goes to show how much I was eating to begin with.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Day 17 - The Analysis as Promised...
I'm no expert, but it looks okay to me...
Okay that's a candy bar, not my excrement. It's just a good ol' Milky Way. This gag is a tribute to Dave Chappelle's Tyrone Biggums skit. And no I didn't eat it afterwards... it went right down the toilet. I just saved it the trouble of having to endure my gastrointestinal tract.
Current weight: 153.8 lbs
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Day 16 - Joint Pain...
I don't need no stinkin vitamins anyways. I've also been advised by some to see a doctor. Well, doctors are for unhealthy suckers. Its all a big pharmaceutical conspiracy anyways. They'll be telling me I need to take certain medication, which I wont, just so they can line their grubby pockets. All jokes aside, I feel well enough not to seek medical attention.
I had a bit of a scare recently when the news broke that Conagra was recalling their peanut butter because of reports of salmonella. Luckily my brand was not one of the ones being recalled.
I've also had a co-worker suggest that I monitor my stool to determine if it looks healthy. Even though I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between healthy and unhealthy stool, (unless it was green) next time I'll provide an in depth analysis of my fecal matter to see how I am faring.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Day 15 - The Mountain Has Been Peaked...
The extra buck I had set aside will probably get used up seeing how my rice consumption is more than I thought Id would be.
I dont really feel sick or weak. Aside from minor joint pain every now and then, I feel Im doing pretty well. I dont really feel sluggish after meals seeing how Im not really eating that much to begin with.
Its all downhill from here... hopefully.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Day 14 - The Day You Love to Love...
I'm finding that I am able to eat on time as per my schedule during a weedkday when I work. I can never seem to stick to my schedule on the weekends. I feel it is very important that I continue my diet my adhering to my regimen, if I plan on keeping this up.
A few years back I had heard some information on a caloric restrictive diet and how it increased the lifespan of mice and other animals. I did some more reading on the subject just recently and I was very impressed with the results. I'll share what I read in a future entry.
Today my weight fluctuated between 154.6 (early morning) and 156.4 (evening) lbs. My guess is that my weight loss is starting to plateu. Just to avoid errors with the weighing scale, I purchased one that guaranteed weight indication within 0.2 lbs. I test the repeatability of the scale by weighing myself multiple times. So far the scale repeats the same weight flawlessly. I also read somewhere that body weight usually varies depending on the time of the day. I'll try to get more information on that if I can.
I'm almost halfway there and quite honestly, I want to get back to eating all the junk food that I had taken for granted.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Day 13 - First Major Sign That Something is Wrong...
I dont know what the heck THAT was all about... I didn't know malnutrition lead to upchucking food. Seems counter-intuitive, considering that my body would want food when it doesnt have enough food.
I'm now considering discontinuing this experiment. I havent even made it half-way through and already Im staring failure in the eyes. Hopefully this was an isolated incident. Before I started this experiment, a friend had asked me "what if you get sick? You're going to stop right?" I had dimissed his concerns by telling him "I dont get sick," and "I'll deal with it if I do." Easier said than done apparently.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Day 12 - Evident Symptoms of Malnutrition...
Anemia - No I don't think I have this. I haven't had a doctor check me out. So I don't know for sure I guess.
Weight loss, decreased muscle mass, and weakness - Most definitly have experienced this. So far I'm down 6 lbs, weighing in at 157 lbs. Weakness not as much. Sure I lack some energy but I'm far from weak.
Dry scaly skin - The skin on my hand still hasnt healed from rock climbing yesterday. Usually it heals up by the end of the same day. So definitly feeling the pain on this one.
Edema (swelling, due to lack of protein) - I think I get plenty of protein, so I don't have to worry about this one.
Hair that has lost its pigment - Negative on this one.
Brittle and malformed (spooned) nails - My nails have always had slight ridges, and maybe its just my imagination, but it seems they have gotten ever so slightly more ridges.
Chronic diarrhea - Not chronic, mild perhaps.
Slow wound healing - Haven't really incurred any particular wounds.
Bone and joint pain - A little bit actually, specially in the colder weather.
Mental changes such as confusion and irritability - Why the heck do you want to know anyways??? What the heck am I doing??? I dont even know...
Goiter (enlarged thyroid) - A self-exam I just performed indicates that I do not suffer from this particular ailment.
Therefore in my non-expert opinion I would say that I am suffering from acute malnutriotion. Nothing serious ofcourse.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Day 11 - More than 1/3 done....
I went rock climbing again, and again it wore me out me pretty good. Im just sad to see that I've probably lost a good portion of my muscle mass due to this experiment. And as Ive already said, Im finding my clothing to be too large. Soon I'll put up a Jared (the Subway guy) style picture.
My weight as of tonight: 156.4 lbs.
Day 10 - Missed Another Day... Dang
So its been pretty much the same schedule except I'm really starting to skip meals. I need to get a handle on that. I feel that I'm starting to exhibit signs of malnutrition. My co-worker friend showed me a list he found on the Internet. Soon I'll put up that list and evaluate which symptoms I have.
But for now, the show must go on...
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Day 8 - Heres what I'm actually eating...
Anyways, as promised, here is the breakdown of my food consumption for any given day (even though I'm definitely eating less now)
- 130 Calories
Bread- 4 slices a day.
- Fat - 4% DV
- Carbohydrates - 20% DV
- Protein 8g
Peanut Butter - 1 Tablespoon
- 95 calories
- Fat - 12.5% DV
- Carbohydrates - 1% DV
- Protein - 4g
Rice - 1/4 cup
- 160 calories
- Fat - 0% DV
- Carbohydrates - 12% DV
- Protein - 3g
Tomato Sauce - 35 grams
- 11.5 calories
- Fat - 0% DV
- Carbohydrates - 0.57% DV
- Protein - 0.57g
Eggs - 1 3/4 eggs (average)
- 131.25 calories
- Fat - 14% DV
- Carbohydrates - 0.875% DV
- Protein - 11.275g
Margarine - 1/4 Tablespoon
- 25 calories
- Fat - 4.25% DV
- Carbohydrates - 0% DV
- Protein - 0g
Mayonnaise - 1/2 Tablespoon
- 50 calories
- Fat - 8.5% DV
- Carbohydrates - 0% DV
- Protein - 0g
This brings the Grand Total to:
-*- 882.75 calories
-*- Fat - 47.25% DV
-*- Carbohydrates - 51.% DV
-*- Protein - 32.845g
The scary part is that just to be safe, I calculated this with more than I would normally eat. Looks like this diet is fairly mal-nutritious.
My weight last night was 157 lbs. My coworker friend stated that I am "withering away". Another problem I'm noticing is that my pants are loose now. I might have to get my waist size back up or else I have a whole closet full of jeans which are a bit too large.
I'm going to see if I can increase my food intake somehow... Perhaps eating what I've planned is a good start.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Day 7 - What the heck happend to Day 6?
Unfortunately today I had to deviate from my experiment. Might as well be honest. I realized that I had a lunch meeting with my boss scheduled. I didn't want to look like a weirdo by not eating anything. It was a buffet style restaurant, so I ate the most minimum amount of food without looking anorexic. I had a few shreds of lettuce, a small amount of rice, and 1/4 cup of corn, and a fried oyster. Not to mention, I feel that I balanced my caloric intake by not eating anything else for the rest of the day, nor did I eat anything prior to. Funny thing is, I didn't feel hungry for the most part throughout the day.
My weight this morning was 158.6 lbs and tonight it was 158.4 lbs. So overall there was a net weight loss anyways.
Tomorrow I'll provide a break down of my caloric intake to see how much I'm actually eating every day.
Monday, February 5, 2007
Day 5 - Five days have passed but Im still not used to this
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Day 4 - My Stomach Hurts....
I'm not going to let this diet keep me from doing the things I enjoy (except eating) and here I am today at a rock gym with my buddy:
-
-
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Granted I didn't go at it for the duration I usually do, plus I felt exhausted afterwards, I still enjoyed it.
I encountered a problem on the 1.5 hour drive back to my apartment. For every fast food joint I saw, the following thoughts crossed my mind:
- Maybe one burger is okay
- Why the heck am I doing this stupid experiment anyways?
- My God, this is only day 4
- I need to just scrap this whole thing and buy a dang burger
- Me hungry
I fought the temptation every time and kept on driving. I was very hungry on that drive home...
Sick and tired of the same dinner, I decided to mix things up again. I took some tomato sauce and mixed it in water and heated it up. Then I toasted up a slice of bread and crumbled it into the tomato soup. Presto! Tomato & crumb soup. Tasted great too.
My weight today: 159 lbs. Wasn't planning on weight loss, but oh well...
Day 3 - The Monotony is Killing Me...
Friday, February 2, 2007
Day 2 - This Isn't So Bad...
Morning - 1/2 cup of oatmeal with water
Mid-morning Snack - Peanut butter sandwich
Lunch - Rice with tomato sauce
Dinner - Two eggs and two slices of bread
Up to this point I've faced only a few difficulties. The number one issue is having food flaunted in my face constantly. It wasn't too bad at work, but when I went to my parents' house over the weekend, I met with a kitchen loaded with food. Then theres the fact that I still can't cook rice. Yesterday I think I had put too much water in my rice, today, not enough water. So today instead of pasty rice, I had the opportunity to enjoy crunchy rice... delicious!
Turns out oatmeal is actually pretty for your health. Oatmeal contains insoluble fiber which fights cancer. It also contails soluble fiber which reduces your bad cholesterol (LDL) without reducing good cholesterol (HDL). This should hopefully help balance out the cholesterol I consume by eating eggs. A correlation has been between lower risk of heart disease and eating oatmeal.
So far so good.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Day 1 - And So it Begins...
My 9:00 am snack was a peanut butter sandwich. That was right on time, because I was started to feel a bit hungry. Lunch wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The tomato sauce really brought out the flavor in my rice paste.
Anytime I tell people about my experiment, they seem to think that either I’m crazy or strapped for cash. Well I have plenty of cash, sanity on the other hand…
My weight this morning was 162.6 lbs. I feel that I’ve planned out my meals very well and that I wont lose too much weight by the end of this month.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
I haven't started, and Im already regretting this....
Well the time to commence this experiment is fast approaching. After rigorous revisions of my food list I have finalized what I'll be eating for the next month:
I've left around a buck as contingency money. I've already bought the items above to get the ball rolling. However, it turns out I can't cook worth a crap. I was preparing rice for tommorow's lunch and what I ended up with was a paste like substance. Didn't taste great either. Due to limited supplies I will be enjoying the rice paste with tomato sauce tommorow for lunch. We'll see how that goes.
Another major hassle is that I drive to another city and stay there for the weekend. Therefore I'm going to have to haul the food back and forth every weekend.
I havent even started this experiment yet and Im already regretting it.