Watch me spend only 50 cents per day for food in the month of February.


One upping random people on the internet.

I'll get right to it. I was greatly inspired by Evan's Hungry For a Month blog. Just to recap his journey, Evan restricted his food budget to $30 for the month of November, averaging out to a dollar a day for food. He did not consume any free food that may have been available to him at his job which made it more of a challenge. He did not include items such as coffee, sugar, salt, pepper (the type of stuff easily jackable from your local fast food joint). I feel it was a great undertaking and it taught him a lesson or two. I'm going to one-up Evan. My food budget for the month of February will be $15, averaging to out 50 cents a day. Being a caffeine-aholic I'm going to keep coffee in the mix just like Evan did. I'll also keep the salt, pepper and ketchup as items available for free (not that I eat much of those things anyways). Any free food available to me at my job is also off-limits. This may be a problem. Working at a refinery, there is an exorbitant amount of free food. We have lunch meetings, product vendors bring free food, and there is almost always food left over from other people's lunch meetings. But I also feel that I have an edge in this whole issue. Being a Muslim, I am required to undergo fasting in the month of Ramadaan. lasting for about 30 days, these fasts require that I do not eat or drink anything from dawn to dusk. Ramadaan was in October 2006, and I feel I did pretty good. It was a challenge, but I managed. I am going to show that a 50 cent a day diet is very much possible, and even comfortable. Evan wrote in his blog that he did not really plan out his meals nor do any prior research. That's where I will also do things differently. I've already started to evaluate what foods are most cost effective. One-upping Evan is not my only motivation. This experiment will also be conducted to show that using a proper budget and planning, even low income people can live comfortably. I will try my best to provide as much information as I can. Lets see how this goes. Note: Read the Days from the bottom of the page to the top.

Thursday, February 8, 2007

Day 8 - Heres what I'm actually eating...

I'm finding that a strange sensation is coming over me. I don't feel like eating much at all. In fact, I get full after a few bites and even feel a bit sick if I finish my tiny portions. So Ive been missing a few of my meals here and there. I can totally see what drives anorexic people. They get so used to consuming small amounts of food that anything more makes them sick.


Anyways, as promised, here is the breakdown of my food consumption for any given day (even though I'm definitely eating less now)


Oatmeal - 1/2 cup
- 130 Calories
- Fat - 4% DV
- Carbohydrates - 17% DV
- Protein 6g

Bread- 4 slices a day.
- 280 Calories
- 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.

Posted by at

6 comments:

Khurram said...

The result of your BMI calculation is: 22.5
BMI Category
Below 18.5 Underweight
18.5-24.9 Normal Weight
25-29.9 Overweight
30-39.9 Obese
Above 39.9 Morbidly Obese

These values are based on 5ft 10in. and with 157lbs.

February 10, 2007 at 2:47 PM
Khurram said...

Your Calories 883.0

Your MacroNutrients in Grams
Protein 32.3g
Fat 52.0g
Carbs 99.5g
Fiber 0.0g
Sodium 0.0g

February 10, 2007 at 3:09 PM
Khurram said...

Totals: 2,568 calories in 24 hr

Office Work - general
169 calories in 1 hr 35 min
107 calories in 1 hr
320 calories in 3 hr

Sleeping
385 calories in 6 hr

TV - watching
214 calories in 3 hr

Eating - sitting
27 calories in 15 min
27 calories in 15 min

Food - preparing, at home
89 calories in 30 min

Driving - light vehicle (e.g., car, pick-up)
107 calories in 45 min

Walking - 2 mph
178 calories in 1 hr
445 calories in 2 hr 30 min

Office Work - attending meetings
214 calories in 2 hr

Office Work - general
107 calories in 1 hr

Walking - to work or class
24 calories in 5 min

Driving - light vehicle (e.g., car, pick-up)
83 calories in 35 min

Shaving (face or body)
36 calories in 15 min

Showering (self care)
36 calories in 15 min

Calorie Balance:
883 consumed - 2,568 burned = 1,685 lost

February 10, 2007 at 3:47 PM
Khurram said...

Current Weight:157 lbs

End Weight:145 lbs

Weight Loss Daily:12 lbs

Calorie Deficit Time to Reach End
Weight:20 dy

Warning: Losing weight too fast can be unhealthy and
will likely cause your weight loss plan to fail.
See What It Takes to Lose It All.
At this rate you will weigh NOTHING
in 8 months and 22 days!

February 10, 2007 at 4:13 PM
Khurram said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
February 10, 2007 at 4:44 PM
Khurram said...

BMR and RMR are estimates of how many calories you would burn if you were to do nothing but rest for 24 hours. They represent the minimum amount of energy required to keep your body functioning, including your heart beating, lungs breathing, and body temperature normal.

On February 1st your
BMR 1,816 RMR 1,741 (calories)

Ten days and 6lbs. later you are at 157 lbs and your:
BMR 1,779 RMR 1,713 (calories)

After an additonal 6lbs. later you will have a
BMR 1,741 RMR 1,686 (calories)

On March 2nd you will be a perfect example for a 145 lbs anorexic.
BMR 1,704 RMR 1,659 (calories)

February 10, 2007 at 5:01 PM

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