Today I started the “ Do the Math Challenge” facilitated by Feed the Need Durham in order to create awareness that families living on Social assistance do not receive enough financial support to eat healthy food. Many families on Social Assistance and the working poor rely on what is provided by our local food banks.

 This morning started off at Feed the Need in Durham with powdered milk and cereal for breakfast with a small fruit salad.

I was delighted to have my morning meal as I was genuinely hungry. I consumed some of my cereal and found the milk very sweet. Something I am not used too. My everyday breakfast is breakfast smoothies, soft-boiled eggs and fruit. Today was much different. I did notice many of the participants did not eat that much as well. Maybe because they are not used to cereal and milk for breakfast either or the other thought I had, was they felt guilty for eating food that could go to someone who needs it, even though the CDCD funded the project.

 After breakfast I headed over to my Part-time RBC job for the day. The only meal I had was breakfast and on a typical day I would have eaten breakfast and 2 healthy snacks. As a CSR, I do need to be very careful with one’s banking transaction and I found it very difficult to maintain focus on the computer screen as well as actively listen to the clients. By 1. 30 in the afternoon, just before my lunch, my heart was racing, my skin was clammy and I was dizzy. My blood sugar levels had drop so low, that I was in a hypoglycemic state. Not good. I consumed my lunch which was a sliced apple and a cup of Lipton’s cup of soup. As soon as I ate I felt much better.

Later in the afternoon, I was not able to concentrate anymore and doing my job became a real struggle.

My headache was severe. I drank multiple glasses of hot water to alleviate my headache and I couldn’t wait to go home and crash.

 For dinner I had pasta that was provided by the food hamper with the store bought sauce, again with hot water. My dinner meal was not bad but not good either.

 Nutritionally speaking I have consumed minimally amount of protein, in the Lipton soup and only one fresh real food which was the apple.The cereal and pasta are refined carbohydrates that did spike my blood sugar levels into a very uncomfortable zone. Though I do not feel hungry, my body did react with the rise and fall of blood sugar and hence I have had a headache all day.

 So Day 1 of the challenge is over and I have survived barely!