Sunday, July 1, 2012

July 1 - Challenge Recap

I made it! 

So here's a few stats from my challenge:

Weight lost in June:  7 pounds
Inches lost:
Bust - 2 inches
Waist -2 inches
Hips - 1 1/2 inches
Thighs - 1 1/2 inches

Total spent on food consumed:  $26.48 averaging 88 cents a day.
Total calories: 35,212 averaging 1174 calories a day.

Leftover food:  8 corn tortillas, 2 T Peanut Butter, 1 serving chicken soup, 3 oz of chicken breast, 1 serving red beans, 4 servings pinto beans, half a canister of oatmeal, and 12 oz soy milk.

I'm not sure why I have so much food left over.  I think it's because I couldn't eat the full serving sizes and also I had a lot more fruit available than expected.  I still have avocados, oranges and a few apples and loads of fresh vegetables.

So....

What did I eat TODAY?
(I was working a craft show today and I didn't pack any food to go.)

Dessert:  Chocolate Cake, Coconut Creme Pie and a Chocolate Caramel Apple

Breakfast:
McDonald's large decaf coffee
McDonald's Egg McMuffin with strawberry jam

Snack:
McDonald's large decaf coffee
McDonald's Apple Pie

Lunch:  (from my brother-in-law, THANKS!)
1/2 hamburger
1/2 order french fries
1/2 order onion rings

Snack:
Chocolate frozen soft serve ice cream

Dinner: (husband took me out to dinner)
Grilled Mahi Mahi and Kalua Pork
White rice
Macaroni Salad

Dessert:
1/2 Chocolate cake
1/2 Coconut cream pie
1/2 Chocolate caramel apple
Pot of decaf coffee

Okay, so my body might go into shock tonight.  But I will say this.  I feel stuffed.  Uncomfortably stuffed.  Things tasted good, but not as good as I thought they would.  When I think about how much these prepared items cost compared to my homemade items, I am appalled!  I prefer to have my homemade meals that cost pennies.  The slice of chocolate cake was $3.75, and my Orangesicle costs 5 cents.  I want my Orangesicle!

I told my husband that restaurant food costs too much and I am going back to my budget menus again TOMORROW.  And I am really happy about that.  Oh, and I will be cooking for both of us from now on.  He will eat what I eat.

So you see, I really did learn a good lesson.  More expensive food does not equate to better food.

I ate for a month on a dollar a day, and in the end,
I was a healthier person. 

Today, I came over the fence and tasted the conveinience of prepared foods, and tomorrow I choose to go back.

4 comments:

  1. That's amazing! Congrats on your accomplishment! :) I hope you'll continue to update us on your journey.

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  2. Wow! I'm really impressed. Congratulations!
    New follower from Musings of an imperfect Mom

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  3. Hi Susan! You are such an inspiration! A dollar a day! That's fantastic! Keep up the posts! Blessings from Bama!

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  4. This was a very interesting experiment to follow. I was certainly impressed by the commitment and self discipline you showed to follow it, though a bit appalled by how much fast food you enjoy. I think you set out to prove that you can eat well on $1 a day and proved in the end that you can't, not really at all, unless you have a prolific vegetable garden and a lot of friends with fruit trees. To me, the value is in seeing if those truly living in poverty could feed themselves on a dollar a day. I truly hope they wouldn't have to; I hope that if someone is that poor, they would at least have the benefit of food stamps. In southern California, you have the luxury of inexpensive produce or free produce. A person would not be able to survive in a healthy way for a dollar a day unless they had the free produce coming in from their own garden or from their family members' fruit trees. Of course people on such a tight budget would benefit from having a garden or being given fruit, but what if they don't have the opportunity to garden or it's winter, etc. You need to figure the cost of your garden plot and the gas to get to the garden into your budget, as well as the gas to get to your brother's house to pick his fruit. Although you limited your food expenditures, you didn't appear to have to limit your budget in other areas, like gas, as a truly poor person would. I would say cone to NJ in the winter, and show me that you can eat well and healthily and be full on $1 a day. I try to keep my grocery budget at under $400 a month, for a family of 5, including diapers for 2 toddlers, cat litter and food for 9 cats, dog food for 3 large dogs, personal products and house cleaning products. I think the true value for you was being forced away from fast food and losing a few pounds.

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