Bariatric Foodie Play with your food
Obligatory disclaimer: This week, in an attempt to get a glimpse of the day-to-day lives of the world’s poorest people, I have committed to setting my food budget for five consecutive days at $1.50 a day. I am four years post-op and have sufficient body fat to do this. I consulted my physician who, while not totally thrilled, is supportive. Do not try something like this without first consulting your medical team and DO NOT TRY THIS IF YOU ARE LESS THAN A YEAR POST-OP. K?
Look at my face in the screenshot of this video of my day one report. That is pertinent. Calories mean something! They are not evil nemeses waiting to convert into fat and make you miserable. They are units of energy that keep you going!
After just one day of my eating challenge I am FEELING the effects of a reduced caloric intake. For newbies this is not unlike when you first had surgery and felt like a walking corpse. It takes your body a little while to get the memo that you need to burn fat for energy because of a lack of calories. I await that glorious realization because being tired is SO not my style!
Today’s plan is a bit more forgiving though. I sat at my dining room table last night (fighting the urge to go into the kitchen and raid the fridge cuz…after all…I live alone for the summer…nobody would know…but I did not do it! I’m proud of myself!) and figured out a way to have three meals today. They aren’t very exciting and not very different from yesterday, but here goes:
Breakfast: 1/2 c. curried lentils (.225 cents) + 1 egg made as an egg pancake (sort of like how I make it for my “eggchilada”) (20 cents) = 42 cents
Lunch: 1 c. curried lentils (with the modifications I discussed yesterday) + 1/2 c. cauliflower rice (70 cents)
Dinner: same as breakfast EXCEPT with 1/3 c. curried lentils instead of 1/2 (35 cents)
Total tally: $1.47
You all don’t know how giddy I am about getting THREE meals. Eating breakfast made a real difference.
All this comes to a whopping (wait for it…395 calories and 31g of protein!!!). Two things:
- I can’t stress this enough. I am NOT doing this for weight loss but to experience the plight of the world’s most poor. Weight loss is not a goal of this exercise. If I should happen to lose any weight I am sure I’ll promptly gain it back at the meal I plan to have on Saturday, which is the ONLY thing keeping me sane right now. 🙂
- Having said all that, I am sorta impressed that I managed to get that much protein in. But in the same token I feel sad that people in developing countries often don’t have the choices I do. In Africa, a drought rages in both the east and the west. People there live on crops they grow. No rain = no crops. So no lentils for them. It’s a sobering thought and one that keeps me from complaining about my lentils!
Anyhoo…later on we’re going to take a break from this crazy experiment with another installment of “I’m a Bariatric Foodie and…” Won’t that be fun?
