My last purchase on the SNAP Challenge

Ooops! Sorry folks, looks like I forgot to post a wrap up to my SNAP Challenge! I'll blame the foggy brain on my lack of nutritionally sound food for the past 5 days!

It was the last whole dollar I had to spend, and man can I just tell you... I've never been SO excited to eat a protein bar in my LIFE! Aside from being ravenously hungry, I was so over eating the same combination of food every day. I needed something different and this totally hit the spot. Thanks Luna! I heart you! :)

So, how do I feel now after taking the challenge?

Well, it was definitely a lot harder than I thought it would be. It was a great experience though, and I love that I had the opportunity to raise awareness to the issue of food insecurity and hunger in the broader sense. I would highly recommend the challenge to others. It puts things into perspective in a way you don't expect.

I'm looking forward to chatting with the rest of the Junior League ladies that signed up. I know our experiences were different, as we each chose our grocery lists on our own. It will be interesting to see how they felt about their choices.

Which one of you will be next? I would LOVE to hear your stories if you decide to give it a shot!

xoxo!
Julie :)

Energy levels and SNAP

Yawn....

I'm tired. Like REALLY tired. Josh and I visited his Dad and Stepmom last night, so I didn't have time to prep meals for today. Annnnnnd I hit snooze until the very last second this morning, so no time then either. What did that leave me with? A couple hard boiled eggs, 2 bananas and the last few baby carrots thrown in my bag to bring to work today. Yikes! My belly is already rumbling at just the thought that I won't have any other options until I get home sometime after 6pm tonight. My poor co-workers. They will unfortunately have to experience "Hangry Julie", and I feel I should apologize in advance, lol ;)

My energy has slowly been getting lower over the past few days for sure. I stopped working out during the challenge because I knew I wasn't getting enough calories as it is. If I'm THIS exhausted without working out... I can't even imagine how I would feel if I was still rocking my PiYo workouts. And I DEFINITELY don't have the energy to do T25 right now. I miss my Shakeology and my body feeling satisfied nutritionally.

I can't say that mood has really changed (so far at least). I still try to be as positive and upbeat as I can. I will say though that I almost feel like that annoying girl everyone knows that is always dieting and talking about how she eats nothing but carrot sticks and celery. The second someone is having a conversation about some yummy food I instantly want to throw a child like fit with my fingers in my ears yelling "La la la la la... I can't hear you!!!!". Or god help me if I smell something good that someone is eating. I'm instantly a whiner. It seems like I've become slightly food obsessed. I imagine that isn't unique to me. Sort of the you always want what you can't have mentality.

It's hard to swallow though... knowing that I'm sitting here counting down the days/hours until this challenge is over for me. Meanwhile, others may have to live like this for months, sometimes even years. It certainly puts things in perspective.

xoxo!
Julie

Can you meet basic nutritional requirements on the SNAP Challenge?

As I mentioned in my previous post, I wanted to try and make the healthiest choices possible when doing the challenge. My goal was to incorporate all of the food groups. If not in every meal, at least throughout the course of the day.

My day looked like this...

Breakfast:
2 Hard boiled eggs
1/4 cup cooked grits

AM Snack:
Medium Banana

Lunch:
1/2 cup garbanzo beans
1/3 of a medium cucumber
1/2 a can of chunk light tuna fish
2 tbsp italian dressing

PM Snack:
3 oz baby cut carrots

Dinner:
1 cup of long grain rice
1/2 cup black beans
2 tbsp salsa verde

Bedtime Snack:
1/2 cup applesauce

I went ahead and entered all the food into Myfitnesspal - an app I use to track calories when I'm dieting. I wanted to see where all of this put me in comparison to what I would normally eat on a given day. Ready for the results???

I clicked the button to complete the entry and this is what popped up on my screen...

WOW! Now keep in mind, the 2nd line above listing my "Daily Goal"... those are the recommended guidelines recommended for WEIGHT LOSS! We aren't talking about people who want to necessarily lose weight here folks. These are people who are trying to survive on this amount of food every day... not simply while on a diet.

So.... CAN you meet your basic nutritional requirements while receiving SNAP benefits? I'm interested to check in with the rest of the folks taking this challenge to see if their experience has been the same. But from my perspective, the answer is a resounding NO!

xoxo!
Julie