Today I started to
feel bad. I am not really hungry – a bit
hungry perhaps, but not too hungry. But
I do feel bad. I feel dizzy and weak and
my vision is slightly blurry. My skin is
dull and my feet are stone cold. After
three days of eating only about 1600 calories, I would not have expected to feel
like this; so I can only conclude that it is what I am eating and not how much
I am eating that is having this detrimental effect.
There is really very
little nutritional value in most of it.
I am used to eating more, admittedly, but I am also used to eating a
pretty healthy diet (most of the time!).
An average breakfast might consist of poached eggs on seeded toast with
slices of tomato followed by an apple or a banana mid-morning. A lazy lunch might be a tuna and salad wrap
and if I am more organized I might bring rye crackers, salad and hummus from
home; while a typical after work dinners tofu and vegetable stir fry with
buckwheat noodles or brown rice. There
may be an opportunity for a couple of biscuits or a slice of cake at some point
in the day but overall, it is a diet that includes reasonably healthy protein,
plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and mostly whole grains.
By contrast this week
I am mostly eating heavily processed corn flakes, heavily processed instant
noodles, heavily processed white tea cakes and heavily processed white rice,
all of which is high in salt and sugar.
The only protein is a small amount of watered down milk each morning and
two heavily processed Quorn sausages each night. Admittedly, I am managing 3 a day with one
carrot, one orange and a portion of cabbage; but overall there is little of nutritional
value going into my system.
I knew this would be
the case but am very surprised at just how quickly it has taken its toll. I cancelled a workout this morning because I
did not think I would cope and I am certainly not working at full capacity in
the office. I thought I had done well to
have bought enough food to have three meals a day but when those meals have
little substance, it turns out that the body and mind start to suffer far
sooner than I could have imagined.
This is alarming! Not least because it illustr
ates the situation of countless children in this country who Live Below the Line and who are expected to benefit from an education on a stomach that may be nominally full but that does not contain the nutrients they need to stay alert and able to learn. What is even more alarming is the fact that even a few days of poor nutrition, perhaps as payday approaches in a low-income family, could impair the ability to learn or to work, which in turn may have a longer term effect on future prospects.
It was poignant for me
that the lead story on the front of today's Metro bore the headline: "The
hunger on all our doorsteps". The
second paragraph stated: "Almost 350,000 people, including 126,000
children, have received at least three day's meals from food banks in the past
12 months." That is an unthinkable
number of people who have felt how I feel now, or worse, for at least the three
days I have. When I start to complain
about feeling bad, I will think of them and feel lucky instead that this is but
a temporary choice. When I am tempted to
give up and eat a Maoz falafel in pita, I will think of them and not even dare.
Day Three Tally:
Breakfast: 80g
cornflakes with 113ml whole milk, watered down.
Cost: 15p.
Calories: 381.
 |
| The Staff Lunch I did not eat |
Lunch: Packet of super
noodles and an orange.
Cost: 27p.
Calories: 470.
Dinner: 2 Quorn
sausages, rice, soup mix, carrots & cabbage.
Cost: 50p.
Calories: 561.
Snack: Toasted tea
cake.
Cost: 2p (reduced).
Calories: 188.
DAY ONE TOTALS: Cost:
94p. Calories: 1,600. Five-A-Day: 3.
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