7: FOOD part 1

Day 1: My weekend in Asheville was a blast with my two good friends from high school. Like any good girl's weekend, we had snacks in our room and on Sunday, the day I was to start my fast, I woke up and ate a chocolate chip cookie because I was hungry. FAIL. Then I went down to the free hot breakfast and added a banana and brown sugar to my oatmeal. FAIL. I also had coffee. Then drive home and got Panera black bean soup, hoping that would count. It came with a baguette. How luxurious. How pampered I am simply by living in this country. This is going to be hard! Just on day 1 I find myself ready to jump down other people's throats to get them to understand how awesome we have it in our communities and in this country. My word for day one is simply "Privileged."

Day 2: I stuck to plain oatmeal for breakfast and plain rice and black beans for lunch. As I looked at the demands of my day I was already hurting thinking I wouldn't have coffee. Then I decided that if someone offered me coffee, I could accept since that's even what someone on the street would do. Coincidentally I met with my State Farm agent early this morning and they were a hospitable group :)I had extra time this morning to read the Bible and to almost fall back asleep. When I realized the extra time in my morning came from already eliminating my options for lunch and breakfast, I felt fortunate. This wasn't a great feeling - I felt fortunate that I didn't have to spend my precious time choosing between all the varieties of lunches I could make with the contents in my fridge. FAIL.

Then later that afternoon I considered if I could get home in time to go to one of my favorite fitness classes - body combat. You can sweat off almost 750 calories in that class. I got home a little too late and thus eliminated the option, but as I considered working out at all I realized I'd only consumed about 500 calories. That got me thinking about the amount of calories people in other countries consume and I ran across this infographic visualizing the world's food consumption

"Today, one in eight people do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life, making hunger and malnutrition the number one risk to health worldwide -- greater than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined." - www.wfp.org/hunger/faqs

Below are 2 photos of what families in NC and Chad eat.  See the full TIME slide show.

A family in North Carolina, USA

A family in Chad, Africa

My word for day two is "inadequate."

Day 3: I didn't have coffee today. I also got a terrible headache. After leaving the office a little early, taking a quick nap and some Aleve, I felt much better. I also was convicted about how comfortable my life is. Many people work in jobs that don't allow them to leave early, don't have the free time to nap and recover, or don't have running hot water to take a rejuvenating shower. Lots of people can't afford the luxury of pain medication, or it's not even sold in the vicinity. My word for day three is "uncomfortable."

Day 4: My word for today is "monotony." I caught myself complaining about the morning oatmeal and boring beans and rice. Eating the same thing everyday is awful to me. Someone recently asked me, "Linda don't you think you were born in America for a reason?" This question has stuck with me and caused me some frustration. Since I don't know with certainty the reason (and all the ones I could think of are quite superficial and entitled), I decided the only appropriate response is gratitude.

• Gratitude for variety and access to foods that taste delicious. 
• Gratitude for this project that has left me with the space to consider how others live. 
• Gratitude for the extra 20 minutes I slept in this morning because I didn't have to decide what to eat for breakfast or lunch (no lie).