Live Below the Line - DAY 1

I woke up at 2pm, as this is when I usually wake up. I go to sleep around 4-5am and wake up around 1-2 pm. Weird, I know, but this is what my sleeping pattern looks like at the moment. For this challenge it is actually great because I am technically skipping breakfast, so I need less food.

mmm.. my favourite tea..

I woke up, showered, did my usual routine and then at 14.42 started to grab for the Twinings Mango and Lychee green tea with a big smile on my face, as I was really looking forward to sipping it. When I took the box and opened it, the sweet aroma of my favourite tea entered my nostrils, but when I started to grab for the bag of deliciousness, I suddenly remembered – I am doing the Live Below the Line challenge. With a disappointment, I put down the pretty green box of my favourite tea and open the 26p ASDA Smart Price tea box. Instead of the gorgeous sweet aroma, the smell of wood welcomes me when I open the bag. I am suddenly not really looking forward to that daily morning tea. I let the teabag to soak for 4-5 minutes and take it out. I hesitantly take the mug and smell the tea – to my surprise it is not too bad! It reminds me of my grandmom in russia – she always drinks her black tea in the morning, for lunch and after dinner. Yes- the tea does not smell as aromatic as some of the more expensive teas, but for the price, it is great. Without any big expectations, I take the first sip and think to myself – hmm, this is not too bad! It is actually quite nice. It just needs a teaspoonful of sugar or honey and it would be very nice. For this challenge – sugar is a luxury, so I decide not to use it until I go to uni tomorrow and cheekily steal some sugar from the coffee vending machine.

Smart Price tea

When I finish my cuppa at 15.15, I think to myself that it is probably time to have some breakfast, or should I rather say lunch? Breakfast is always the favourite meal of the day for me, as it usually means fried eggs and toast. I love fried eggs and toast. I take the fancy polish rye bread out the freezer (I bought it for 15p for the discounted price, as it was going out of date the following day) and pop it into the toaster. This is what I normally do on my mornings anyway, as I do not eat bread that much, I always put it in the freezer for it to last longer. While my bread is toasting, I open the box of my smart price eggs. The only difference that I notice between the normal eggs and the Smart Price eggs, is that the SP ones are all noticably different sizes. It does not bother me. I obviously grab for the biggest one and panfry it without any oil. I sprinkle a dash of salt and pepper on it and it is done. I like my eggs rare, with the yolk still bright yellow and runny. Mmm... Oh bugger – I forgot about my toast! As I take it out of the toaster, it is burnt. As the bread I bought is not very big and as it is only one corner of the toast that is burned, I cut off the burned piece and still use it – no wasting in this challenge! I place the egg on top of the small toast. My usual rocket and tomato are missing from my toast, but it does not bother me that much. For the finishing touch, I open the can of Smart Price baked beans and warm up a couple of tablespoonfuls and place them on the plate next to my toast.

 I do a taste test for the beans first and once again to my surprise – they are lovely! The egg and toast are also yummy, but you could still taste the burned parts of the toast. All in all I was very pleased with my breakfast, however I am not sure if I am full yet. I sip on the remaining of my now cold tea and get on with my day doing dissertation.

Budget breakfast

It is 4pm and yes, I am still hungry – so hungry I cannot concentrate on work. I grab for the banana I had bought for the challenge. I enjoy every single bite of it as it is the only sweet thing I can have during the challenge. Suddenly a banana seems like luxury. Unfortunately I am used to eating everything really quickly, so that banana is also vanished in no time and I am left again with no snacks or sweets to wait for my next meal – the dinner.

I couldn’t wait until dinner, so I had half a slice a toast at 5pm on its own, which did not help much with my sugar cravings. At 7pm I cooked myself dinner – 5 Smart Price chicken nuggets, Smart Price cauliflower, Smart Price vegetable rice and some shredded carrot. The portion was huge, so I was more than full afterwards. Tomorrow I will definitely make less.

Huge dinner

The evenings are the worst for me for cravings as this is the time I am watching TV and I always like to have snacks or sweets. Made myself some tea, but the cravings are still there. I know I have a piece of smart price dark chocolate in my cupboard and I cannot get this thought out of my head. I decide to cheat – yes people, I took 3 pieces of dark chocolate. I started thinking to myself – this chocolate cost 30p, I am taking around 1/10 of the chocolate so basically I am eating for 3p. I can maybe skip one of the noodle packs I have and I can have the chocolate in my cupboard which is worth less than 10p. So technically I am not cheating.

I have tried different diets in my life and I have noticed that if you restrict yourself of eating something, then this will be the thing you want the most. It is the same with this challenge – I could not afford to buy any sweets or many fruits, but these are the foods I am craving the most. I am craving a juicy apple or my favourite – sweet and fresh mango. I am the kind of person who really enjoys food and it plays a big part of my life, so this challenge is very hard for me.

Tomorrow I am going to the library and I am panicking already as usually I always buy coffee or crisps or chocolate on campus, but I dont know how I can cope without all these things. We’ll see...

Talk to you tomorrow!

Jane x