Some thoughts from Tony

Day 1: Monday Oct. 4

My morning begins as usual with a cup of coffee and the answering of e-mail both personal and business . Depending on the days work load, once I leave my house , I may or may not eat lunch . If I do , it typically is at one of Cambridge's restaurants close to where my business of the day takes me . Today happened to be one of those days where lunch took a back seat to the business at hand .

I met with the wonderful staff of the Cambridge food bank at approximately 4:10 pm ( after my stomach reminded me it was close to dinner time and if I wanted to eat this week I better pick up my food hamper ) then proceeded home to cook my dinner .

While taking my food out of the bags, I recalled the process of being asked to select which cans of food I would like and how many of each I was allowed to have . I found that instinct quickly took me from comfort food thought to a thought that " you better chose wisely, this has to sustain you for five days ! " I wondered  if anyone else had that thought , as I chose what to have for day 1 dinner.

Irish stew, a glass of tomato juice, two peices of my bread stick ( I rationed it out over my five days ) and some peanut butter and crackers. Not my usual plateful but I have to say after a full day of not eating it was well appreciated . I normally do not eat breakfast but will start tomorrow morning knowing that my eating habits have now changed. My hamper included some breakfast cereal and powdered milk. Boy talk about strategic planning ! I thought it would be interesting to weigh myself at the beginning and end of the five days.

 Tony with the contents of his hamper

Tony "before" the challenge

Day 2: Tuesday Oct. 5

Today most of my work took place from my home office . The cereal and powdered milk which I intended to have , just didn't seem paletable for breakfast so I resorted to my usual couple of cups of coffee followed up with the crackers and peanut butter that was in my hamper . As lunch time approached I chose to just open and eat one package of my ham  along with some fruit cocktale , I never used any of my bread stick because I cut it into enough pieces to last me for five dinners , Monday through Friday . Working from home seemed to present its own set of challenges in that you are free to munch on whatever you have available . The flip side is that what you have available has to last you and it really is not a treat or a munching kind of food . After making a sheduled appointment , I returned home to cook my dinner . Tonight , Kraft dinner , more peanut butter and crackers , fruit cocktale and a glass of tomato juice . I now realize that my bread stick is not going to last the next three days . I wraped it up well but it was getting hard . Reminds me of growing up and complaining the bread was hard , only to hear that  "it would be a lot harder if you had none". All jokes aside its a day past its best before date so I figure I am done with it come tomorrow . Despite the lack of choice , I must say that I am not yet feeling discouraged or hungry , but I know there is still three more days to go !

Tony Campbell