Update: Jordan

Day Seven:

With the Fill the Gap challenge wrapping up I must say I am looking forward to regaining the freedom to choose for myself what I eat.  We were all fortunate in this challenge to have been allotted the healthy options found in the good food box.  With those and my 5^th “pantry” item – Bell Peppers I was able to make a huge vegetable stir fry that sustained my through 4 meals in the middle of the week.  Lacking the creativity of many of my challenge mates more often than not during the rest of the week I ate the food as it was presented.  Cans of soup, chili or a box of Kraft Dinner  were the bulk of my diet.  This wasn’t how I envisioned things would go.  Boyed up by the challenge I imagined myself creating mini-delicacies with the food at hand.  This was certainly proven possible by many of my colleagues but I was largely unsuccessful in this regard.  I don’t mind admitting that I found it a little hard.  I have never really enjoyed cooking and restricting my choices didn’t make that job any more enjoyable.  It also seemed to me that time was always tight.  Planning and creating great meals takes time and energy that I didn’t have in abundance.  It is easy to imagine how much more difficult eating well would be for many in our community, those with disabilities or without a good job with a predictable schedule.  Things easily taken for granted like a reliable vehicle that can save an hour or more a day that would otherwise be spent commuting by bus or on foot.  This challenge helped me appreciate what I have more and gave me a glimpse of some of the challenges that people face when trying to eat healthy and well.

Perhaps the best thing that came from this challenge for me was a realization that I could last 7 days without going to a restaurant or stopping at a coffee shop for a drink.  It sounds funny – like it would be the easiest thing in the world, but it wasn’t.  This challenge showed me how often I eat out and how much I missed the option.  I hope that the knowledge of how much money I saved on food this week outlasts my craving for a trip to drive-thru and inspires me to spend more time in the kitchen or even the garden.