Day 3: I need coffee

I woke up hungry this morning. But instead of doing what I normally would -- toast a bagel or grab a $3.50 latte on the way to work -- I looked over the pile of food we bought for the challenge. It is rapidly diminishing.

The bananas are gone -- my husband took the last one for his lunch today. Eggs --we have 7 left, but I need to save the rest for egg salad and an omelette later in the week. There's quite a bit of celery, but that doesn't sound too good at 6 a.m. I end up counting the slices of bread and deciding I can eat a piece of toast now and still have enough for sandwiches the rest of the week. I wash it down with a big glass of ice water. The decision not to spring for coffee is beginning to feel like my biggest mistake.

Three days in, I have not really been outrageously hungry yet, but it's still early. We notice that we are feeling a little anxious as our little food stockpile shrinks. Mentally, we calculate how many meals we have left; three meals apiece from the remaining chicken, one or maybe two from some pork chops, the rest just rice and beans. We think we will still have enough to last the week, but it's stressful, trying to stretch it.

Still, this is temporary, and we've got a big luxury many families don't; we chose not to include our six-year-old in most of the challenge. I can only imagine how much more painful and stressful it is, trying to keep children full and happy. So as I packed my lunch this morning (rice and chicken soup, made from the chicken bones we normally would have thrown away), I couldn't help feeling that I've got it very easy.