Diary of the Ration Challenge: Day 5

Today has been full of highs and lows. My day started with a message from a friend saying they’d heard me on the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show on Radio 2. WHAAAT?! Sure enough, my lovely Chris had shared my challenge, and Zoe gave me a “Superhero Shoutout.” I don’t think I’ve ever been mentioned on the radio before and it made me really emotional. My story was also featured in Dorset Biz News, so a great day for press coverage.

Felt lethargic and headachey at work all day, and again, struggling to do anything at speed. I’ve been waking up hungry at 5am most mornings and this morning it was 4.45am, so losing sleep is also taking its toll.

I tried making a sort of rice pancake for breakfast, using cooked rice and a bit of oil blended into a paste with the stick blender. I sprinkled with a tiny bit of sugar and a whole lot of cinnamon. The crispy crust actually made it quite enjoyable (as these things go).

Lentil soup for lunch was a low - it was largely water, a few lentils and a tiny nubbin of my precious carrot. I swear I felt hungrier when I’d finished that when I started. I’m finding that I sometimes feel better to skip a meal than to have something so insubstantial. Now that I’ve used up a lot of my rations, I’m starting to feel quite panicky. If you ask me what I have left, I can tell you exactly. I have become hyper-vigilent about using everything, wasting nothing and making a portion stretch over as many meals as possible.

I was so excited for my tea tonight - pizza - which I’ve been looking forward to all week. It used up the last of my flour, kidney beans and sardines, but I managed to keep a dollop of tinned tomatoes for another day. It was undoubtedly tasty, and such a welcome relief from rice, but I felt so depleted afterwards. It is just not enough. My energy is zapped.

So Day 5 done. I can’t wait to go to bed. I hope today was the lowest point of the week because I don’t think I can stand to feel any worse.

How much I’ve raised: £1,425

If you’d like to donate: Thank you, and here is my fundraising page