Unfortunately at 1pm on Friday the 28th I decided to put a on hold my challenge. My mood had dipped a ridiculous amount that I could not speak to anyone and anyone who did speak to me I snapped at them. So for the sake of any friendships I still have I've had to stop.
At the start of the challenge I hadn't taken into account that it was not just my stomach that it would affect. It has taught me to have a tremendous amount of respect for those in this situation or worse. How they cope on a daily basis I do not know, I guess maybe your body gets used to the lack of nutrition and food but it must be a long journey to get there.
I will participate in this challenge again in the future but this time I will attempt to eat healthily and remain happy!
I suggest everyone takes the challenge to see if they can cope on 1 pound a day for 5 days and let me know their results!
Sunday, 30 March 2014
Friday, 28 March 2014
Thursday, 27 March 2014
Meal 9…I WISH
I really want some fruit. Now I know this picture is edited like nothing else to give off an angelic image of fresh, succulent fruit but surely no matter what it can't look like this;
Reality: Meal 9
Back to the tinned apple. It's the closest I can get to anything 'healthy' at the moment. I was meant to have tomato soup but I can't face the thought of it tonight so I've resorted back to the grainy, sour substance which actually tastes good tonight.
HAVE SOME SUGARY SHIT TO KEEP YOU HAPPY
Tempted to spend my last 12p on something sugary. Anyone got an suggestions?!
Meal 8
Day 3 - Lunch 12.00pm
Just looking forward to the end of this challenge now. Lack of food makes you so tired and grumpy - I now understand 100% why once you become homeless it is so hard to get back up on your feet. I'm only on day 3 and already I'm struggling to concentrate, feeling dizzy and exhausted. Sorry to anyone in studio 4 and especially Jacquetta who is receiving the brunt of my grumpy mood!
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
Is this cat food?
Meal 6
Day 2 - Dinner 8.00pm
Smells like cat food, looks like cat food, would actually be a tastier if it was cat food. I had tinned sausages and beans with spaghetti for dinner tonight. The 'sausage' literally melted…surely that shouldn't happen! I don't even want to know whats in these.
Feeling: so unhealthy and tired. I am trying to keep my usual routine throughout the day and have been to the gym both days…I've managed to run my usual distance but I am exhausted by the end of the day.
Forget the 24 hour bakery I want some fruit and veg!!
Meal 5
Day 2 - Lunch 12.40pm
Pitta with a fried egg. Theres really not much else to it!
There's a common misconception that if you leave all eggs long enough they will hatch into chicks to effectively I'm eating a baby chicken…this is not true.
Why Don't Eggs Hatch?
A hen must mate with a rooster in order to fertilise an egg. Eggs that are sold in supermarkets, for obvious reasons, are laid by hens that have not mated.
So there you go. If you are looking for procrastination heres a 'fun fact' page about eggs http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/10-amazing-facts-about-eggs-you-need-know.html
Meal 4
Day 2 - Breakfast 8.00am
Breakfast this morning consisted of those cardboard flavoured cornflakes, milk and tinned apple slices.
*WARNING* tinned apple slices are definitely not apple. They can only be described as an unexplained substance with a slight grainy texture and sour taste. Safe to say after this week I won't be having these again! Maybe lunch will be better. I am actually looking forward a dinner of sausages and beans! It reminds me of when I was a kid.
Meal 3
Day 1 - Dinner 8.00pm
Dinner tonight is some spaghetti with tomatoes and the rest of the mozzarella ball. It tasted pretty bland but there was nothing wrong with it. My flat mates had beans on toast with cheese and I have to say the pasta looked more appealing!
Day One has been good! I was only slightly hungry once and the only thing I can complain about is the taste of the food.
Tuesday, 25 March 2014
"Just wait till you have hallucinations then draw"
Hoping I don't start hallucinating or faint. I've been warned this happens a lot so theres a cup of sweets for when I feel like this…hoping it won't come to that though (no matter how much I want those sweets!)
Day 1 - Lunch
Meal 2
Lunch consisted of pitta with half a mozzarella ball and a slurp of tinned tomatoes. It tasted as good as it looks. From now on I'm going attempt in making the food look appealing!
Not hungry right now though so thats a plus!
Day 1 - Breakfast
Meal One
Day 1 - Breakfast 8.30am
This morning I had some cornflakes and milk. I now have a very good idea about what cardboard tastes like. Suppose this kind of ironically fits into the homeless 'homeless home' concept of them sleeping on cardboard.
Meal Deal Table for 5 days
| Day 1 |
| cereal + milk |
| Pitta with half mozerella and a third of the tinned tomatoes |
| Spaghetti with
the rest of the mozerella and the tinned tomato |
| Day 2 |
| cereal + milk |
| pitta and fryed egg |
| pasta with
half the tin of beans and sausages |
| Day 3 |
| cereal + milk |
| pitta and the rest of the tins of beans and sausages |
| tin of tomato
soup and half of one tin of sliced apples |
| Day 4 |
| cereal + milk |
| pitta and scrambled egg |
| tin of soup |
| Day 5 |
| cereal + milk |
| omelete |
| pitta and pasta |
Tesco Everyday Value Meal Deals
What you need;
1 Tesco Everyday Value Beans and Sausage £0.39
1 Tesco Everyday Value Cornflakes £0.31
2 Tesco Everyday Value Sliced Apples £0.34
2 Tesco Everyday Value Tomato Soup £0.50
1 Tesco Everyday Value Eggs (6) £1.25
1 Tesco Everyday Value White Pitta (6) £0.22
1 Tesco Everyday Value Chopped Tomatoes £0.34
1 Tesco Everyday Value Mozzarella £0.44
1 Tesco Everyday Value Spaghetti £0.20
1 Tesco Skimmed Milk 2 Pints £0.89
£4.88
The Food
5 pounds for 5 days
What I managed to buy with £4.88.
12p for emergencies is going to get me far…
Already feeling anxious
THE NIGHT BEFORE THE CHALLENGE
Went to my local Tesco this evening and sorted out the food I need for 5 days. I'm pretty much living off tins and pasta for 5 days by the looks of it. I wonder if theres anyway to remain healthy if you live off a pound a day? Having my final meal tonight (huge chilli burrito and some fresh fruit). I've lit a candle to remember the moment by and I am listening to slow romantic music to create a sombre mood - nah, that's a load of bollocks. I've wolfed it down and now I'm onto the pick in mix that my flat mate picked up! This is going to be a long 5 days
Monday, 24 March 2014
Fine Art Student looking at Social Interaction between the homeless and the public
I'm a second year Fine Art student at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design developing my art in every way possible before the serious 3rd and 4th year work starts! This project is my final project this year and I have been focusing on social interaction in Dundee and have taken a slightly different approach than I would have normally. By this I mean I have been less selfish about my subject matter and have encouraged participation from the public. Within a couple of weeks I realised the people who I most wanted to work with were the homeless as they are engulfed by a stereotype that they are not 'human' enough. The majority of people won't even glance at a homeless person sitting on the ground and immediately they are dehumanised and not given a voice which is what I wanted to achieve. I wanted to hear the truth about them. Working with the homeless was an eye-opening experience. I first started working with the homeless at a soup kitchen in Dundee. Within the first day of working with them I learnt that they have the same issues that we all face in society.
From here I created two installations. One film and One Audio piece.
The film piece is representational of the original attitude shared by the public about the homeless. It is the creation of a homeless home aka cardboard on the ground. Combined with audio from the film Dark Days by Marc Singer (a film about the underground homeless scene in New York underground and how the people have adapted to living in the abandoned subway) and 'Howl' by Allen Ginsburg (a poem about the freedom of people) I have created a film where I rein act the making of a 'home'.
The audio piece was created after I met the homeless people of Dundee at a soup kitchen one night. The one way conversations heard are truthful of those told to me by the homeless but have been recorded by an actor.
I have started this blog to record a new challenge I will undergo for this project. It is a spin off the challenge 'Live Below the Line' achieved by many charities where you live off a pound a day in meals for five days. I am using this challenge to understand what the homeless have to go through on a daily basis and by creating this blog I hope to educate the public in some way.
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