Rewind: Week 01

The first week of this experiment is over and I'm glad to say that it has been a very educational week. Below is a list of what I've learnt over the week:

1. It is possible to live on RM5.00 a day for lunch.

A lunch meal in Kuching would cost around RM3.00-RM5.00 depending on where you eat. Of course, coffee shops would be much cheaper while restaurants, fast food chains, and food courts would easily cost you RM10.00 and above just for a simple meal. But the goal of this experiment is not as much as to see if you can get a decent meal for less than RM5.00, but to be able to eat healthily by having a variation of food rather than a single dish and overpriced drinks. So far, I think I have managed quite well. I've had surplus food despite spending less than RM5.00 and having fruits and nuts as part of my lunch is pretty healthy as far as I know. However, I should cut back on the dessert and probably replace it with something healthier instead.

2. Three course lunch is too much on some days

I know I've set the rules to 3 items each meal but on somedays, 2 items are more than enough and I end up spending on buying extra food just to meet the challenge's criteria, rather than saving money. On a non post-workout day, my appetite is small enough that a simple popiah and an apple is enough to get me going for the rest of the day but there are also my post-workout days where I just feel hungry the whole day and am glad that I bought some extra food from the day before to control my hunger before lunch time. That said, despite my hunger, the 3 items are still enough to fill my stomach and keep me up until dinner.

3. Its good to plan your meals

Before this challenge, I've never planned for my meals. Everyday for lunch, I'll just pop down to the shops below and have a random meal without giving much thought. Now, I'm learning how to piece my meals together to make it more balance and interesting everyday. I'm actually having fun with this experiment. Sure, there was one time that I failed but I'll take it as a good lesson in planning and maths. 

Those were the main points that I've learnt over the week. I'm sure theres more to that than those and I hope to learn more as I continue on with this challenge.

Day 05: A Sneeze & The End of The Week

It's Friday, which means it is the end of Week 1! It has been a very educational week. I'll probably do a summary of what I've learnt over the week this weekend. So far, I'm quite happy with what I've managed to achieve this week.

Today's meal is quite similar to Monday's meal except for the slight variation of fruit and dessert. I've been really hungry the whole morning because of last night's super exhausting 10km (nearly!) workout on the rowing machine so I decided something with more greens and a bit of meat, hence I opted for the popiah. So I hopped onto the lift and went down to the restaurant on the ground floor to pick up a popiah. While I was waiting in line to pay for my food, the man in front of me let out a huge sneeze away from his food on the counter towards my direction, which was behind him. I got worried about my food being contaminated as it was not fully wrapped in plastic. Both ends of the wrapper are open. Also, not to mention that this was in a restaurant that had food exposed on the shelves. If that did not put you off your meal, I don't know what would. Due to my severe hunger, that thought quickly faded out of my mind and into the call of replenishment.

The apple is a natural choice as I've procrastinated on buying it yesterday, and to add a bit of glucose into my diet, I bought two packs of chewys. I've decided to put one pack aside for Monday. I'm beginning to like this idea of purchasing slightly more for the next day but then it does mean that I'm saving less than what I would like to.

Yesterday, I mentioned that I had some leftovers which would be incorporated into today's meal. Well, that didn't really work out as plan. I was severely hungry today that I ate all my leftovers, and a bar of Weet-bix for morning tea and I was still famished by lunch.

So, that's the last meal of the week and I can't wait to start the next week although I am still deciding if I should cut the length of the experiment from 20 days to 10 days. I'll have to make that decision over the weekend.

Today's meal breakdown:

Main meal - Popiah, RM2.30
Snack - NZ Fuji apple, RM0.80
Dessert - Sugus stick x 2 (Blackcurrent, Apple), RM0.90 + RM0.80
Total spent = RM4.80
Savings = RM0.20