The Joy of Eating

One reason I chose to become a dietitian was my passion for food. Some people enjoy learning about politics, marketing, or style...I want to learn everything I can about food.
I consider my place of "zen" when I have the opportunity to spend time in my kitchen creating nourishing dishes. I find comfort in grocery stores. I spend hours researching where my husband and I should go for dinner.
I find "joy" in eating. It is one of the pleasures of life.
Although I ate "nutritiously" throughout this hunger challenge and proved to myself that I could eat healthy on an extremely low budget, I can't say I found the "joy" of eating that I am accustomed to. I take for granted that every single day, I can walk into a food store and "splurge." I take for granted that I can savor a food and not feel guilt. This week, I had a very strict plan that I could not afford to stray away from and it felt constraining. I turned down going out to eat with friends. I turned down easily accessible food when I was hungry. I turned down going in for coffee with my running group because I didn't think I could handle smell of fresh brewed coffee.
Living on this budget separated me socially from friends, reduced my ability to immediately nourish myself when I was hungry, and in the end, stole some of the "joy" out of eating. Participating in this challenge for the second year did not make thing necessarily easier. $28 is $28 and it's restricting, it's challenging, and it's scary to feel hunger. I am blessed that it ends tomorrow. I think that this challenge goes beyond calling us to take action by helping to provide resources for the food insecure, but just as importantly, to give them moments of "joy" in eating.