I've had some time to digest what I learned from the challenge. The last few days of the challenge I had to attempt on my own, since my husband and children fervently said "No." to finishing.
What did I learn? I learned that I am spoiled. Over the course of the five days, I went out to eat at least one meal on two separate occasions. I learned that I am NOT as strong as I thought I was. There were a few sneak cheats during the period, possible because I had not cleared my pantry out before starting the challenge.
There were some positive outcomes. I learned that I COULD trim my family's food budget down, if I really wanted to do so. Shopping smart is something that can easily be done if you watch for sales and know how to store food properly - either by freezing, canning or just stock piling.
But not everyone has access to storage, or refrigeration, or the Mega-Sales that I encountered during my LBtL challenge time period. There are people, both in our own country and in others, that don't have access to any of this.
My goal over the next year is to trim my food budget. Shop smarter while hopefully eating better. Processed food is where most of your money goes in a supermarket - things like potato chips, cookies, juices, snack packs, sodas etc. Those things - for our family - can either be eliminated or made at home for less money with better ingredients. I'd like to take the money I save and buy some much needed food pantry items to donate to our local pantry.
The point of this challenge was awareness. To become aware of what many other people in the world have to experience. As the great Yoda might say, "Aware, I am. Thoughtful, I must be."
