Day 2: Tuesday

Early morning FOMO

My alarm went off this morning at about 7:15 am and I think I pressed snooze about 3 or 4 times. I finally dragged myself out of bed, hopped in the shower, and found myself wondering what I was going to make in Dhall for breakfast..

"Am I in the mood for cereal? Am I patient enough to wait in the egg line today? I wonder if the bacon is crispy like it was this weekend..."

When I walked back into the room, Carlie was running around in her pajamas cutting up bananas and making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on her desk and Dalyan was sitting on our floor eating oatmeal. It took me a couple seconds, but I finally remembered that it was only day 2 of the SNAP challenge, and that waffle I had decided to make for breakfast in Dhall was no longer an option. 

As I sit here typing and eating, my phone keeps buzzing with the usual morning chatter of my friends in our large group text message. Messages like, "Dhall in 15??" and "Where are you guys sitting?" keep popping up on my phone, and even though Carlie is here with me, I still can't help but miss the early morning greetings and hubbub in Dhall that usually start my day. 

Lunch

I just finished FaceTiming with my mom and sister who are hunkered down in my house trying to avoid the snow that has been piling up in Boston this week. In the middle of our conversation, my stomach started to grumble so I got up from my desk and made myself a peanut butter and jelly. Carlie left the bag of bread open last night, so the top pieces are already a little stale which I'm pretty bummed about. As I was nibbling on carrot sticks at my desk, my sister sat at our kitchen table and I watched as my mom brought her a bowl of her home-made chicken noodle soup and a gooey melted grilled cheese sandwich. My sister started laughing and she called me out for blatantly staring at her lunch instead of looking at her throughout our conversation. 

After eating lunch I don't feel hungry, but I don't feel full either. I'm just not satisfied at all. I should probably make my way over to the library so that I can get some work done, but first I am going to make Dalyan a PB&J and bring it to the library so that he doesn't have to make the trek all the way back to North/South.

Boatwright Memorial Library

Usually when I walk into the library, the first thing I do is head straight for 8:15. In the past two days I have come to the realization that that the majority of my dining dollars are spent on the black tea lemonade(s) that I drink every day that wake me up and help me tackle my work. I just walked up the stairs to the second floor, and instead of an iced tea in my hand I was holding Dalyan's PB&J. I definitely got a few weird looks when I dropped it off at his table...

...now I'm sitting in the silent section and I feel so tired all of a sudden. I can't tell if its just a placebo affect, or if the SNAP Challenge is already starting to take a toll on me. The list of work I have to do seems so overwhelming right now and I'm in a really grumpy mood. I've been really short with people this afternoon which is unlike me..usually I love to talk to people and socialize, but right now all human interaction is pissing me off..hopefully in the next few hours I can turn my mood around :/

You Want What You Can't Have

After attempting to work in the library from 2:30 to 5:30, I went to a Macroeconomics review session for my quiz tomorrow, then headed to the gym at 7:00 to watch Theta play Delta Gamma in our intramural basketball game. I was really excited to go to the game because I felt like I had barely seen any of my friends in Theta throughout the week, except when I passed them briefly on the way to class, oatmeal in hand. I knew that seeing my friends would improve my mood, but as I was sitting on the bleachers, thinking about whether or not I should make pasta or dinosaur shaped chicken fingers for dinner, my friends Ariana and Annie walked in, with Chipotle and donuts in hand...

On a normal day, if Annie or Ariana offered me a bite of their chipotle or one of their donuts I would have probably said no thanks...but knowing that I was specifically not allowed to accept free food made me actually crave it more...

Food for the Soul

It has been so strange not being able to go into my friend Sky's room and reach my hand into the bag of chocolate covered almonds she always snacks on late at night. Her roommate, Bella, thought something was wrong with me when I didn't ask her to pass the goldfish and pita chips. I've begun to realize that whenever I spend time in their room, we are always snacking on something while we catch up on our days. I guess I never understood that eating with them has turned into something so habitual and is a natural part of my daily routine. I now understand what people mean when they say certain foods are "good for the soul". Sure, my stomach was satisfied by the pasta and salad I had made myself for dinner, but my soul was definitely not.