What about lunch dates?!

I coldn't do the challenge today.

I did it yesterday:
breakfast was oatmeal with some cinnamon and instant black coffee, which I simply could not choke down.
Lunch was frozen spinach, a can of tuna, and some mustard packets snatched from a lunch place nearby.
Dinner was...exactly the same. Eventually I'll get some variety in there, but I needed something fast, and this was already made.

I spent a lot of time all day thinking about what I was going to eat. I wondered when to eat so as not to get hungry later. Staying up late studying was particularly hard. I tried studying in a library where no food was allowed, but i found it really hard to concentrate because I kept imagining all the food they were selling at the Buttery in the basement. I began to understand even more the necessity of breakfasts and lunches in our schools. You really cannot learn when you are hungry! I ended up walking back home, knowing that I had left my reading half done.

But today I got a call from a friend I haven't seen in a while. She asked if we could meet up for lunch in Berkeley. I thought about explaining the Challenge and suggesting another way for us to meet up. Honestly, though, I couldn't think of much else to suggest. It seems like most of my interactions with people involve buying food--a meeting at Koffee Too, lunch in a dining hall, or even drunken pancakes at A1. I ended up going to the dining hall. While a part of me felt guilty for abandoning the Challenge, I was really happy to eat a big, heaping salad with crunchy lettuce (none of that frozen and reheated spinach!), lots of colorful vegetables, and even some tofu on top! As I walked out with my coffee and milk, I felt practically gluttonous. I picked up that unfinished reading.

-Mimi Lewis