I can't live on $2 per day. And this is why you should donate.

I want to make one thing clear about my Live Strong Below the Line challenge. I am not saying living below the poverty line is easy.

My experiment (living on $2 per day of food) is rigged

I am really living on at least $5 per day.

Let's think about what I'm not counting:

- electricity (5 KwH = ~$1)
- water (~$1)
- internet ($0.50)
- sanitation (toothpaste, soap $0.50)

And that's not counting infrastructure. The paved road I ride my bike down. The house I live in rent free. So many other things I can't even think of.

I repeat. This experiment is rigged.

And for good reason. I couldn't live on $2 per day. There is no way I could do it. And I don't want to try.

What I am saying: it doesn't take much more than $2
$2 per day is a miserable existence. But based on my experiences so far, I think I could live quite comfortably on $5 per day.

The reason I'm asking you to donate to Live Below the Line is because it only takes a little bit to make a big difference. Poverty seems massive and immense when you think about 1.4 billion people living on this little. But it seems pretty small and winnable when you think all it takes is to help someone go from living on $2 per day to $5 per day.

Think about how you live right now. Could you give up something to help end extreme poverty? How much of your income do you donate to charity?

Personally my figure is 10%. Doesn't matter how little or how big my pay cheque is, that 10% gets sent away.

This week will you donate 10% of what you earned to Live Below the Line?

How to build muscle with only $2 per day of food

Watch this video to learn how I increased my max leg press from 120kg to 140kg in two weeks, while only eating $2/day of food.

For the last two weeks I have been living on $2/day as part of the Live Below The Line Challenge. I have experienced what it's like to live in poverty like 1.4 billion people around the world. I suffered miserably for the first 4 days as I battled through caffeine withdrawal. Now, I am experiencing the lack of dietary variety poverty brings, eating mung beans and chickpeas for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Support me in this epic challenge by logging on to www.livebelowtheline.org.au/LiveStrongBelowTheLine and donating to support international aid and development projects.

I'm 8% of the way to my fundraising target of $2000.

Staying Strong Below the Line - Week 1

It's been a week since I started Staying Strong Below the Line and it's time for a progress report. I bet you're dying to know how hard it has been to live on $2 per day.




Caffeine withdrawal
Well I won't lie to you, it has been hard. By far the hardest part has been giving up coffee! My energy levels fell through the floor for the first few days and I struggled to stay mentally alert at a time when I really need to be switched on (I'm writing my honours thesis).

Interestingly though, now I feel really good. The headaches, which had been plaguing me for the last few months have disappeared. I feel peaceful and meditative rather than so supercharged that I steamroll over everyone around me. I like this.

Calorie deficit
On Thursday I cycled 60k to get to a speaking gig. That night I found myself snapping at a dear friend of mine (sorry Lucy!) for no good reason. The next morning I had to drag myself out of bed, feeling like death. Things made sense when I felt much better after eating my planned breakfast and lunch in one go.

How was I going to survive on $2 per day if I was burning that many calories? After five days I'd already lost 1kg.

Mung beans to the rescue
Something had to change. I needed more calories for my coin. So on Saturday, I headed down to Amba Bazaar in Syndal and the friendly shop owner, Dhinesh, gave me a discount on a 5kg bag of mung beans! Hoorah, now I had enough to eat.

(I also realised that a big part of the problem was I messed up the mental arithmetic and was living on $1.50 per day instead of $2 per day!)

What am I eating this week?
Here's how I'm spending my $14 this week:
- 2kg of white rice ($3.60 from IGA)
- 4kg of mung beans ($9.30 from Amba Bazaar)
- 14 Cenovis multivitamin tablets ($1.26)

How's the nutrition?
Have a look here. To summarise: good. I'm getting 2600 calories per day, 134g of complete protein and all of my vitamins and minerals. 

Staying Strong Below the Line

This May I am "Staying Strong Below the Line" as part of the Oaktree Foundation's Live Below the Line campaign. For a month I am living on $2 per day, while continuing my intense workout schedule. 

What's all this in aid of?

I am doing this to change a perception around poverty. We often see people in poverty as victims, people to be pitied. The stereotypical image in the media is of a starving child with his ribs poking out after a natural disaster. Again and again we are asked to give money to help save these poor people, and in Australia at least, we often do. 

What this image leaves out is the people living in tremendous adversity every day, who are surviving without help or assistance. They do not complain, they do not despair, they just work incredibly hard to make ends meet. I am talking about the mother working 12 hour days in a sweat shop so she can send her kids to school. I am talking about the man working long days ploughing the field by hand, so he can grow enough food to feed his family.

These people don't need our pity, they deserve our respect. They have the drive, they have the work ethic, they have the innovative mind. All they need is an opportunity and a leg up.  

So this May I am "Living Strong Below the Line" to get a taste of what it is like to live on $2 per day like 1.4 billion people around the world.

The money I raise through this endeavour will go towards helping young people in Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Cambodia lift themselves out of poverty.

Will you support me in this challenge?

Are you strong enough to live on $2 per day for a paltry 5 days? If not, will you support me with a cash donation to the Oaktree foundation?

Take action today!