rice brain?

[tielan]

They call it 'rice brain' and it apparently means that people don't think as clearly as they do. Kind of like 'hangry', I suppose. I haven't gotten it, possibly because I may not have rice that much anymore, but my body grew up on rice at least several times a week.

Of course, it could also be caffeine or sugar withdrawl. Haven't had those yet. I'm not hungry either. I mean, I get hunger pangs, but they're easy enough to ignore right now. I probably shouldn't. I'm just not eager to eat my congee!

I have been having some headaches, but they usually go away with sufficient water consumption and aren't unusual. Mostly, I'm bored with my food.

And it's only Day 2. *sigh*

To change things up a little this morning, I fried some congee. It changed the texture and the flavour, but didn't work quite the way I'd planned. In the meantime, I've put some congee into a muffin pan and am baking them into (I hope) little rice cakes.

I did find a video where an Australia Masterchef contestant is doing the ration challenge and makes a flatbread. Good advertising and raising awareness.

Actually, the flatbread is one of the really good parts.

I'm on the FB group for the challenge, and there's a lot of complaiining about the blandness of the food. It's not unexpected, I'm also finding it really bland. Also, I think people have food texture issues - in particular, people who have a problem with grainy textures that you get in congee (boiled rice soup), and things made with chickpeas or lentils. A lot of people aren't used to having this much rice - so there's rice bloat or rice brain. Very few people seem to have prepared beforehand for this, in so far as eating less or changing around their diet, so that's not really helping either.

And there's an interesting pendulum going. On one hand, there are people who are trying to wriggle around everything they can possibly wriggle. And then there are the people who are, well, very punitive towards themslves. There's a teenage girl who was practically screaming at herself for forgetting she was doing the challenge and 'stuffing up'. *sigh* There were people trying to gently encourage her, but...well, it wasn't pretty.

I never did the 40 Hour Famine; the idea of being 40 hours without food was horrific for me as a teenager. I really don't know why I offered to do 168 hours on rations. Ah well.

After writing that, maybe I do have rice brain. Or do I usually sound like this? XD

Lunch today (hopefully): falafel!

Comments

[eggsbenedict]

You can do eet! I figure you're in this for the journey so I won't suggest anything, but if you do run out of ideas let me know, those rations are kinda what I lived on when I first moved out of home XD

[tielan]

I will take any and all suggestions! Other people's ideas can also be very valuable!

[eggsbenedict]

I know your challenge is done and dusted (nice one!), but most of the ingredients in those "rations" are things me and my family have and still do eat all the time. So your point about people on the FB group going on about "real food" really resonated with me.

I used to just empty a can of chickpeas into a bowl, microwave it and eat it with salt as a snack or a side dish. XD I also used to microwave sardines and just eat them with rice and whatever canned vegetable was in the cupboard... sometimes my work lunches still look like this...

If you plan ahead (because you have to soak them), you can also make dhal from chick peas or lentils! I used to just eat that with rice and a beaten/fried egg.

[eggsbenedict]

Oh, and there's a lot of "used to" in there because I was eating by myself on a seriously tight budget years ago! I still use aspects of these dishes in family dinners and work lunches but they aren't quite as stripped back. Though it is what my dad still cooks like at times. XD

[velithya]

I don't/can't eat most of the rations so unfortunately I don't have any suggestions as to how to keep things interesting, sorry.
I hope your falafel was nice, or at least a nice change from rice!