But Mailors Flat resident Nicola McKenzie decided to up the ante for her second time around.

“I did it for the first time last year and I got through it pretty easily,” Miss McKenzie said.

“So this year I wanted to test myself a bit more and one of the things that you can give up, apart from food, is technology. 

“I do use technology a bit so I thought giving up using my phone, laptop and watching television would be a good test.”

Miss McKenzie switched off all her devices and had her last bite to eat at 8pm on Friday. 

It was the last of her access to either luxury until noon on Sunday.

Getting through Friday evening and a full day on Saturday did not cause the 18-year-old, Year 12 Emmanuel College student too much angst.

But Sunday morning was a much tougher beast to conquer.

“By then, I was feeling a bit out of the loop as far as not being able to get on my phone,” Miss McKenzie said.

“And I did start to get hungry watching everyone having their breakfast.”

But she was able to overcome this testing time, making it through to noon and achieving both goals.

While she could have been forgiven for treating herself to a feast for Sunday lunch, the meal she chose was far from extravagant.

“I had a ham, cheese and tomato toasted sandwich,” she said.

“It was nice but I actually didn’t finish it, I only got through just over half of it.

“With the technology, I thought I might have missed out on a few things but I didn’t really miss out on anything important.”

She is now taking part in World Vision’s Run India event. 

“During the next 12 weeks, she will support Samantha Gash, who plans to run 3800 kilometres across India. 

Miss McKenzie will hit the roads locally to cover some miles for the cause.

“I think it is important with the 40 Hour Famine and Run India because it not only raises money for those less fortunate but also awareness about how in need some people are,” she said. 

“We take it for granted, having that food security of three meals a day is something we just expect.”