The BT Challenge: No Sweets The Final Day!

I just want to share something that has been irritating me for some time now. Have you seen those Coca-cola commercials (sorry for name dropping, but I will go on), the one with a 100-year old man who came from an island far way, and then traveled far into the city just to see his grand-grandchild, with a Coke in hand to quench his thirst? How about that recent one with a guy, declaring himself the "Ambassador of Happiness" and sharing his "happiness" to the world by giving out unlimited supply of soda?

That's what ticked me right there. It seems like they are trying to teach Filipinos that you can't really be happy if you'll never have a soda in your life.

Will you be happy if you can't have sweets in your life?

This sudden contemplation is very timely for our No Sweets Challenge. If I had to look back and ask myself if I was happy this past 5 days, I guess it would say, I was relatively happy. I admit that I missed having a piece of chocolate or drinking fruit juices whenever I wanted. Constantly depriving myself of these stuff made the absence even worse. 

But you know what? I realized that it's only my mind that's telling me to have these things. If I listen to my body well enough, I will learn that it's not hungry because it's eating enough, it's not deprived because it is never left perishing, and it's generally well because I'm keeping it fueled and rested. Our bodies do not need much from us; it's our minds that make everything so difficult and complicated. Maybe I should consult Gisa about this theory hehe

Speaking of minds, I also read in one article from Bloomberg that it's not your fault that you "think" that way. The studies suggested that processed foods and sugary drinks aren’t simply unhealthy. They can hijack the brain in ways that resemble addictions to cocaine, nicotine and other drugs. 

Sugars and fats, of course, have always been present in the human diet and our bodies are programmed to crave them. What has changed is modern processing that creates food with concentrated levels of sugars without the natural levels of fiber or nutrients that are usually found in naturally sweet product such as fruits and honey. Consumption of large quantities of those processed foods may be changing the way the brain is wired. In the end, constant stimulation with tasty, calorie- laden foods may desensitize the brain’s circuitry, leading people to consume greater quantities of junk food to maintain a constant state of pleasure.

Pretty scary, right? 

Going back to our No Sweets Challenge, I hope we learned these 3 things: (aside from not doing it ever again)

1. Be always mindful in what you eat.

2. Know when to stop. As I have said before, we are not prohibited to eat sweet treats, pero wag ka naman sugapa. Stop when you had enough. Learn to say no, even to yourself.

3. Appreciate everything that you will eat. If you are craving for something specific, by any means, have it, if that's what will make you happy. Don't bite into something that you know you will not appreciate. A little brownie can make wonders to your bad day, but having the whole tray will just give you a tummy-ache.

As we put this challenge to a close, I just like to say "Thank you!" to everyone who participated and shared their struggles and woes in such entertaining ways. And just to clear things up we are not sadists, we are just health advocates with a mission to make all our lives better.