Reluctantly, I closed the pantry doors. A week without snacks? How was I supposed to survive? I disapproved of this assignment entirely: to survive a week without the most critical indulgences in my life, junk food. I sadly thought of all the chocolate, cookies, and chips I would have to miss out on this coming week. Even worse, my family members’ doubt of my ability to overcome this challenge did not in the least encourage my self-discipline. From this deprivation, I would have the opportunity to experience the self-discipline practiced by Siddhartha, the protagonist of Hermann Hesse’s novel, Siddhartha. This week of abstaining from junk food caused me to realize my unhealthy snacking habits and my dependence on food as a way to pass time.…show more content… On the first day of the deprivation, my dad brought home doughnuts, my favorite desserts. I deeply considered abstaining from the doughnuts, but in the end, the temptation was too strong. I learned that I was sometimes not as persistent against temptations as I thought I was. However, I was determined to achieve my personal goal despite this unsuccessful beginning. For the remainder of the week, with the exception of the fifth day, I successfully abstained from all junk foods. The highlight of the week was on the sixth day, Thursday. I participated in a math competition, and afterwards, there were tables of chips and drinks. All my friends were eating, and it took all my willpower and an increased attention to the conversations to avoid the snacks. I suffered through the night and completed the deprivation for the day, a success I did not recognize I was capable of. I realized that I was improving on resisting the temptations. After a long, torturous week, the last day finally arrived. I was so determined not to cheat on the last day. On Fridays after school, I usually coached the middle school Mathcounts team. Unfortunately for me, all the students, including my brother, had cookies they received from a giveaway at school. Watching them eat was a cruel punishment, as lunch was the most recent time I had eaten. I related to…show more content… I realized that I had the most cravings for snacks while I was doing homework. Eating while doing my homework was my unconscious habit that I did not fully realize I did every day. I had to concentrate harder on my homework to resist the urge to go grab a bag of chips every day while I finished my homework. This temptation trained my willpower so I learned to become more withstanding. Additionally, I realized my dependence on snacks as a pastime in my free time. I recognized that I usually eat snacks in between activities or when I was bored. In a way, I related to Siddhartha when he “would have had to seek…work [because] hunger would have driven him” (52). Though Siddhartha needed work so he could acquire food, I related because I needed to occupy myself with work so the desires of snacks would not overcome me. However, I admire his strength to work even if he was overcome with hunger. When I was busy, I did not think about snacks. This actually helped me focus more on my activities and increase my productivity. The frequency of snack cravings caused me to apprehend the amount of snacks I eat on a daily basis. A benefit of this experience is that I realized my unhealthy snacking so in the future, I can limit the amount of snacks I
