No Corn? That Doesn't Sound So Hard.

It is. Personally, I found this week's challenge to go a full day (or perhaps more) without eating any corn whatsoever to be pretty difficult. In no way am I offering this up as an excuse, but this corn-less diet is made even more difficult when one attempts to infuse it into an already busy and time-crunched schedule and lifestyle often characterized by on-the-go meals. Obviously, however, I wanted to give it a try. I woke up one morning and perused my pantry for a corn-less item that I could pass off as a breakfast staple. It failed. Instead of eating fruit alongside cereal, bread, bagels, or yogurt, as per usual, I just ate grapes and an apple. Presumably, I made it through breakfast, although I guess I can't be sure that there wasn't any corn in my fruit.

The rest of the day proved to be much more difficult. I pretty much ruled out purchasing any food on campus that day because there would be few opportunities to read ingredients listings. When I returned to my apartment for a late lunch, I again scoured the kitchen, the corn allergen list pulled up on my laptop, cross-referencing with great scrutiny. Pretty much everything I pulled out of my refrigerator was a no go. I, like Nadine, did see that my pasta would work though! Pasta and olive oil it was. The rest of my day consisted of quelling hunger pains with more and more fruit and some of the left-overs from lunch. I wasn't complaining though. I love fruit and eat it often, but I couldn't help but feel like my food options had been significantly reduced.

The principle thing that I learned from this challenge is that corn is everywhere. Not in a hyperbolical, I'm trying to get my point across sense, but actually everywhere. I did a little research and found that even toothpaste, aspirin, envelopes and stamps contain corn products. So assuming that information is reliable, I technically failed the challenge before I ever started it as soon as I brushed my teeth in the morning. I knew it was going to be difficult, I guess I just hadn't realized how pervasive corn actually is in everything that we do.