By Stephanie Vi, staff writer
Coffee. Most people I know drink coffee on a daily basis. A bitter hot substance to kick start their day and to keep them awake for the rest of it. For me though, it’s iced matcha lattes. And not any ordinary matcha, Starbucks’ matcha. It’s an addiction and I will run miles and miles just to take a singular sip of the creamy and rich latte. I probably spend over $2000 a year on these drinks considering I must have at least once a day, and maybe even two a day, if it’s finals week. Thus leading me to ponder, what if I decided to not drink iced matcha lattes at all for seven single straight days? Challenge accepted.
Now, I definitely knew this would be a challenge. Two years ago I tried doing this before on my own to lose some face fat before the week of my prom. Long story short, I couldn’t do it and had a mental breakdown two days in. But I’m older now, so I thought I would have more self control, right?
First day in, I woke up bright and early and drank some water. I told myself prior, that if I don’t have a drink to wake me up, I might as well wake myself up. I expected for it not to be so hard but I was drowning in exhaustion. Blankets wrapped around my body and hair all messed up, I was not looking the best. But, to my surprise, I went on with my day with no harm, physically at least. This same routine happened for the next two days but on my fourth day, I was practically going insane. I was physically drained and could not wake up for classes and was mentally unstable as ridiculous as it sounds. I needed my matcha and I needed it to keep me sane. My mom tried offering coffee but I spat the bitter refreshment out of my mouth as quick as it touched my tastebuds. I had no choice but to go to class with my eyebags and tired aura.
The fourth day soon turned into the fifth day and it was no surprise my days had no motivation anymore. I tuned into my second zoom period late, while missing my first one. I was disappointed but amazed I could even get out of my bed. This might sound crazy, but the rest of the day my head appeared dizzy and my body numb. It almost felt like I was falling back into my depression as sad as it sounds, but again, I was addicted to matcha and it being taken away from me was like taking away the only thing I looked forward to every day. I only had two more days left though, and I’m the most stubborn person you will ever meet. I was determined to keep on going.
By the sixth day, I was just on an emotional roller coaster. I was angry, tired and had big mood swings. In the morning of that Wednesday, I tripped over my own foot due to how tired I was and got mad at myself for not watching where I was going. The anger then converted into gloominess and I just sat on the floor sobbing my second period away. I didn’t even bother going to my first class that day. I was so unhappy and worn out. But to my surprise, I had the motivation to go to my second class of the day which was the fourth period. I sat on my desk starting to fall asleep due to how enervated I was, but little did I know, my teacher was calling out for me! I thought I was responding but turns out I wasn’t. My mind was playing games with me at this point. I woke up from my daze and responded as fast as I could. The rest of my day just consisted of me trying not to fall asleep. How embarrassing and draining that day was.
It was finally the last day and the only thing on my mind was, ‘matcha tomorrow’. I was actually happy, but still drained physically and mentally. I didn’t go to school that day at all since I was still so dejected but my mood was brought up since I finally had something to look forward to.
Overall, my challenge did not go well for me and I would definitely not do it again. In the beginning of the challenge, I hoped I would lose at least a pound from not drinking all the sugar in my matcha but I didn’t lose weight. Although, my face definitely slimmed from not drinking my sugary matcha and I saved about $40 that week. I was so dejected from my challenge that the following week I drank about two large cups of matcha a day, putting me in an even worse situation before I started my challenge. I learned that I really depend on my iced matcha lattes and cannot deprive myself of matcha ever again.
