Everyday we are faced with challenges. We are confronted with a hurdle that we can either take on or pass off. Some of these can be life changing, while others become myth-busting activities for curious minds. In this case, it was my curious self that got me into doing food challenges.

These challenges are completely idiotic and more than likely can cause harm to the body. But in an attempt to see how much abuse my body can take, I decided to take on three of them. I’ve officially gotten sucked into the curiosity train and became one of those crazy people who seem to have nothing better to do with their time than to spend it on life-risking activities.

So with that, my preposterous self has willingly decided to take on the saltine challenge, the Sprite and banana challenge and finally the cinnamon challenge. Of course I started off going into them with a positive attitude. I thought I would’ve been smart enough to figure out a strategy to overcome the challenges but when my nerves kicked in, I started to chicken out. In the course of 24 hours, I put my body through hell with what started off to be effortless sounding challenges.

Chowing down six saltine crackers within 60 seconds without having anything to drink seemed like such an easy task. I had a lot of confidence when I started chewing down the first cracker, but as soon as the taffy-like substance contained my mouth, I couldn’t bear the thought of stuffing in another cracker without thinking about my jaw falling off.

With 48 seconds and two crackers left, I knew I set myself up for failure. There was no way I would be able to completely swallow what was already in my mouth but I went for it and jabbed those last two crackers down my throat, but sadly not in time. Completely finishing the challenge took me 1 minute and 24 seconds. You can bet that the only time you’ll find me eating crackers, in the near future, are in my soup.

The banana and Sprite challenge is a waste of a healthy fruit and a good chaser. What kind of person with a brain would want to eat two bananas then tank down a liter of Sprite? I thought to myself that some idiot probably came up with this but yet I couldn’t pull myself away from trying to attempt it.

So there I was peeling away the skin of the banana, when I got that knot in my stomach, like the feeling someone would get right before boarding a huge roller coaster. As I shoved the last piece of the banana down my throat, I prepared myself for the worst when I brought the lip of the Sprite bottle toward my mouth. The sugary water went down my throat smoothly as it helped to wash down the bananas and saltine crackers from the previous challenge.

When I got halfway through the liter of Sprite, I could feel my stomach expanding, like a balloon getting ready to explode. I knew that if I didn’t do something soon I was sure to puke. So I did what came as instinct, I burped. Gross as it may sound, that trick kept me from puking and helped me to beat the challenge. So because I felt fine, I went ahead with the next challenge.

Sure a spoon full of cinnamon doesn’t sound too bad, but when your throat is clogged with that brown substance and no water at hand, cinnamon would probably be the last spice you would want on the rack.

I heard about this challenge from friends and had also seen Kendall Jenner and YouTube star JennaMarbles take their swing at it and always wondered if I could ever beat it. After months of wondering, I decided to take my chance.

It took me a while to muster up the courage to put that spoon in my mouth. I stared at that powdering substance for a while. In my head I was thinking how simple it sounded to just swallow a spoonful of cinnamon. Of all the dumb challenges I put myself through, this was the worst. With my first gulp I started choking, one second it was in my mouth and the next, it flew out like a puff of smoke. Not only through my mouth but my nose as well and for hours after, I could not get rid of that strep throat feeling and the smell of cinnamon.

Before I forget to mention, because I am officially an idiot after putting my body through such misery, in order to get better footage and a video for generations to come, I did this challenge once more. The second time I prevented the cinnamon from entering my nose on its way out of my poor esophagus. I learned my lesson: never again.

Word to the wise: be smart. If curiosity kicks in, take at least a few minutes to examine the risks you are about to take. Through this stimulating experience, I learned that curiosity could lead people to do senseless activities, activities that others will call stupid. But it is through experiences humans learn and learning is a part of life, even if the lesson learned is never to do it again. In the battle of man versus challenges, challenges won.