Challenge no. 12 - Fear Factor

Face a Phobia

Set by Jessica Bunn

Me and Jess used to work at Freeport (a shopping centre) together. Weirdly she is best friends with James Easter's girlfriend, Bernie (see working 9 till 5), I only found this out about 2 years after knowing her. Small world. When I first met Jess I thought she didn't like me, I'm convinced of it now.

Lots of people have phobias. I have quite a few. I don't want to tell you as I have an irritational fear that someone will gather all the things I am scared off and throw them at me.

I am not afraid of heights, jumping from heights (I have a skydive planned), water, excessive speed or anything else that could actually harm me. I am however terrifed of baked beans.

Show me a baked bean and I will freak out. This phobia is specific to baked beans, I am fine with any other type of bean and I like spaghetti hoops. I don't know why I have this phobia, there is no traumatic event from childhood involving baked beans.

I hate the look of them squirming in their gross orange juice, I hate the smell of them, it makes me gag. I am able to glance at a closed tin of baked beans but not look directly at the tin or them. I am able to sit in a room with someone eating them, so long as I trust the baked bean consumer. I still cannot sit at a table with someone eating them. Most people probably have not noticed, when I have lunch at college, if a person at my table is eating beans, I will go outside to smoke loads and try not to look at them. I haven't told many people about this phobia as people think it's stupid and flick beans at me. I understand if you are laughing at this point, I am aware how irrational this is, but it is very real to me.

I searched the internet to find a proper name for this phobia but I was unsuccessful however I did find loads of other people who share this phobia with me. Maybe we should set up a support network?

I have been terrified of completing this challenge and desperately trying to put it off. Everytime I have contemplated it, I have started gagging and been close to tears. I finally decided it's now or never, seize the day and so on.

Seeing as I do not have a hypnotherapist or other medical advisor on hand I researched how to cure phobias on the internet. I found loads of ways, I could slowly introduce myself to the baked beans, but I did not have the time for that. I could go in the opposite direction and 'flash flood' myself with them, for example sit in a bath of them, but costs, lack of a bathtub and my outright fear prevented this.

I decided on NLP - Neuro Linguistic Programming. I think it's the kind of thing Paul McKenna and Derren Brown do. It's all about re-programming the brain. I am a big fan of this kind of thing, sadly not an expert. I found this article and tried to re-plicate what the man did. http://www.deep-trance.com/techniques/fast-phobia-cure.html

When Danny went to Tescos to get the dreaded baked beans, I tried to relax, I told myself 'it is a tiny little bean, it cannot hurt you'. This sort of worked. I felt very calm, I still didn't want to do it, but I knew the bean wouldn't hurt me.

Here is a video of me facing my baked bean phobia

So I managed to touch a baked bean, but I really could not bring myself to do anything more. It felt gross, there was no way I could have eaten one, that would have pushed me over the edge. I did keep trying to relax and reason with myself, but it only got me a tiny way to curing my phobia. I believe that I should be able to at least hold a tin of baked beans now as that bit was fine, I didn't like it but I now know that nothing bad will come from holding the tin. I'm pretty impressed with myself.

Difficulty rating: Really effing hard

Fun Factor: Zero for me, Puffin found it funny!

Do this if.....you want to face a phobia!

Challenge 12: Completed!

Holly

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Challenge no.3

Challenge no. 3 - Eat a raw onion as though it is an apple
Set by my new friend, Collette. Collette is also studying journalism. She helps me survive the dullness that is Camborne, she is orginally from Leicester, she is beautiful and down to earth. Collette is a vegan so I guess she appreciates the beauty of vegetables!

Collette said she set me this challenge so I could learn the value of raw foods.

When first set with this challenge, I prayed that everyone would be kind enough to not vote for it. Alas it made the top 28.

I usually love onion, they are so versatile and cheap, I use them in most of my recipes, curries, stews, pasta, pizza, mexican, sandwiches. However as much as I enjoy onion I had never before contemplated eating a whole raw onion as though it is an apple. eewww.

Things you never knew about the humble onion....

• 40 million tonnes are produced annually, making them the most consumed vegetable
• The onion is a member of the lily family, I do not recommend buying a bunch of onions for your special lady though.
• They contain Quercetin, a more powerful antioxidant than vitamin E, which helps fight colds, cancer and hayfever
• Onions also contain chromium, which helps to combat PMS
• The Egyptians worshipped the onion because of it's spherical shape and concentric rings
• In Hindu, Egyptian, French and Greek culture, the onion has had a reputation as an aphrodisiac. Ooh la la.

As I am a woman of her word, I selected an onion, poured a BIG glass of water, got some tissue ready and braced myself.

As I took the first bite, I was shocked, it wasn't that bad! The worst thing was the crunch sound it made and the fact that it took ages to chew. The second bite was when it started to get a bit over-powering. By the third bite my nostrils were burning and my eyes were watering. I continued though, even though my mouth was now also burning and the onion juice swilling round my mouth was making me gag. I did have to take a couple of breaks to sort myself out and ensure I didn't puke.

Here's a couple of video clips, if you wish to witness my pain.





Success! I managed to eat a whole raw onion as though it is an apple, it took me about 15 minutes, but it really did cure my hayfever! I can't see myself doing this again, Puffin would not kiss me, my breath was on fire.

Some tips for getting rid of onion breath.....

• Suck on a lemon
• Chew Parsely
• Brush your teeth, scrape tounge, use mouthwash and floss
• Suck mints
• Rub a stainless steel spoon round your mouth, touching all sides, gums, tongue everything!

Difficulty Rating: I managed it

Fun Factor: Not very fun, but I'd rather do this than jog 3 miles

Do this if....you want to cure hayfever and don't want to be kissed.

Holly

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To find out more about onions visit http://www.onions.org.uk/

Voting Time! Part 3

Online Surveys & Market Research

Bring it On!

Hi,

As part of my course I have to keep a blog for 28 days. However it's not supposed be to like 'Dear diary, today I went to Tesco, it was sunny, me and Puffin kissed! <3'

Set with this task, I wondered 'WHAT can I do for 28 days that will not bore people to death?'
I considered living by my horoscope, living like a man and saying yes to everything. However those ideas sucked.

So what will I be doing for 28 days?

Each day for 28 days I will complete a different challenge, or dare if you prefer, as set by my loving friends and family.

I have already been set some challenges http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=73666167737&ref=mf some of the tasks I love the idea of doing and can't wait to get going, others I'm dreading. To make it fair and to ensure I do not pick easy challenges or personal favourites. I am allowing you good, kind, considerate, caring and beautiful people to choose 28 challenges which I WILL complete.

The 3rd April is when I start completing these great feats.

I have always said that I am up for anything, that I will try anything once, when friends tell me of things they have done or are going to do, I have laughed and said 'ha, I could do that, easily'

So now I am putting my money where my mouth is, am I all talk and no action? We shall see...

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