Vices

[Kisota]

What are your vices? From guilty pleasures to bad habits to irresistible temptations, I wanna know 'em all! Are you trying to fix 'em?

Personally,

* Caffeine's been a bad one for me this year. I wouldn't call myself dependent, since I do without pretty well. But I started leaning on it more during fieldwork and still really enjoy it. I used to be so much more sensitive! In grad school I got my coffee drinks half-caffeinated because I'd be a jittery mess otherwise. These days I've cut back quite a bit but sometimes indulge.

* Certain foods! And sometimes overeating. I was doing real well on that stuff last winter and spring, but am having to relearn moderation when I'm eating favorite foods. Otherwise I do alright, but stuff like barbeque, fries, sweets, really rich delicious greasy stuff... It's hard to stop! I'm working on slowing down and learning to recognize again when I'm satiated so I don't go overboard.

* I have long been a cuticle and lip nibbler. I'm making a conscious effort these days to moisturize those things - replacing one bad habit for a good one! Since those are the only places my skin ever really gets dry, they're the only places that seem to be nibble-worthy. I actually hate lotion and stuff but I am doing it anyway.

I'm sure I can think of more. I do also drink sometimes but I'm not a real problematic drinker.

How about you guys?

[Somnia]

My vice has been overindulging in alcohol. It's something I've been working on improving over the past 2 years or so. I've made a lot of good progress but I still overindulge every so often on the weekends. I know there is still room for further improvement it's just going to take some more time for me to learn to stop when I get to the point of getting slap-ass drunk, Haha! I've turned into a light-weight so I'm having to re-learn my alcohol tolerance levels all over again. :<

I don't drink nearly as much hard liquor as I used too. I've pretty much stopped buying stuff for making margaritas at the house but I will order one if I'm at a restaurant which is pretty rare since I don't go out to eat very often. I pretty much lost my taste for Vodka, and I only drink Whiskey on occasion. I've cut back drastically on cocktails but I still drink Wine, Hard Cider, Mead, and Port.

Cutting back on all the really sugary beverages has helped me lose a lot of weight. I think I wrote about it over in the "Weight loss/healthy..." thread, but I've gone from 190lbs down to about 155lbs. I wouldn't mind losing another 20 pounds if I can, but I certainly feel a lot better at my current weight compared to when I was 190lbs.

I can also relate to watching myself around certain foods, Haha! That's also been another thing I've been working on not stress/emotional eating when I get home from working. I've been able to kick that bad habit for about 2 years as well.

[Vintage]

Sex has always been a vice for me, and my kin type. I've never been physical yet, but the mentality that I have is one that is primal when it comes to that area. My changeling kintype is a very sensual/sexual being and it is a big part of my life. It's like an 'I'm innocent until I'm not' type of thing. I'll keep my post clean.

Being very stubborn is also a vice I believe I've carried over. This is one I dislike and am trying to slowly ease.

[hotdogwolf]

Sex has always been a vice for me, and my kin type. I've never been physical yet, but the mentality that I have is one that is primal when it comes to that area. My changeling kintype is a very sensual/sexual being and it is a big part of my life. It's like an 'I'm innocent until I'm not' type of thing. I'll keep my post clean.

Being very stubborn is also a vice I believe I've carried over. This is one I dislike and am trying to slowly ease.

My vices is almost the same as Vin. But I have always seen sex as something as not being taboo like what humans want it to be but as something that is natural to me and not to be shunned or as seen as something bad. When I was growing up my friends and I didn't see anything wrong with having sex. But I do think that it can get a little out of hand see how sex itself can get a little addicting. I think that is the only vice I have really.

[RedShadow]

I am sure the list is very long, and some have been mentioned here already, so excuse the redundancy. Ahem...caffeine, high sex drive, contagious depression, long-term apathy (I won't brush my teeth or take my medication, which I know will kill me one day, but I'm damn careful on the road, hence the "long-term"), loyalty (bit of a middle ground, but it prevents me from accepting certain worldly truths, cruel as they are), apathy of the fucking stomach (I often go 24 hours+ without food almost daily due to caffeine and other factors), paranoia, and apparently, unwillingness to have an opinion. That last one is the opinion of yet another inglorious manchild who thinks it's unmanly to be in favor of not bitching about everything by vomiting his opinions every time something I disagree with comes up. I'm insecure in other ways, but at least not that one. At the same time, this means I get a lot of shit for not putting my foot down when that is all my comrades seem to do. Everyone acts like a child, I detach due to unwillingness to be privy to the raw immaturity, and I get blamed for not burning the witch that has been put on the pyre by other witches. One could argue this is my fault, but this is just stupid, and maybe I am trying to fix stupid, which is a vice all it's own.

[Kerguelen]

Used to be soda, but I've gotten good at turning it down.
Now it's probably my "what-if" anxiety.

[Somnia]

OMG, yeah the "what-if" anxiety is a reoccurring problem for me as well. I'm really bad at thinking about how social interactions with others will happen before anything actually happens, lol. It's something I'm trying to break away from and I'm starting to be more forward and confident with expressing my feelings with others. Like, if I really want to know how someone really feels about me I will flat out ask them instead of inviting "what-if" conversations in my head. I just like people to be real with me and tell me how they really feel about stuff... :<

I'm also in the camp of "High Sex Drive" which is a complete turnaround from how I was a couple years ago or so (LOL!!). I wrote a bit about my experiences in my Re-Intro thread but yeah, the only thing about it is it's frustrating when I'm in the mood but the mate isn't or we're busy with friends, or I'm at work, he's at work, etc. It's frustrating but I'm learning how to control the sexual energy and being patient with things... :<

[Lupus Ferox]

For people with autism, such as myself and others around here, it is very important that people are "real" with them. Honesty as well as predictability are highly appreciated in such a community.
It helps avoid miscommunication. Animals too benefit, your pets for example, from their owners being honest with them.
An animal knows or feels at least that something is incorrect in unusual behaviour his owner poses. Hope this is a correct thing to say though.
I think there are a lot of similarities between the mind of a person with autism and that of an animal.

It's at least the case with me, I always like to anticipate on events that are yet to occur. Therefore, I've got this schedule in my head so that I don't forget what I need to do, provided the plan doesn't alter in the mean time.

[elinox]

For me, it's the sweet stuff. I really should stay away from processed sugar, but c'mon, Oreos? Ice cream, cookies, Tastykakes, chocolate...I'm even guilty of loving Twinkies. If it's sweet or chocolate, or better yet both, I have a very hard time resisting. I'm better at portion control, but I still crave sugary baked goods and ice cream.

Rationally, I know if I could just kick the habit I would #1 feel better and #2 would eventually not crave it so much. But to get to that point, I'd need to go clean for at least 2 weeks straight and I just don't think I can. (Or that I would want to because...OREOS!!!)

[Kisota]

I don't drink nearly as much hard liquor as I used too. I've pretty much stopped buying stuff for making margaritas at the house but I will order one if I'm at a restaurant which is pretty rare since I don't go out to eat very often. I pretty much lost my taste for Vodka, and I only drink Whiskey on occasion. I've cut back drastically on cocktails but I still drink Wine, Hard Cider, Mead, and Port.

I kind of switched from beer to hard liquor. I actually like it better. Plus, less fluid means I can fill my stomach with food and water so as not to feel gross. Hard liquor saves a lot of calories as well. I favor whiskey (Irish or Scotch usually), but I also will do straight gin or tequila. Mixed drinks are GREAT, but yeah, often so sugary. A Moscow mule with diet ginger beer is awesome though - the brand "Goslings" is so zingy and peppery. Ah!

I honestly drank more than usual this past summer, but continued to lose weight anyway because of the amount of exercise I was doing (as I have mentioned, I had not been intending to lose any more weight at this point)! Strangely, despite my small size and low body fat, my tolerance was pretty good! Now I'm trying to drink less not only because of alcohol calories... but also because I totally lose satiety signals when I drink. And I can WAY overeat as a result. I do think the reduction in drinking has brought my tolerance back down.

I don't feel like I usually stress eat, but I think sometimes when I've been down I've been prone to "treating" myself to cheer up. I don't do that anymore.

Sex has always been a vice for me, and my kin type.

Several of you responded in kind. This perplexes me a bit - why is sex a vice? Why should thinking sexually, even on taboo topics, be a vice? Or being highly sexual? I can understand nymphomania or reckless promiscuity being a vice because of the inherent dangers, but sexuality in general? The high drive sounds like not so much as vice as an inconvenience!

I hear you on the stubbornness, though. I can be hard-headed and opinionated, too. I even used to be sort of judgmental - looking back on Facebook "memories," I'm often ashamed of my petty tsking at people who I thought were vain or shallow. I've learned to start really questioning myself when I have a judgmental thought about something totally unharmful another person does.

Now it's probably my "what-if" anxiety.

Holy moly, do I feel you on that one. I fight that all the time.

It's at least the case with me, I always like to anticipate on events that are yet to occur. Therefore, I've got this schedule in my head so that I don't forget what I need to do, provided the plan doesn't alter in the mean time.

I totally relate. I make lists a lot. And I tend to prefer social plans be made pretty well in advance. Last week I got invited to go to dinner with a friend and some of HER friends and the plans kept getting abruptly changed along the way, even after I'd LEFT THE HOUSE. Cripes, it was stressful. When we finally landed somewhere, it was great, but the getting there felt less spontaneous and more haphazard.

For me, it's the sweet stuff. I really should stay away from processed sugar, but c'mon, Oreos? Ice cream, cookies, Tastykakes, chocolate...I'm even guilty of loving Twinkies. If it's sweet or chocolate, or better yet both, I have a very hard time resisting. I'm better at portion control, but I still crave sugary baked goods and ice cream.

Rationally, I know if I could just kick the habit I would #1 feel better and #2 would eventually not crave it so much. But to get to that point, I'd need to go clean for at least 2 weeks straight and I just don't think I can. (Or that I would want to because...OREOS!!!)

You know, they SAY your cravings will drop. Or that your tastes will change and those things will seem TOO sweet / greasy / whatever.

I am pretty sure I've gone longer than 2 weeks with no such stuff, by far, and absolutely have never stopped liking or wanting them any less. Personally, I'm of a mind that there's no reason for me to completely banish ANYTHING from my diet (I seem to have no real allergies, except POSSIBLY a developing intolerance to LACTOSE... NO!) So I just limit. I am still not great at portion control, so I don't keep junk food in the house. I don't trust myself to only have a few every so often.

Ice cream is a special love. I have found, though, that I enjoy some of the fiber-protein, low-cal varieties like Halo Top and the generic versions of such. Sometimes you have to have the real thing anyway, though, haha.

Keeping those things as sort of one-off treats rather than stuff I stash around helps a lot. Unfortunately, I MADE so much delicious sweet stuff for the holidays that even though I gave the vast majority as gifts, I couldn't seem to get rid of it all! I also really, seriously enjoy baking. I liked that before I even liked cooking in general. But if I bake, I'll have sugary goods around and will probably wolf them down. So I try to keep my sweets baking for get-togethers. Then I get to share and flex my baking muscles! :P