Most everyone has a vice … or two … or ten.  Is there ONE thing I couldn’t live without … I mean, other than homemade pecan pie?  Nope.

Wait … I take that back … I have a moderate infatuation with Facebook, but I could learn to wean myself off that eventually.  (The pecan pie, meanwhile, is NOT negotiable.)

It’s human nature to have a crutch.  The one thing we turn to in moments of crisis and/or bliss and/or neurosis.  At the extreme end, it’s a full on addiction to fill-in-the-blank.  Name your poison.  I used to live for caffeine.  I’d ride the constant wave of being peppy then tired so I’d down a Starbucks or Coca-Cola as a quicker-picker-upper.  Over and over.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  When I swore off it … my entire body went in to revolt.  K. D. Lang’s “Constant Craving” became my theme song.

I like ‘80’s music and pedicures, but wouldn’t call them vices because they’re not exactly bad for me.  My love of buttery Chardonnay is a vice — which is why I vowed at the end of last year to go on a 30-day alcohol-free journey to see if I could do it.  Not only did I achieve my goal … I made it 60 days and lost a whopping 19lbs. in the process.  (That’s what my doctor called “alcohol bloat”.  Gross.)

Speaking of bloat, I watched an amazing documentary — “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead” — last night that inspired this blog.  Not only was the Australian filmmaker on multiple medications when he started his journey to better health, he was also fat as a tick.  All he wanted was a better life … one that could be gained via what he did (or didn’t) put in his mouth.  (It’s an interesting story … check it out.)

Look around … is there one thing you rely on far too heavily?  For me, it remains carbohydrates, which is forever the albatross around my neck.  But I have steely resolve … and have managed to curb it.  Everything in moderation … including moderation has become my new mantra.  And you’ll be happy to know my waistline has responded in kind.

Wait … are there carbs in pecan pie?  Dammit!