I'm human.

I'm not perfect, I'm fallible just like everyone else. I have bad habits and vices too. Everyone does. The difference is the way in which we deal with those bad habits and vices. Some people call this will-power, I call it discipline. I note a subtle difference between these two. People will often cite not having will-power a reason to eat like shit, as if they are innately drawn to bad food choices. That is a bullshit excuse, and we all know it. You are not naturally drawn to stuff like that, you're just too soft mentally to have the discipline to say "yeah, I'm going to eat grilled chicken and baby greens tonight instead of a steak bomb."

Every once in a while, though, I give in. My goal is to not give in very often, so that when I finally do I enjoy the SHIT out of whatever it is that I am succumbing to. If you decide that you're gonna have a cheat meal, you might as well cheat like a mo'fugga, right?

So, what are my vices? Things that I know are bad for me, but I continue to partake in every once in a while? There aren't a lot, but they are significant. 

First off, I really really really really really like Coke. (The soda, you clown.) This is the one I give in to most often; two or three times per week probably. This is an enormous decrease from the amount I drank when I weighed 235 pounds. Hm...I was fat when I drank 6 cans of soda every night? Thats weird. 

After that, my vices get much easier to ignore. I love beer; it is delicious and serves many purposes. I don't usually drink beer unless there is someone around to drink it with. There are some foods that just require a good beer or a cold coke. That's just how it is. I also smoke cigars every now and again; but really pretty rarely, not even once a month. 

I like sweets, but I don't consider them a vice. I don't keep any in my house, so I don't have an issue with discipline. However, when I go home to my parents' house I have a HUGE issue. Mom keeps ice cream in the freezer and Oreo's on the counter. I become a mindless grazer; I walk by the cookie jar and grab one...then I walk by later and grab another...and another. The only reason I don't count this as a vice is because I don't spend a huge amount of time at my folk's house. 

I guess my only other vice is coffee...however, this isn't a vice so much as a necessity. I have long days. Classes start early, work ends late. I need to be alert during a session at 7 p.m., so I grab a cup of liquid pep. I'm not a guy who drinks 10 cups of coffee in a day, but I really couldn't tell you the last time that I went a full day without coffee. If coffee is what ends up killing me, then I didn't have a chance to begin with.

What are your vices? What is something that you just CAN'T say no to? Identify what they are, and develop a strategy to avoid that bad habit. Love ice cream? Don't keep it in the house. Smoke a cigarette every time you smell one? Stay away from the bars! One of the biggest strategies to avoiding a particular habit is to not cut it out 100% (unless it's a dangerous habit, like hugging badgers). If you LOVE ice cream, then have ice cream once in a while. Just make sure its really good goddamn ice cream! Switch bad habits with good ones; every time you want a cigarette, do 10 pushups. 

Be honest with yourself, then go pick up something heavy!