Guilty Pleasures of a Chronically Ill Girl

(Image from The Mahogany Blog)

Guilty pleasures are one of life’s greatest treasures. The definition of a guilty pleasure is enjoying something even if it makes you feel a bit guilty doing it or admitting to doing it.

I have to admit, the longer I’ve been unable to work, the less guilty I feel about enjoying some of the things that I do. That’ s because I use these to help me relax whether I’m feeling OK, I’m laid up in bed, I’m stressed or I need to mentally run away from being chronically ill. I believe guilty pleasures are just as necessary to our health and mental well-being as any of the exercise, medicine and lifestyle changes we have made.

Some of my guilty pleasures are common to many people (food, reading, music) and some I just can’t explain (infomercials?).

So, in no particular order.

(Image from the blog Glammunition)

Food (AKA a bunch of peanut butter and chocolate calories I don’t need):

• Ummm…chocolate.  Enough said!
• Peanut butter right out of the jar…sometimes, when I’m not well enough to go out, I’ll drink hot chocolate, eat some peanut butter and I pretend I’m eating Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.  Lame but true.
• Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, of course.
• A frozen cookie sandwich of two big, soft chocolate chip cookies with a vanilla ice cream middle, great for those hot summer nights.
• I grew up knowing this treat as Marshmallow Slice. I’ve also seen it called Butterscotch Marshmallow Slice and Butterscotch Peanut Butter Slice. It was always served at baby and wedding showers and pot luck suppers when I was a kid. It’s rich, it’s sweet, it’s super easy to make but  it’s not for dieters. It is for guilty pleasure seekers.

(Image from Familyoven.com)

Marshmallow Slice

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup peanut butter

16 oz. butterscotch chips

2 cups coloured miniature marshmallows

Melt the first three ingredients in a double boiler being careful not to let it become too hot.  When the ingredients are melted and mixed together, let it cool for a few minutes so that the marshmallows can be added without melting.  Add marshmallows and pat into a buttered pan and refrigerate. Cut in small squares or slices depending on the pan used and enjoy.

(Image from the blog Happyness is…)

Things I like to do with people:

• Sitting on the front porch during the day and people watch.
• Sitting on the front porch on a hot, summer night with some of the people I live with and sometimes a couple of the neighbours will join us. We talk, one of the guys plays guitar and the benefit of living downtown,  people watching at night.
• Watching a variety of movies, kids cartoons and comedians because some days, the real world can really just go away for a while till it can get its act together again.

(Image from We Heart It)

Things I like, or need, to do alone:

• Buying a bunch of different magazines that I normally wouldn’t read and slowly going through the pile.
• Ted.com.  I’ll listen to a couple of the 15 – 20 minute presentations or sometimes I’ll listen to a bunch of the really short ones.
• Listening to music and daydreaming I’m the singer.  Don’t we all do that?
• Headphones so I can ignore the world when I need to.

(Image from We Heart It)

Girly stuff:

• Coty Wild Musk cologne. I wore it, OMG so long ago, and always got compliments. I recently started wearing it again and it relaxes me when I catch a whiff.
• Cheap nail polish from the dollar store. Sometimes my nails grow enough to wear polish and it’s fun trying different colours.
• Looking at makeup.  I have not worn any since I stopped working and I’m thinking of ordering a value pack of Bare Escentuals from Sephora.  I’m getting really tired at looking at a tired, pale face. I don’t go any place where I would need to wear makeup, I just want it.

(Image from gamesgizmo.blogspot.com)

Miscellaneous stuff that makes me happy:

• Getting baby oil rubbed on my back.
• Shopping online!  Sometimes it’s a necessity, but when I’m buying myself a treat or just want to look, it’s my version of window shopping.
• My new pay-as-you-go  phone. It is supposed to be for emergency use when I’m not home but I also got the internet for $10 a month on the phone. I’m going to take it on the porch this summer when it’s still stinking hot at night so I can roam the internet or maybe find some books to read. When the phone companies start adding a by-the-minute plan for smartphones, I’m trading up for the bigger screen for a bigger guilty pleasure.
• Free jigsaw puzzle and online game sites for when I want or need to pass the time.
• Infomercials on Sundays. Again, I don’t know why, I just do.

So, that’s my list.  Some of these are to help release stress and relieve boredom. Some are meant to make me feel better, some help me ignore the world in general and my life as a person with chronic illness while others help me escape to a time when I was much younger and healthier.

I hope you enjoy your guilty pleasures as much as I enjoy mine.

And don’t feel too guilty. It’s bad for your health.