I hate it when I eat a big dinner and then take bite after bite of the towering mud pie and only stop because shame descends on my reaching fork. And when my belly is tight as a drum and food is creeping up my throat because the stomach is at capacity. Ugh! Certain foods for me, like Tres Leches cake for instance, are like alcohol to an alcoholic.

Many of us have our drugs of choice. Some people have a glass of wine and the good feeling makes them want another. The second one goes down easy and the warm buzz makes the arm keep pouring, until the head is in the dinner plate. What is it that overrides the body’s common sense and prompts us to keep at it when the overdose destroys brain cells, causes ulcers, and pulverizes the liver? The drug addict also ignores these physiological compromises. That sweet reprieve from everyday anxiety oozes through the blood stream in a physical jolt of euphoria. The feeling so compelling that one must increase the dose to recall the effect and soon the body builds a tolerance so the cells need the drug to just function normally.
And cigarettes. Some say this is the most difficult habit to break. Many never quit in spite of the commercials of the woman with a hole punched in her throat so she can get air after years of smoking. Vices persist as you trick yourself into believing in their value. But after the compulsion has a good grip on you, you begin to suspect you are paying a high price-by shortening your days on this earth.