Should you use or lose your guilty pleasures?

Hands up.  I admit it.  I have guilty pleasures.  Some of which are secret guilty habits.  And truthfully, some of them I don’t feel guilty about at all.

Some might call them vices, and I guess if you think of vices as being bad for you, then my food guilty habits are probably vices.  I’ve never smoked or tried recreational drugs, and I don’t drink much.  But I do like food.  And considering we tend to buy the majority of our meat at local butchers, buying British where I can, I like some really rubbish food.

Or some are just guilty pleasures.  Call them what you will, here’s a look into my secret (or not so secret) habits.

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My guilty pleasures

Food:

Generally my diet isn’t too bad.  I eat fruit and veg, drink tonnes of water, don’t add salt to cooking, use herbs and spices, use unrefined sugars for baking, generally prefer lower sugar calorie drinks and dairy options, eat regularly, and eat wholegrains where possible.  But I like a lot of trashy food for quick, occasional treats.

• Tinned spaghetti and sausages / spaghetti hoops – yes, nursery dinners a go, although amusingly I don’t think N would touch these type of sausages!
• Tinned ravioli – comfort food from my first nursery school I think, and re-discovered at uni! I don’t recall my mum ever feeding me any of these foods though.
• Tinned hotdogs – I know, scourge of the devil, but between buttered toast, delicious.
• Sausage rolls – perfect party food, and unfortunately N loves the big chunky ones from the (very expensive) butcher’s shop
• Chocolate eclairs – shop bought eclairs, I’d say I’m a connoisseur, although sorry M&S, the Belgian chocolate on yours are just too rich for me.
• Mozzarella pearls – I’ll quite happily eat these directly from the pack
• Nutella – on a teaspoon out of the jar

Books:

Mills & Boon books.  I read a lot.  After studying English literature into my first year at uni, I now like books I can read quickly, short snippets at a time, and enjoy for the story, and then not have to analyse it throughout.  So that means chick lit, crime, detective and murder novels, some popular contemporary literature (lighter rather than heavy going) and Mills & Boon. I read them because I can basically read one in a night, they’re easy escapism, and I can get them from charity shops or on the kindle really cheap.

My best friend (also a book worm) and I have been known to have a catch up weekend and spend an hour just reading these as a breather from being out and about and on the go!  I let myself read them because one of my A Level english teachers told the class (at a largely boys public school) that reading M&B was the only way you could appreciate good literature and a well written book.

Movies:

Teen movies –  any cheesy singing, sports or general teen romance themed films  I’m usually happy to sit and watch while I’m reading or on the laptop.  Think 10 Things I hate about You, Cinderella Story etc.  Light and fluffy is good. Anything to avoid having to watch the OH’s usual Jason Statham or Steven Seagal, westerns or war movies. Yawn.

Bad Christmas movies – because it’s good to get into the Christmas spirit however bad the film. Roll on the dubious freeview channels for their weekends of Christmas films over the autumn…and I’ve still got plenty recorded to watch before January is out.

Hobbies:

I have quite an addictive personality.  If I decide to take up an activity I’m all in.

Beads.  During maternity leave I did a lot of jewellery making and bought a lot of beads.  Damn Jewellery Maker channel.  I’ve since got rid of most of my supplies but I can’t bear to get rid of the nice semi-precious stones and the pearls, even though I’m never going to find the time to make jewellery again.

Powder compacts. In the past I also collected powder compacts.  I have no idea why, but I trawled car boot sales and ebay for gorgeous old compacts.  I never used them or displayed them, but kept them for a while until I sold most of them on.

Music:

For someone who doesn’t work in music, I have way too much music.  I have plastic storage boxes of CDs in our loft, I think there’s around 300 CDs up there with another 40 in the understairs cupboard and floating around the house which are the ones that N listens to or that I used to have in the car.

I use my ipod most of the time, an old style Generation 4 ipod, and it’s still going strong.  I also go through phases of downloading a lot of music in one go.  Mostly music to dance to or that I love from the radio.  I have a list of about 30 songs I want to download at the moment, but it’s proving very hard to upload my thousands of tracks from my ipod to itunes on my new laptop without it being wiped (and what happens once this laptop is gone as it’s my last of the 5 devices allowed to have itunes on it – a silly rule).

Dancing:

I suppose dancing isn’t really a guilty pleasure.  I’m quite open about my passion for dance, and I love being back dancing again after a 5 year break.  People always ask if I dance with the OH, but he’s never wanted to try it.  While I’d love my OH to dance because it’d be nice to have joint hobby, actually it’s nice to be able to dance with other guys without worrying about him being there and looking on.

I told you I had a few (including nail biting, given up from getting my engagement ring to being married only).

But I’m not the only one with guilty habits.  Some bloggers have shared theirs with me for your delectation:

Entertainment

‘Mine are watching programmes I wouldn’t recommend in terms of ‘value for time’, like: Eastenders, Coronation Street, Keeping up with the Kadarshians, Rob & Chyna’ Mo from Adventures of a Novice Mum

‘American box sets on Netflix! Especially things like Vampire Diaries, Gilmore Girls and Gossip Girl’ Pippa at Red Rose Mummy

‘Watching  **** tv like Teen Moms and Toddlers and Tiaras, listening to Michael Bolton (who actually ended up being my wedding song) and Phil Collins, watching and singing my heart out to musicals, the cheesier the better, listening to men with a Manc accent talk but only if it’s a really rough sounding one’ Cat from Rock and Roll Pussycat  (Irish or soft Scottish is more my thing Cat!)

‘Oh I love towie , makes me feel old and frumpy but I can’t help it’ Emma from Farmers Wife and Mummy

Shopping

‘My guilty habits are shoes, bags and coats. I have enough shoes to wear a different pair every day of the month! A bag to match to the shoes and more coats than there are seasons!’ Laura from Dear Bear and Beany.  (Ah yes, I forgot about the clothes I buy and then find later still with the label on. Hopefully I’ve cracked that habit now after my Marie Kondo clear out).

‘Scouring RightMove dreaming of moving into houses I could never afford…then berating them for “only” having three bathrooms or a ‘small’ garden. I become the queen of snoot!’ Beth at Twinderelmo.  (I have a friend who used to go to all the open house events for large houses even though she had no plans to move, so it’s not just you Beth).

Food

‘Chocolate. It has to be chocolate. I really can’t stay away from it too long and I would gladly live on it. No other nutrition required ha ha’ Irina from Wave to Mummy

‘Listening to really bad music. My ‘secret’ Spotify playlist is cringy. Lots of Rick Astley, Jason Donovan..all the 80s power ballads. I do love a bit of cheese! Talking of cheese…I also eat cheese straight from the fridge far too often’ Rachel at Coffee Cake Kids

Hobbies

‘I am very, very sad, but I love playing the app Dragonvale. I always, always wanted a pet Dragon when I was about 4 – and now I have loads! Not sure that is a guilty pleasure, or whether its just a bit sad’ Helen from Kiddy Charts

‘Since I learnt to crochet wool (or yarn!), can’t resist buying more!’ Jeannette at Autism Mumma

And the gross

‘watching Dr Pimple Popper on YouTube in the evenings! It’s so disgustingly satisfying to watch, I end up falling asleep! Gross but awesome!!  Gina at Skint Momma

If you’re not too sure how good for you your guilty pleasures are, then the New Scientist has a variety of articles to explain the risk levels. And how many of these supposedly popular female habits would you admit to?

What guilty secrets do you have?

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