This week we Chicks are extending the Independence Day festivities by declaring our freedom from a few pesky habits. (Or at least we’re working at it.) Read on and help us celebrate!

Ellen Byron

A couple of years ago, I declared my independence from diet soda. I drank it for so long that I can’t imagine what it’s done to my innards. I started on Tab and then bounced back and forth between Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi, depending on the current formula for each. I even added Coke Zero into the mix. I can’t remember exactly what motivated me to give them up, but I literally drank at least two, sometimes three a day. I had one for breakfast, for goodness sake! We called it Mommy Juice. Ewwww… creeps me out even writing that. But I’m happy to say that now when I very, very occasionally order a diet soda, I can barely stomach a few sips. I am totally over it. I celebrate my freedom from this noxious beverage! Sidebar: I now drink tea, iced and hot, like it’s goin’ out of style.

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Lisa Q. Mathews

Ellen and I are caffeine twin-sies. I mainlined Diet Coke every morning for breakfast when I worked in NYC publishing. That’s how we editors got all those manuscripts in before the production editor made her rounds at noon. I finally switched to Starbucks cappuccinos (was that a good thing?) followed swiftly by iced tea on IV drip. Did all that caffeine keep me up at night? Nope. I don’t remember whether it made me more productive, though. In fact, I don’t remember much about that era at all. But lately I’ve been trying my best to reduce stress in general. I’m on a furious campaign to rid my In box of annoying marketing emails. A while back I got a little lazy about unsubscribing and they’ve multiplied a million fold. I’ve also been trying not to check my phone fifty times an hour. I mean, the world isn’t going to stop if I am not 100% informed round-the-clock.  No one’s actually going to hunt me down for stuff or anything. Um…right?

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Vickie Fee

The one thing I wish I could give up forever? Procrastination. But I keep putting it off, never quite get around to it, right? Go figure. Seriously, I would like to get things done in a more timely manner, not run late all the time, not find myself under the gun at deadline time. But, I thrive on deadline pressure. And I’m not good at watching the clock. In fact, I’m one of those rare people who can’t wear a watch. They won’t keep time on me and eventually stop working all together. (I know some people think this is a myth, but I have a drawer full of watches that says otherwise). That brings me to the other thing I’d like to give up. Making excuses. I plan to start working on that next week.

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Cynthia Kuhn

Same as Ellen! I was addicted to Diet Dr. Pepper and coffee…until I started having throat issues and was told to give them up. At the same time. Talk about misery! I did not feel like myself for months and months. But I didn’t have either one for over a year. Nowadays, some coffee is back in rotation but only in the form of skinny lattes (which don’t seem to bother me because of the milk). I’ll also order a diet soda once in awhile when we’re out for dinner, but it doesn’t taste good to me anymore (if you’d told me two years ago that I would ever say that, I wouldn’t have believed you). 🙂

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 Marla Cooper

Oh, to be proactively giving up bad habits. I am currently in the middle of a figurative marathon, trying to dispatch several different writing projects and still leave on a trip in less than a week. (Eeep!) This week I’ve been working on a travel guide for Lonely Planet, and it was a lot of work but it’s almost done. It’s due today, and I’ll be turning it in before lunchtime, after which I can do whatever I want without feeling like I ought to be working. Aaaaand then that will last about ten minutes before I remember that I have to write my blog post for Monday (which, coincidentally, will be another take on the idea of freedom… stay tuned!).

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Readers, do you have a habit or vice you’re dying to be free of—or do you have a success story to share? Let us know in the comments below!

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