That thing you love doing is probably fine, as long as you don’t do it very much, say doctors. “If you love doing it, sure, go ahead and indulge once in a while, but it’s likely not good for you long term,” says Dr. Jen McGuyver of a random hospital you’ve never heard of. That doesn’t mean you have to totally avoid the one thing that brings you joy in life, though. Dr. McGuyver says, “In vanishingly small amounts, sure, I’d say go for it.”

Although some research has shown that whatever it is you enjoy doing can be harmless, most research agrees that it just plain isn’t good for you, especially in amounts where it positively contributes to your experience of being alive. “Studies have shown that rats that do that thing you like tend to die earlier,” says Dr. Gerard O’Connell, a board-certified surgeon in a field tangentially related to whatever it is you like to do. “True, that was in very large doses - probably 5 to 10 times larger than the amount you’d actually like to do it in. But, we simply don’t have evidence that the enjoyable thing is good for you.” So, he recommends being mindful of how often you do pleasurable stuff like this, especially if you want to live a long, healthy life.

Doctors recommend a few strategies for reducing the amount of enjoyable things you do like this one. Rather than completely cutting it out, most doctors recommend doing the activity rarely and in unsatisfyingly small amounts, if you really want a little treat. “If I realize I’m enjoying something, I just do it for a second or two and then stop,” says Bernard Pearson, some guy that also likes to do whatever little thing brings you pleasure. “Sometimes, I’ll even give myself a little electric shock afterwards,” he added. Alternatively, you can try simply imagining the bliss of actually being able to do that thing. “That gives you all the psychological benefits of the activities you love without any of the harm of actually enjoying it with your physical body,” explains Dr. O’Connell.

At press time, doctors were excitedly discussing new research about how even so much as thinking about enjoyable activities could cause long-term health issues.