Day 8 without a cigarette.
I’ve been doing nicotine patches and Wellbutrin under a doctor’s supervision. Chantix worked very well for me three years ago, but VA wouldn’t give me Chantix because of concerns about the side effects, given my history. So a week ago yesterday I started the current regimen. I’ve been chewing a lot of gum, and going for more walks than usual. But I’m making progress. Today when I got home from work, as I was changing my clothes, I discovered today’s patch, still in the packaging, on the bathroom vanity. I immediately looked at my arms, and there was no patch there. I made it through the day without any real problems. And of course, the moment I realized I didn’t have the patch on, I immediately had a very powerful urge to go smoke a cigarette. So I have the patch on and the bubble gum in.
On another note, when I got out of the National Guard in 2010, I weighed 196 pounds. As most of you remember, doctors found a mass in my chest about six months later. I had this removed on September 8, 2010.
Well, I never got back to the level of activity I maintained before retirement. Over time, I steadily added pounds. On Christmas Day, 2014, I weighed 301 pounds. This wasn’t working for me anymore. Several factors combined to cause me to balloon up, and more importantly, to not give a damn. But something had planted a seed in what passes for my mind. I started watching what I ate, and going for walks. I joined Weight Watchers in January. With the support of my wife, my doctors at VA, and my friends, I am down to 269 as of this morning. I don’t know how long it will take or if I’ll ever get there, but my goal is to eventually be back to 196.
One day at a time.
Elizabelle
The Wellbutrin might help you lose weight. It’s a pleasant side effect.
Congrats on day 8! Way to go! Giving up cigs has to be one of the hardest things ever.
Baud
Wow. That’s a lot of positive changes at once. Good work.
Anne Laurie
Good for you, Soonergrunt — a guy like you should live as long as possible. Glad you’re making positive things happen!
oldster
Good work. I sympathize. I hope to get down to my younger weight again, and one step at a time I may do it.
I also hope to get down to my younger age again, but that looks tougher.
Congratulations on making some changes and making them work. I should go for a walk myself now.
Roger Moore
Quitting smoking sucks, or at least that’s what everyone says, and losing weight sucks, as I know from personal experience. Furthermore, nicotine is a stimulant and cuts your appetite. I don’t know how you’re going to manage doing both at the same time, but I wish you the best of luck at doing it.
Mustang Bobby
Best wishes and here’s all the support vibes I can generate for you, with an extra dose on April 17 when I land in Tulsa and drive north to Independence, Kansas for the weekend.
Ruviana
Hang in Sooner. They say that nicotine is the worst of addictions to kick so getting to 8 days is wonderful. Best of luck with it.
Mary G
Awesome. One of my doctors told me that Wellbutrin helps with cravings, so it should help you out. The first weeks are the hardest. At some point, you will open your closet and realize that all your clothes smell of smoke, even after washing them, and it’s nasty.
Just hang in there; you have bitten off a lot to stop smoking and lose weight at the same time, but it sounds like you are succeeding amazingly.
It is annoying how much faster men can lose weight than woman. You started in January and are already down 32 pounds? Great job.
ETA: I quit smoking on October 15, 1982. It was mainly because cigarettes went up to $1 a pack, and I was too broke to sustain my 3-pack-a-day habit. Best decision of my life. Even though I was really young, my health got so much better.
TaMara (BHF)
This is all good news. Congrats.
Chuckles
Thank you, Soonergrunt, this is inspiring.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
Good luck! I’ve been on WW for years and even worked for them for a while, so I really think they’re the best program out there.
One thing to keep in mind after quitting smoking is that nicotine burns at least an additional 100 calories a day and your metabolism doesn’t readjust to the lack of nicotine for up to a YEAR. That’s why almost everyone gains weight after they quit smoking. You can compensate with diet and exercise, but keep in mind that it takes much, much longer for your body to adjust than you would think.
jharp
Congrats.
Betty Cracker
You can do it, brother! I kicked the butts after 20+ years about two and a half years ago. Hardest thing I’ve ever done!
But you really will feel better, and it does get easier. I go days without thinking about cigarettes now, and when I do think of them, it’s a thought that’s easily brushed aside.
For me, a big part of success was to find other channels for all my nervous energy. You mentioned you’re going on walks now. Might be a good thing to keep that up — and expand it.
I also played games (Art with Friends, Words with Friends, etc.) to keep myself occupied. Whatever it takes, do it.
Best of luck to you, sweetie. You can do this. Don’t ever forget WHY you quit. That is key.
Bonnie
American tobacco is cured in sugar; thus, you have a sugar addiction that comes along with the nicotine addiction. It is easier to achieve your goals when you have all the facts.
Roger Moore
@Mary G:
It’s easier to lose a lot of weight when you’re starting from a really big number.
SiubhanDuinne
Congratulations and continued good luck with the quitting smoking, Soonergrunt! I have said here before that I quit smoking (by the strangest coincidence) at exactly the same time I was being transported in an ambulance to the hospital with a heart attack — a little over 22 years ago. Although I had tried to quit many times before, at this particular instance I didn’t need to bargain with the FSM or go through any kind of withdrawal. When the EMT picked me up, I was a smoker, and 15 minutes later when we got to the ER, I was a former smoker. It was just that simple. But this was after many years of failed attempts.
My cardiologist later told me that, of all the life changes I could possibly make — diet, exercise, medications — stopping smoking was the single most important factor in my continued good health. That, as I say, as in March 1993, and while I still struggle with weight and fitness, I have never once been tempted to light up again. May you be as fortunate. All best.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
Also, too, if anyone needs any additional anecdotes to quit smoking: when my father died at the age of 74, EVERY SINGLE ONE of his causes of death were smoking-related. The COPD, the kidney failure, the two tumors. Every. Single. One.
Gin & Tonic
On the bright side, after 15-20 years, you will hardly ever crave a cig.
beth
Congrats on getting this far. I also quit after 20+ years after my kid took to writing all I was going to miss on my cigs (graduations, wedding, grandchildren, etc). It does get easier – hang in there!
jo6pac
Good Luck to You. as some one in the same battle I wish you will
Brendan in Charlotte
Congrats Sooner!!! My mom quit cold turkey – 4 times. We found her last emergency pack (Now 100s) in the back of a cupboard when we all moved her to Charlotte. I’m sitting here at 300 lbs, and know what I need to do. Doing it, however, is much tougher than I imagined. Portion control and cooking my own food sounds easy. I guess I just need to reclaim more life from my work/life imbalance. :-)
Ruckus
Sooner, you didn’t put it on all at once or have an x amount a day habit all at once. It took time and it takes time to get back to where you want to be. Progress is the important thing and you are doing that and at what sounds like a good pace. So congratulations are in order. Along with a wee bit of, Keep it up and don’t get discouraged by small setbacks, they happen, you keep moving they fall away.
CONGRATULATIONS!
I was never a heavy smoker.
August of 2008, teenage kid on my street got into and lost a knife fight. So the memorial was on my street. Big wake. Lotsa low riders, good food, that sort of thing. Went in, said goodbye as he was lying there in his coffin (rented – his family was quite poor). Had some brewskis and a lot of cigarettes that night.
Woke up the next morning and have never had even so much as a single craving for one since. I know this is wildly atypical.
What I CAN’T kick is the weight. I was put on antidepressants for help with back pain back in 2000 and promptly went from 170 to 235 pounds (took only six weeks) and no matter what diet or exercise I have done I cannot lose a pound. Suggestions unwelcome. I was a semi-pro cyclist and I know them all already.
Thanks, Big Pharma!
Good luck, Soonergrunt. It took my mother 40 years to quit, but she did. Many many times. It finally took. And she’s still here.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@Roger Moore:
Men actually do lose weight more quickly than women do because of hormonal and anatomical factors (more muscle mass). Little-known anecdata that I ran into working for WW: men also re-gain weight more quickly than women do. The men I saw at my meetings had much bigger swings up or down than the women did. So it’s a double-edged sword.
Mike J
@Gin & Tonic:
I tried one after 3 or 4 years. Blech, Couldn’t handle more than a puff or two. Not remotely tempted since.
Betty Cracker
PS: Other things that helped me: I tried teaching myself to play the ukulele and the the flute. I can play a few tunes on each, and I still mess around with both, even though I don’t need to be distracted from the butts at this point. It occupies your hands and your mind. Find your alternate occupation!
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
SSRIs are notorious for causing weight gain, so the only option there would be to switch to a different anti-depressant. You should probably also have your thyroid looked at — it turns out that it can affect your weight and energy level at lower numbers than doctors used to think. Have them run a full panel, not just the one number.
Politically Lost
You’re not a man unless you crack the earth at 308. (My last weigh in) Two years ago my knee was in such bad shape I dropped down to 240 because my Dr. wasn’t going to give me a new knee without dropping the weight.
Well, as you can guess after successfully recovering from a replacement I had a series of downs culminating in a nice long hospital stay where you only get plastic utensils. I was in the hospital when Robin Williams died. Depression is a fucking bitch. Well, I’m now on the other side of the depression and it’s time to stop shoving the universe in my cake hole.
Keep us up to date Sooner. I could use the encouragement.
Pogonip
Congrats on the weight loss and ditching the coffin nails!
Juicers who wish to lose weight, what say we form a support group and waddle towards our goal together? Maybe we can pick a day of the week and report in? Monday works for me since Soonergrunt brought it up today.
My dad quit smoking in the early ’60’s–he got tired of burning up money and waking up coughing–and had no trouble at all. He finished what he had and didn’t buy any more and that was that. He thinks modern cigarettes have something in them to make them more addictive. It would not surprise me.
Turgidson
Nice, and keep it up! Quitting smoking is a challenge.
As noted above, Wellbutrin helps a lot of people lose weight too, so it might help on that front. I was baffled to find I had lost 20 pounds a month or two after I started taking it as an antidepressant. My doctor explained, after I’d already lost the weight, that it is a common side effect because the drug is a stimulant and curbs cravings. Once he told me that, I realized that I was barely indulging in my major diet-related vice of late night snacking anymore, and didn’t even realize that I had stopped. After I got more acclimated to the drug, I started snacking late at night more than I should again, but my weight barely moves regardless of my eating habits, so I think it’s still working in that regard.
@CONGRATULATIONS!: In related, have you tried wellbutrin as your antidepressant?
Ruckus
@SiubhanDuinne:
Dad smoked. Went to the doc one day and the doc asked him if he was going to continue to smoke. Dad’s answer was sure, why not. Doc said fine then don’t bother to come back, you’ll be dead in 5 yrs. He quit cold. That was in 1962. He lived another 39 yrs. I quit my part time habit in 1971. That’s 44 yrs. Took a while but now I’ve hated tobacco smoke for well over 35 of those yrs.
PurpleGirl
Congratulations Sooner on (1) starting a no-smoking program and (2) starting a fitness program and losing the first 32 lbs. Keep up the good work and, please, let us know about your progress with both.
ETA: Forgot to add… best wishes for progress and success in both endeavors.
SiubhanDuinne
@Mike J:
It’s funny, even though I haven’t had a cigarette (nor been the least bit tempted, ever, IRL), for years and years and years after I quit, I had extremely vivid realistic dreams about smoking — to the extent that after I woke up, I would seriously believe for several hours that I might have taken up the habit again. I haven’t had one of those dreams now in the past three or four years, so I guess I’m over it, but what it always told me was that I was a smoker — just one who, at that particular moment, wasn’t smoking. Addictions are amazing things, aren’t they?
Howard Beale IV
Here’s one to think about: there’s no 12 step program for nicotine addiction, but there a metric shit-ton of 12 steps for every another addiction under the sub. Yet when you bring up pharmacological treatments for alcohol, benzos, opiates, et. al., the the twelve-steppers recoil in horror. And at the same time, there’s a dearth of evidence that twelve steps actually works.
WaterGirl
@TaMara (BHF): Have thought about you many times today. Hugs.
Turgidson
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
Same with my mom, who died at age 52. Smoking is bad, mmmkay?
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
That muscle mass chews up calories fast. And turns back into storage rapidly as well.
Longtime lurker
Great work on the weight loss, SG! I know how hard it is—I topped out at 297 in 2006. By the start of 2008 I was down to 225, and currently I’m at 202. So it can be done, and kept off!!
For me, the key for the first 60 lbs was portion control (I was broke, so any meal costing more than $5 had to be 2 meals) and cutting out Coke, french fries, chips, snack food, and candy over a few months. Believe it or not, once I made the behavioral changes and understood my triggers, it wasn’t that hard to lose the lbs or keep them off. I won’t say they melted off, but they came off faster than I thought. I got down to the high 220s before I really started exercising. Amazingly, it wasn’t an ordeal.
Most importantly, it’s stayed off. My advice is to think about changing behaviors and your relationship to food, and not trying to set a calorie count and sneak in something if you’re under your limit. I’ve been pretty draconian about what I’ve cut out, and I really don’t miss the stuff. I’d still go to McD or Taco Bell, but never ordered the value meal or got pop. That switch helped immensely.
I don’t have great willpower, I just realized you need multiple “lines of defense” and understand what your weaknesses are. Like I’ll bring Doritios home, and the bag’s gone in an evening. I realize I can’t say no at home, so I have to say no in the grocery store.
I also weigh myself everyday and write it down. That goes against expert advice, but it’s helped me stay motivated and aware—and realize I can kill a good week with a single Sunday BBQ. I pay attention to trends and just keep it in the rage I want it.
That’s a lot of unsolicited advice, to be sure… but fuck it, I did it, and I believe you can do it, too. And I believe just about anyone can.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): I was only on the shit for two months. NEVER AGAIN. Yeah, it fixed my back pain. That’s the only good thing I can say for that crap.
My thyroid is totally normal. I do not fucking understand this. I can work my ass off – no loss. I can sit on the couch and eat chocolate for a year. No weight gain. It’s stable like it always was, but it’s like someone reset my body and I can’t set it back.
trnc
Nice going. It’s doubly impressive that you’re able to remain smoke-free while paying attention to politics. I’d think that would drive anyone back to any addiction they ever gave up and take up a few new ones to boot.
Pogonip
@SiubhanDuinne: Then again, last night I dreamed about playing a card game called Rook with Prince Charles, QE II, and Vladimir Putin. Never met any of them and haven’t played Rook in a good 30 years. I don’t even know if they still make the deck. I do know Prince Charles is a good partner; we wiped the floor with them! And rightly so; I’d be pretty annoyed if I dreamed up a lost game for myself.
Ruviana
@SiubhanDuinne: My mom had an instant quitting experience like yours though her illness was severe breathing difficulty diagnosed later as COPD. She lived another 25 years, much to my happiness but during that time my anxiety dream was that she’d gone back to smoking and wouldn’t quit.
SiubhanDuinne
@Ruckus:
I understand addictions very well, and am enormously sympathetic to the iron grip tobacco has on people, but holy jeez, I do hate the smell of second-hand smoke!! I really don’t want to be an annoying ex-smoker type (I remember how obnoxious they were back when I still smoked), but I don’t think smokers can realize how disgusting and offensive their habit is. I had to drive my cousin’s vehicle a few weeks ago, just for a few minutes, and thought I would pass out from the lingering stench.
SiubhanDuinne
@Pogonip:
Ha!! Love it! I’ve never dreamt of Putin, but I have had many dreams in which QEII, Pince Charles, the Fuchess of Kent, and other Royals, played major roles! My dreams these days are more about my former colleagues — possibly because there is a better than average chance I might go back to work for them soon on a short temporary assignment.
Pogonip
@SiubhanDuinne: Welcome to the reformed smokers club! My dad has spent the last 50 years bitching about the stench of cats and cigarettes. I’ll grant him the cigs, but in my experience litter boxes aren’t that bad if you keep them clean.
JG
Congrats and continued support! Stop smoking will eventually (pretty quickly actually) feeling better and give you energy to exercise and eat better. No matter how much fresh fruit you’re eating – double it. My doc always tells me my waist size (reduction of inches) is more important than weight. I’m 52 and male.
We care and support you via web-based good vibes. Keep us updated if you are comfortable w it.
Longtime lurker
An addendum to my above comment: I lost my weight while battling serious lifelong depression, and psych meds helped put me on the road to 300. Mood and depression are definitely factors to consider—cutting cals too drastically can kill your mood, and eating for comfort can sabotage you.
My doc helped me find gentler meds, in particular Lamictal, an effective anti-depressant/mood stabilizer.
It’s glib to say losing weight is a great antidepressant, but I can say that from experience. And it is. Not only do I feel so much better physically and about myself, but I’ve been able to set a goal and methodically work to achieve it. At the start, it was “No Coke this week.” I was able to rack up little achievements, and for a while it was all I had to feel good about.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
IANA doctor but, generally speaking, if your weight won’t move no matter what you do, there’s something physiological going on. If you were a woman (which I seem to recall you are not), I would tell you to get checked for PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) which is another type of hormonal imbalance.
Pogonip
@SiubhanDuinne: I was thinking of saying that when he played against Chuck and me, he lost his shirt…
namekarB
I quit smoking and started chewing gum. That didn’t last so I quit smoking and started chewing toothpicks. That didn’t last either and now I smoke, chew gum and chew toothpicks. I’m afraid if I quit smoking again I’ll just pick up a fourth habit.
SiubhanDuinne
@SiubhanDuinne:
I guess I suddenly don’t have permission to edit my own comment! I hope everyone knows that I meant (and typed!) DUCHESS of Kent, not Fuchess.
FYAC.
JaneE
Congratulations. I went from 2 1/2 packs a day to 0, cold turkey, back in 83. I wasn’t really quitting, just seeing how long I could go without a cigarette. Carried my last pack with me, just in case I wanted one. Never did, at least not bad enough to smoke one. Sometime in year 4 of being a non-smoker, one of the smokers I worked with was desperate, and I remembered that I did actually have cigarettes. She took one puff and made a comment about how bad they were. But she kept the rest of the pack.
SiubhanDuinne
@Pogonip:
LOL, not even in my worst nightmares….
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@JG:
I’m pretty sure this is a typo, but it seems perfect for this place.
Pogonip
Is anyone else interested in forming the Balloon Juicers Against Ballooning?
SiubhanDuinne
@Pogonip:
I’ll take an overflowing litter box over an ashtray any day, thanks.
Rich Webb
Throw away the nicotine patches/gum/whatevers. Seriously, just get rid of them. All those things do is make money for somebody else while keeping your habits going longer.
Nicotine is (a) addictive and (b) habit forming. A weekend without smokes will pretty much get you over (a) and the associated mild withdrawal symptoms. The hard part is really (b). Many years of get up, have a smoke; have a coffee, have a smoke; take a break, have a smoke; get in the car; have a smoke; and et cetera, have a smoke have built up habit pathways. Your brain “itches” when there’s a trigger but you don’t follow through as it expects.
Forget the nicotine patches and recognize that it just takes time and intent to rebuild those habits and that every time you pass one up, the next one gets just a little easier. I was up to two packs a day when I finally decided to kick it…
jl
Congratulations, Soonergrunt.
Interesting that you did not notice any serious cravings until you saw the patch in the bathroom at the end of the day. I had some similar experiences when I quite smoking.
Good luck with quitting, and good luck with excercise.
Kristine
Congrats, Soonergrunt, and continued success!
Roger Moore
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
That sucks. The only suggestion I would make is to keep eating healthy food and exercising as much as your back will let you, even if it doesn’t help with your weight. They may not help with the weight- or maybe they’re the only thing keeping you from being even heavier- but they will help keep you as healthy as you can be at your current weight.
GregB
Keep it up a day at a time. I know one of the things that used to keep me in the no smoking column was the fact that big tobacco gave their PAC money to the most regressive shitheels in the political spectrum.
PlanetPundit (used to be Sir Laffs-a-Lot)
Great job, Sooner!…..keep it going…..always have admire you hugely
Pogonip
@SiubhanDuinne: Oh, it wasn’t that bad. Vlad and her majesty took their loss with good grace and did not smoke at the table.
So far I’m the only BJABer. I’ll mention it in an open thread on Monday and see if anyone else jumps in.
jl
Only suggestion I have for losing weight, besides getting out and walking more and cutting back on food, is weight training.
I do not like weight training, and think it a pretty boring way to spend time exercising. Not nearly as much fun as hiking or running through the neighborhood or a park.
But the payoff in keeping weight off is worth twenty minutes or so of boredom three or four times a week (Edit; I try for five times a week, but who the hell am I kidding?).
I started with weights in the gym, and a few sessions with a trainer.
After I got strong enough to do bodyweight exercises like bar dips and pull-ups, I could do those on equipment outside, which makes weight training more fun.
Weight training seems to cut my appetite a little after an exercise session too, which is good.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
Way to go SG on not smoking. It may be the case that Big Tobacco has added more ammonia to the formula so that it’s akin to freebasing, and nicotine is already so addictive that it’s even harder to quit than 20 years ago. Many docs I know have had good success with Wellbutrin (and Chantix when not contraindicated due to potential side effects) for patients quitting smoking.
When I quit, coming 9 years ago, it got easier after a couple of months because I was in the habit of not smoking. It probably helped immensely that I was not regularly engaging in a semi- to highly stressful activity which I associated with smoking to cope. I have no doubt you’ll have another day you don’t smoke and another and another until it’s habit and you quit counting.
MomSense
Sooner you are making lots of big life changes. I wish you continued success!
PIGL
@Gin & Tonic: it only took me six months. I quit a 35 year pack-a-day habit 4 years ago last Christmas. Too late for the full benefits, I’m afraid, but if I can quit, anyone can.
Ripley
@CONGRATULATIONS: If you haven’t yet, ask your doc to check your testosterone level. Men have variations, sometimes rapidly and dramatically; often inexplicable (aside from aging), sometimes a symptom of another condition.
Pogonip
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Ah-ha! Dad’s right! I bet there was no, or at least less, ammonia in the cigarettes of 1963.
jl
@Gin & Tonic:
” On the bright side, after 15-20 years, you will hardly ever crave a cig. ”
For me, it was a very nice day when someone walking by smoking on a coffin nail smelled nasty and unattractive. Rather than bringing back fond memories of nicotine addiction and longing for a smoke.
Instead of thinking, “Aww, shit, too bad smoking kills you:”, I though “Yuck, that stinks”
Didn’t take 15-20 years either.
Pogonip
I got curious and looked Rook up. Not only is it still around, it’s been around since 1906. It was developed as a way for fundamentalists to play cards, as they wouldn’t use regular cards. You could certainly play it with regular cards, it’s just a standard trick-taking game. Call the Joker the Rook and you’re in business.
WaterGirl
I am guessing that quitting smoking is a bit like everything else in that what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another.
Sounds like you are on a path that’s working for you, Sooner. Hard to believe it’s been over 4 years since your surgery. Time is flying by!
OT, or maybe OT (on topic) if watching TV would be a good distraction… If you’re like me and only heard about Better Call Saul after a few episodes, you may be interested in the fact that they appear to be running all 9 of the older episodes on the day when the season finale, episode 10 airs in the next week or so. Tivo tells me that is next Monday, 4/6, starting in the morning.
J R in WV
Sooner,
Good to hear good news from your house. Tornado missed again, that’s good too!
I never smoked or used tobacco in any way. I did help the neighbors with their crop, planting, housing the harvested tobacco in the barn to cure. Even took their crop to the auction house with another neighbor, all their cash money for the year, around $3000.
Woody made us stop at the liquor store to get him a bottle of brown liquor for the drive home and some ginger brandy for his hangover. He was wasted when we got home, and his brother Earl always gave him a hard time, “Had your Jubilee for the year again, didn’t you?”
But I have gained some weight – up to 250. Since my shoulder surgery, I’m down to 240 something, a little bit down. But I’m not allowed to exercise much yet. I will, though.
Congratulations on your smoking plan, seems to be working ok. Good luck on the weight program too. The getting off tobacco plan is most important, but if you can maintain both, that’s best of all!
Hang in there!
raven
Drive on.
Tree With Water
Heroin finally conquered Jerry Garcia. But before it did, he said that of all his addictions he considered tobacco the toughest to quit. But if you can drop that kind of weight by virtue of conscious effort, you can quit smoking, too. You’re doing good, so hang in there..
nominus
Congrats on quitting. Stick with it. It took me three tries to finally quit, and only after a spent a month in the hospital getting part of my lung removed (not related to smoking, believe it or not). I’ve heard that it’s easier to quit heroin than tobacco, after my experiences I would believe it.
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
dude, congrats!
i’m at my lowest weight in the last 23 years (as long as it’s been recorded) and I still have about 20 to go.
Notably, I’ve only lost 4 pounds since I stopped drinking. The rest of my weight (30 or so) was lost by alcoholic starvation…not the suggested method) but everybody remarks on how much weight i’ve lost in the last year.
It seems I must be remodeling.
raven
My bride smoked a lot when we got together. I was chasin her so hard that I put up with it for a while but, slowly, she realized it was terrible for her and she’s been tobacco free for 15 years. Giving her a hard time didn’t help but encouraging her did.
Zinsky
Good for you! I quit smoking 31 years ago. I am 58 now and would never have lived this long, had I not quit. An inevitable outcome of smoking is a shortened life. Believe it.
raven
@GHayduke (formerly lojasmo): I lost a lot of weight, 30 lbs, when I quit drinking 21 years ago. I ran a great deal and that helped but slowly I put weight back on. I then limited refined carbs and have stabilized at 195 with a regular exercise routine.
Svensker
Chin up and keep up the good work. Smoking is the monkey on your back — why let it control you? I tried to quite so many times in the 30 years I smoked. Finally just thought “enough of this, I figging hate it” — and that was that. Had a few bad days but mostly, thinking of myself as a non-smoker really worked. I was not a person who smoked! So why should I crave a cig. Worked for me and 20 years later still fine.
Now, the eating/exercising thing. I’ve put on 45 pounds over the last few years and am really having a hard time cutting back on yummies and upping the getting moving. Although I don’t want to be “chunky” — I also don’t want to give up the goodies. Sigh. But I’m trying. A little.
Mike in NC
I quit smoking about 17 years ago. I had the flu and was hacking up black crud. That did it for me.
Everybody I know who ever smoked has quit except for my wife.
Nicole
My aunt, a lifelong smoker, died in her sleep at age 64 last December. She had been diagnosed with heart disease, he’ll, she’d had a heart attack (that she hadn’t noticed!) and still couldn’t stop. I really miss her.
I’m glad you’ve quit, Sooner.
askew
@Pogonip:
I’d love a support group. I am a stress eater and have been going through a lot of stress in my personal life which isn’t helping my weight at all. I’ve also been a mess at work but that is another story.
As for quitting smoking, my mom smoked 1-2 packs a day for over 30 years and then read this book and quit cold turkey – http://www.amazon.com/Allen-Carrs-Easy-Stop-Smoking/dp/0615482155 and never wanted another cig again. I’ve had two other friends do the same thing. None of them can explain why the book worked just that they read the book and never wanted to smoke again.
coin operated
Way to go Sooner. I quit in much the same fashion a few years ago…welbutrin and enough bubble gum to blow a weather balloon-sized bubble. Put on about 30 lbs since then. Have joined a gym recently and hope to take some of it back off.
Anne Laurie
@Betty Cracker:
When I was trying to lose weight, it was cross-stich that worked for me; you can’t eat while you’re stitching, and you have to wash your hands if you touch anything tasty before you can pick up the needle again. Practically any hand craft will do — I’ve known people who used knitting, quilting, papercrafting, sketching, and soldering electronics as things-to-do-while-watching-tv that kept them from auto-eating/smoking. And handcrafts mostly don’t keep your companions from hearing the tv dialogue…
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
That is the god’s truth. Smokers beat themselves up enough, they’re not going to take kindly to scolding or lecturing. But a “well done” after 24 hours of no cigs can mean the world.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: I laugh when I think back to when we came to an agreement that she’d stop the car and smoke outside when we were on the road.
Anne Laurie
@Howard Beale IV:
Well, it works very well for some people; if you’re the sort of person who responds to getting reinforced in your new safer habits by other people, if you were a “social” drinker who needed the brain-lubrication to be comfortable interacting, if your brain depends strongly on social cues to drink or not-drink, twelve step programs are very useful. (Not just for booze — I’ve got an acquaintance who succeeded with Overeaters Anonymous when “scientific, medically-based” dieting didn’t.) People have different reasons for getting addicted, ergo, they have different needs to break those addictions.
pseudonymous in nc
The Alan Carr book works for some people to address the psychological cravings. It’s not about the method it describes, but the process of thinking through the withdrawal. (A kind of CBT, if you like.)
Beth in VA
You can do in it, man. From your posts we know you have smarts, integrity, a good heart, and a sense of humor. Hang in there!
Pogonip
@askew: Great! Let’s both check in on the open threads next Monday!
askew
@Pogonip:
Sounds like a plan!
RSA
Hey, good for you, Soonergrunt! Best of luck in keeping the weight off as you keep off the smoking.
I quit smoking in December, if I remember correctly. I was due to spend time with an old friend and didn’t want to admit that I smoked almost a pack a day. I had a cravings for a few days, maybe a week, and then it was over. I’ve felt an occasional urge since then, but nothing really overpowering. Over the past few months I’ve gained a couple of pounds, which will probably go away with the warm weather and exercise.
Here’s the funny thing–quitting smoking was so easy it was almost embarrassing. Because so many other people find it impossibly hard! But for me the experience drove home the lesson that just because I find something easy doesn’t mean everyone else will, or even that everyone else should be exposed to the experience. I suppose this might be an after-effect of arguing politics with my in-laws, who thought that because they suffered while growing up during the Great Depression, no one anywhere, at any time, should have it easy.
satby
Good for you Sooner! I started smoking at age 13 but quit at about 15 because that’s when everyone else started. I won’t even pretend it was the addiction that it becomes, but it’s the smartest thing I ever did.
Over the last 15 years my weight has crept up to where I now, at 5’2″, weigh about 215. Way too much. So this week I started the Eat to Live program: mostly vegan, no refined carbs, no processed foods, no meat for the first 6 weeks as you retrain your taste buds away from the pervasive sugar and salt added to almost everything. I like leafy green veggies, so this hasn’t been a huge deal for me so far though I cheat and have my morning coffee. So I’m hoping to enter my 60s as a healthier person. I’m rooting for all of us dieters!
Tommy
@raven: I don’t smoke in my car. I find rest stops to pull over and have a smoke. That is fucked up I just said that. Need to stop.
satby
@Anne Laurie:
LOL, the soap making started as a way for me to still cook but have nothing edible as a result. Because I love to cook and bake, and as an empty nester with out of state kids, I was eating most of it alone.
Tommy
@satby: I am male. 5’4. I weigh 128 pounds. I used to weigh 100 pounds more. There is not a single processed food in my house. Not anything I can put in a microwave. It is not easy but you can do it.
Renie
Good Luck with both. As an ex-smoker and constant dieter I always find dieting harder. You have to eat but you don’t ever have to smoke. Moderation was the hard part for me; never having another cigarette was not. Hang in there you can do it.
TaMara (BHF)
@WaterGirl: Thank you. Yesterday and today were really difficult for some reason…more than I expected. But Bixby makes me laugh and Jake (Missy’s son) is clearly milking his “grief” to get me to lavish love on him, so I’m loving that, it shows me he’s got the right attitude.
fuckwit
@namekarB: I started chewing bubblegum and kicking ass. Now I am all out of bubble gum.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDKdHuyQpHY
phein39
Soonergrunt:
Ex-paratroop here. For me, quitting smoking was linked to my ego: I told everyone I knew I was quitting on July 15, 1987, and therefore I had to quit on July 15, 1987. Spent the night before drinking whisky and smoking Kools (instead of my normal Winstons). By the time I sobered up/was no longer wretching, I didn’t want to smoke.
On the weight loss:
3 months ago my primary care physician told me, “Either lose 20 pounds or find another doctor.”
I despaired. I didn’t grow up eating vegetables, didn’t know how to cook them, and didn’t particularly like them. However, I found a recipe for type II diabetics to use before workouts to avoid sugar crashes: kale, cucumber (the watermelon of the vegetable world, very filling), celery/carrots, a little apple, a few raspberries, squeeze of lemon juice. Blend them with 6 ice cubes and a 1/2 cup of water.
Ever hear of addition by subtraction? This is subtraction by addition: After you consume 4 cups of vegetables, you don’t really need to, or want to, eat again for quite some time, usually the next day. The ice is key: the cold keeps the flavor down.
That was in January, and I’ve lost 20 pounds since. [If I can lose 30 by June, I’m buying a recumbent bicycle.] Blood pressure is way down, blood sugars are down. I added a spinach/berry smoothie for breakfast along the way, and now I’m looking at vegetable soups for dinner.
The surprising thing is, it’s not a diet; it’s a change of habit. I eat what I want, I just don’t want to eat much. There’s no feeling of deprivation.
I hope this helps.
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
@raven:
I run at least every other day, and walk several miles daily with a loaded ruck. i’m going to do either wonderland trail (100 miles) or John Muir (210 miles) in September, so I’ve got incentive to keep it up.
Going to climb some glaciated cascade peaks in the spring, so there’s that.
I figure if I live a good life, I’ll end up at the weight i should be…whatever that is.
lurker dean
great work, sooner. it’s hard to believe but all of those situations you’ve linked to smoking by habit, they sort of fade away after a while. like someone else mentioned, in a few years you eventually get to a point where if you try a cigarette, it feels like the first time you had one and it tasted like crap and you wondered why the heck you were even trying it.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@satby: I love that you started soaping as a way to cook without eating!
phein39
@raven:
My physician runs a program called “Transitions,” which feeds patients Ideal Program and very limited carbs, including no white stuffs: Breads, rice, potatoes, dairy. Forget the proprietary protein packets, embrace the 5 cups of veggies a day, and the rest takes care of itself.
Redshift
Good luck on both fronts. I’m fortunate to be allergic to tobacco smoke, so I was never tempted.
doylie
I quit smoking in July of 2009. I had been hospitalized for four days for an infection that wouldn’t respond to medicine. I’m lucky to have survived being in a hospital and not getting worse. I guess that gave me enough motivation to quit once and for all. I had tried a bunch of times before but failed. I have never looked back. Well, wait. When I do look back it’s that I regret having ever smoked at all and all the harm and damage it did to me.
I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. It takes time but things will fall into place.
Cheers for all you do.
kindness
Wow. You know Soonergrunt I didn’t know you were that weight. So good to hear you are going the good way now and feel good about it. The smokes too. God with smoking and the extra pounds you’ve been carrying I would bet you had some wheezing moments. Kicking nicotine is worse than heroin I’ve been told. Can’t say myself. Not a fan of either. Still good job!
phein39
@lurker dean:
I love the smell of cigarette smoke, but have no desire to smoke one myself. Guess that’s what happens after 25+ years quitting.
Ruckus
@efgoldman:
Started when I was 14. Quit when I was 16. Started up again at boot camp, early 70, for the same reason as you. Stopped about 4-5 months later. When I was 14 I thought it was cool, all the cooool kids were doing it. Didn’t make me one fucking bit cooler.
Ruckus
@RSA:
I suppose this might be an after-effect of arguing politics with my in-laws, who thought that because they suffered while growing up during the Great Depression, no one anywhere, at any time, should have it easy.
This is a great point. Most of the depression era kids had it tough. If you think that everyone including you had it real tough growing up you might think that that’s the way it always works and has to be. After all it was tough for them and they grew up fine……
Violet
Wow, I’m really late to the thread, but congratulations on quitting smoking and losing the weight and generally taking better care of yourself. Great to hear from you again too!
Elizabelle
@phein39: Thank you for the info on veggie smoothies. I should try that.
JCT
Awesome news, Sooner – both the weight and the smoking. Taking control of your life and your health like this is a joyous thing.
joel hanes
@Pogonip:
[Rook] is it still around, it’s been around since 1906.
Yup. Went through a bit of a revival within the last decade; I saw new decks for sail at Barnes and Noble on the Christmas games table.
Another Old Skool card game that you can still buy is Pit — which is sort of like 4-way Go Fish with moar shouting. My cousins and I used to play it every year at Grandma’s.
Aleta
@Longtime lurker: how did you handle feelings of giving up in despair, if you had any of that ?
ThresherK
@Gin & Tonic: Leftover from basketball–The nerve-wracking would be not in the 20 point lead near the end, but being down to a 7-seed at the half and not playing defense as they had against better-regarded opposition.
Snarly
My dad was a lifelong smoker who died from lung cancer at the age of 75. I think the most incideous thing about his addiction was how it robbed him of his vitality for the last 20-25 years of his life. Walking up a flight of stairs would wind him for 5 minutes and he became increasingly reclusive and home bound since he would have attacks if he had to perform even moderate exercise. None of my siblings have ever touched a cancer stick because we were all too aware of the coughing jags and shortness of breath that plagued him while we were growing up. We all tried to convince him to quit, but he always claimed it was his enjoyment and he wouldn’t give it up.
So I congratulate you on going smoke free. I think you’ll really enjoy it.
Cthulhu
Let me know if you academic/clinical insight. Nicotine dependence is one of my sub-fields. Best of luck!
gene108
@Politically Lost:
Hang in there.
I’m pulling for you.
12 years ago today, I had a major breakdown.
So far no relapse big enough to get me committed again, which is probably my biggest accomplishment.
Mack
Sooner, not sure what your experience is with athletic activities, but I am pretty evangelical about the one I play. I was an athlete for most of my life…the problem was by the time I hit 50, it was hard to get up a group of guys to play basketball, and working out didn’t provide the competition I craved. Then someone took me out for a round of ……..disc golf. Look into it. It’s free, there are organized groups in nearly every town, and it’s played in parks or park like settings. You walk a ton. You bend down to retrieve your disc. You throw them, not far, at first, but I’m 60 and can keep up with most guys 40 years my junior. Great way to lose weight, I’ve seen remarkable changes in people who embraced the sport. Oh, VERY low impact, injuries are rare. Anyway, best of luck.
boatboy_srq
Tommorow will be Month 23 for me. I stopped counting after one year, but it’s never been far from my mind. Keep at it: it really is worth it.
RELATED: There was a great bit on Last Week Tonight about how Big Tobacco is working overseas, and the strong-arm tactics they’re using on the likes of The Solomons, Togo and other places that don’t have the resources to fight them.
hedgehog the occasional commentator
Yeah Sooner!! Sending encouragement from Colorado.
phein55
@Elizabelle: The great thing about doing the raw vegetables in a blender is that I no longer have the urge to snack on chips, or eat candy or cookies, or even eat desserts. I don’t miss them, because I don’t want them. Just not craving them anymore.
There are a ton of green smoothie recipes for diabetics on the web.
amy c
My aunt and her wife just announced yesterday that they are also 8 days cigarette free. Very proud of all of you.
If you haven’t already, I recommend quitnet.com – you can track how much money you’ve saved by not smoking, which is really motivating. Especially since that amount is always going up :)
kabiddle
Keep it up Soonergrunt and don’t have the “just one” cigarette. I grew up in the heavy smoking section of life and still struggle. Mind over matter.
mclaren
Just suggest once again that the president of the united states murder American citizens without a trial or accusing them of having committed a crime, and it’ll give you a rush equivalent to smoke three packs of cigarettes.
Pieces of human garbage like yourself should be invited to emigrate to North Korea, where the rule of law you so vehemently despise has been conveniently eliminated.
You’d last about 3 seconds there, sociopath.