Has anyone gone from very unhealthy life style to a healthier one?

[Denise223]

Dear Joyful Girl:

I just want to be an overall healthier me. Something I've always lacked is moderation. Maybe I'm trying to build some of that as well as muscle.

It really sounds like you have been making some wonderful, positive changes for yourself and I applaud you!! And, it's great that you realized at a young age that your lifestyle was unhealthy and you made a VERY CONSCIOUS DECISION to change!!

I am happy to say that as of March 14, 2004 - I quit smoking.
I was a 2 & 1/2 pack per day smoker, sometimes more. I enjoyed smoking so much.
On the date I stopped smoking, I weighed 240 pounds and could barely make it 1/8 mile walking without huffing & puffing out of breath.
(my highest weight was 290 lbs in 2001. I weigh 188 pounds today).

I needed help to stop because I couldn't do it on my own. I made the decision to stop because I knew that it was killing me. I wanted to enjoy being able to go walking with my husband. Not to mention, heart disease, hardening of the arteries, etc.., runs rampant in my family.
I DID NOT WANT what I had seen my parents go through (and ARE still going through), to be what I had to look forward to!!!

I contacted the American Heart Association & they set me up with a phone counselor. (I didn't even know the AHA had any type of program - which was free - I just wanted some information/help on how to stop).
When my counselor and I connected, I picked a quit date that had a special meaning, (our wedding anniversary), and we sheduled our next phone consultation for two days before that date.
I also decided to use the Nicoderm patch.

Today, I am happy to say that I am a non-smoker. It is very hard work... but, believe me, if I can do it....I know that anyone can!! One day at a time.

Wishing you much happiness on your way to a healthier self !!

Denise

[plantluvver]

I would still be smoking. I always thought it would be ideal if I could smoke those one or two cigarettes a day that just felt SOO good. But I can't. I do know people who do smoke socially, or only when they drink. I now will sometimes smoke when I am talking to other smokers, and they are smoking. I have one well meaning freind who shoves cigarettes into my hand before I leave her house. I will smoke all three or four of them before I go to bed. But I do have one rule: I will NEVER NEVER NEVER buy a pack of cigarettes or bring a pack of cigarettes into my house. And right now I am thinking of walking over to 7-11! ( I do always try to pay the smokers, and it makes me unhappy when they won't take my money, because I know I can't evr buy that pack, it will get me started again.

But I think that if you keep the exercise going and the smoking down, you will reach a point where you can feel the difference in your respiratory system right away. You will get back on your bike after a smoke break, and notice immediately how your breathing is different.

If you are anything like me, you are now hacking up huge wads of thick gray-green goo. And the little bit of smoking you are doing is probably helping with that a little, by paralyzing the system that naturally cleans that stuff out of your respiratory system.. You are probably noticing the coughing that you do in the morning.

My biggest challenge today is depression, and maybe Social Anxiety Disorder. ( I become afaid to be seen by my neighbors.) It is so weird! I can go anywhere, and talk to strangers, introduce myself to people, trry new things. But the people who live next door, I can't face. I'll answer the door to them, I don't dislike them, but I worry about what they think of me.

The depression fuels everything else. The poor diet, because I feel too tired to cook anything, and too lazy to shop. Not gardening out of fear of being seen by my neighbors.

The one thing that is saving me right now, is that I want to learn to sail. It is why I am dusting off the bikes, so I can get to the marinas, why I am eating better, so I can be a better sailor, so people will let me crew for their boats in races. ( I don't necessarily want to race, but this is when sailors have most need of a crew.

The other thing I have going is that I CAN remember times when I felt okay, and in control of my life. These were times when I was exercising. I remember being on probation from work. (As a single mom, I was always being put on probation for taking time off for chicken pox, etc. Once, because my son's nursery school closed. I was supposed to be able to anticipate that the owners would get divorced and close the school, according to my employer. I couldn't get the state to go after my ex for child support.) But I was swimming, and I started jogging in the mornings. And I felt good, because no matter how out of control everything else was, I did have control over waking up an hour earlier, and having the time to jog while my son was still asleep. And it seemed like everything would be okay, because at least I was in control of my own body, and doing good things for it.

Actually, I am not remembering correctly. My real urgency to change is that I had a HUGE scare with the introduction of the Medicare Drug Plan. If I signed uo for a plan, I was going to spend $150 a month for the coverage and copays. Right now, I am in a program wher the manufacturer provides my meds at no cost, but for a couple of months it looked like that would be cancelled. I decided that I would probaby need to quit my meds.

Not that those medications seem to do all that much for me, but at least I am not sleeping 18 hours a day as I have in the past. And I have had times when I've hidden in the basement or attic because I was afraid someone would ring the doorbell, and be able to tell I was home, and nit leave, and I would have to deal with them. So I would hide and try to wake up at 2 or three in the morning.

But Now I have gone really astray with MY life story, and this is YOUR post. Mostly I want you to know that taking control of your life is a great thing. And I went off into my own problems.

Hey, it's not too late for me to take a walk tonight! Screw Medicare, and Paxil and all that stuff, I'm gonna get me healthy and living again!

Don't feel bad for those few you smoke a day. If you enjoy them, more power to you! Smoke one for me. I am tired of all this guilt we seem to lay upon ourselves for our circumstances. I do feel that the all natural tobaccos are healthier. I was smoking drum filterless roll your owns, but when I would buy a pack of filtered cigarettes, I would get a sore throat, and other problems. So it wasn't just the tobacco causing me problems

Bye,
Mary