Healthier Living Thread Part IV

hi tweety and zoe,

zoe, sorry about the keyboard. i hope it feels better soon.

tweety, thanks hon .

Hello all,

today took the kids for swim lessons. i went to walk during the lessons which seemed to go well. I think I will keep this routine for Tues/Thursdays if dh can come pick up the kids. i have to walk 4miles and it takes me a long time to reach my goal. in fact, i'm getting a bit frustrated; because, it is taking toooooo long. i started jogging for one minute to see if this would help with the time issue. Hmmm, not much help. but, hey, it did feel pretty good. when my knees felt tired or uncomfortable, i resumed my walking.

well, off to soak in a hot tub because, i am tooo tired to do the yoga. I will try to get to this in the morning. we shall see.

spent $22 to purchase a new outfit for me. just a pair of jogging shorts and a t-shirt but i like it. hopefully, all the cellulite won't run off all my friends. Hmmm, maybe i should have resisted that large chocolate malt . . . . man was that good.

BTW, I have no ideawhat my exact weight is. my friends are telling me that i do look different. my jeans are a tad more loose but not much. i've decided to continue setting goals and let go of the scale as much as possible. this seems to keep down my discouragement and keep up my endorphins.

hope all of you are well.

hi tweets gentle blue hiker and zbb

just got back from a nice 1 hour bike and obviously feel invigorated

my athletic friend is the best influence on me

still doing my h2o n veg

weigh in sat am

fingies crossed for a good week

last week was pms and staus quo

good luck everybody

UHOH

gained 2 lbs

now muffie, git back to work and git er done :trout:

45 min bike ride [yeah]

1/2 price fajitas n beer [uhoh]

what a beautiful day

Hi babies, got a new laptop - going to bed but may be on tomor nite! Bro here for 2 wks so I don't know (bro from FL, not the one in hosp)

UHOH

gained 2 lbs

now muffie, git back to work and git er done :trout:

Muffie, is it muscle? Can you think of another reason or do you think it's you? In either case, I know you are making some healthy decisions, and, more important, taking some good healthy ACTION!

xo

Hey party people...

I'm not actually that dorky, I use the phrase facetiously. :)

I decided to drop-in on your lovely thread because I recently quit smoking with Chantix. It seems I've been attempting to improve the overall health of my lifestyle for a long time, but never really felt I could get anywhere with it until I quit smoking. Last night was my first night at work not smoking - it actually wasn't hard at all! I haven't smoked since wednesday at 0430 (don't worry I paid for it dearly with a wonderful bout of nausea ). It is really strange to not feel the need to smoke - the Chantix has made it so I don't have any cravings at all, I'm not the crazy psycho-b%$#@ I was in previous quit attempts, and when I do smoke it makes me nauseous :trout:. Seriously, I want a Chantix t-shirt.

Anyway, I feel really great having finally quit. It will be a challenge as I get further along in this process and learn how to do everything without smoking (including barbeques, hehe). But, overall I just feel great about it. I've smoked for 12 or 13 years (and I'm only 26! ), and I think I've finally evicted the monkey on my back.

OK I have got to shut-up. Sorry just got home from my overnight shift, might be getting a little ramble-y. :smilecoffeeIlovecof

welcome to our wee club NAdO

i wish you every success in your quitting smoking

I decided to drop-in on your lovely thread because I recently quit smoking with Chantix.

Welcome and good to meet you Odd - lol - you are not alone in that regard on this thread ha ha

I've been smoke free for a year and a half - you are doing a very good thing!

Keep coming back!

Hi everybody else!

My

Keyvoard

is

sick

lol

will

fix

it

soo!

xoxoxo

I'm glad you got things all fixed up :). I'd hate for a keyboard to come between you and us .

hi tweety and zoe,

zoe, sorry about the keyboard. i hope it feels better soon.

tweety, thanks hon .

Hello all,

today took the kids for swim lessons. i went to walk during the lessons which seemed to go well. I think I will keep this routine for Tues/Thursdays if dh can come pick up the kids. i have to walk 4miles and it takes me a long time to reach my goal. in fact, i'm getting a bit frustrated; because, it is taking toooooo long. i started jogging for one minute to see if this would help with the time issue. Hmmm, not much help. but, hey, it did feel pretty good. when my knees felt tired or uncomfortable, i resumed my walking.

spent $22 to purchase a new outfit for me. just a pair of jogging shorts and a t-shirt but i like it. hopefully, all the cellulite won't run off all my friends. Hmmm, maybe i should have resisted that large chocolate malt . . . . man was that good.

BTW, I have no ideawhat my exact weight is. my friends are telling me that i do look different. my jeans are a tad more loose but not much. i've decided to continue setting goals and let go of the scale as much as possible. this seems to keep down my discouragement and keep up my endorphins.

Good for you! Scale watching is not necessarily the best way to make long-term changes, although I never have the courage to not look, LOL.

It takes a while to build up enough stamina for running. You're doing great. I walk fast and run slow, so sometimes my times for walks and runs are the same But, I enjoy it!

I love chocolate malts. The place we used to spend a few weeks each summer had a little hamburger joint that made the best malts ever! That's definitely a food that has a pleasant association for me. Well, and they taste good, too . . .

45 min bike ride [yeah]

1/2 price fajitas n beer [uhoh]

what a beautiful day

A bike and a wonderful lunch--sounds perfect to me. If you are only paying half-price, doesn't that also knock off half of the calories? That's my understanding . Besides, they keep coming up with foods that aren't healthy for you one week and are healthy the next, so maybe someone will discover that your lunch is the perfect "health" (mental health, anyway) food.

I've been doing some stress eating and eating out too much, and being too lazy to cook for one. I'll blame the divorce and school and forgive myself and move on. :)

And that's the most important thing . . . :) I'd be surprised if you hadn't gone up on weight with the stress you've had for the last while. :icon_hug:

Hey party people...

I'm not actually that dorky, I use the phrase facetiously. :)

I decided to drop-in on your lovely thread because I recently quit smoking with Chantix. It seems I've been attempting to improve the overall health of my lifestyle for a long time, but never really felt I could get anywhere with it until I quit smoking. Last night was my first night at work not smoking - it actually wasn't hard at all! I haven't smoked since wednesday at 0430 (don't worry I paid for it dearly with a wonderful bout of nausea ). It is really strange to not feel the need to smoke - the Chantix has made it so I don't have any cravings at all, I'm not the crazy psycho-b%$#@ I was in previous quit attempts, and when I do smoke it makes me nauseous :trout:. Seriously, I want a Chantix t-shirt.

Anyway, I feel really great having finally quit. It will be a challenge as I get further along in this process and learn how to do everything without smoking (including barbeques, hehe). But, overall I just feel great about it. I've smoked for 12 or 13 years (and I'm only 26! ), and I think I've finally evicted the monkey on my back.

OK I have got to shut-up. Sorry just got home from my overnight shift, might be getting a little ramble-y. :smilecoffeeIlovecof

I'm fresh off night shift myself. The first night isn't too bad, it's just dreading the ones coming up that I don't like.

Welcome. Chantix sounds great. A lot of the doctors have been giving it to patients where I used to work--not a lot of babies trying to quit smoking in the NICU where I work now, LOL--but I wondered how it worked long-term. We'd only see the patients for couple-few days. What we really need is a Chantix for food, yes?

Good day to you, Blue. Keeping that wild hair under control?

Thanks for the welcome, all!

The Chantix has been working really well. I worked my first shift as a non-smoker, and all my usual smoking buddies were quite miffed! I just told them to shush and get themselves on Chantix. I believe I am the 4th nurse on our unit to quit with this drug. More are still interested.

I, too, have wondered about how this may be effective for in patients. My question really is regarding therapeutic blood levels. On an out-patient basis, the literature states it takes a week to establish therapeutic blood levels (as you keep smoking at this point). For me I think it took more like 3 days. I think it depends on the severity of the addiction and amount smoked, at least that is my hypothesis. As an out-patient, I did Chantix at 05.mg x 3 days qdaily, then 0.5mg x4 days BID, then 1 mg BID, which is what I'll stick with. I'm curious what dosages MDs are using on the floor. I think increasing the dose gradually is primarily to minimize side effects (nausea, notably), and it strikes me that as an in-patient we could probably initiate a higher dose and use anti-emetics for nausea. Hmm.

I am feeling really great about this decision and this change in my life. That first shift non-smoking was a little hard, it was actually the first time I really wanted a cigarette since I quit totally. Go figure. Carrot sticks were very helpful, as was gum with a minty bite to it.

After I feel I have this smoking sufficiently licked I intend to work on my stress management. Namely by exercising, since that will kill two birds with one stone. One thing at a time for now though! :)

Congrats to all making healthy lifestyle changes. It's great to come here and read your progress posts - very inspiring! I have also found it helpful to talk to other co-workers who have recently quit smoking about our experiences, as well as encouraging the ones who are considering Chantix for themselves.