Pondering the question about change I answered on my previous post, I began to remember another major change I made in my life many years ago. As I near my start date I feel the most difficult part of the mission will be to gain some kind of control and discipline over my eating habits. Eating has been as issue since I was 5 years old. Working out will not be too difficult. I actually enjoy it. The hardest part of working out for me is simply taking the first step. That usually means reaching over and tapping the alarm at five in the morning. But once up I am usually good to go, as long as I haven't stayed up too late. But smart nutritional choices is what will be the hardest for me. As I prepare for a lifestyle change in a few days (just over a week now), I am considering how best to approach this relationship I have with food. My mind wanders to another change I made many years ago: quitting smoking. Is almost too faint now just how hard it was for me to quit smoking.
I began when I was about 16 or 17 years old and it was fairly easy to get into since my mom and dad both smoked. Many a trip in the car was spent breathing the cloudy exhalations of my parents who only cracked the window to push out a spent butt to light up again. So the transition to smoking was easy for me when I got older. As I entered my teen years I was part of the "headbanger" crowd in high school, so what began as a social experiment and a simple way to feel cool around friends became a habit and an addiction. Compared to those around me, I don't think I was a super heavy smoker, probably 1/2 to 1 pack a day and maybe more if we were partying. But I continued on into early adulthood, often making friends and acquaintances with those that I would huddle with outside at school or work who were also on a smoke break.
I began when I was about 16 or 17 years old and it was fairly easy to get into since my mom and dad both smoked. Many a trip in the car was spent breathing the cloudy exhalations of my parents who only cracked the window to push out a spent butt to light up again. So the transition to smoking was easy for me when I got older. As I entered my teen years I was part of the "headbanger" crowd in high school, so what began as a social experiment and a simple way to feel cool around friends became a habit and an addiction. Compared to those around me, I don't think I was a super heavy smoker, probably 1/2 to 1 pack a day and maybe more if we were partying. But I continued on into early adulthood, often making friends and acquaintances with those that I would huddle with outside at school or work who were also on a smoke break.
Interestingly enough, my girlfriend (who would eventually marry me) somehow looked beyond that nasty part of me and indulged me with the occasional date. I think about it now and wonder how? She can smell cigarette smoke from a mile away and has a true dislike of the habit. I'm guessing it was my rugged good looks and manly physique : ) I cannot imagine kissing, you know really kissing, a smoker especially if you don't yourself. It must be comparable to tipping back and munching on an ashtray full of ashes and butts.
I enjoyed the fact that smoking was a great appetite supressant. It was during those years when I was probably in the best "shape" of my life. Smoking kept me from being bored and eating as much. After we married, my wife urged me to quit but was never rude or condescending about it. She just kept pressing me over and over and over and over and over and over... In part, she was concerned about my health but she was more concerned with the money it cost when we could barely afford to put food on the table and I was out buying Camels instead of milk. I was in college at the time and bills were extremely tight. It was not unusual for us to have to make 10 or 20 dollars stretch between paychecks. But I got to the point when I realized that despite the cost (cigarette prices were going up exponentially due to the lawsuits against the big tobacco companies) I just needed to quit for my health and for the example to my children. It would definitely please my wife too! I always laugh at one comedian Dennis Leary's joke about smoking when he exclaimed, "What the &%$# is up with light cigarettes? Light cigarettes?! Are you kidding me? I guess that's for people who only want to get light cancer." The manufacturers ended up having to change the warning on cigarette packages. I would read that and know that my quit date would soon arrive.
Wow. I'm going on here for awhile. So what?! Its my blog dammit! I'll go ahead and stop here for now.
Talk with you soon.
I enjoyed the fact that smoking was a great appetite supressant. It was during those years when I was probably in the best "shape" of my life. Smoking kept me from being bored and eating as much. After we married, my wife urged me to quit but was never rude or condescending about it. She just kept pressing me over and over and over and over and over and over... In part, she was concerned about my health but she was more concerned with the money it cost when we could barely afford to put food on the table and I was out buying Camels instead of milk. I was in college at the time and bills were extremely tight. It was not unusual for us to have to make 10 or 20 dollars stretch between paychecks. But I got to the point when I realized that despite the cost (cigarette prices were going up exponentially due to the lawsuits against the big tobacco companies) I just needed to quit for my health and for the example to my children. It would definitely please my wife too! I always laugh at one comedian Dennis Leary's joke about smoking when he exclaimed, "What the &%$# is up with light cigarettes? Light cigarettes?! Are you kidding me? I guess that's for people who only want to get light cancer." The manufacturers ended up having to change the warning on cigarette packages. I would read that and know that my quit date would soon arrive.
Wow. I'm going on here for awhile. So what?! Its my blog dammit! I'll go ahead and stop here for now.
Talk with you soon.
T-Minus 7 days
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