Taking It To The Next Level

(First, let me say that this post was originally much longer and detailed. Blogger ate it in the middle of editing the post. Don't you just love when stuff like that happens?) Ah, well, here's what did not get eaten....



Now that I've cleared the hurtle of physical addiction, its time to start thinking about "maintenance."

I believe that quitting smoking is a very personal experience. Since every smoker's habit is unique there is no one way to go about quitting that works for everyone. Through trial and error, we figure out what works best for ourselves.

For a lot of people, long-term success hinges on specific changes to routine and lifestyle. For others, it seems quitting smoking is only that - quitting smoking, nothing more. John The Smoker becomes, simply, John The Non-Smoker. He doesn't feel the need to change his evil ways and become John The Non-Smoker Church-Going Vegetarian." Now, this is perfectly fine for John, so long as certain unpleasant side effects don't pose a new challenge for him.

You know, like getting fat.

And this is right about where Blogger decided to flake out and eat the rest of my post. So, this here attempt will be my second to finish this bad boy and I'm pretty put out by it all, so I'll just cut to the chase......

I'm not like John, but I like to think I am. I like to think that I can just quit smoking and let that be it; to not have a need for comprehensive lifestyle "adjustments" such as diet and exercise. Frankly, I'm kinda lazy and it all sounds like more work than I'm willing to commit to. I feel like from here on out, my ability to resist smoking is pretty much in the bag, so why add on more restrictions and discipline needlessly?

That's what I'd like to think. The reality is, the last two times I started smoking again after quitting (once for three years) is largely because I wanted to lose the weight I had gained from quitting. It's no secret that smoking is an easy, fast way to shed pounds. And if there is one thing that will cause me to smoke again...its gaining weight. And we all know quitting smoking causes weight gain.

In order to avoid this little Catch-22, I'm going to have to make some adjustments to my diet and amount of daily exercise. I'm not happy about it.

Not one bit.

So there.