Dying

[smick]

Smoking is a hoss of a different color, but I had similar effects from that.   I assumed it was due to my increased lung usage allowing more oxygen to my brain.   Made me loopy and light headed for a few days.   Then after that there was some fatigue, probably due to withdrawls.   

[slink]

I think I suffer from not getting a kick. I get a real lull about 8pm where if I'm not careful I just pass out, but then I think if anything I get to sleep at night better for not smoking. One of my really bad habits was smoking last thing before going to bed (or in bed while watching something, which was even worse) and that just meant I was that bit more awake. Plus, it's just nice to be able to get excercise and not have my heart and lungs feel like they're on fire and trying to burst through my sternum. That shit was cold evil feeling.

[V-Adore]

I've stayed as far away from nicotine as possible, but speaking from the neuroscientific perspective, the fatigue is likely to be a symptom of withdrawal. Nicotine can serve as a stimulant, and like all stimulants, your brain adapts to its presence; my guess would be the fatigue is the result of your brain adapting back to a nicotine-less state without it, which probably involves pruning receptors and otherwise adapting to a sudden lack of stimulatory input. The good part about this is that it'll get better in time on its own, at least... the bad part is that this is a really sucky thing for your brain to be doing. Strength.

[Asherdan]

Nicotine can serve as a stimulant, and like all stimulants, your brain adapts to its presence; my guess would be the fatigue is the result of your brain adapting back to a nicotine-less state without it...

This was my guess from what I've read, it's nice to read a similiar opinion. Now I am really fighting to not replace it with caffeine. I doubt it'd really be beneficial to swap one for the other.

Positive note that will sustain this quitting thing from today: Had my blood pressure taken before the big V, 122/72 w/ a pulse of 72. It's a significant improvement, which I choose to attribute to fewer stimulants and capillary constriction.

[side_show]

Hey folks:  as of yesterday, I am two pounds away from my goal for September 9th of being down 20 pounds!  Yee Haw!

My other goal of getting back to running 3 miles in 30 minutes is probably not going to be reached though.  I've been running regularly since June now, and there's been a clear improvement.  I have no problem running 3 miles now, without being exhausted like I used to be, but at this point it takes me about 15 minutes per mile, and there is basically no way I want to push myself hard enough to shave 5 minutes off each mile in the next few weeks.  I'm going to keep that one as a longer term goal, something that might come to me over time.  Being able to say that I run 9 miles a week every week feels pretty cool though.  That's a nice thing brag about.

I'm going to continue working hard at personal wellness and have set a goal for one year from my birthday (i.e. end of next month) of reaching my ultimate goal of being right where the BMI scale tells me I need to be, while continuing to lead a healthy and active lifestyle.  This means I still need to lose some weight, but in a less accelerated way.  It should be a challenge to get there, but not too hard since I've basically changed my way of eating and being active to the point where going back is hard to even fathom.

In the two hours before making this post I was outside digging out limestone from a spot beside our deck to create a pit to fill with compost accelerator, place my composter over, and begin composting with.  Breaking the hard, limestone and clay based ground, moving two large wheelbarrows full of limestone, and all the strength that this requires were skills totally outside my reach in Spring.  It feels pretty awesome to have my strength back!  I can't deny that the pain is a little worse than it used to be, but the trade-off for increased strength and overall fitness is well worth it.  I've come to peace with the fact the arthritis is not going to go away, and have also come to a really comfortable understanding of how to read my body and its needs and limits - which is something I didn't even realize I was missing before.

So anyway, I have a lot of work to do over the next year to reach my final health goal, but my short term goal of losing 20 pounds this summer is fait accompli.  And that feels pretty awesome.

[slink]

Hey folks:  as of yesterday, I am two pounds away from my goal for September 9th of being down 20 pounds!  Yee Haw!

Congrats!
And to the rest of it too. I've noticed how true it is that you can tell more about your body the better the state it is in.
That said, after a fairly excercise filled couple of weeks in Canada, which involved swimming almost daily, as well as a lot of running, I have been set back somewhat. Both by jetlag and the fact I broke a toe while I was away, so am having to take things rather easy until that heals. Worst part of that is that unlike sprains or muscle pulls, this is taking way longer to heal.

Still. 3 miles, eh? Not sure I can manage that...

[Asherdan]

And that feels pretty awesome.

As well it should, Congrats.

As to broken toes, what an incrdible pain in the ass they are. Tape it to its mates and carry on I suppose.

[side_show]

Oh no!  Which little piggy was it?

Also, was security totally insane?  I asume you flying just after all that shit went down...

[slink]

Oh no!  Which little piggy was it?

Also, was security totally insane?  I asume you flying just after all that shit went down...

The big toe (first?) on my left foot. Seems to be worse today than yesterday, dangit. I tried taping it to my neighbour, but that just made things awkward...

And security was non-existent on my way out. Well, aside from having to take my laptop out of my bag, and someone I was flying with having to take of his shoes, but apart from that I got to keep my mp3 player and the books I took with me the whole way across, which was just as well as I couldn't sleep a wink in those seats.
When we left the airport getting back however, it was crawling with cops. Filming everyone arriving, arresting people, vans everywhere, even hosss... Wasn't 'til we got back home we saw what the deal was. I think we missed it by about 4 hours or so, so I consider myself incredibly lucky. Not sure how I feel about the prospect of flying now they've made it infinitely more unbearable, but then the flight to Italy should be a lot shorter, and maybe with a less painful airline.
It would now just help if Reid would stop looking so fuck*ng smug every time I see him on TV. Great, he screwed international travel beyond belief for no good reason, he gets to look superfly now.

[PopeUrban]

jough and side_show, it sounds like things are coming along smashingly.  This thread has changed the way I see my life, how I eat, and the activities I partake in, thank you all so much for that gift.

That being said, I don't know if anyone has made this suggestion (I'm too much of a lazy a-o-b-o to read 40 some pages ) or not, but does anyone want to trade/post vegetarian recipes?  It can be hard to find good/tasty vegetarian recipes without trying a whole bunch of them/buying a book or something.  So yeah, vivan las vegetarianos!