Hi everyone! Thank you so much for the birthday thread. I miss you guys and have been lurking but not really posting lately. I am here and alive and not in the best physical condition, sadly. I started smoking again and I have been dating someone new (and therefore putting on the almost-mandatory "new man" 5 lbs). Finally got a job, albeit a mediocre one, and have been having trouble (read: not doing it at all) building exercise into my routine.
However I just turned 25 and I've been yelling since I was 19 that when I was 25 I would be done smoking forever. I don't know about forever, but I am going to try not to smoke while also trying to build up better stamina re: running. I lost almost all of my fitness and feel awful and flabby. Does anyone have tips on how to not get hung up on how out of shape I am compared to this time last year?
So glad you're here! That's just fantastic. I'm not a smoker nor have I ever been, but my dad has smoked since he was 15 so I know how hard it can be for even the most determined of people. You look gorgeous in your photo, btw! So sorry but I don't have any advice on quitting an addiction.
What I can say about comparing your fitness level? Don't do it! Really! There's really no point for treating yourself so harshly. Life happens and we do the best we can with what we've got. Just give yourself a break and make a commitment to get back on track. The past is only useful if you're going to learn from it, not beat yourself up about it. That type of thinking will only lead you to dread getting back on track. Instead, give yourself lots of positive reinforcement for anything that you do to better your health, no matter how small it is...and you build on it slowly . I've heard that muscle has memory, so use that to your advantage. Build up slowly and you'll progress faster than you think. Just don't give up. We need you here! I've put on some lbs. as well and am doing everything that I can to get my mojo back. This is not the easiest time of the year for those of us with food issues....heck, it's tough for people who don't even have food issues! As stated in your signature....push on some more!
I too have watched others struggle through the powerful hold of tobacco - my mom started at 14 and was not able to successfully quit until she was 66, though she tried for over 20 years)! It seems to be a lot like weight loss; there's no formula that works for everyone. Maybe like eating, it might help to figure out what you use smoking FOR - is it a habit of having something in your hands, the way the nicotine makes you feel, an image you want to portray, or something completely unique to you? Caveat: I don't know ANYTHING about doing battle with this - I am merely reeling off some talking points I learned when Mom was attending workshops, getting accupuncture, lasers, the patch, the pill, the jar of butts, and she would tell me what insights she was learning! What finally ticked her off enough to quit was adding up all the money and taxes she spent on smoking, plus the costs of the typically twice-per-winter trips to the doctor to deal with respiratory infections. I kid you not - she literally could have paid cash for the two-month tour of Europe she's always wanted to do. It adds up freakishly fast!
What I can offer up are some thoughts on being stuck with looking backward. IMO, the only good thing to be found there is identifying what was going on in your life and your head when you were on target. Beyond that, I've learned that time spent dwelling in the past is just time that you can't spend taking action to make things better. This is a major theme of 2012 for me; it's a spin-off of the quote "Begin with the end in mind." Know where you are GOING - it's about forward, and pushing on some more!
Krampus, I give you so much credit for checking in, since personally, whenever I feel "off," I tend to avoid this place. Out of shame. I'm like a bad dog with my tail between my legs, a dog who knows she's been bad, and is skulking about, trying to make herself small and invisible. It really takes a strong will to NOT AVOID and to return and to not feel shame. And you know what? The warmth of the welcome is always worth it? Turns out I'm the one who does the shaming, not the people here. Yes, me.
I push away what I need the most.
That's one of my lifelong paradoxes that I have to work at overcoming.
So I am glad you're back. Krampus, I like you. We like you. We'll take you any way we can get you. No matter what physical condition or head space you're in.
And I wish I could tell you regular exercise is the panacea, but it isn't. I don't miss a day. (Not even Christmas Day.) And I still struggle.
I just tell myself: I did it before and I can do it again. I am the same person with the same traits and abilities that made it happen before, I can do it again.
I have no sage advice on how to not get hung up on this year to last year comparisons - I do them pretty much every day. I am trying to learn to forgive myself though. To stop being angry with myself for getting into a bad spot and to look at what I did to get there. You have gained some weight at the beginning of a new relationship and a new job. Both great things in your life, I hope, but new routines and patterns. Once you get those settled in you will be able to get back to your healthier habits with more comfort.
Birthday
Birthday!
So sorry but I don't have any advice on quitting an addiction.
What finally ticked her off enough to quit was adding up all the money and taxes she spent on smoking, plus the costs of the typically twice-per-winter trips to the doctor to deal with respiratory infections. I kid you not - she literally could have paid cash for the two-month tour of Europe she's always wanted to do. It adds up freakishly fast!
