No Smoking Here! 6+ months!

Can you believe it?? I'm barely believing it! Over 6 months of not smoking. Over. Six. Months! That's half a year!

I started working out again, and I'm trying to establish a routine that works for my schedule (which is CRAZY).

So far, I've worked out 9 out of the last 11 days. Woohoo!

Okay. For anyone who hasn't kept up with this blog from the beginning: I decided it was time to quit smoking, when I did an obstacle course run, and felt like I was going to die, before even STARTING any obstacles.

It was before even a half mile. Of course, I was climbing a hill, that is meant to be skied (skiied?) down. The kicker? I was BARELY walking up that hill.

My lungs were burning, and it wasn't from the August heat in Missouri. My pulse was off the charts. My eyes felt like they were buldging out of my head. I wanted to cough. Hell, maybe I did cough.

 I just remember, I didn't enjoy myself, during that run. I sign up for ocrs, because I think they are fun.  It wasn't fun. At all. I was embarrassed.

 And then there were the photos. Oh. Dear. God. The photos. My face was a scowl in every single one. I should have been smiling, and having a good time.

Nope.

Because why?

Because I smoked.

Because I smoked a pack of cigarettes a day.
And now?
Have a look:

I want to tell anyone who is struggling to quit, that you can do it! It takes 21 days to form a habit. Use the patch, finds something for your hands to do, for 21 days. You will be as amazed with yourself as I still am with myself. I only used the patch for 8-10 weeks. Now, I'm completely off of nicotine! 

Good luck, fellow quitters! 

❤

Tabbie

33 days!

This quitter is really quitting, everyone! Just in case you were wondering. 

Not smoking has left me with lots of time on my hands. I'm not complaining. I'm just trying to find fun things to do, to make that free time more fun. 

So far, I have:

Perfected the art of "bathroom selfies".

Yes, I totally taught my kid how to take bathroom selfies. Ha!

I have started going to stores, just to earn kicks. Have you ever heard of shopkick? You look crazy, walking through stores, just scanning items, with your phone, but, whatever. It's incredibly addictive! 

Then, there are these other two apps I downloaded, one is called Ibotta, and the other is called checkout51. Both pay you for scanning receipts, after you go shopping. Pretty crazy! I'm no good at couponing, so, these will suffice. 

And, when I'm feeling into it, I have yoga and workout apps, ON. MY. PHONE! (Both free!!)

As a matter of fact, all my apps are free. I'm too cheap to pay for an app. Haha! 

Oh yeah! And two other apps I have are for finding out if the food I buy is organic, nonGMO, and for skin products, to find out the health and  environmental risks! Such fun!

So, now you know what I've been up to. 

(Avoiding housework)

;)

22 days!

So, I've gone 22 days without smoking! Amazed, I am. 

Now, I've heard the saying, "It only takes 21 days to form a habit," from multiple people, since I have started down this path I've chosen. 

Does that mean it also only takes 21 days to break a habit? Not likely, eh?

So, about habits. I haven't picked up any new habits, which is a blessing, and could be  potentially dangerous. At 1 and a half weeks of being a quitter, I lost 5lbs. I was stoked! 

You all know the rumors, right? "When you quit smoking, you are going to gain weight!" 

Not me, I thought. 

Hello, extra weight! F-u 3 ways from Sunday! 

Not only did I gain my 5 lbs back, but I added 10 lbs to that, as of Saturday night (or Thursday night, I can't remember). All I wanted to do was cry. Now, I started out, excited to be able to do a work out, without losing my breath. 

I haven't really formed a habit, out of working out. Smart cookie, I am. 

Ugh! I am so happy that I'm not smoking, but so so so not happy that I'm gaining weight. 

November 2012, I decided to be a vegetarian. I did it. I quit meat, cold turkey. (Pun, much?)

Now, I would LOVE to go back to eating as healthily as I was while I wasn't eating meat. Sad news, TABBIE LOVES BREAD!! And cheese. God I love cheese! If I could learn to be a healthy vegan, I would try, but, I need to keep my cheese. At least, I think I do. I'm pretty sure, if I went a week without cheese, you'd catch me, binge eating cheese, by the end of that week.

I know, I sound like I'm rambling, but there is a point. Really, I promise. 

So. Back to forming habits. Replacing bad habits with good ones. 

I'm no longer smoking, so let us replace that habit. Maybe, every time I would typically smoke, I'll do stretches. You know, yoga style. (I downloaded a new yoga videos app.) 

And... Here's the kicker, my friends. 

Maybe every time I want to eat crap food, I will do 3 burpees. That should help, right? Maybe that's what I need to do. (If you have no clue what a burpee is, I suggest looking it up, so you can feel my pain)

 I could set an alarm to go off, every hour, on the hour, reminding me to do my stretches. Or maybe I could set the alarms at every 90 minutes, and just do the stretches, AND the burpees. 

Who knows, maybe by this time, next month, I'll be vegan? My husband will be so annoyed with me, but, he will support me 100%. 

I will let y'all know what I choose to do, tomorrow. ;)

Until then, good morning, good afternoon, and good night.