Witness the Fitness: new thread for your health

[donblood]

(continued from the white courtesy phone - this seemed a better place for it)

(plus that Roots Manuva song is great, especially when he aggressively intones the lyric "I'm sitting here content with this cheese on toast")

I'm a week into quitting smoking, and while I'm still struck with the urge to commit a murder every twenty minutes (sometimes even less), I've at least made it this far, and so it ranks high among past attempts.

And I faced a Trial today - I found an unopened pack of cigarettes in my bag.  They're still in the bag.  Just...  sitting there.  I haven't thrown them out or rendered them unsmokable, since they're worth $10 in these parts and it seems wrong, but I'm not sure how much longer they can stay.

I'm not sure anyone understands how addicted to cigarettes I was (and am).  Like "only friend" level addicted.  "Only thing keeping me sane" addicted.  "There is no point in living a miserable, smoke-free life past the age of forty-five" addicted.

I've been going to the gym a lot and riding my bike even more.  I have moments where I get on the bike and go through a smoker's thought process - "This is gonna hurt, since I smoke so many cigarettes" - and times when I do the same getting off the bike - "I just exercised a lot, so it's fine that I smoke so many cigarettes, especially the next one I shall smoke."

Updates as I either lose what's left of my mind or come back to something like my senses.

[elpollodiablo]

Gum, dude, seriously. Or something to keep down the chemical rages. I couldn't have done it without a crutch.

[mixed cats]

I have nothing to add, except to wish you luck!

[davy]

Witness THIS Fitness:

The Shake Weight



[As seen on ESPN]

[FreddyKnuckles]

Witness THIS Fitness:

The Shake Weight



[As seen on ESPN]

I saw the SNL skit before I saw the actual ad and I gotta say the ad is way funnier

[davy]

There's an SNL sketch?!

[RavingLunatic]

How can you go wrong with an "Ironclad Kick-Butt Guarantee"?

[clare]

Riiiiight....

I really need to start exercising somehow. I have no core strength at all.

[FreddyKnuckles]

There's an SNL sketch?!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/143264/saturday-night-live-shake-weight-dvd

[reebty]

Man, I'm glad I don't smoke in addition to being fat. Not gloating, just thankful. I know Troy McClure starred in a health video called Smoke Yourself Thin, but look what happened to the fucker.

[jebreject]

I put my gym membership on hold and already I feel like I've let myself go. Hopefully more bike rides will help with that.

[donblood]

I'm going to bike to work for the first time tomorrow!  Slowly the obstacles have been cleared:  I have a gym membership that gives me access to showers 6 blocks from work, and my building installed indoor bike parking.

(I may also have ordered some lycra off the internet, but I'll be wearing it under normal clothes - don't tell anyone)

[diesel_powered]

There is absolutely zero shame in spandex fitness wear. If I don't wear the spandex shorts under the regular ones, I chafe like a mofo.

[FreddyKnuckles]

yeah only for biking though.  and wrestling

[mixed cats]

There is absolutely zero shame in spandex fitness wear. If I don't wear the spandex shorts under the regular ones, I chafe like a mofo.

I wear bike shorts under skirts and dresses for this very reason.


I am considering signing up for a class at the Kung Fu place around the corner. When I graduated college, people would ask what I was going to do, and I'd say, "I'm going to learn karate," and the closest place doesn't do karate but close enough. BUT oh I am sort of terrified. BUT also it would be a nice place to get my seething rage in check.

[diesel_powered]

I wear them under shorts whenever I do any exercise or have to be walking for hours on end. They also do wonders for avoiding the dreaded "tacky sack" (hint hint, NY summer-haters).

I totally support your Kung Fu aspirations and await reports on your advances in ninja technique. Hopefully they will teach you the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique.

[YojimboMonkey]

I try not to wear spandex where people can see because I don't want people to feel bad about their own puny underdeveloped leg muscles.  And also because I don't want people to feel grody feelings about my doughy pudgy nasty upper body.  Either way, because I'm just too considerate of other people's feelings.

[diesel_powered]

I'd just like to reiterate the fact that I think spandex is never okay as outerwear, no matter what kind of slender legs or perfectly sculpted bubble butt you may have.

[Greg Nog]

I would like to see more people wearing spandex and carrying ray-guns.

[Bernard]

Back in the gym for the first time in ages. I feel like Phillipe, all full of optimism. Maybe this is the time it'll stick!

[G.C.R]

I really, really wanted to go to the gym today but all my gym gear needs washing. I'm so frustrated! I will go for a big long walk, but really, it doesn't feel like its going to cut it.

[donblood]

Hey pollo & Yojimbo & anyone else that's quit serious long-term heavy smoking (sorry coldforge):  when did your hacking-out-lungs phase start, and how long did it last?  (Assuming you had one, I mean.  I guess I'm not too clear on how heavily y'all were smoking.)  I had a bit of coughing in the mornings from the very beginning, but today I'm ten days in and it won't stop.  Fond remembrances?

[diesel_powered]

Took me maybe a month? But the first two weeks were worse than the last.

[elpollodiablo]

I smoked pretty heavily for ~13 years. My lung butter expulsions started a couple weeks after I quit and lasted a few months. I also got really frequent sore throats there for a while, and my voice started to sound odd. That could be undiagnosed throat cancer, though.
I think it's normal for your pipes to be offish for months after you quit, especially if you were a long-term and heavy smoker as I was & you were.

[eula]

db, I was never more than 1/2 pack a day, but the general coughing was a good 3-4 weeks for me anyway.  The nasty-shit-coughing stage didn't last more than a week, but I was running every day at that point, and that helped. I recommend sticking with lung-busting exercise for the first few weeks to help clear out the system.

As far as the murderous rage and cravings, I swear by carrots. Constant angry chomping of baby carrots. Not too many or you can turn orange temporarily, which actually could be fun. I've heard people recommend celery, but celery's fucking lame.