Eyes Wide Open

dvigeant

Hello everyone. I am a newcomer to the MFP world. I am a 39 year old overweight smoker. I have been smoking for approx 22 years with about as many attempts to quit. I am the survivor of 2 heart attacks. After my second heart attack, I gained even more weight. I was hitting the 250 lb mark on a 5' 7" frame. Since my second heart attack, I have been looking through open eyes and seeing nothing. I honestly cant remember when I stopped seeing my own feet. One day I was playing frisbee with my son and daughter and had to keep taking breaks to catch my breath. It's a funny thing to stop to catch your breath and you light up a cigarette (and I don't mean that in a comidic way). The rational doesn't fit when you come to think of it; but, that was where I was. The light bulb turned on. I had my daughter run in the house and flush my cigarettes. We went in the house, grabbed a box, and started filling it with some of the unhealthy junk. I called my doctor and set up an appointment for a heart to heart. I began doing night walks with my twin brother and my older sister. Two weeks later I was down to 236 lbs and the doctor sent me to our local health and fitness center. I met katykid15 there. She has begun training me down the correct path. She introduced me to MFP. I began last week with my first weigh in at 225lbs and 4 and a half weeks cigarette free. I have set a weight goal but my true goal is the Walt Disney World 26 mile marathon in January. I registered and ordered my airline ticket to help influence my goal. With the help of katykid15, I only have one ambition and that is to succeed. My weight is an obvious goal, but a new lifestyle is what will add another 10 years to my life. I am finally starting to really see.

anna_lisa

really inspirational. Thanks for sharing the message. There is always hope and we can always make choices to healthier life.

Bigmomma0u812

Great post. It sounds like you're doing fantastic!

kellyyjean

Good for you! Trying to lose weight and quiting smoking at the same time is very hard. You are on your way. You will love this site. It is very motivating. Congrats! :flowerforyou:

emgs52

Welcome your amazing and you will do great on this new life style change,I also just quit smoking,20 days now,its a struggle but so worth it,and it makes working out so much easier good luck

history_grrrl

Congratulations for choosing the path to health! This is great news.

I'm also an ex-smoker. I quit cold turkey but got a lot of support from an online forum (this was 13 years ago, so it was the "olden days" of online discussion boards). I still have a SilkQuit quitmeter on my computer; watching it ticking along was a great motivator. You fill in your data, and it calculates how much you haven't smoked, how much money you've saved, etc. You can download it free: http://www.silkquit.org/stop-smoking/quit-meter.aspx

I was worried about gaining weight when I quit smoking, but I managed pretty well by eating three pints of blueberries a day.

Best of luck to you on your journey! You'll find a great community here.

history_grrrl, smober for twelve years, eleven months, two weeks, four days, 9 hours, 14 minutes and 8 seconds. 123146 cigarettes not smoked, saving $16,316.85. Life saved: 1 year, 8 weeks, 14 hours, 10 minutes.

hush7hush

Your title reminded me of an old Goo Goo Dolls song. [:

dvigeant

Thanks for the link,, its going on all my desktops.

rhodenizer

Congratulations you are doing wonderful. I live with a smoker who is gaining weight, I work with so many who are suffering through their later years with cancer from smoking and obesity, no quality of life, but the light bulb has to go on and yours is shining brightly. Just think, you will walk your daughter down the isle someday and thank her for flushing those cigs! All the best on your journey to a new healthy life.

robpett2001

Wow, what an inspiration! You are approaching it right, too -- focusing on changing your lifestyle, changing your life, IMPROVING your life! Many best wishes to you, you are going to do great, I'm sure.

If you'd like a fellow mid-life guy who's focused on creating new habits for life, please add me and we'll keep each other accountable, and cheer each other on!