Smokers At the Gym
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Ha! As a former smoker I sympathize with the smokers- I feel like all of you pointing out that its 'counterproductive' think the smokers are stupid or delusional or somehow missed the memo that smoking negatively impacts your health. I assure you, they didn't. It's incredibly expensive and makes you a social pariah. With the exception of the people that won't quit because they fear weight gain, and the occasional smokers rights campaigner, smokers are all trying to quit smoking all the time.
You know how I quit? Going to the gym and running.
Finally, at more than one half marathon I've done, I've seen people light up a cigarette in the quarter mile shuttle walk at the end. This is a short walk after the finish line where all the runners are kind of cramped together to get your medals and your chip cut off your shoe, etc. There's no way to get away from someone in that situation. THAT, I think is obnoxious and kind of ironically funny, but being near a building smoking is not a big deal or a health risk for someone who has to walk by you for a moment. There are so much more important things to worry about.0 -
Also, I love how people de-friend another person for a simple. slightly silly, partially arrogant post. I mean, so it goes in the world of virtual friends. How great is that? Like, flash of lightning, and boom, no more friend. Awesome. Love it.
I am assuming this is directed at me, since I am the only one that has mentioned this on this thread. Yes, I defriended not one, but two people due to this thread. Here are my reasons. #1. I don't associate with judgemental people in "real" life, so why would I accept it in the virtual world? #2. I AM a smoker. I need someone that is going to support me, as a person, smoker and all. Not someone who will tell me that I am nasty and disgusting, and laugh at me in my vain attempts to eat healthier, work out daily, all while being a smoker.
So yeah. I did it. And you are right. I AM awesome, and you SHOULD love it, because I stand up for myself, and don't take **** from bullies.
A flower for you too. :flowerforyou:
Sure I directed it at you, but it was my intention to hit as many people participating on this fantastic thread as possible! Seriously, if you want to view a showcase of people who treat each other like as$holes, go to a forum where people are trying to improve their lives.
Let's agree that the OP succumbed to a moment of lighthearted arrogance, and the common ignorance that all non-smokers have. Harmless, ridiculous, ignorant. Then we get to enjoy the wave of support she received from the first response team, all of whom give a fantastic demonstration of insensitivity. This is great stuff already. But then we get--and I think we can all agree that there is nothing more hilarious--the overpowering counter wave of self-righteous indignation. Comment after comment after comment of nailing the OP to the wall. Totally brilliant. The classic self-righteous overreaction that floods out of the soul like its been trapped in there for way too long.
But that's only fourth gear! Fifth gear: de-friending! I mean, it's so perfect! Not only can you stop being friends in the virtual world just like that, you can do it publicly! It would be better if you could have a little flash file or something showing you clicking the de-friend button. Or maybe some way of virtually punching another person in the face. But I'm sure technology will catch up soon enough.
Like I said before, non-smokers are clueless and should pipe down; smokers--we're all hypocrites. It's bad. We know it. Onward.0 -
The only thing I hate about smokers at the gym is when they're on the treadmill running next to you, and they start sweating, and the smell like a wet ashtray. It makes me ill even as an ex smoker.
But I hate when people come in perfumed up too, in the pool or in the machine room. It's strange because I workout at nine am. You would think most people wouldn't have put on perfume yet.
Eta for stupid auto correct.0 -
"You can say that no someone won't die from walking for a split second through a cloud of smoke, but seriously? Have that happen enough times, or even once, you have no idea which straw could be the last one before someone gets lung cancer... I think I'm done here. People are just... really selfish. Not that surprising I guess. If it really means that much to someone to be able to smoke right next to a building entrance that they're willing to put someone else's life in danger, that's just really insane to me. I personally have no issue with not smoking in public at all, and if I do, I keep a very good distance from entryways. Not hard."
People are just... really ignorant. Your healthy, pristine lungs will heal any small (imaginary) damage that they come in contact with on any given day. Do you know what pollution is? Car exhaust? Paint fumes? Brief contact with any pollutant, including cigarette smoke, is NOT going to give you cancer. Long term exposure is what you have to worry about, which is why you cannot smoke inside a public building anymore.
I think it's really insane that people go on anti smoker crusades fueled by blind, ignorant fear. Have you ever even peeked at a study on second hand smoke? Or do you just like the pretty posters hanging in public buildings that say smoking is bad?0 -
I have every right to stop and have a cigarette when and where I like it as long as it's outside. Who are you to tell me that i have to smoke in the middle of the street just because YOU are passing by. :mad:
So, you think your rights matter more than everyone else's then? Your right to smoke shouldn't infringe on others' rights. They have just as much of a right to NOT breathe in your cigarette smoke. The difference there is, you can still smoke and not do it where someone is bound to walk into a building, basically forcing them to walk through that cloud of smoke. For them, they pretty much have to walk through it if you're there smoking, unless they don't need / want to go inside the building... see my point?
There are too many unpleasant and unhealthy odors in life to expect a "right" to be free of them. Just hold your breath for 3 seconds and deal with it.
This attitude right here I'm positive is why so many people look down on smokers. Is it going to KILL you to smoke 20 feet further away? No. Will it KILL someone else to inhale your cigarette smoke? Possibly.
gimme a break !!!0 -
I insist that cows fart 20 feet away from me. If the methane doesn't getcha...
I also respectfully request all Axe sprayed gentlemen keep that shif away from my squat rack, thankee. It gives me an asthma attack...and I don't even have asthma.
Thanks in advance.0 -
I started working out and losing weight on July31st 2011. I smoked over a pack a day. Go to zumba, light up in parking lot. Go for longer than mile walk? Take smokes with you! On Oct 1st I set a quit date of December 1st. Actually quit on Dec 9th.
It has been Time Smoke-Free: 138 days, 5 hours, 5 minutes and 20 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 2764
Lifetime Saved: 21 days, 2 hours
Money Saved: $828.00
I WOULD KICK KITTENS FOR A SMOKE SOME DAYS (TODAY BEING ONE OF THEM)
I cannot smoke again because I got a tattoo celebrating my quitting and would have to cut off my leg if I started again! So when you smokers light up at the door to the gym could you blow some smoke my way? Thanks!
:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: two flowers for me because I am having a rough day
:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: THREE flowers for rchupka just because I think I love you. :drinker:0 -
No worse than people who eat cheeseburgers being at the gym...0
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Stop judging. Do you like it when people judge you?0
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Not gonna lie, I have notice that when I smoke THEN go work out I breath BETTER and have a higher cal burn. But I only smoke occasionally, less than a pack a week.0
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I insist that cows fart 20 feet away from me. If the methane doesn't getcha...
I also respectfully request all Axe sprayed gentlemen keep that shif away from my squat rack, thankee. It gives me an asthma attack...and I don't even have asthma.
Thanks in advance.
Please. You know my Axe body spray makes you rip my clothes off. I seen the commercial!0 -
I am a smoker, but I dont smoke AT the gym...in fact when I leave I wait until I get out of the parking lot due to all the judgers out there (ya know like the first 5 pages of this thread)0
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And... don't think for even a second that smokers are the only people who stink.
amen0 -
As someone who had been a pack-a-day smoker for over 20 years, let me tell you, quitting is no easy task. The fittest points of my life thus far involved a pack of Marbie Lights and a cup of coffee. I enjoyed smoking before a run, after a run, pretty much every hour or so..
The sad part is this. Everyday, I would tell myself I would quit tomorrow. I always beat myself up about it. How can I be so weak? I tried EVERYTHING atleast 2 times: patches, gum, hypnosis, Wellbutrin, cold turkey, Allan Carr's book, and nothing seemed to work.
I don't know one smoker who doesn't think about quitting all the time. I also don't know a smoker that is not very defensive about the addiction. The bottom line is, if you have never been a smoker then you DO NOT get it. (And be really glad)
As previous posters have said, smoking and going to the gym are not mutually exclusive.
People are so judgey.
Edited for spelling.0 -
To each his own. I'm trying to lose weight and be healthier but that doesn't mean I NEVER eat junk food.
What I don't like is when I am at the gym and someone who has just smoked gets on the treadmill next to me. I'm very sensitive to cigarette smoke (I also have asthma) and can't stand the smell. THIS bothers the hell out of me!!0 -
I say good for anyone exercising. EVEN smokers. I didn't start exercising until after I quit smoking but people like you are not helping by saying such things. Be supportive. Perhaps they are at the gym trying to get healthier to motivate themselves to quit smoking. Quitting is hard and not something I would expect a non-smoker to understand but I don't judge smokers, I try to understand and help if I can.
This! ^^^
People get healthy in a way they can manage. Today its exercise, tomorrow maybe they quit smoking. Be supportive. Picking on other people's struggles aren't going to help you achieve your own goals.0 -
Who really cares? I don't smoke but I don't care if someone chooses to light up after the gym. You should worry about yourself.0
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People are just... really ignorant. Your healthy, pristine lungs will heal any small (imaginary) damage that they come in contact with on any given day. Do you know what pollution is? Car exhaust? Paint fumes? Brief contact with any pollutant, including cigarette smoke, is NOT going to give you cancer. Long term exposure is what you have to worry about, which is why you cannot smoke inside a public building anymore.
I think it's really insane that people go on anti smoker crusades fueled by blind, ignorant fear. Have you ever even peeked at a study on second hand smoke? Or do you just like the pretty posters hanging in public buildings that say smoking is bad?
Do you just enjoy being rude to people or what? I see nothing wrong with people trying to do everything they can to be healthy and extend their lifespan. Who the hell wouldn't be afraid of cancer? People get it all the time for no apparent reason, why take any unnecessary risks that could be avoided and possibly keep them from getting cancer? Who does it hurt? I really don't understand why people are defending this so fiercely. Smoking is BAD for you. Yes, so is pollution, but that's not something that can always be avoided. Smoking is a choice made by those who do it, and they CAN choose not to smoke around other people who don't do it if they really want to be considerate. Whether or not it can or will give someone cancer isn't even the whole of it; it's just plain rude to do that in a public area, period.0 -
To each his own. I'm trying to lose weight and be healthier but that doesn't mean I NEVER eat junk food.
What I don't like is when I am at the gym and someone who has just smoked gets on the treadmill next to me. I'm very sensitive to cigarette smoke (I also have asthma) and can't stand the smell. THIS bothers the hell out of me!!
So move.
I prefer not to run next to people whose deoderant gives out halfway through, those with the "runner trots" (or the gassy part anyway) or heavy drinkers. So I move.0 -
the only thing i hate about smokers is how they taste when you make out with them, and that they smell gross like cigarettes, or that they throw their cigarette butts everywhere.
the way i support a smoker at the gym is by not supporting smoking.0 -
Hahaha I used to look forward to that post-workout smoke in the car as I left the gym parking lot back when I was a smoker, not even going to lie. I associated smoking with breaks/downtime, and sweating my butt off for an hour required a break afterwards, cigarette in hand. Logical? Not in the least, but justifiable in an nicotine addict's mind.
Now if anything, getting winded half-way into my workout is enough to keep me away from the cigs apart from all the other good reasons to quit (for the most part, I slip up and have a casual smoke a few times in a year at social gatherings, but I'm really working on cutting them out 100% instead of 98%)0 -
And now on that note, I'm going for a *kitten* :happy: :flowerforyou:0
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We all pass judgement on other's everyday in our lives.
We all make premature decisions about other people everyday in our lives.
We all have our own behaviours and life styles which have defined who we are over many years, whether this is a good or bad life style does not matter. It is what it is.
The important thing to remmeber is that almost everyone on this site, regardless of their life style is chosing to make a difference for themselves firstly and for their own personal improvement.
We decide very quickly about other people who do not fall into our ideal of what is good.
Years of performing habits which are not healthy are extremley difficult to break and change whether it is using food, using cigarettes, drinking or drugs etc. I think everyone here knows the amount of will power to make these changes is extrodinary, everyone here has already made this choice and started a journey that will improve their lives for their betterment.
Losing weight is just the first part, not long after we start working out and training, applying small goals for ourselves, these turn into bigger goals. More weight lose, running a 5k, 10k, riding for your bike for 10 miles, 40 miles.
I am a smoker. I smoke 1 pack a day. It takes time to break habits, smoking is a habit that can be broken, and it is another goal in my future to change for myself.
Let's remember where most of us where at physically and emotionally before we all started on this journey that we now can share with others, without judgement, without contempt. But with compasion and with encouragement and with the joy of succeding in making the small changes become the larger goal.
I read this and laughed at myself for getting so puffy about the topic. He's right, and we all know it. Thanks for laying down some real wisdom. You certainly helped me chill out. :glasses:0 -
Ugh, I feel like I shouldn't get into this...
I smoke. I have quit for months at a time, and it is miserable. If you have never smoked, you have absolutely no idea how difficult it is to quit. You cannot conceive of what a quitting person is going through. You just can't. The desire never goes away. It gets better with time, but it doesn't completely go away. If it does, I never quit for that long.
Quitting for me goes like this...
Day 1 Hour 1- YESS I am gonna do this. Ciggs are evil.
Day 1 5 minutes later- Dont think about smoking...dont think about smoking. Dont think about smoking.
Day 1 2 hours later- I start to feel like I am not actually on this planet. Its like not being able to relax while having that super crazy sharp feeling of being really over tired. I feel like Arnold when he gets thrown out onto the surface of Mars without a space suit in Total Recall.
Day 1 3 hours later- pacing begins, tantrums will happen if provoked, eating and sleep is the only thing that helps and its only temporary,
Day 1 Night time- Crying begins. Yes, I cry. It is mental and physical anguish.
Day 2 morning- Feeling ok- totally better than the day before
Day 2 afternoon- Mental torture. Bargaining. Thinking just one puff would make it better. Just one! I swear! Hating smokers who havent quit. Hating non smokers. Hating people who congratulate you...nothing matters or makes it better.
Day 2 evening- Can go either way. This day usually ends with- I will NEVER SMOKE AGAIN.
Fast Forward- a week later- the first major pang- I usually cry again.
Then, drink in hand- weeks or months later, someone is smoking...and I bum one. Repeat process.
All that aside, I do prefer to avoid people outside when I am smoking. I refuse to smoke near children, and can smell stale smoke in my clothes and do not like it. It isnt healthy, everyone knows it. It feels really good for smokers and hurts reaaaallly bad when they stop. I dont really know where I was going with this, but there it is.0 -
People are just... really ignorant. Your healthy, pristine lungs will heal any small (imaginary) damage that they come in contact with on any given day. Do you know what pollution is? Car exhaust? Paint fumes? Brief contact with any pollutant, including cigarette smoke, is NOT going to give you cancer. Long term exposure is what you have to worry about, which is why you cannot smoke inside a public building anymore.
I think it's really insane that people go on anti smoker crusades fueled by blind, ignorant fear. Have you ever even peeked at a study on second hand smoke? Or do you just like the pretty posters hanging in public buildings that say smoking is bad?
Do you just enjoy being rude to people or what? I see nothing wrong with people trying to do everything they can to be healthy and extend their lifespan. Who the hell wouldn't be afraid of cancer? People get it all the time for no apparent reason, why take any unnecessary risks that could be avoided and possibly keep them from getting cancer? Who does it hurt? I really don't understand why people are defending this so fiercely. Smoking is BAD for you. Yes, so is pollution, but that's not something that can always be avoided. Smoking is a choice made by those who do it, and they CAN choose not to smoke around other people who don't do it if they really want to be considerate. Whether or not it can or will give someone cancer isn't even the whole of it; it's just plain rude to do that in a public area, period.
It won't give you cancer. Probably as risky as spraying hairspray at yourself in a bathroom. Hairspray is probably worse. Since it is not, in any way whatsoever, hurting you, what is the problem?
There is not always the choice to go somewhere else. Of course it's polite to move away from doors, but you act like they are exhaling a death sentence on you rather than a very minor annoyance.0 -
I haven't really encountered any smokers at our gym, but I'm sure some must. One shouldn't judge lest he or she be judged. Just don't say anything to me when as I'm leaving after an intense circuit training or zumba workout that I turn left at the light and go get my coffee. Or after I arrive home I inhale half a bag of tortilla chips. We all have our monkeys on our backs and the consequences thereof.
Good luck to all on this life journey that we share. God speed and peace.0 -
I just quit smoking 3 days ago. Who are any of you to judge what other people are doing? Mind your own business. :indifferent:
exactly, mind your own business, at least they're outside smoking, or in their own vehicle...jesus, you aren't perfect, i'm pretty sure you have a vice or something that's not healthy for you that you do...stop being such a snob
This!! Mind your own business! Maybe you could be a little bit compassionate if you stopped having so much negativity in you. You should encourage anyone to better their lives instead of saying they should stay out of the gym just because they smoke! Maybe you should stay out of the gym because you have a negative attitude!0 -
Ok guys, sorry --- I guess there goes my feeble attempts at making new MFP pals. LOL!
but, I was enlightened (pun intended) I appreciate all the responses. I see it strikes a very emotional chord in most people. And brings out the shining maturity in most
happy wednesday guys! thanks for playing!
This could not have gone any other way... not being a smoker yourself you don't understand how protective smokers are about their rights and how angry it makes them when people who don't understand judge them. I speak from the experience of a former smoker who quit at least 3 times before it stuck. It's been almost 5 years and sometimes I still want one. I've heard this opinion from coworkers who see others walking at lunchtime and all I have to say is, it's better than sitting at their desks eating big macs.0 -
I always find it ironic to see someone smoking before or after their work out..but I know it's a habit that's hard to quit. That being said it annoys the *kitten* out of me when someone jumps onto the treadmill next to me thats obviously a smoker and REEKS of their last cigarette!!!! I have allergies and asthma it really causes a lot of irritation to my nose and throat. Yuck stinky!!0
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I wouldnt judge them if theyre at the gym.
One thing that does irk me is seeing nurses outside a hospital smoking or nurses inside a hospital eating loads of unhealthy takeaway food (especially in the ward where all the people getting bypasses are).
The breathing respiratory therapist we see at DUKE children's hospital is a chain smoker! I'm like...dude, we were just in here b/c our son has chronic breathing problems...sure we'll wait while you take a smoke break....UM HELLO! LOL
do NOT get me started on doctors and nurses who have the WORST health practices. lord!
Believe it or not Doctors and Nurses are human too, they have the same problems as the rest of the world, some smoke, some overeat, some work so many hours they have no time for formal exercise. Hmmmm, imagine that humans, like the rest of us...don't judge0
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