Cindi,

Everyone is welcome to post. Your thoughts and opinions are as important as anyone else.

well, keep up the good work all. Quittting was the best thing i ever did.. Ran my 3rd 5k race on Sunday and again improved my time to 27:48. I won the 46 year old, overweight, 30 yr ex smoker division..... No speed demon, but I couldnt ddive that fast when I smoked>>>lol Really im a distance minded. Did 14 miles in 2:41:01 yesterday... im sore , tired, achy and grateful..... I will run a marathon next year

Okay, Jen, I just looked at your profile, and not only are we the same weight and height, but we have the same birthday! I am a few years older than you (1974), but what a funny coincidence. Go Aries girls! And, BTW, our goal weights are the same too.
-Marisa

Oh my favorite was always, "You should quit." I always wanted to respond to that "You should stop eating fatty foods and start excercising, lard a$$!" but I never had the guts. I think people found it more acceptable to tell me what to do because I'm a younger woman. Anyone else notice that?

I also had a problem with people giving me dirty looks for smoking in the smoking section. Is it my fault the restaurant set it up so you HAVE to walk through the smoking section to get to non-smoking?!?

My absolute favorite always was the fake cougher. Okay, I get it, you don't like cigarette smoke. Stop inhaling it and go away.

I guess being a non-smoker means I don't insult anyone by my mere presence anymore. That's a plus, right?

I agree with Jen. I didn't go to the bar for a month after I quit smoking. When I finally went, instead of getting a beer, which was my usual drink, I ordered a frou-frou strawberry daquiri complete with umbrella and pineapple slice. Not a drink you can smoke with. That helped, too.

And of course, I ran.



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I cannot tell you all how much I love and NEED this thread. I'm on day 3 here (round 1 million). I smoked for the last 10 years while continuing to be athletic, but obviously not able to perform at my peak. My run this morning felt really good. I can tell my lungs are breathing more efficiently and I am encouraged. I dread the weekend, but am confident I can survive if I just continue to read all of these wonderful posts! Seriously friends, I find this to be very theraputic and supportive. KEEP EM COMING!

P.S. I signed up for a Thanksgiving 10K to keep myself into training and off of cigs!

http://This message has been edited by fragileknees (edited Nov-07-2007).

Larry- In all reality the only way you're going to quit is because you really and truly want to. Believe me, I started out on my quitting with three other people and I'm the only one still not smoking. I wanted it. So, until then, best of luck, keep trying, and keep running!

LeahLulu-Oh yes, the too pretty to smoke line. I remember it well.

I've actually noticed a difference in how I look, maybe because I'm drinking so much water because of the workout, but I think my skin's getting better without the smoking. Yay! Or maybe it's because I'm happy with all my workouts and how things are coming along and it just shines through.

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Gee....I never had anyone tell me I was too pretty to smoke!?

I can remember the biggest thing that kept me smoking was companies that outlawed it for no other reason than trying to force smokers not to smoke. I remember well the company I worked at for 18 years. I had cut down to carltons. Was about ready to quit. They declared war on smoking. So I kept smoking cigars. And kept...

I'm thankful where I work now. There is very good reason not to smoke. At a High School. But when it really doesn't matter. Late at night, outside. They aren't harrasing me. I can sneak out after I've got things done before quitting time at midnight. So that helps make it easier to quit.

Gotta just keep thinking bad about any smoking. It ain't important. What's important is living better.

Maybe other quitters can input. I've heard that your nerves actually get much calmer after going through the quitting process. The thinking I'll smoke to calm my nerves is a lie. The only reason the nerves are bad is from smoking.

When I went to cigars from cigarettes. I had bought a $94 box of cigars. And that's before they became popular. Now that same box of cigars costs about $400 and they aren't as good of quality. So I went on a weeks vacation. Smoked up that whole box of cigars in 4 days. I was thankfull I was in Vegas so I could find some more. I'm down to swisher little cigars now. Gotta get off these suckers for good.

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Ron
When being chased by a bear...You don't have to outrun the bear. You just have to outrun the other guy.