Happy Thanksgiving

I just wanted want to wish everyone a lovely holiday. No matter what your diet and health regime, today we can all indulge a bit and have a fabulous meal. Due to the large amount of eating this is also a day that many people have a walk or hike somewhere. If you haven't been especially active lately and keep telling yourself your going to start some kind of exercise regime soon there's a good chance you can find someone who will join you in a good walk and you can sooner today the start of you exercise program! I highly recommend today because it will be easier than usual to find someone to take a walk with you before or after your meal and this will make you feel quite satisfied with yourself to boot. Also for those gathering with family and a little stressed about the whole experience you may find unusually strong urges or craving to smoke as smoking does release dopamine into the brain which will make you a little at ease for a few minutes. you may find a craving for that feeling of ease. A good walk for 20 to 30 minutes will do the same thing. Give it a try!

I also want to pass along a really great site I found on things to do when the the monkey's banging on you back. Check it out here.

Get Cooking

Hello there, I hope everyone is doing really well and if your checking in from the states have a great holiday this Thursday! The holiday season is upon us and now that were are pretty much moved in with most of our stuff unpacked and I've recovered from a disastrous round of being really sick its now time to buckle down and get cooking! Of course its all starts with recipe planning, then a grocery list, followed by a dry run of a new recipe. (I think I may have finally cooked something everyone can enjoy, but it took three tries.) last night a gigantic shop at the grocery market, and today and tomorrow morning some serious time in the kitchen.

Why am I going over this? Because the next few months will be the similar in planning, not just for the holidays, but so I can loose the weight I put on from my quit. I did shed a few pounds but not nearly enough to make a difference. An active life and a full schedule with others to feed can make anyone absently eat pick up meals, added to this is extra eating and a slightly slower metabolism due to quitting smoking and its easy to see how someone can pack on a few. I realize I need structure in my eating habits so right now I will be meal planning, cooking ahead of time and packing meals if I'm not eating at home. I can be a really healthy eater, I just need some awareness in my food intake right now.

Other than that I have had some urges which really annoy me, but not there everyday and they don't last long. Eventually I'm sure they'll pass completely, or I just won't care about it anymore.

In the meantime Happy Holiday!

Starting a new chapter

I am feeling a million times better! My energy has really lifted. The house is unpacked, my body is on the mend and I'm ready to begin life in our new home! Part of the new is exploring yoga studios which I will do this weekend. I have selected a little studio which I have been eyeing for a couple of years. I think it may really be aligned with my own yoga journey and I'm excited to try it out.

I no longer have nightly urges in the evening. Actually I no longer have urges and cravings at all. I think I have past some sort of tipping point. I'm sure there are triggers and urges to come but I doubt I will continue to experience anything on a daily basis. I also go days now where I forget about smoking altogether. Feels good.... like I ripped a demon off my shoulders.

Peace and love everyone and rock on

Home sick

I have been home not feeling well at all. Actually I have not been this sick in years. I went to the doctor to get checked out and get medication if I needed it. I did and was officially dubbed down for the count. He sent me packing with a script, a note for work and a suggestion to stay in bed. I asked him if this was related at all to the fact I quit smoking. He said it wasn't I was just sick and that it took a couple of years for the affects of smoking to clear out of the body. ( not really sure what that meant and not interested in anything but bed so I didn't ask) I was in no mood to talk ( having lost my voice). Getting sick, really sick, seems to be something a lot of people go through when they first quit smoking. Rebecca Traister wrote about her numerous trails and tribulations in the first six month of her quit. You can look back to my July 15,20o9 blog to find her article written in Salon.com. In the meantime I'm going back to bed, and just want to sip hot herbal tea with honey and sleep. I am feeling better and suspect I'll be well on my way and on the mend in a few more days.

Getting Organized

Still here. Unpacking, working, and going to school. Just trying to keep it together, get my possessions unpacked and in order and keep my deadlines for work and school. I had a few strong urges when we first moved in. I recognized the urges were actually feelings of being overwhelmed by the move and everything to do with the move and life obligations. I told myself it was OK and I could take all the breaks I wanted. I could unpack everything or none of it, and I could spend the next 60 years in boxes if I wanted, it was all OK. I felt much better after that and I haven't had any urges since. These past days I have forgotten about smoking completely. This is a great sign and means smoking will begin to really fade off to a place where forgotten things go. In the meantime my focus is on getting my house unpacked and in some kind of organization.

Peace and love everyone!

One more day

We are blazing through our move and will be completely moved by tomorrow. Its hectic; work, school, move into the new home and keep the schedule semi organized and sane if possible. The movers are coming to move the big items tomorrow and I think we will be sleeping in our new home by the evening, which is exciting. In the meantime I have a lot of stuff to throw out. This packing and moving is about unloading unwanted garbage. My basement is bulging. I took an appraisal yesterday and realized 85% of it needs to be thrown out with most of the the remaining in storage while I figure out if I really need it. I pulled out a couple of chairs and a few other things, but realized the rest is junk I have been holding on to for far too long. It's a good metaphor for my journey. I continue to have craving in the evening usually when I have a full evening of work without any down time. I have to organize my time so that I complete all my work and have time to rest and take in some exercise. With the move, work and school I have not done any physical activity and I really feel it, its awful. I feel fat, out of shape and dumpy. This is a little hump I have to go through and get over to the other side. Everyone goes through this. I know my best success rate to feel better is to make a plan but I really can't act on anything till I've moved, so its best I just keep going one day at a time and wait this out til I've relocated. It's one day away at this point, and I know I will feel 100% better once we are in our new home.

Packing and Moving

We're moving this week and started the actual move yesterday. It's chaos, but it's great! By this time next week we will be completely moved out and into our new home. As for me I'm doing just fine. I have a lot going on and it keeps me really busy which is helpful. I have very few urges here and here in the evening, but they usually pass quickly. Every once in a while I have something that just won't let me go which causes a slide in my attitude. I had that feeling on Friday, but honestly its not often, it's an irritant, but you can ride it out and I've noticed after the urges are gone the next ones are always significantly weaker. If you recall I wrote about why we get these cravings after even after you have quit for a while and why the urges tangibly diminish and become permanently less severe after a little episode.

I've recently started to become mindful of my eating habits as I was getting a bit out of control and a little tubby too. I'm at seven weeks now and around the four to eighth weeks period people usually stop gaining weight so it should be safe to at least begin to be mindful of eating at this point. There are lots of good things going on in my body. I took a yoga class yesterday and I had full breath. My yoga classes are quite vigorous and people often loose breath in class, so this was something for me to take note of. I am running two miles three times a week. I have not been able to break the two mile mark, but I am running with greater strength and stride. I keep forgetting to put the patch on so I am just making sure I have one around just case I have a weak moment. So far so good, now I just have to lose the weight I gained and I'll be a happy little non-smoker!