Again don’t beat yourself up over nicotine patches or spray, at least there is no tar and all the other shit going in your lungs.
I managed cold turkey during lockdown. We walk a fair bit and I was starting to wheeze and feel tight in my lungs. Worried about getting Covid on top of that really focused it. Although it is true that I mainly used to smoke joints and giving up also coincided with getting a batch of hash cake from someone.
3.5 years on there’s the odd craving and I keep dreaming of sitting on top of a cliff smoking a fat one and staring at the sea, the wheezing has gone but I do still cough like a bastard some mornings.
I heard from a smoking cessation nurse that you can put as many patches as you need on, if they work, and stop cravings and allow the person to function.
The packet advice on any limits is about lawsuits, not addiction advice.
She said if I needed 15 patches all over and then worked back from there, all good.
(In the end I used Champix, but I know not everyone wants to take meds for 3 months!)
I also really liked this simple, free app.
“Since I quit” and would check it regularly.
First time I have been back in for a while. I don’t know where that money has gone, but I certainly don’t have it
Yeah that takes a while getting rid of the cough gets worse before it gets better no doubt… I’ve been quit 15 years, smoked 20 a day from 17 to 35.
Asthma got so bad I couldn’t sleep.
Lung function can take a good few years to recover and even now probably not what it would have been if I’d never smoked,I get bronchitis once every two to three years now, which I suspect is the legacy of my smoking years, but my god when I think back to what my breathing was like then compared to now it’s like night and day…
I’m 7 months in to being back in the gym. Spurred on by reading about the loss of muscle mass due to aging. I’m 49 in a couple of weeks.
I’m super consistent and I reckon I train much smarter now - mostly down to watching loads of reels from fitness accounts on Instagram/FB.
I did a body scan at the start, then 3 months in, and another one last night.
Quite disappointed with last night’s scan - I’ve lost weight - great that my fat % has gone down again, but I’ve lost muscle. It seems amazing that could be the case, as it’s contrary to the positive changes that I can see. I think some of the muscle loss might be tied into the fat loss.
Anyway, I think it’s mostly down to diet. I’m not particularly fuelling myself any differently, so I guess that’s what I need to work on next to keep making gains. I haven’t overlooked this aspect - it was more of a conscious decision not to start eating loads more food, but I suppose I need to have a think about what I’m trying to achieve.
My metabolic age (according to last night’s scan) has come down to 33 so I’m obviously happy that that keeps improving.
Anybody tried the morning kickstarter of a shot glass of olive oil with cayene pepper, tumeric and lemon juice? I tried it for about 5 days and it does give you a real boost. Thing is, I forgot to keep it going so I didn’t really get the full benefits.
Are you getting enough protein? I had a PT for a few weeks and was talking to him about diet. I haven’t made too many changes other than introducing more veg, but he was saying that upping protein is important if you want to gain muscle.
Having started back at the gym last December - doing two/three 90 minute sessions per week, along with maintaining my 100 press-ups a day routine, without wanting to come across as bragging, I’d say I’m probably in the best shape of my life right now both physically and cardiovascularly. Even though I played a heap.of competitive sports in my teens and 20’s, I was smoking up to 60 Marlboro Red a day back then, and drinking like a fish, so whilst I looked fit, my lungs were totally fucked. Now, as I approach 52, i know I’m doing all I can to stay as healthy as possible.
I started the 100 pushup challenge a while back and got up to approx five sets of between 14-18 each set.
Four weeks ago I broke the Radial head of my right elbow in Amsterdam.
I’m pretty depressed about it. I can’t really do anything physical with my right arm. I’m just doing 30-60 mins on my walkpad when not walking outside, just to at least try and stay a little fit
I’m also super pleased with myself for similar reasons. My cardiovascular fitness has been excellent since doing loads more running and cycling since lockdown.
I’d love to do the press ups thing, but I’m always busy in the morning. I’ve started it a few times, but not kept it up.
@Moodynann Yes, I think it’s down to diet - particularly protein intake. I have a plant based diet. I eat 1x meal replacement most days. I need to snack on the right foods more often and probably just eat more in general.
I probably need to plan what I eat a bit more too. I’m wary of it taking over my life - I had an 8-year break from the gym due to an injury and thought when I started up in December that I’d maybe go twice per week. But I’ve got the bug again and I’m going 4 x per week (plus some cardio stuff on top) and I find that in evenings it pretty much takes over my whole agenda for that evening.
I have infrequent periods though where I get back into running, done a couple of half marathons in the last 7/8 years but I can never sustain it. In fact my brain tells me that when I’ve done a long race i can reward myself for 6 months to a year by doing fuck all.
So motivation is a problem. I wish it wasn’t- not getting any younger
Edit: Any advice welcome. My wife runs a lot and says the trick is that you have to come to terms with the fact that you never ‘want to do it’ and to just accept that and get on with it. Has not worked so far however.
I can empathise with you mate. Did mine in 2018. Properly did me in and, tbh, the first proper physical exercise i did again was only from December last year. I also managed to tear my left rotator cuff during lockdown. Never had a problem with my right arm, but my left has been broken 6 or 7 times, plus the RC tear. Was beginning to look like a withered claw…
