Tootin' My Horn

When I quit smoking, approximately one year and seven months ago, I was really concerned that I’d gain weight. In all honesty, the potential weight gain had been one of the many excuses I’d employed over the years for continuing to smoke. When I was finally ready to quit the sickorettes, I figured that if I put on few extra pounds, that would not matter, so long as my lungs were repairing themselves. I used to cough a lot. A lot. It was really gross. Man, I do not miss that.

Anyway, I digress. I did gain weight – about ten pounds, to be exact. I chewed a lot of gum and toothpicks to keep myself from snacking mindlessly, but the number on the scale kept climbing. I recently read somewhere that smokers burn an additional 200 calories per day due to an artificial metabolism boost. So when I was still puffing away, my metabolism was deceptively fast. Plus, I smoked a lot more than I ate. I can’t even count the number of evenings I sat on my porch, reading and chain-smoking and then I’d realize I’d missed dinner, so I’d just have another cigarette.

Well, times have changed and I am so happy to report that I am finally, after a year of lots of ultimate frisbee and a lot less beer, back to my pre-quit weight! Woohoo!!! Dang. That feels good.

Oh, and I’ve been meaning to post a link to the quit meter that I so often mention in this blog. You download the program, enter your quit details (date and time of quit, number of cigarettes per day you average, cost of a pack) and each time you start the computer, a little window pops up, telling you how long it has been since you quit, how much money you have saved, how many sickorettes you’ve not smoked and how much life you’ve saved. It’s neat. Check it out.

Happy Thursday, friends! Have a lovely day and a safe 4th of July.