I did it! It's been 7 months today - and I haven't had one puff or drag. I did it cold turkey, just as I was beginning to develop a chest cold. By the time I was feeling better, my body had gotten rid of all the nicotine so there were no cravings or urges to battle.
But of course, you put one baby to bed and and the other wakes up. Since December, I have gained 25 pounds - I feel like I have tire around my mid section and could float from Santa Monica to Tahiti without ever submerging. So last month, I got my sorry ass into the gym and started working out. I started slowly on the eliptical machine, beginning at 15 minutes a day, as well as swimming 10 laps a day; I have been doing this three times a week. In addition, walking the dog twice a day, everyday. So far, I have lost a bit over ten pounds or a quarter of my total goal.
I also started taking a closer look at what I was putting in my body. The first thing I did was switch from regular milk to organic milk. I started reading horror stories about growth hormones that cows are given to stimulate milk production, as well as antibiotics, etc., so I switched to organic. I eat a lot of yogurt as well so I found a name brand that only uses milk from cows that have not been shot up with hormones and antibiotics.
I also cut out red meat from my diet - but that was easy because there was not a lot of it in my diet anyway.
Next was the chicken - and I found more horror stories. Companies that raise chickens put antibiotics in their food, so now I only buy chicken that is antibiotic free. But that is where the sticker shock comes in. Buying chicken WITHOUT the antibiotics is MUCH more expensive, so I cut out eating chicken as much in a weeks time and now I eat wild salmon twice a week. In addition, I now eat three meals at night a week where I get my protein from beans, especially chick peas, which I LOVE! More on them in a minute.
My one vise is bacon - I love bacon. As much as I love it, I didn't eat it that much because I knew it wasn't very good for my body. However, every now and then, I skulk off to Trader Joes, hoping to avoid the bacon police (you know who you are) and I buy a package of their bacon. It's only about eight slices, thicker than regular bacon, but here is the great news - their brand has absolutely no nitrates in it!! And who can resist a BLT in the summer with ripe tomatoes, fresh, crisp lettuce, BACON, on whole wheat toast! It's food from the God's!
And now it's all about chickpeas! I LOVE CHICKPEAS! I eat them in everything. If I make a salad, I put some in there rather than sliced chicken. I make a great chickpea salad with green and red peppers, red onion, parsley, ginger, and oil/vinegar. I even make my own hummus and falafel! And I cook them in a spicy, rich tomato curry sauce and pour it over brown rice.
I always used to buy my chickpeas canned, but I really didn't like the amount of salt you can find in almost every type of canned bean. So I did some internet research and found this great blog created by a woman in Israel. English is not her first language but she had the blog converted into English. And as she readily admits, her English is not perfect, but it really doesn't matter. She gives you a history of chickpeas and hummus, recipes, etc. Basically, I think the site is awesome, except for the ocassional ugly American who HAS to correct her English.
She tells you why to buy dried chickpeas rather than canned (loss of nutrients) she tells you how to cook them, how to make hummus, falafel, etc. It's an amazing site, so if you hve the time and interest, check it out. She gets into middle east politics a tad to and her perspective is interesting. Who knew that hummus and falafel was such a staple food in Israel?
http://humus101.com/...
So anyway, lots of changes occurring in my life and in my body, and so far, so good. After I quit smoking, it was so nice not to smell like an ashtray or sound like I was about ready to cough up my left lobe. Food smells and tastes better - it's all been nothing but pluses since I quit!
And I am now eating foods rich in anti-oxidants, like broccoli, kale, cauliflower, blueberries, strawberries, pomegranites, etc., to try to ward off any long terms health consequences from smoking, but that is a diary for another day.
Peace.