ffox on 12/10/2019 at 08:42
Quote Posted by Renzatic
I've taken the edge off by using another nicotine product. I'll be switching to the gum here in about a couple more months, then slowly ween myself off of that.
The gum worked well for me after 43 years of 40 a day. I had tried before, but resumed after my wife said "Why don't you start smoking again you fat, bad-tempered pig?"
I disagree with Tocky. 20 years later my sense of smell is more acute than that of my wife and she has never smoked. But you will need to eat a bit less.
Gray on 12/10/2019 at 19:10
I'm 47. Never been a habitual smoker(1), but I do drink alcohol, more so over the last year but trying to cut back(2). Never used any illegal drug. Carnivore, but with vegetables on the side. I'm trying to eat reasonably varied, but there's a lot of bacon in there, next to the fruit smoothies.
Growing up, I was not very sporty, I had thick glasses at age 10 and couldn't really play ball games anymore. In my teens I did archery and badminton, then nothing for a few years, too busy with my C-64. I picked badminton specifically, because it was a bouncy activity that was not a team sport, I learned quickly that being half blind and clumsy was not appreciated if you're in a team. At university, I got back to badminton, and started going to the gym, not to build muscle, but just to keep myself reasonably fit, as a computer nerd I was sitting still for hours on end and felt I needed more exercise. I also went jogging for a while, until my insomnia made me too wobbly to hit the ground properly with my feet and I had to stop that. Same reason I stopped playing badminton.
Over the last 20-odd years, I've usually been about 5-10 kg overweight, but that's a problem with my very severe insomnia, it tends to lead to unwanted weight gain, so I've gone up and down from 83 to 87 kg, that's pretty ok, but at my worst I was 97 kg and that was not enjoyable, some 10-odd years ago. Insomnia makes you more prone to get type-2 diabetes, my very overweight dad got it (40 kg overweight? 50? 60? FAT fat!), so I'm trying to avoid it as best I can. At 183 cm (6ft) I should be at about 80-82 kg, and today I'm 84.8, so not too far off. But I don't really care about being fat, I care about feeling fit. I don't actively do anything to lose weight, I exercise so that I can hopefully combat my insomnia.
For 4-5 years I did the gym 1-3 times a week, and Ashtanga yoga 1-2 times a week, that's the most active I've ever been in my life(3). That was in my late 30s. Now I live in a different country and it took me a while to find new places to exercise; I've been going to a local gym only for the last 3 years or so, there was a bit of a gap for a few years trying to settle in to my new life, but now I go about 1-2 times a week. My stepdaughter is trying to lose weight, so as the most boring christmas present ever I offered to pay for her gym sessions. This means we go together, motivating each other, making it much more difficult to just say "ah, no, I'm too tired today, I'll do it tomorrow...". So, with this new plan that's worked pretty well since x-mas, I've been going once a week with her, and if I'm well enough, 1-2 more times on my own. But, my health being utter crap and very unpredictable, some weeks I can't go at all. Right now though, I'm reasonably fit for an old sick fat guy. Last gym visit was yesterday, and the next will be tomorrow or the day after that, hopefully. And now that I'm feeling physically pretty ok, I want to get back to doing yoga again, the problem is my insomnia makes my head so fuzzy it's difficult to find a suitable place and organise my swirling thoughts enough to actually go there. But it's on my to-do list. Thinking and planning is difficult.
I also walk for exercise. I got a FitBit recently, and it very cleverly plays on my computer nerd love of numbers and graphs, so I try to do 10,000 steps a day. I am quite ill, but it's still easy for me to walk on a flat surface until my feet hurt. Today I walked to IKEA, which is about a 2 hour walk, and I'm currently at 23,152 steps, my record being 30,000 steps. I just need to get better shoes, and I'll walk a bit more. My lame ass Adidas "Stan Smith" sneakers are so poorly made that just walking on gravel punctured the sole, so now they've turned into a suction cup for any vague hint of moisture, it's sucked up and suddenly my socks are wet. And this is a very rainy country. I need better walking shoes. [Edit: my old Adidas were great, they lasted 15 years. This new pair, less than a year, godawful piece of crap. Planned obsolescence can go intercourse itself.]
Back in my home country, I'd ride my bike everywhere I wanted to go. Everywhere. I grew up in a very hilly town, so my legs were like that of a wrestler(4). Now, where I live is NOT friendly to bikes, and my insomnia makes me more wobbly than before, so I don't trust myself in busy city traffic. I've tried to replace cycling with walking.
Having met Daxim a few times, I can testify to that he was indeed very fit 16 years ago, but lately... hate to say it, approaching my dad's waistline. When I met up with him last year I was taken aback a bit, it looked like 50% more Daxims crammed into one. I believe that was exactly what I said at the time to his face as well. Now with extra bonus material. He showed me the knee scar and told me the story. It seemed very unpleasant. Having had several bits of me broken in various accidents, it was very easy to empathise. Certain parts of me still make alarming cracking noises when moved to certain angles. Neck, left shoulder, right knee, right foot, left elbow. Sometimes with a bit of pain thrown in just for laughs. But my body is, somewhat surprisingly, largely intact, not counting how it's massively failing at doing everything properly. If it wasn't for the insomnia, I probably got pretty lucky in the DNA tombola raffle. If I hadn't been half blind from the age of 10, perhaps I could have had a half decent athletic career, I was certainly the fastest runner at my high school. If I wasn't me, I might even find myself vaguely physically attractive, until I got to know my annoying personality, and then I'd probably have to dump me. I'd just hate doing that to myself. It's not me, it's me. Sorry.
(1) Not counting a brief period of 2-3 years in my early 30s when I'd smoke cheap cigars while drinking whisky, and ONLY when drinking whisky. Had to stop, the nicotine buzz interfered with my sleep disorder. Still occasionally drink whisky.
(2) Don't want to do that whole story again, my wife passed away, still grieving, but as my alcohol consumption went up I was very aware of it, it's gone down back a bit now, but I'm still not back to where I was before yet, I'm working on it. Again, numbers. Trying to go down to 14 units or less a week, and sometimes I make it. Not even halfway up to 14 this week yet, looking good so far. Alcohol is the enemy of exercise.
(3) Ashtanga is the most physically demanding type, that's why I picked it. It's not just slow stretching, I dare anyone mocking yoga as exercise to try it and we'll see if you can last one full session. I'm looking at you, Jeremy Paxman. For such a clever guy, how little you know.
(4) My lame joke at the time was: "legs like a wrestler, biceps like a chess player, brain like a boxer, but I wish the last two were the other way around."
And thanks to Daxim, I've met and spoken to about three other people in that photo he posted. Not that I can remember their names.
Pyrian on 12/10/2019 at 21:31
Quote Posted by Gray
Alcohol is the enemy of exercise.
Heh. A few stiff drinks and some music and I pretty much can't
not dance until I'm basically sober.
Gray on 12/10/2019 at 21:33
Fair point. I'll admit that is one exception. More than once I've danced drunkenly when I shouldn't have. But my point was that drinking on day A means it's very difficult to do proper exercise on day B. Or in my case, if I get completely wasted on day A, it'll be day F before I'm back to normal. I'm old.
[Edit]
To add to your point, Pyrian: a couple of months ago, I was at an Orbital gig, having more than one double-pint (basically a small bucket of cheap lager), bouncing around and headbanging like an idiot. My FitBit recorded that as two hours of cardio. Yes, I'm contradicting myself to prove you make a valid point, but on the whole, I'd argue that alcohol usually tends to make you not exercise. Drunken dancing is an exception.
Gray on 13/10/2019 at 01:39
Quote Posted by Tocky
I might have gotten fifty if a bottle of scotch were on the line
If I send you a bottle of actual Scottish Scotch, will you do 100?
It doesn't have to be all in one go, but no less than 25 at a time, and all in the same week. And then repeat for every week. Forever. Deal?
Tocky on 13/10/2019 at 07:01
Are you going to send me a bottle of scotch every week though? I could do 25 a day every day without much effort. I tested it just now. 100 though? Not a chance. I start getting winded or muscle weary at around thirty and then every one is more of a struggle. I do them right and I do them fast but maybe I'm not so good at pacing my breathing. Maybe I could work at it enough to be getting fifty at a go in a month or two. I used to be able to do that at a whim not so long ago fairly easy. Maybe by a years time a hundred. But that would be really hard. Each five more after fifty would be murder at first. You plateau too. It takes a month sometimes just to get beyond the same number. I'm not sure if that is mental or physical. That's a lot of scotch.
No, I wouldn't hold you to that. A bottle of Glenfiddich once every December I can do 100 all in one go is tempting. I've often thought I would like to be back in shape one more time before I croak. I've actually gained muscle mass since I quit smoking but not as much as the fat I've gained. I don't know. It's tempting. Perhaps there is something from the states you want you could match me at pushups for?
Gray on 13/10/2019 at 10:18
I was deliberately using vague language to trick you, just like politicians do. I meant ONE bottle ONCE, if it could trick you to forever exercise. I'm not made of money. But I do live in the country that invented uisge-beatha. I'm sure we could work out a trade agreement quicker than Brexit. If I sent you one bottle every week, that'd clearly be counterproductive, and you'd probably not make it past 36 one day and just drop dead. For the purpose of this thread, that is not the desired result.
Gray on 13/10/2019 at 12:14
Quote Posted by Renzatic
snus
On behalf of all of Sweden, I do sincerely apologise for inflicting the horribleness of snus upon the rest of the world. Granted, it's less annoying to the people around you than cigarettes, but it still stinks like hell, tastes awful, and will eventually give you mouth cancer. It is only vaguely acceptable as a way of cutting down your nicotine intake. My older brother used it to quit smoking when his daughter was born. That was 19 years ago. He's only just recently managed to quit. For now. I will strongly encourage you to do the same. Better than smoking, sure. Vaping? Not sure. Cold turkey? Yes, go for that, and never look back, or you'll be looking back 15 years from now with some snus stains on your shirt, wrongly thinking you made the right choice and how you're in control of it, not it of you. Do it now and thank me later.
[Edit]
And just for a cultural reference, when I grew up, the people using snus would be mouthbreathing, drooling, halfwit moronic ice hockey fans/players, with their teeth knocked out from hockey so they couldn't smoke any more. Is that really the crowd you want to associate yourself with? Think of all the stereotypes you can of poor white trash, that was the general demographic. Ignore the recent PR campaign of the last decade. It's still shit. Again, cold turkey for the win. Maybe you'll get an extra bonus life.
[Edit again]
It only just now occurred to me you're probably referring to the small teabag-like snus pouches, not the loose weight snus, so there will be less drooling and staining involved. The other effects will remain the same, though. Quit now while you still can.
SubJeff on 13/10/2019 at 15:43
I tried patches, spray, early vaping kits (they are much better now), lozenges, willpower.
Gum was the ticket. I recommend gum.
Renzatic on 13/10/2019 at 17:18
Quote Posted by Gray
It only just now occurred to me you're probably referring to the small teabag-like snus pouches, not the loose weight snus, so there will be less drooling and staining involved. The other effects will remain the same, though. Quit now while you still can.
It's been perfectly clean from my experiences with it. I actually kind of like the taste, it doesn't smell, and I don't drool at all. You can barely even tell I have one in by looking at me. Among all the deadly dangerous tobacco products to choose from, it seems to be the cleanest, unobtrusive, and least risky. Hence why I chose it to help wean me off cigarettes.
Though I don't plan on doing it for long. I usually pop a new one in every 2 hours, leaving the pack in for an hour and a half, then going half an hour before getting a new one. Sometimes I can go an hour, hour and a half without a refresh after I take it out, though when I go that long, I'll start feeling that low level panic for a nicotine fix.
Once I'm about 3 months out from my last cigarette, I plan on following Subjeff's advice, and switching from snus to nicotine gum. By that point, I should be free of the cigarette habit, and the routines I've built up around them. Even now, nearly a full month out, I still the occasional craving for a smoke. It's not a constant thing anymore, but it still rears up on me at random. I want to be rid of that before I really start depriving myself of nicotine.