Why do Chemo and Still Smoke

So for the next 16 weeks I kept up the same routine; Thursday chemo, Friday Neulasta Shot, Saturday and Sunday in bed, the next week included Doctor’s appointments, blood test and trying to be somewhat normal for my three kids and husband. The treatment cycle was hard with most chemo treatment plans you do three week cycles so you have the third week to feel almost normal. With my does dense cycle I did mine every two weeks so I did not get the third feel normal week. Do you know what drove me crazy when I was getting my … Continue reading

It’s Time to Quit: Brain Damage a Key to Stop Smoking?

I’ve heard of lots of strange ways to quit smoking, but voluntarily damaging your brain? I don’t care what you say about smoking and I don’t care what you say about the health risks – the idea of voluntarily submitting yourself for brain damage to stop smoking? Well, I know some people who went through a shots treatment to stop smoking and after three miserable days, they didn’t stop – so who knows. Science Journal In the Science Journal this week, there was a report from a Dr. Antoine Bechara, a neuroscientist, who has discovered what he believes to be … Continue reading

It’s Time to Quit: Let’s Get Together

Are you a smoker? Do you want to quit? I know that may sound like a stupid question because I don’t know many smokers who don’t want to quit, but they avoid it because honestly it seems impossible. Who wants to go through the jitters, the frustration and the pacing? I’ve tried quitting before, in fact, just a couple of months ago, I made another attempt at quitting and actually made it a few weeks, but that’s not enough – what I need to do is to quit all together. I need to be a non-smoker. Not a former smoker. … Continue reading

Smoke Break – Back in the Saddle

Many of you were here a few weeks ago when I made an attempt to stop smoking. I lasted only a few weeks and then fell promptly off the wagon. I can attribute the cause to a number of things including my husband’s hospitalization, but the truth is – I didn’t make it. Well, don’t let it be said that I’m giving up. In an effort to quit smoking again – I’ve gone back to the drawing board and I’ve started researching stop smoking methods, inspirations and more. One of the first places I found with tons of information is … Continue reading

Day 11: Falling off the Horse

You know, I knew it was a mistake somewhere in the back of my head when I just let myself off the hook for that slip on Day 7. So that one cigarette wasn’t satisfying, I slipped again on the 8th and on the 9th day, I smoked 5 cigarettes during the day. Yesterday, which was day 10, I sat down to re-evaluate my plan for quitting and realized that because I kept saying they didn’t matter, I was still smoking them without paying attention to them. New Beginnings So I guess today is a day of second verse, same … Continue reading

The Fitness Blog Week in Review: November 11-17

Welcome to the end of an eventful week, as I described in last week’s Fitness Blog Week in Review, I’ve been trying to quit smoking. I slipped this week and you’ll see more on that in Day 11: Falling off the Horse later on today, but in the meanwhile, here is our Fitness Blog: Week in Review. Sunday, November 12 In Day 5: My Throat Hurts and My Sinuses Hate Me I described how I was doing in the cravings department, although Saturday I was miserable ill. We thought it might be the detoxifying, but as it turns out it … Continue reading

Day 7: I Slipped, But I Think It was Good

Okay, bear with me here. I slipped yesterday. I spent the entire day wanting that cigarette in the back of mind, unlike all the previous days, this little voice never shut up and it never went away. So I slipped, after hours of doing everything I could think of to get my mind off of it, I caved and had a cigarette. Do you know what? I didn’t enjoy it. In fact, not only did I not enjoy it – it wasn’t what I wanted at all. It didn’t help me feel better. It didn’t actually comfort the craving I … Continue reading

Day 5: My Throat Hurts and My Sinuses Hate Me

But I am doing moderately well in the cravings department. I saw someone having a cigarette last night and I didn’t want it. That actually surprised me – and what surprised me even more was that I didn’t feel the urge to light up and it never came the whole time I was standing there. Now I’ll grant you, at one point yesterday, I looked at my husband and I said – “Well, I’m not dying for a cigarette.” And he said, “Nope, you’re just dying.” He wasn’t far wrong. I was so congested yesterday I felt like I had … Continue reading

The Fitness Week in Review: November 6-10

It’s been a busy week here in the Fitness blog and we’ve been working hard to bring you as much fitness information as possible: Monday, November 6 We started the week with 10 Reasons to Be Thankful for Fitness including the fact that Daily cardiovascular exercise because it helps me cope with stress and anger, I always had an anger management problem as a child, but daily exercise seems to release a lot of that tension and keeps my anger in check. In Women’s Fitness: The Challenge of Mothers & Daughters discussed the fact that mothers have a dramatic impact … Continue reading

Day 3: I’m Still Not Smoking

I should probably title this piece, I’m a non-smoker, but I’m not there yet – mentally. I still feel that urge to have a cigarette. Yesterday, I was in the car running errands and I reached for the cigarettes as a habit until I realized they weren’t in the car and that I’d even gotten rid of my ashtray. It was such a knee jerk to reach for the cigarettes that I actually felt my heart speed up for a moment with adrenaline as fear hit me. I couldn’t have a cigarette. And yes, for a few seconds that generated … Continue reading