Freedom!
It's been a week and a half since I gave up smoking, and so far, it's gone really well! Sure, I miss it and often have cravings, but I love not having to buy fags every day, I love that my clothes, hair, room smell better, and I love that breathing is easier - especially when I'm doing something physical. And most of all, I love the sense of freedom I have - freedom from having to cart packages of fags around, fumble for lighters and constantly watching the clock to figure out when I can next escape and have a ciggy. I feel psychologically lighter!
I still go for little 'walks' and short breaks with my smoking friends. Those little breaks were one of my favourite things about smoking, and just because I'm not smoking any more, doesn't mean I have to give those up. I think short breaks help your productivity in the long run.
As far as my weight goes, I'm around 9.0 which is good. I'm still aiming for 8.12 and I'm not quite there yet, but I'm getting there. I'm not sure if it's some kind of body hangover, but I have days where I still feel fat and sometimes I think I still have a long way to go before I will be thin. But my BMI is in the healthy range so I can't be fat right? I think I am still pretty unsure generally about what my body looks like and I waffle between thinking there are *huge* changes in my size and shape to thinking there are none.
I've read similar issues from other people who have lost significant amounts of weight. I find it strange and fascinating that our perceptions of our bodies are so subjective, so contingent upon mood, position in our monthly cycles, comments from others etc.
On the exercise front, I've discovered swimming! WOW! For ages, I've not really enjoyed swimming because I don't really like to get my hair/head wet. I've discovered that you can actually keep most of your head above water while doing lengths, and that lengths are really really good exercise. I swam for 40 minutes with Mister and could immediately feel it in my inner thighs (notoriously difficult part of my body to exercise) and backs of my arms. So cool!
Hope everyone else is having a great week and discovering new and wonderful ways of being free!
xxN