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 →

Strength Training Basics – Rules to Follow

We’ve talked about strength training this week and explored what you need to know and more. It’s important to reflect on those articles as we begin to build our strength-training program for the New Year. Come this spring, I’ll be launching our Spring Forward to Action Challenge once more and for those of you who weren’t here for the Challenge last Spring, it’s a 30 Day Fitness Kick Start that is designed to help you get up and get moving. Since strength training is a vital part of the Spring Forward to Action Challenge, I want you to have all … Continue reading →

How to Get Started … Fitness Classes

With the 2007 approaching, you are likely looking into possible fitness classes and more that you might want to take to get into a healthier lifestyle. So let’s take a few minutes to discuss how to get started on a fitness class. First and foremost, you’ll need a gym membership to take advantage of the fitness classes they offer. Some fitness clubs will let you buy bulk passes to specific fitness classes, this may actually save you money if all you are interested in is taking an aerobics or yoga class two or three times a week and not interested … Continue reading →

It’s Here ….Tonight is Christmas Eve

We’ve been counting down the days for weeks now as we approach the Christmas holidays and whether you celebrate it for religious reasons or secular ones, it’s here. Tonight is Christmas Eve. Most of are not going to be working out today or working out tomorrow. Don’t worry about it, it’s the holidays and whether you are traveling or spending them at home – the holidays are a time of rest, a time of celebrating and a time of spending with our families. It’s Okay to Skip the Workout It’s okay to miss your workout today. It’s okay to miss … Continue reading →

My Personal Note of Thanksgiving

Good morning, as I stated earlier in Family Traditions: A Day To Give Thanks, we have a lot of personal family traditions here to celebrate Thanksgiving and this note is one that I am adding to my traditions because this time last year, I was just getting ramped up to start writing for Families.com. I want to begin my note with a personal thank you to all our readers here at Families.com. You come, you visit, you participate in our forums and you read our blogs. You are in large measure, the reason we are all here. It’s for you … Continue reading →

Day 13: Monday, Monday – I Got Nothing

Stopping smoking is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I slipped up and despite being at only 5 cigarettes a day, I’m still not—not smoking. So here we go again, tomorrow morning we start the clock back at zero. I will stop making excuses for myself because when it comes to lighting a cigarette – there is no such thing as a good excuse. Stress? Stress is a great excuse to smoke if I have no other ways of coping with stress, but I do have other ways to cope with stress. I have exercise. I have my … 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 →

Day 8: Do You Try To Make Bargains With Yourself?

You know, I had to think about it. Is today Day 8 or Day 9? Or was it really day 7? I’m starting to lose track. I wrote about slipping yesterday and how it made me feel. I was surprised by how much the cigarette did not fill that need. It’s amazing to be so dependent on something for so long – to crave it and to feel irritable and grouchy about it and to finally cave and give into it only to discover, hey – that’s not really what I wanted after all. Makes you wonder what the heck … 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 6: Smokeless & Going Strong

Yesterday, my daughter I went to the grocery store to get bread and she looked at me and said Mommy, don’t you need to buy cigarettes? I said, nope – I haven’t smoked in five days. She grinned at me and announced “Your heart is going to be happier now, Mommy and so is mine.” Yes, that was my aw shucks moment. Apparently, my five year old saw a video in her physical education class about the need for great cardiovascular health and what can hurt your heart health. After watching it and knowing I smoked, it upset her to … Continue reading →