Saturday, August 04, 2007

Just Stuff

First, I've been tagged to do a meme by Babs. Topic? TANSTAAFL, or in other words, There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

I must cogitate.

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And trying to think about how I'm to do justice to that particular topic is a bit difficult at this point, because I took my first Chantix today and it appears to have fried my brain. The good news is that I'm not wanting to smoke as much even now, which I'm sure isn't due to the Chantix because a) I felt like this before I popped my little pill (yay!), and b) the stuff really hasn't had enough time to build up in my body anyway.

But still, it's definitely a good thing.

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In the realm of "not such a good thing," or perhaps, "too much of a good thing," I ate too much for lunch. That wasn't bright. I've spent almost a year scraping these forty pounds off my formerly-ever-widening-ass, and the last thing I need to do is pile them back on again. Yeah, yeah, one meal won't kill me, I know. It's the cumulative effect of overeating that'll do me in.

Since I'm quitting smoking, though, and am on Chantix, I have this lively horror that I'm going to pack the pounds right back on. I like how I look now, and am working on dropping a few more pounds (5'-7", 160 lbs, small bone structure... yep, still need to lose a few). I know how to make it work. I just need to continue obsessively calorie-counting and diary-ing my food, and make sure to stay within certain limits.

But it's really got me freaked out a bit.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear you've washed down that first Chantix because you are now one your way for what I hope will be a less agonizing quit!

I worried about gaining weight, too (in fact, previous quit I did, and that was one of several very silly reasons that kept me from quitting again), but this time through I haven't had weight gain. I'm trying to not worry too much about it while also trying to at least minimize the chance where I can. For me, just sometimes picking a "healthier choice" (in between Taco Bell trips) and walking my 20 min/1 mile every day with the work ladies seems to be pulling me through no heavier. My fingers are crossed.

Anyway, I look forward to continuing to read along on your journey!

Amanda said...

Thanks, Maggie! I sure hope it'll be less agonizing than last week. The homicidal feelings were really a bit much, LOL.

And on the weight gain thing, yeah, that's another reason why I kept putting off quitting. Very silly when you take the overall risks of smoking into account, but addiction isn't rational. Also, I think in general body issues for women carry a great deal of weight (no pun intended) that can, for some of us, affect our ability to make rational decisions regarding matters than may have an impact on our bodies or at least our perception of them.

So now I'm both working to continue losing weight (or failing that, staying at the same weight until my body adjusts to the loss of its daily poisons) and shake this nicotine thing.

Oh well, no one said anything worthwhile would be easy. And I know I'll appreciate all the effort when everything comes to fruition.

In other news, my abdomen hurts. This, however, is likely an aftereffect of my rather immoderate lunch ;)

Dr. A said...

I have a lot of patient success stories with Chantix. Just anecdotally, the people I've talked to on this have NOT had any weight gain issues.

Thanks for the blogroll. I've added you to my list as well. I look forward to reading more!

Amanda said...

Doc A, thanks for the add! And also thank you for letting me know that you've seen lots of patient success with Chantix and that there hasn't been an overall weight gain issue.

I know anecdote is not equal to data, but your input plus what Maggie said relieves me a bit.

I'm still going to be diarying my food, though, LOL! 200 lbs. on my frame was really quite too much.

And Scott, I believe you on the more muscle issue. I've seen that pic on your blog showcasing your guns! Most impressive, sir ;)

As for the food issues, I might have to do a whole blog post about it. I never had any type of eating disorder until I started stress-eating in the last few years. But in my teen years I was one of those uber-slender types through the waist. 22", for that matter. Folks used to say I wasn't eating and well, I *was*. And to prove it to them, I ate more when I was out with that particular group than I usually would have.

It wasn't a good set-up for a lifetime of healthy eating.

Anyway, more on that in another post :)

The Rainbow Zebra said...

Just take one day at a time--to quit smoking, and to deal with your weight (remember how I said you looked FAB at HP7 release?)

And your fears aren't irrational. When you've worked as hard as you have to lose weight, it's natural to worry (esp. when people may gain after quitting). If it's any help, my FIL didn't gain a pound when he quit smoking (cold turkey even!)

And hey, I could always get you a free pass to join me at the gym for a day ;)