I'm starting a new thread because I just don't "fit in" in the other ones I see. I went back several [i]months[/i] in this category and randomly opened threads - and didn't find a single one where I "fit in." In fact, I would feel uncomfortable posting in most of the threads here. It's okay... it's not the fault of anyone here, it's just the truth. I shared this here at SSC a few weeks back, the fact that I was overweight - waaaaay overweight - before I quit smoking, and then I gained an additional 15 pounds since I quit. I am now 100 pounds overweight and I am quite determined to take it off - TAKE IT ALL OFF, not just the extra 15. I'm overweight, out of shape, and I live from paycheck to paycheck, so... - I don't have a personal trainer. - I don't have a gym membership. - I don't need to just lose a dress-size or two, I need to lose a person! and - I can't run to the end of the driveway, much less five miles a day! I've been traveling for work again, so I haven't been riding my bicycle regularly, but I have been riding it semi-regularly, enough to start building up some stamina. Maybe not much stamina by "normal" people's standards, but when you're toting around an extra 100 lbs, there's a whole different standard until the pounds start coming off! When I first started riding around my neighborhood, I stayed on level streets and went only a half a mile. Then I worked my way up to a mile. Then I made it over the nearby hill. Tonight my husband and I rode our bikes together, went up and down several hills, and clocked exactly 4.0 miles at an average speed of almost 7 mph. I KNOW to a skinny, fit person that sounds really, really lame, but it sounds AMAZING to me right now!!!! Oh, and do I have weight loss to report? Well, you'd think so, huh. But no, I do not. It's been more than a month since I started watching my food intake and riding my bike, and I've [i]gained[/i] two pounds! That's okay, though, I'm not giving up! As I gain more and more stamina and am able to MOVE more and more, the weight WILL come off. It will! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 85 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,576 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $255 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 8 [B]Hrs:[/B] 19 [

SammiJo Maybe you should stop weighing yourself so often? You are moving.....and are my hero...cause I need to do that...soon! So, you keep doing what you're doing, okay? And telling us all about it. You remind me it's fun! And yeah, on that water.....I'm waiting for warmer weather here too, so I can brave the ocean again..yeah, yeah, I know, everyone..it's Hawaii, how cold can it be? Too cold for me, thats how cold...lol...our blood thins out, ya know? loving being a non-smoker -aloha [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 3/22/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 13 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 527 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $88.4 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 1 [B]Hrs:[/B] 19 [B]Mins:[/B] 30 [B]Seconds:[/B] 47

Butterfly Swimmer � I did google water aerobic exercise but didn�t actually find many suggestions for actual exercises other than �aqua-jogging.� Most of the links that came up were for classes or equipment or books � all stuff that costs. I�m not giving up, though. I want my time spent in the pool to have an impact! Thanks for your input! Danielle, windy, and alohakeia � Thanks for reading along with me and for your kind comments and encouragement! [center] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * [/center] Well, the above-ground pool turned into an adventure, too. We filled it up and then realized that the area where we�d put it was far from level. It sure looked level when we started, but once the water was in it, there was no doubt that it was not. So we drained all the water back out and started over. Getting that patch of land level was more work than we anticipated! We had to dig up most of the grass and then redistribute the soil, even it out, and then pack it back down. Talk about a workout!!! I definitely reached my target heart rate and kept it there for about an hour and a half! The pool looks great now, though I haven�t actually been in it. The water�s still a bit cold, I�d rather wait until it warmed up a bit. (By July it�ll be �bath water� warm!) I�m still riding my bike most every day (I skipped yesterday because of the pool adventure), and yet � I still have not registered any additional weight loss on the scale! I�m not giving up though. Eventually all this work will pay off! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 92 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,788 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $276 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 9 [B]Hrs:[/B] 13 [B]Mins:[/B] 25 [B]Seconds:[/B] 43

lol....great story, sammi! sounds so fun....and rewarding! Enjoy the pool!!!!! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 3/22/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 10 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 430 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $68 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 1 [B]Hrs:[/B] 11 [B]Mins:[/B] 29 [B]Seconds:[/B] 46

Loved your story Sammy and the pool sounds like an awesome reward. You definately deserve a HUGE reward after that bike ride. Windy [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 9/11/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 202 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 4,053 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $1010 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 19 [B]Hrs:[/B] 17 [B]Mins:[/B] 52 [B]Seconds:[/B] 14

Sammi, I had to giggle at your story. Sounds like you had quite the adventure. It sounds like you're really starting to get comfortable in your quit and thoroughly enjoying the many benefits it has brought you. This was a great post. Thanks for sharing! Danielle ______________________ The SSC Support Team

SammiJo, Sounds like you and your husband had quite the adventure! WOW! Are you STILL glad to be living in Florida after that?!?! LOL! I'm jealous though... I lived in SoCal for 20 years and we had an inground pool at our house... whenever it starts getting nice out like it is now, I wish I still lived there... MIssouri is great in some ways, but it's just not CA. Your story reminded me of home. I think an above ground pool will be a GREAT way for you to get some exercise! I especially recommend water aerobics (if you haven't guessed yet, I'm a water fanatic and personally believe that water exercise is far better than any other kind of exercise out there... but my opinion may be somewhat biased... I mean, just look at my name! LOL! :) ) Water aerobics is a great way for people who struggle with other forms of exercise because it's low to no impact, the water takes away some of the pressure so you don't get tired as quickly, so it allows you to exercise longer and, my favorite benefit, you don't feel yourself sweating!!! Oh, don't get me wrong... if you're doing it right, you're sweating, but in the water, you can't tell. That, and that water cools you down so you don't sweat as much. I would recommend doing some water aerobics at home at least 3 times a week, in addition to your bike rides. If you google water aerobic exercises, you will come up with TONS of aerobic activities you can do in the water. My only word of caution with water aerobics is that it's harder to get your heartrate up. For some, this is good because their heartrates go up to quickly and too much anyway, but for others who have a hard time getting their heartrates up, this is not a good activity for them. BUT, you said that you have no problems with this, so I think that if you did some water aerobics in your pool in addition to your bike rides, that you would REALLY start to see the benefits! Have fun with your pool! That sounds like a GREAT reward! Congrats on 3 months! Crave the Quit! Pam [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 6/17/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 653 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 16,339 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2696.89 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 46 [B]Hrs:[/B] 12 [B]Mins:[/B] 30 [B]Seconds:[/B] 23

Since my hubby and I both quit on the same day, and we both smoked about the same number of cigarettes a day, we�ve saved over $500 between the two of us. I bought a bike as a reward, that was only 80 bucks, but then we went on a mini-vacation together but it only ended up costing us a couple hundred dollars (for his flight). Meaning that we were definitely in a reward-deficit-position. :p Yes, we went back to the store and bought the pool! It is right now, as I type this, filling up with water and looking gorgeous. Geez, I love living in Florida. We also bought another item while we were at the store� a rack for our bikes that goes on the back of our Jeep. We�ve been riding all over our own neighborhood, so we thought it�d be cool to take the bikes somewhere else for our daily ride. It ended up being quite an adventure. We drove to a local park that has a causeway out to a beach, unloaded the bikes and proceeded to explore the park. I took a turn that led us out toward the causeway and then figured, �What the heck, it�ll be fun,� and continued along the wide paved area along the side of the road. It�s not quite a mile out to the beach and it was a lovely ride with the sun and the water and the seagulls and the breeze � a light breeze. Absolutely lovely. When we got to the beach, we parked the bikes and sat on a bench, talking and looking out at the water for a while. I happened to look to the north and said to my husband, �Is that rain?� Sure enough, there was a storm out there, off the coast to the north of us. �Maybe we should get going.� WELL, when we got back onto the causeway, the wind had kicked up outta nowhere, and it was blowing AGAINST us! Here we were, peddling like crazy and barely moving! We made it about a third of the way back to the park and we had to stop and catch our breath. The wind was whipping so wildly at that point that I had to tuck my shirt in so I wouldn�t flash the cars that were going by (people leaving the beach because of the incoming storm, I imagine). My husband offered to go get the car and come back for me �but it�ll probably take me about an hour!� he said. I laughed and said, �Nahhh, it�ll be a great workout, I�ll keep going.� By the time we got off the causeway, my thighs and calv

Pam - I hope and pray that you're right about the muscles! I know that I've been [i]feeling[/i] it in my calves especially (soreness) but I've also been feeling stronger every day, like it's easier to pedal up those hills! :) I can't help but look at the scale, but it really doesn't bother me what I find there. Like I said yesterday, I laughed! Well, this morning, two of those mysterious extra pounds were gone, so how's that for weird. Karen - congratulations on your 12 pound loss! Wow that is terrific! I'm all for having buddies in this process, the more the merrier, ya know? I just hope that eventually I have some progress to report, LOL. Angel - The weather's beautiful here in Florida, just perfect for walking, biking, etc. In a month or so, though, it'll start getting HOT and the only times for exercising outside will be at daybreak and sunset. So... my husband and I looked at a pool last night (a vinyl above-ground one). I'm like YEAH that's my kinda exercise! :p [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 88 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 2,654 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $264 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 9 [B]Hrs:[/B] 2 [B]Mins:[/B] 23 [B]Seconds:[/B] 52

SammiJoFL Sounds really good. Exercise is alway great. Thats what I need to start doing. I have started walking now that the weather is nice. Keep up the good work, we are all proud of you. :) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 3/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 29 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 733 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $145 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 3 [B]Hrs:[/B] 2 [B]Mins:[/B] 34 [B]Seconds:[/B] 57