the lumbering wildebeest

Over the winter some time, my chiropractor told me, “if you don’t keep moving, you’ll end up in a wheel chair.” This bold statement spoken after looking at the arthritis on my spine. How did I handle said news? With an 8 week sabbatical from walking. Perhaps I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Let me tell you what happened after 8 weeks of not walking. (mind you, there were a few spurts of gym activity, so all was not a total loss) I gained 10 pounds and my back pain returned.  When I first started walking, I could only go a few yards and my lower back would start screaming. I kept working at it and working at it until I could go some distance without pain. I always knew when I was breaking a speed record because my lower back would start hurting. I forgot. I forgot what it felt like to stand motionless on the side of the road because one twitch would send lightening bolts of pain across my back. I forgot that countless hours were spent making improvements and great strides in my physical condition. Sort of like how people ‘forget’ about 911, and soon the Boston marathon bombings. The gung-ho patriotism will fade much like my memory of the pain experienced those first months of walking.

A do-over. That is what I’m proposing to myself. I’m using a new app to track my walking. I’m digging it too – RunKeeper is a decent app. Today I went over 3.5 miles and I think I’d like to step up my game and go from my usual 3 miles to perhaps 4 miles every morning. It’ll take an hour. I’ve got the time. Today’s pain level was perhaps a 4 on a 1 to 10 scale – 10 being the worse. I paused once to stretch after the second mile. Mission number two – get a heart rate monitor. I want the belt kind that you wear close to your heart and the data is integrated into the app and factored into the overall data. I have GOT to get rid of the rest of this weight – and being the mother of the bride in my daughters August nuptials, I really need to look my best.

Good luck with all you do.

So this winter, I successfully gained 10 pounds and completely regressed my physical condition. It could be worse I suppose. I am acutely aware that I have arthritis in my back – symptoms of which were less when I was exercising regularly. Hopefully, the pain will ease up as I get back into shape. When I first resumed walking, I couldn’t go further than a half mile before my lower back started burning, radiating through my hips. It sucked. Today however, I managed to slow it down a bit (relative term I suppose – still doing 15 minute miles) and pull three miles out of my hat, only stopping once to stretch my back. I suspect it’ll only take a few weeks to get this pain to be manageable. Once again, kicking myself in the ass for making a mess of myself, but taking responsibility for it and moving on. Seems that’s all I do – buck up and move on. I walked 5 days in a row and lost 3 pounds this week. Not too shabby. I think I’ll cancel my gym membership since its probably not going to snow anymore.

My pearl of wisdom for the day is; when you least want to do something (like wake up at 4:30 in the morning to go for a friggin’ walk), best to just do it regardless. At some point it’ll stop being a chore and become routine.

November of 2011 marked the last day of my tobacco smoking lifestyle. After a weird, brain shaking incident, I figured that it was probably time to cut the cord. I  went on the hunt for an electronic cigarette. You see…I like smoking. I was wrangled into that addiction at a young age and held on for about 30 years. If not for the health scare, I would probably still be smoking.

I went electronic. I’d made the decision to just not smoke tobacco anymore but I needed to settle into a brand of e-cig. The first brand I tried was Gamucci. I enjoyed that brand but the closest place I could find to get refills was in Dover NH which is just far enough away to be a pain in the ass. I picked up an Njoy starter pack at Hess gas station and gave them a try. I didn’t Njoy them at all. I avoided the brand at the Mall kiosk, “Smoke anywhere” just because. I figured they might be over priced so why start there and be disappointed.  From Mobile on the run, I grabbed a Krave starter pack and gave them a whirl. I stuck with Krave for a very long time.

It was a fairly expensive trial and error but really, even spending $25 on a starter kit is still cheaper than buying a carton of cigarettes. My neighborhood convenient store has started selling Blu e-cigs. I tried the disposable kind. I loved the amount of vapor that was exhaled but there is a funky taste that starts after a while – it goes away eventually but it’s icky enough to make you not want to use it. I’d like to try the Blu rechargeable kind – regargeables are always better than disposable. (in my opinion and experience anyways)

There are the kinds of e-cigs that you actually add your own liquid to – I’ve yet to try one. I’d sure like to one day because there are flavors! I’ve only used disposable and rechargeable ones. Krave has both disposable and rechargeable e-cigs. Gamucci offers graduated strengths of nicotine cartridges so you can “smoke” the equivalent of full strength nicotine or zero nicotine. I like the bite that nicotine provides. The zero nicotine doesn’t give that ‘feeling’ of smoking.

So, lets get something straight – it’s not smoke. It’s water vapor. The e-cig is pretty much made up of three parts. The cartridge, the atomizer and the battery. When you suck on the cartridge, it heats up the juice in the atomizer and delivers the nicotine mixed with the water vapor to you as a traditional cigarette would. When you exhale, it appears smoke-like, but it’s not smoke – its vapor, and it has no odor.

One crappy thing is that if you try a few starter kits, you’ll need to keep track of all the little chargers because most of them are not interchangeable. The battery of a Krave will not be able to charge in the charger of a Gamucci. It friggin’ blows. However, I discovered that the Gamucci battery fits on 21st Century cartridges. I’ve been using this combination for the last 5-6 months. A three pack of 21st century cartridges cost 7.99 at rite-aid. The three cartridges will last me well over a month. The trick is to not use it in places that you wouldn’t be allowed to smoke cigarettes. I don’t want use more nicotine than I had been in traditional smoking so I, with the exception of a really long day at work when I just want a hit and will sneak a puff in the bathroom, don’t really vapor where I’m not allowed to smoke.

I think there’s a learning curve to actually smoking the e-cig. I quickly learned that I couldn’t inhale the same way as a tobacco cigarette. Instead of taking a short hard drag, I find that the best way to get the most vapor is a longer, less determined drag. Too much vapor and you’ll sound like you’re talking through a mouth full of mashed potatoes. Not enough, and the whole mission is pointless. I find that people who try the e-cig and go back to regular cigarettes just didn’t take the time to learn how to smoke it.

So, now I find that I’m one of those ex smokers who cannot tolerate the smell of smoke. It turns my stomach when I smell smoke on people. I won’t let people smoke in my car – when at first, I didn’t really care. I still get my nicotine fix and am content with that. I’m not going to argue with anyone about the dangers of that, or whatever chemicals are contained within the e-cig. My doctor is aware that I smoke an e-cig and is thrilled that I’m not smoking tobacco. I don’t think I’ve had a chest cold, or coughed in over a year. It’s been 14 months now, and I can say with certainty that I will never smoke tobacco again. I do think about it from time to time. Just the other day, I was at a store and saw some new tobacco brands that I was curious about but really have no burning desire to actually smoke a cigarette.

Here is a link to a bunch of reviews of e-cigarettes that I have not tried. It might be helpful in making decisions about brand selection.

http://www.smokersutopia.com/

Wikipedia has a great entry on electronic cigarettes that’s worth having a look at if you’re interested in seeing what different health agencies have to say about the matter. Some are cool with it, others not so much.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_cigarette