If you follow me on Twitter you’ve already seen this, but if not, please check out this post from my friend Chris Reeder’s personal blog.

It was the best 3 minutes I’ve spent in a while.

I think I can officially say that I’ve quit smoking, but I still want to cut out Caffeine completely at some point.

A co-worker posted this link to his Twitter feed today which shows the relationship of calories and caffeine in various products (food, beverages and medicines).

I’m not much of a Coffee drinker, but I do enjoy my overly caffeinated soft-drinks (Diet Mt. Dew, Diet Pepsi Max – or Pepsi Max as it’s just called now I think), and Energy Drinks (NOS, Lo-Carb Monster, Sugar Free Rock Star or “Unleaded” Full Throttle). With the exception of the occasional NOS (which is a once in a while treat) I always get a diet variety, so that kind of cuts out the caloric part of the chart. What amazed me was the amount of caffeine in regular old brewed coffee vs. the “Energy Drink” they listed. It seems I’m not doing as badly as I thought!

I need to go do some specific research on the particular beverages which I drink in the AM to see just how my caffeine intake compares to my coffee slurping co-workers.

Last night I was chatting with a friend who recently (and successfully) stopped smoking, and they had an interesting plan that they followed; at least compared to things *I’ve* tried before, and I think I’m going to give it a shot.

For me at least, I know it’s not smart to try and just “Cold Turkey” quit – just cut them off. That will never work, and I’ll cave before 1 day is over with – I have to have a plan going in!

On previous attempts, I’ve always cut out “unnecessary” cigarettes, and kept “key” cigarettes.

For me key cigarettes are:

• In the morning before work
• In the Car on the way to work
• 10 AM at work
• Lunch
• 3 PM at work
• In the car on the way home from work
• After Supper
• Before bed.

Any additional cigarettes I’ve always felt were the “habit” cigarettes – something I did simply to “do something” with my hands/mouth. However my friend suggested giving up one “necessary” cigarette a day – perhaps every two days starting with the earliest one and ending with the latest one.

Let’s try it!

Today, I haven’t smoked a cigarette yet – but I will smoke one in the car on the way to work. I’ve just given up a “key” cigarette, and I can smoke as much as I want the rest of the day. Tomorrow, I won’t smoke in the morning before leaving for work or in the car on the way to work, the next day my first cigarette will be at lunch, and so on…

Let’s see how this goes!

Wish me luck! (It worked for my friend).

No, not the John Lennon song…but I do have to start something over.

My diet. My quest to quit smoking. My “lifestyle change” changed itself back.

My ‘New Years Resolution’ this year was not to make a New Years Resolution, but to set some goals for myself. One of those goals was to get down to a (more) healthy weight, and to start eating a more “Heart Healthy” diet low in Fat, Sodium and Cholesterol. The other was to quit smoking.

In regards to the diet, I did really good – for about 5 months (I actually started in December). When did I start falling off of the wagon? Well, it’s kinda hard to put a date on it, but I took a vacation from work back in April, and I’m not sure that’s when I fell off of the wagon, but I’m pretty sure that’s when all four wheels of the wagon ran me over! It seemed that every day we went into town to do something, and while there, ate lunch out – and then being tired in the evening we would get “sloppy” for supper – you know – fix something quick and simple. 

It all started innocently enough – Hot Dogs w/ Chili for supper one night, and then some Chicken Nuggets and Fries (at least we fixed both of those in the oven). Finally my Mom talked me into have Fried Chicken one night (she was really growing tired of all the “George Forman Grilled” food) and it was all over but the crying! It wasn’t too long after that I started getting sloppy with my lunches. It seems my only (still) daily “healthy” meal was breakfast – either having a Special K meal bar or some Yogurt and Juice. My lunchtime fare had quickly morphed from low-fat Turkey on whole wheat to Subway, and then Wendy’s and Burger King “Grilled” chicken sandwiches and finally I realized I was simply just eating the way I used to.

Not only that, but my walking routine started to slip, and all of this coupled with a ton of extra stress that dumped itself into my life over the past 3-4 weeks and it’s all gone downhill very quickly.

It shows too. I’ve gained all but 5 pounds of what I lost back. I feel just as bad as I did when I started all of this – I feel fat, tired, bloated and just plain BLAH!

So, I mark tomorrow, June 1 2009 as National “Start Over” day. Tomorrow I start my diet again, and I start (seriously) trying to quit smoking again. 

Part of the “added stress” in my life over the past few weeks was my Mom’s health. She has a few things going on, but a biggie for me was that she was diagnosed with Emphysema. Luckily, it isn’t “severe” at least at this point, so no Oxygen tank or anything like that – she does get short of breath on long walks though. That hit me pretty hard, especially since I was so proud of the fact that she quit smoking over a year ago. She smoked for 45 years and quit cold turkey, so I think I can do it – I HAVE to do it.

So, if you see me tomorrow, wish me luck. If I don’t seem “cheerful” don’t take it personally. I’m probably hungry, and I’m sure I want to smoke

Webster says this about “perspective”:

The appearance to the eye of objects in respect to their relative distance and positions

That object doesn’t have to be a physical object - “Time” could easily represent that object. You can put time into perspective.

I’ve been on vacation from work this week. I didn’t really do anything special, or go anywhere special. This was simply planned as a “lazy” week to just loaf around town, work in the yards, and just kinda do whatever I wanted. I’ve really enjoyed myself; it’s been nice sleeping-in, and I’ve been able to catch up on some quality time with my Mom. So, today is Thursday, Just two weeks ago I was looking forward to a long weekend, since my company honors Good Friday as a holiday. Those upcoming three “days off” seemed like a long time, because they were the beginning of something…they were the beginning of a long weekend. However, having been off all week, looking ahead, those three days don’t seem nearly as long, because they are the end of something…they are the end of vacation.

It’s odd how your mind works like that.

I have done a really good job (for me anyway) of “unplugging”. I’ve spent less time at the computer each day than I would have on a normal “weekend” day, and mostly at night before bed (like now). I’ve had a blast all week, and Mom and I have some pretty potted plants and flowers to show for it. She loves doing stuff like that, and I’m glad I was able to give her this week to get out of the house, do things she likes to do, and go places she likes to go. The “lazy week” is coming to an end, and soon it will be Monday - yet I can’t help but realize how much “sooner” Monday seems than it did two Thursdays ago.

That being said, I’m very thankful to have a job I love, at a company I believe in, working with people I care about. These are scary and unfortunate times for a lot of people, and I’m thankful for everything I have; especially my job. It is a very nice feeling to look forward to the “Monday after vacation” with excitement and anticipation rather than dread. It feels good - it feels very good!

So, here we are 18 days into the new year. I used to make new years resolutions, but I’m following the lead of others this year, and instead of making “resolutions” I’m going to set “goals” for myself.

While some may create a long list of nearly unachievable goals that will only set them up to fail, I have thought about this over the past 18 days and I’ve finally narrowed it down to four, very achievable goals.

Lose 50lbs. and adopt a healthier overall lifestyle.

I’ve already started on this one – in fact, I started on it before the new year even, and I’ve already blogged about it once or twice. I’ve let myself get into a mess. It’s time to step up to the plate and take better care of myself. I’ve started on a new diet, and as a result of that, and a new walking and exercise schedule (which is growing), I’ve already shed a few pounds, and I feel a lot better already.

Stop Smoking.

Although this should really be tied to the first goal, I really feel that I need to separate it out on it’s own. Not much to say, other than I just need to quit, and I have set a “stop date”. I will smoke my last cigarette just before bed on April 24, 2009. Why April 24 you ask? Well, my birthday is April 25 and I will mark that date as my official stop date. This date is also far enough out there to continue to prepare myself both mentally and physically to handle the challenge.

Achieve a Professional Certification in my field.

Although I am already underway in a career as an IT professional, I have yet to receive any kind of official certification. I’ve decided that 2009 is the year I will actually start working for that MCSE rather than just saying “I’ll get around too it one of these days”.

Spend more time away from a Computer doing things that I love.

Life is too short to spend all of your time staring at a Computer monitor. I’m going to let this be the year that (outside of work) I give myself a “computer schedule” and I stick too it. Over the past couple of years, I’ve let myself put aside too many of my other hobbies and interests and spend way too much off-work time at this PC. I need to schedule my off time more effectively all around anyway, or I will never find the time to study for the MSCE exams, or grow my exercise regimen to where it needs to be in order to allow me to achieve my weight loss goal.

I also need to make more time to enjoy the simple things in life such as a good book, a nature walk, or an afternoon of fishing. Also, Music has always been a huge part of my life, and I’ve simply stopped giving myself an outlet to enjoy and share my talents with others, and 2009 will be the year that I start playing regularly again.

If you haven’t already take a few minutes to sit down and think about what you would like to achieve this year. Set yourself a small list of goals, and stick to a plan to achieve them.

Good Luck!