My Story as an Overweight Smoker who Wanted a Healthier Life

The media is constantly bombarding us with information about how we need to live healthier lifestyles. Open up any magazine or newspaper and you will probably be able to find an article or tip about living a healthier lifestyle. With the ideas for living healthier usually follow a list of benefits.

I will admit that I often look at these articles and wonder who is writing them. Is it a person who is physically fit and has been working out and eating healthy for years? Is the writer the type of person who doesn't have dessert, and always gets their three to five servings of vegetables each day? Have these people writing these articles even struggled with a weight problem?

Why are these questions important? As a person who is over weight I don't want to hear how a skinny person stays healthy. I don't want to hear the benefits they have been reaping for years by following the tips they are now giving me. For once, I would like to hear the weight loss story of someone who takes these tips and applies them to their own life. While the opinion of the physically fit is important, their eating habits and exercise habits aren't always right for a person who is just beginning their journey toward a healthier way of living.

This is when I decided that I would begin eating healthier and I would tell my story. I am thirty pounds over weight. I rarely get any physical activity, eat junk food, and refuse to diet. I believe the word diet is a dirty word. I will not try pills to lose weight. Instead, I have decided to do four things to change the way I am living.

1. Drink More Water
2. Slowly Build the amount of exercise I get
3. Watch my portion size
4. Select Healthier meals

Yes, this does sound somewhat like a diet. It isn't though. Diets have rules. You must not eat over this number of calories. You can only have this many carbohydrates. You must follow this exercise plan. The truth is rules are hard to follow.

For the last week I have been slowly making changes. After seven days I am still not getting the required 64 ounces of water each day, I am not eating exactly what I should be, and I am not getting an hour of physical activity each day. However, I used to not drink any water and I have built my way up to 40 ounces per day. I never exercised before and now I am doing forty minutes of dance each day. I have made sure to get the correct amount of vegetables as well.

In one week the differences in my body are amazing. I never thought that after only one week of making these physical and dietary changes that I would feel such a change. Here are the benefits and accomplishments I have made so far.

1. For the most part I normally smoke one pack of cigarettes each day. When I started this diet I had no intention of cutting back on smoking and I didn't even realize I was doing it. Suddenly, instead of smoking one pack of cigarettes each day, I had cut back to half a pack. I am smoking a lot less because now I sit with a glass of water next to me. It seems to replace the sensation to smoke. I wake up in the morning and instead of having that first cigarette, I cook a healthy breakfast and then work out. This takes about an hour of my day. Even an hour after my work out I simply do not have the desire to smoke. That is two hours of my day where I am cigarette free. For someone who smokes a pack each day, this is amazing.

2. My first workout was only twenty minutes long. It was hard and I was not excited about doing it. In fact, the work out was forced. After seven days I am now getting a forty minute workout and I am excited to do it.

3. Before this week I often work up in the morning feeling groggy. After two days of working out I woke up and realized that I felt great. I was ready to start my day and felt as if I really benefited from the sleep I got the night before.

4. Before this week I never had water and rarely drank anything else either. I am now drinking around 40 ounces per day. I think out of everything I am most proud of this. It is getting easier! I can already tell an amazing difference in my skin. It does not feel as dry this week and I am using less moisturizer.

5. I have lost two and a half pounds this week. At first I thought losing weight was the main goal, but now it seems like a simple perk compared to everything else I am getting from these simple changes.

I am writing this as someone who smokes and is over weight. For the last year I have gotten little physical activity and have not paid much attention to what I eat. After only one week I know that exercising and eating right have many more benefits than weight loss. I would like to invite you to join me as I continue my journey. Get up off the couch and make a few changes in your life. Take it from a fat girl; you will love yourself for it.