I am a former smoker and I’m actually very proud to say that. Former. When you smoke, its becomes the norm and sometimes quitting seems utterly impossible. Everything you do involves smoking. Driving, after food, having a drink, etc. For 10+ years I never went more than 3 weeks without tobacco and for most of that time it was a pack a day habit. When I decided to get in better shape, quitting was obviously high on my list, yet it wasn’t difficult. I got extremely sick from the flu last year and it was actually a blessing in disguise. I felt so etremely horrible that then and there, I wanted nothing to do with anything that could or did make me unhealthy. It was that simple. Not a single cigarette since. Not one.

I can run again. I can breathe. My voice is loud and I don’t have to clear my throat 800 times a day. One interesting fact is I can smell a person who’s smoked, and esp a lit cigarette from a long way off.

I wanted to share two #’s that I think about often, if nothing else…

1. If you smoke a pack of Marlboro’s per day, at $6 a pack, you are spending $2,190 a year killing yourself.

2. 20 cigarettes come in a pack. That’s 7,300 cigarettes per year, which is absolutely disgusting.

I realize this may come across hypocritical, being a former long time smoker and all, but I don’t think one can truly understand how good you’ll feel until you stop for a long period of time. I haven’t had one in a long long time and I won’t have another.Best of luck to the new quitters out there.