Unbelievable!

I was recently reading an article in Men'sHealth magazine about the 20 worst foods in America. It was incredible to see what the amounts of calories and fat were in all of these restaurant dishes. No wonder I became so fat. No wonder there is an epidemic of obesity in this country.

The absolute worst of the list? Outback's Aussie Cheese Fries....

One hundred eighty two grams of fat! 240 grams of carbs. and get this..... 2900 calories!

gahhhh....makes my arteries harden just to look at it. Who comes up with slop like this to serve? What sane person in their right mind would even want to shovel this mess down their throats?

Well...I was one who would have eaten it at one time and considered it just an appetizer along with a soda.

In case you're interested this is NOT a recommended food for the Body for Life plan, even for a free day.

End of the challenge

Day 82

Day 77 - first day of not smoking

Today I am a non-smoker.

I'll spend most of this day devoting my energy to not lighting up and it may make me somewhat difficult to be around....but I will be a non-smoker today.

Tomorrow? Well, I'll worry about that tomorrow.

Day 76

Is a smoker a drug addict?

Tobacco is a rather unique drug. Though highly addictive and deadly, it can be obtained almost everywhere at anytime. As well, it doesn't really interfere with your functionality during the day....I don't fear losing my job because I take about a hundred hits of my drug of choice every day. This makes quitting smoking fraught with some difficulties not found in alcohol or other drugs.

If you smoke, consider going a day without cigs tomorrow. Then...if you have any doubts whether you are indeed an addict....come back here and tell me about it.

Day 75 from August 30, 2007

Want to know something? I've been fooling myself.

Actually....I've been lying to myself.

I've made all of this hoopla and noise about getting fit, getting healthy, and transforming my body. A change from all my old bad habits; but I kept the one habit that is probably much more damaging to my health than anything....smoking. Let me tell ya, trying to get fit while using tobacco is about as pointless a pursuit as you can imagine.

So here I've been, these last few weeks; dieting, exercising, and all the while...puffing on the cancer sticks.

WHY??

Well, because I'm an addict. The very definition of is "engaging in a behavior that you know is harmful but you do it anyway".

It's time to start being honest. I'm suspending the challenge to devote my energies to getting control of this addiction. This is my priority. Nothing else is important right now. I may gain some weight; in fact, I'm expecting to since food is one way to cope with symptoms of withdrawal. I will exercise, but only to take my mind off smoking and not with any goal of muscle development. I sincerely hope that I haven't let anybody down that may have been looking to me for inspiration. My goal is to still get my health in order during this 50th year of mine and I've started counting from that birthday. By the turn of this year I hope to have my smoking habit long behind me and begin a new BFL challenge...a REAL challenge....so that by the time day 365 rolls around, I will indeed be a new person.

Day 66

Instead of the screaming finish I had hoped for, it's about all I can do to keep chugging to the end.