# Personal milestone



## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

Well, its been over a year now since I quit smoking! I can't tell you how good it feels, and how proud I am of myself! This was my third serious attempt, and the only time I went longer than six months. 

Now I suppose I need to work on all the extra weight I picked up! :?


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

\\/ Congratulations Robert! That is a great accomplishment and you should be proud of yourself. arty: 

Good luck on step 2, dealing with added pounds.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Congratulatioins Robert!


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Good for you. I remember a discussion with youa while back when you were starting to quit. Its tough but worth it. I am glad I stopped, though I miss it everyday.

How did you finally quite? I went "cold turkey" though I occasionally cheated and allowed myself a drag, after a few weeks when the nicotine was out of my system. I found what worked the best in the beginning was to drink water whenever I had a craving. That fulfills your oral fixation and also helps was the craving causing chemicals through your system. Healthier than eating too


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

Yeah... I guess I will need to dust off my bike thats been in storage for to long!

I was reading about your rat problem Catherine. I thought that was just too funny! I would think your cats would take care of the problem. I had a cat in California who caught roof rats, moles, shrews, gofers, lizards, and pulled birds from a nest, (I didn't like that one) He was a good hunter. The two cats I have now never go outside.


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

Way to go Robert! That is more like a marathonstone then mile stone


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

> How did you finally quite? I went "cold turkey" though I occasionally cheated and allowed myself a drag,


I used the patch. It was the only thing that I felt worked to wean me off of it. I also quit drinking which helped me not to "cheat". I quit drinking for a different reason... I have an ultzer so whenever I drank it really caused me pain. I was only a social drinker anyway, so it was no big deal. Avoiding places where people smoke made it much easier.



> Way to go Robert! That is more like a marathonstone then mile stone


Thanks Tony, it feels that way sometimes! The cravings are pretty much gone, and I don't have the reflex reactions to reach for a cig that isn't there, but once in a while I have a dream at night that I am smoking! Really rather strange.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Riding a bike is a great way to get out and about. Try and develop the habit now before the weather turns rainy. I know its much harder to get out on those dreary days. Fortunately for my health, I have a very active dog so not going out isn't an option.

Concerning the rodent problem, my cats don't have access to the mice. I've only ever seen the mice inside in a cupboard in my front bedroom where I store the cat food and there is a tiny hole the mice sqeeze through from below the house. Whenever I open the cupboard at least one cat is RIGHT THERE to inspect the area and see if they can find the mouse. I'd let the cats have access, but I'm trying to kill the rodents myself and don't want to inadvertently hurt my cats (using snap traps). I'm sure that any mouse that ventures out of the cupboard and into the house will be toast.


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

Mice wouldn't bother me so much, rats is a different story. I have seen them outside at night a couple times around here. I was at the 7 eleven on river road and chemawa or whatever its called and one ran across the parking lot right in front of my feet. Big ugly thing!


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

When I originally saw the gnawing damage I couldn't tell the size of the rodent. I remember very clearly in college a mouse (1 inch long body) ran from the window air conditioner to my closet (this was in Texas, so all the rooms had AC). Maintenance put out sticky traps in my room and the next morning the trap was wedged behind a dresser with a gnawed off pencil thick tail stuck across it - definitately rat. Then maintenance put out poison both in my room and down in the basement and I never saw another rodent, mouse or rat. I just associate one rodent with the other now, and they all must go! Its not even the rodent so much as the fact I see them as disease carriers, and they have fleas, and they destroy my stuff. Yuck!


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

LOL.. I hear you! There is something about rats that is just plain creepy. Lab rats, the kind people keep as pets don't bother me. I kept all kinds of rodents as pets when I was a kid. If fact I bred mice, and gerbils. I used to love freakin out my female classmates when I brought a mouse to school! More recently when I lived in California I had possums that would walk into my living room on a nightly basis, but thats another story!


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Possoms? The only time I saw a live possum was in Texas, mid-afternoon (so I was sure it was diseased) and my fool dog (long-haired dachsund / cocker spaniel mix) went charging at it growling - with a ball in his mouth! That possom had a LOT of sharp teeth it showed as it growled back. Thankfully it kept moving down the street so my dumb pooch no longer felt it was a threat to his turf. Hard to appreciate an animal when you fear it will harm your own.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

Speaking of losing weight, I heard a story about a guy who tried teaching his horse to get along without food, and, just as the horse was getting the hang of it, the darn thing died!


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Congrats Robert :clap2: ... You should be very proud of yourself!

Some people will not stop smoking because of the weight gain, I'm glad you did not let that discourage you. I've seen advertise on TV a new patch you can wear when quiting smoking that helps lesson the wieght gain aspect of it. However, it looks like there gearing this product more toward women now.


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## russell (Dec 7, 2004)

congrats robert!

long time no see. how have you been doing? how is the plant business?

i still have my tanks, but i have also started some SW stuff. it's pretty fun.


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

> Speaking of losing weight, I heard a story about a guy who tried teaching his horse to get along without food, and, just as the horse was getting the hang of it, the darn thing died!


Thats funny Paul. Ha ha! I feel like an old horse sometimes!

Thanks Trena.

Russ! Where the heck have you been! :whoo:

I guess I will tell you my possum story. Before I moved to Oregon, in California I lived in a ground floor apartment in an average suburb. Not in the sticks, not in the mountains, but not a real big city either, but through out the valley possums have apparently adapted very well to city life.

I used to leave my patio door open at night and in the evening when i was home so my cats could come and go outside. One evening as I was watching TV I happened to look up and I see this big long haired, hairy rat looking thing the size of a small dog walk across the room and into my kitchen. I made a bunch of noise, yelling and it turned around and walked back out the patio door.

A few nights later the same thing happened again, only this time instead of running out the door, it ran behind my couch! And it would not come out. I grabbed a broom and tried poking it.

At this point I was a little scaird to get to close to it because shortly before then a guy in a bar told me a story about how he relieved himself in a bush and a possum jumped out grabbing his arm in his mouth and tore it up so he had to go to the hospital.... I know better now than to believe stories told by drunk people in a bar! But anyway, at that moment all I could think about was this ugly looking over sized rat with very large teeth charging at me!

I banged on the couch. I threw a shoe at it. He didn't move. I pulled the couch away from the wall and could see him cowered on the floor. I poked him with a broom and he was actually playing dead! He would not move! So I sat back down in my chair and continued watching TV, and about 15 minutes later I heard a rustling sound as the possum hit the screen door on his way out!

Over the next couple months I was visited a few more times, and I noticed every morning my cats feeding dish in the kitchen was empty. At one point I called the humane society to ask them what could be done about it. They told me absolutely nothing. They told me they do not present any threat at all, that they are timid creatures that can't see very well and usually stay hidden from people, and if I didn't like it I should keep my door closed!

I hated litter boxes and did not want to shut my two cats in, so I decided to put up with it, until one evening I looked out my patio door and I saw three of the biggest possums I have ever seen climb down a tree directly in front of my patio, walk into my patio and head directly toward my patio door! That was a little too much! Feeding one possum in my house was one thing, but a whole family was too creepy. From then on my cats spent the night outside.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

When I first started teaching at Tougaloo College, I came in one morning and one of the other professors was looking quite flustered and asked, "Is anyone working on very large rats?" It turned out that there was a large possum, which had somehow fallen down from the ceiling, in the sink. Since it was showing a large number of very sharp teeth, we called maintenance. The maintenance guy said he didn't want to deal with it, but, if somebody else did, he would be happy to have it to cook it for dinner. Eventually, I was the one who picked it up by its tail---It seemed rather sluggish in its responses---and put it in a box and dump it outside, where it trundled off.


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

> Well, its been over a year now since I quit smoking! I can't tell you how good it feels, and how proud I am of myself! This was my third serious attempt, and the only time I went longer than six months.
> 
> Now I suppose I need to work on all the extra weight I picked up!


Robert, that is wonderful! Having your own business, do you cook for yourself or eat on the go?

Having been thin most of my life, I was estatic to get to a 'comfortable' weight. I am now 'stocky'. But at times I realize that regardless of weight, I need to eventually get away from working on computers 24x7 and get to a more active lifestyle.

Celebrate your victories and keep motivated. That to me is the hardest part. 
My wife is my inspiration. She has gotten into great shape over the year, and I love buying her new clothes. 
It makes for a fun - date night.

What is your strategy for the next step? 
South Beach Diet or Getting more physically active? Free weights or Cardio? Karate or Power Lifting? 
They say walking for 30 minutes a day works too.


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

I don't know.. I have no plan. I know I need exercise because my metabolisim has slowed way down. I eat like a bird already with toothpick arms and a belly that makes Gnatster look skinny:violin:


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

I highly recommend the book - The Body Sculpting Bible Express - Featuring the 21 Minute Body Sculpting Workout - Men's Edition. 

Of course, I also like the idea of simple. So the idea of Powerlifting has always sounded attractive to me. Compound Movements eventually building up to heavier weights. But I believe, not such a wide range of exercises. 

Bulk can be your friend depending on your goal. When I was thin, I always noticed guys with more bulk seemed to get 'bigger' results faster. But I have also learned that men can actually get 'pumped' and 'larger' even after one workout. I actually gained 10 pounds in one week switching from coffee to water and drinking a gallon of water a day after a noontime workout. I just could not actually make myself tell my doctor's office that. (Just did not sound credible to me.) (I was also late back to work after each workout. That did not end up working out well.)

More important is how you feel. Are you able to have free weights at home or your business? Even one workout once in a while whenever you feel like it can make you feel better and give you a good shot of happy hormones (endorphins). 

The best thing about the gym in America is that we are all big (most of us) and no one cares what you look like - because they are all there for one thing - to exercise. Wear what you feel comfortable in - and take it easy. One step at a time.


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

Robert, again congratulations on one year smoke free. 

There are times I go outside for a fresh air break, and even though I do not want a Menthol cigarette, 

I still like the smell of one. I don't currently smoke them because I no longer get a nicotine rush. So, what's the point you know? 

It is amazing what a job will do for you. 

I just enjoy the fresh air away from the computer at work; and if a co-worker is smoking. I don't mind. 

Robert, keep up the good work. 

You should be proud of yourself!


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