Well, cdngreeneyes mentioned weight in her post, and that reminded me that I need to come on and brag.
When I quit smoking, I was already all my all-time heaviest...up until then. After I quit, I added another 5-10 lbs. (It fluctuated, but never came back down to my quit weight.) I started doing yoga and kept riding bicycle, as I always had. But I also kept eating like I had when I first quit.
Back in October, my doctor gave me a hard time at my annual physical because I had moved from my usual "overweight" category to the "obese" category. I sarcastically told him that I could start smoking again, if he/ my insurance/ whatever thought it was that important for me to lose weight. (I do find it interesting that he stayed mostly quiet about my smoking all of those years, yet had something to say right way about my weight. That's some cultural conditioning BS, but that's a whole different story.) He then started up about how I needed to be active. I told him that I was quite active, doing both yoga and riding my bicycle. However, I tend to get really powerful cravings and hunger for up to a day after working out. This has always been a thing for me, but it seemed to get more intense after I quit smoking. So he ended up recommending that I take particular amino acids to curb some of the cravings. I didn't start taking them regularly until about January of this year, but they really did help with the cravings. (If anyone out there does try the amino acids, check with your doctor first about which ones to use and how to use them. There are particular ones to use and some guidelines to follow.)
The other thing that happened was that I injured my shoulder, so I couldn't do yoga anymore. I know that doesn't sound like a good thing, but it actually forced me to change up my fitness routine. I ended up adding a lot more aerobic conditioning with my legs. Specifically, I started running on the elliptical machine for 4-6 hours/ week. I also read up a bit about exercise and fat burning. Apparently, interval training (an aerobic workout with short bursts of high intensity exercise) is quite useful for boosting the metabolism. Cross training (doing different workouts/ activities) is also good, as this keeps your body from getting too efficient at handling one routine.
End result of all of this is that I am now 15 lbs. less than when I quit. I actually lost weight so rapidly that I had to deliberately slow it down. Skin was getting loose, and I read that people should only lose 10% of their body weight within a 6 month period of time, or they can have problems. I lost over 10% in less than 4 months. So now I am in the odd, but enviable (I guess) position of needing to maintain my weight. I stopped the amino acids about a month ago, and I've been enjoying a bit more food. I seem to be maintaining, with some normal day to day fluctuation around my current target weight. I'm hoping to lose about 10 more lbs. later this year.
My arthritic knees are feeling a lot better than they have in a while. (I think I posted earlier about how I've been able to run a little bit lately, so that's cool.) I love the way my legs look--all muscular and strong. But what I really love the most is having the lung power to go in and really workout hard. Feeling strong, getting sweaty, and having that nice flood of endorphins at the end. I think I may have a new addiction.
