Just thought I'd update my progress (it makes me accountable). For those that don't know my story I started the C25k in June 2016 at a whopping 7.5 stone overweight, bmi was 44.3, smoker with asthma. I started the C25K and joined Slimming World at the same time. I completed the program in roughly 16 weeks albeit extremely slowly (3.2mph). So, having dropped some significant weight and running 5ks 3 times a week for a while I decided to re-run it but quicker. So now I'm on Week 4 running at 5mph and I have lost just over 4 and a half stone to date! Have also chosen a date to quit the fags as I know I can't continue my love affair with running and smoking. I can't tell you how much this program has helped change my life (and probably saved it too).
Written by
Extrastrongbint
Graduate
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Hey - 20000% well done. Used to smoke, everyone gives you all the reasons to stop. Usually bollocks ( sorry if this isn't allowed here on the forum) Nicotine's irrevelant, goes out of your system in less than 2 days. Habits are learned over years. Been there, did it, stopped so many times you would never beiieve, finally made it ..... how about changing to GOOD red wine? (only joking, perhaps worse for you but it's MUCH nicer and cheaper than the fags!!!!!)
By the way, I could be your Dad, drink too much, have an ICD installed after a heart attack, so you will excuse me if I don't get totally sympathetic. WELCOME ABOARD! If I can even start to encourage you as much as everyone here has encouraged me then I'll be a very happy (exhausted) C25K struggler! I was told at the start - from one of the great guys here " Today I will be one run stronger" ... it's on the fridge, in my face, and helps with my eating (not the running so much because that can be damned hard work) - anyone who diets rather than learning about their diet has got it wrong! Favourite me, message me, anyway you can, join me in this amazing new world ... someone told me today (outside this fabulous forum) that I look amazing .... I don't in my view, but it was like "manna from heaven" - let your God go with you!
Well done you.. Sometimes it is easier to do more than one thing at a time. I lost four stone and gave up smoking at the same time. You sound like you are determined and it is the right time in your life to do it. Just note that after 27years I still wake up in a cold sweat thinking I have had a smoke and don't know if I can give up again as I don't think my will power is what it used to be!!! 😀
Full of admiration ... we all somehow manage to challenge ourselves here, don't we? ... personally I'm really happy I started this C25K programme, even if I find it hard. This forum is AMAZING.
Congratulations on your weight loss so far. And keep up the amazing work that you are doing. Just think how much healthier and fitter you are for it. And you are right, stick to the running and quit the smoking. We all know you can do it. 🏃🏼♀️🏃🏻🏃🏼♀️🏃🏻👏🏻👏🏻😀😀
Well done! Get the fags stopped Now! It's not so much the nicotine that's the danger, being similar to caffeine.. it's the smoke!
Chemicals in cigarette smoke enter our blood stream and can then affect the entire body. This is why smoking causes so many diseases, including at least 14 types of cancer, heart disease and various lung diseases.
I quit smoking too. Almost forty years of 20 plus per day.
What I did was carry a timer set to four minutes. I read in a Medical Journal that the physical craving only lasts three minutes - after that it is literally just thinking about it.
So, I would hit the countdown button every time I wanted to light up and IF I still wanted to after the four minutes I would have had one....but I never really did.
The first three or four days I was starting that timer every ten minutes but by week five or six I was starting to not bother, the cravings were fleeting enough by then. That was over three years ago now and despite hypnosis, the Patch, nicotine gum, vapor thing etc you name it the longest I had ever gone before was a year.
Brilliant post - well done - and it will just keep getting better and better and once you stop the old fags it will get even betterer! I gave up two and a half years ago and took up running to reclaim my lungs and I genuinely feel 100 times better. You're winning now on so many fronts - keep it up.
I gave up fags and booze and lost nearly five stone. Why we seem intent on damaging our own health does seems crazy when we look back 😊
It can be done, takes some amount of effort and willpower of course to keep on top of things, but once you learn better eating it gets much easier. When an appreciable amount of weight is shifted then runnjng becomes easier. Walking a lot will shift the weight too. Aim to walk everywhere ☺ Good luck
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Restarting C25K after break from running
Great Scottish Run - Half Marathon done. 26 minutes faster than last year!
Alzheimer's Run The Year - January Update
Starting tomorrow - 57 years old and tired of being overweight (ok, let's be honest... obese)
Running with my 12 year old - advice needed
