I have been a smoker since I was 14. Today I am almost 41, and I have not smoked in more than 2 years. On January 6 2014 I stopped, after 3 months of preparation, and after scanning every inch of the Internet for reliable facts on how to succeed in never smoking again in my life.
I have worked as I researcher for almost a decade, and finding facts is what I am good at, along with understanding people's needs and motivations. To stop smoking, I researched myself, I researched the research in how to keep a smoke-free life, and I built a plan according to this, which also included in what shape and form I could get support from my family and friends.
I am by no means overweight. I have been thin my whole life (until I quit smoking). But in my family the vast part of the females are overweight. My grandfather died from stomach cancer that the doctors could not find early enough due to all the internal fat surrounding his organs. My grandmother had her first heart attack at 55, and died from a cardiovascular disease years later. My mother, my father and my aunts are all overweight with health issues relating to this, that limits their lives, such as arthrosis, incontinence, high blood pressure. Not only does this limit their lives, this also means that their older days and their deaths will be full of suffering.
I have never learned how to eat right, since my parents were not interested in healthy food. I have never learned how to exercise, since my parents never did anything of the kind. What I learned was that people exercising were idiots, and healthy food was just for people depriving themselves of enjoying the "good life".
I have to learn again, since my body fat percent is 38. I weigh around 66 kg (145lb). That means a severe heightened risk for cardiovascular diseases. My body is weak, so the risk is I will have a lot of fractures when I am older. Since I am not used to exercising, my balance is pretty bad, which means an increased risk for falling accidents as an older person. Where I live, Sweden, falling accidents in the elderly population is such a big problem, that preventing them is part of the authorities crisis plans. That is because falling accidents lead to hospitalisation, which leads to an increased risk for diseases such as pneumonia, which will 1) be very painful and 2) kill you if you are old and out of shape.
I love to live. I love to be in the nature, I love to swim in the sea, to climb the mountains, to walk in the woods. I am what we call a regular Swede. I also love to dance all night, to play in my band, to travel with my kids. I have a lot of adventures to go on, and I would NOT settle for creamy sauces and incontinence. Sorry for being blunt, but someone have to say it.
I will set goals for my fitness, based on knowledge and research. I will come up with a plan that suits me, and I will get my family and friends to support me in a productive and empathic way. Just as I did when I quit smoking.
Please follow me for encouragement and for cheering me on. This is just one step on the way.
Ps: the image is a picture of my son, when we walked a 15 km long route in the mountains in southern France during Easter.