History...

Three years ago I quit smoking as a bet with my now passed
Step-father.(He died of lung cancer 2 summers ago) At the time
I didn't really believe that I would quit smoking permanently.
It was just a battle of wills between the two of us and I was
determined to show him my willpower was not to be questioned.

4 months later his will broke and I sat with the question of
did I really need to smoke? I have to say, I had reached the point
where I used cigarettes like a drug for stress relief. When stressed,
I smoked and felt better and got back to work. It was the same for
my step-father, he told me away from work he was fine, but not
having those moments of relief during the day broke him.

My daughter came home from school one day though and told me
and my wife they had talked about smoking in school and she really
wanted us to quit. She looked at us and just said she wanted us to be
around when she grew up. She made my decision for me.

Three years later I found my struggle went from cigarettes to being
overweight. The day I quit smoking I weighed 180 lbs. Last summer
I was at 225. For the last 6 months I have waged another contest
of willpower with my body, to lose weight.

I have to say, I now really feel for people who struggle
with weight problems. Unlike smoking where you go through your
day and struggle not to do something (light up), when one wants to
lose weight you go though your day and struggle to make yourself
do something. (Exercise..yuk) I really don't know what is harder.

201.5 lbs this morning. Guess I'm off to run to nowhere for a while.

Quote of the day
All human beings should try to learn before they die what
they are running from, and to, and why.
---James Thurber