As I’ve mentioned before, I have a beer gut, which is ironic since I quit drinking beer and all alcohol nearly seven years ago. But a bump in my belly is clearly pronounced. And my New Year’s resolution to get skinny again is off to a start.
With January over, many of us have already scuttled our New Year’s resolutions. That brand-spanking-new gym membership is starting to wear out its welcome. Sober January — ha! — only lasted a couple weeks for many drinkers.
Losing weight is one of the most common New Year’s resolutions, as is quitting smoking. I’m trying to do both at once. And I’m making progress.
I’m on Seroquel for my bipolar, a prescription that is notorious for causing people to gain weight. The drug leaves you hungry all the time so I was constantly snacking on unhealthy foodstuffs like ice cream and cookies.
I’ve been pretty good about my new diet, which is the same one my dad did successfully last year. It doesn’t really have a gimmick or a name. I can eat as much fruit and vegetables as I want, as much meat or fish as I want, but nothing with added sugar and no starch whatsoever. In other words, no carbs.
Eggs have become my best friend. They are pure protein and I can easily hard-boil a dozen and eat them throughout the week. I thought I was allowed to have non-fat frozen yogurt and reduced-fat peanut butter, but I found out the hard way that I can’t. After a couple days eating fro-yo for dessert after dinner, I gained a pound.
As of today, I weigh 164 pounds and am 5’7”. I started the diet three weeks ago 10 pounds heavier. My goal is to look good in small-size t-shirts again. Although I can fit into them now, they accentuate my stomach, as evidenced by working-vacation photos from my recent trip to Hawaii. I want to be fit for summer.
But then, there is smoking — a much bigger challenge. The nurse at my quitting class says that cigarettes are harder to quit than heroin. I’ve been tapering down slowly, and today is day three without the coffin nails.
For me, a key aid in quitting has been blueberries. Especially when I am writing, I tend to want a cigarette after finishing a particularly good paragraph or post. Smoking is almost part of the writing process. You go out for a smoke and ponder what to write next or how to improve upon what you’ve already written. You think about words as you inhale your nicotine. A brainstorm of word clouds hovers over you. So, I have needed to change my personal reward policy. Now I eat a few blueberries as a reward instead of having a cigarette.
The nurse also suggested I get some small weights to lift so that I have something to do with my hands when I am craving nicotine. It’s helping. They are itty-bitty weights — only three pounds — but it gives me something to do when I reach stopping points in my writing.
I also have a couple of shiny and smooth pebbles to twiddle around with and occupy my hands — kind of like marbles only not spherical. They were given to me by my crafty bipolar quit buddy Erin, who also had the idea of pretending to smoke with a cinnamon stick, a tactic that has proven effective in healthily replicating the hand-to-mouth repetitive movement that goes along with smoking.
On the windowsill in front of my home-office workspace, I’ve hung some inspirational post-it notes: “Relax.” “Be Calm.” “Enjoy Life.” “Breathe.” Pentagram. “Listen to Slayer.” (Nothing like a bit of thrash metal for motivation. I recommend the album Reign in Blood. Hail Satan!)
What are your goals for the new year? Have your resolutions gone by the wayside or are you not only surviving, but thriving in 2019?
