Starting Monday…a journey to the finish…

Well folks, it’s day 14 of not smoking. 14 frickin days….can you believe it? Yeah, neither can I. I think I’m over the worst of it, and feel as though I’ve come to a point where I don’t need to be constantly snacking to make up for that oral fixation that smoking provided. (Don’t ask what the bf suggested to overcome that problem…boys…they’re gross!) In fact, I passed the ultimate test this past Saturday night; I went to a bar. I had one drink (vodka and cranberry)…and didn’t smoke. Now that Illinois has gone non-smoking, it wasn’t really that hard. In fact, I went outside with the bf and everybody else when they smoked, and it wasn’t horrible. I was tempted, don’t get me wrong…but there was something inside of me telling me not to disappoint myself and give in.

And I didn’t.

Now, back to eating. I’ve been letting myself slide with staying on plan…as a means of not smoking. Like I mentioned…now that the worst is over, it’s time to get focused again. I’ve been reading “Body for Life” by Bill Phillips, and decided that I’m going to try and follow his plan. Honestly, it’s not really different from what I’ve been doing all along…but I like that fact that he suggests you make lists of what you plan on doing at the gym the next day…and keep things organized. (I’m a list maker. Big time. In fact, I had once made myself a list and left it lying on the kitchen counter. My brother got ahold of it…and after the last item, the smartass wrote “make more lists.” Asshole.) So, I started the first workout this morning. It was tough…I woke up with a migraine that still has not gone away…didn’t think I was going to make it through the 20mins…but alas, I did. (Note to self..get there earlier. All of the old people got the good machines first…and I was stuck with the shitty treadmill that is so frickin ancient, it doesn’t even have a spot for a waterbottle. Bastards!

In other news, I got me a new set of teeth this weekend. I went to see a new dentist last week for a cleaning and checkup. He’s actually the dentist that my Mom saw and that my Dad still sees…and has so for 20+ years. (I finally got kicked out of my pediatric dentist by about the time I was 20…and just couldn’t find anybody I could say that I really liked…or trusted for that matter…so I decided to give this guy a try.) Yeah, he’s totally awesome. When I was getting my checkup last week, he kept telling me funny stories about my Mom…and he she would yell at me or my brother mid exam…and then let the doc go back to what he was doing. Too funny.

Anyhoo, on to the new teeth.

I’ve always had a David Letterman style gap. It’s never been a huge deal…my teeth were straight…looked decent..just always had that blasted gap.

Until now.

The new doc “bonded” my teeth (covered by insurance….fyi….they treat it like a filling)….so I’m a gap free kid now. (All the more incentive to keep of the smokes…ya know?) The entire process took just over an hour…not shots…needles, or anything of the sort. After the initial shock, I totally fell in love with my new teeth. In fact, the doc himself said, “Your mother would be so proud.”

Take a look…see for yourself:

Old Me…new me.