Turn around....

[jade]

I may be going out on a limb here, but...I've thought about posting this question a number of times, so here goes......

How many of you out there are former smokers, heavy drinkers, etc? Twenty years ago I put away drugs and alcohol and then quit smoking and eating meat 11 years ago. Hiking UP Cannon many years ago, I thought my chest might explode so I took the gondola down. Now I can hike many a mile and feel as healthy as, well, as healthy as me!!! I have more stamina and muscle tone now than I did at age 20. I can't imagine life without hiking--for the exercise, fresh air, the vistas and the good people I have met.....

There, I did it.....

Breathing free and clear.....Jade

 

[Sherpa John]

Yeah... I used to smoke. I started at the age of 16 in 1998 and smoked until 2001. Worst 3 years of my life, it was also during a time that I was NEVER hiking.. actually.. I think I did 2 hikes in those 3 years and both times it was much harder than I had remembered.

I eventually quit smoking after accidentally inhaling some nasty chlorine gas that stripped the lining from my lungs. I got to see first hand what nicotine looked like and I never looked again. I quit cold turkey that day and have felt great ever since.

Breathing freely since 2001.
SJ

 

[Rick]

OK, OK, OK...
I am a former cigarette smoker - I learned in high school and exceled at it in the army ("At Ease Troops!!! Smoke'em if you got'em!!!")

Later while living in the UK (Wasdale Head, right??? Home of the highest mountain, biggest liar, smallest church and deepest lake) and hiking up and down fells, I could always feel a bit winded, even though I could still run a half marathon. I knew I had to quit, but always found an excuse not too, just yet, and after all, everybody still smoked, yeah??

I ended up quitting a half dozen or so years later, when it became uncool and I had approached my 30's and needed to grow up straightaway!!!

I'd like to think my lungs have made a comback, even thought my heart valve is now problematic. Heck, gives me something to blame my slow uphill speed on!!!

 

[Joe]

Haven't smoked in about 18 years although do have an ocassional cigar (probably 2 or 3 a year). Just about eliminated alcohol about 10 years ago - although do enjoy ocassional glass of wine or cold beer. Became a vegetarian about 8 years ago. Never felt better!


...Joe

 

[KZKlimber]

I recently met a guy in Alaska who had weighed 350 lbs and smoked. He had a life altering experience, changed his diet, started exercising, and in 18 months lost 150#. If that is not enough - he rode his bike from Bellingham Washington to Talkeetna and on July 2, 2005 summited Denali.

You can check it out at www.Denaliquest2005.com

 

[Pete_Hickey]

IHow many of you out there are former smokers,

Former? I still haven't been able to quit. OK, I don't smoke a lot. Sometimes I'm at one a month, sometimes several a day, but I can't seem to stop completely.

I can't imagine life without hiking--for the exercise, fresh air, the vistas and the good people I have met.....

Well, they're not mutually exclusive, although I don't find cigerettes taste good while hiking. or camping. or while cycling, but after....

So, I'll cycle 160 miles down to the adirondacks. The next day, I'll hike or do trailwork, then at 5:00, hop on the bike and ride 30 miles or so, then 130 miles the next day, and enjoy a cigerette that evening. I suspect that I am not a typical smoker.

 

[Panama Jack]

I am all of the above

Cigarettes, yup, lots. I was standing on North Hancock last year smoking a cigarette not even winded while a bloody flatlander, preachy non smoking friend was gasping for breath. Like I said to him, well Nick, maybe you should start smoking I carry out my butts in a sealed baggie.

Alcohol, yup, like that also, socailly recreationally and habitually. Jack is my drink of choice while watching a beautiful sunset in a shelter. A good micro brew IPA ice cold for the trailhead.

No apologies.

-PJ-

 

[dentonfabrics]

Hi Jade,

I was a chain smoker. Smoked 2 packs a day until I quit 8 years ago. Quitting was the toughest thing I ever did. Took me all of 1997 to get thru it. And even now -- everyonce in a while, I'll get the tiniest urge. It passes quickly.

I still toss down some beers though. I never considered that to be a problem. Red meat, maybe once a week.


thanks,
denton fabrics

 

[TDawg]

Never considered myself addicted to butts but smoked occasionally (a pack every 2-3 weeks maybe)for a few years....haven't touched a butt in over 2 years. Growing up seeing my dear grandmother (RIP), with one lung, attached to an oxygen tank all her life might have drilled home a good point.

Being in college at Plymouth State however, I have been known to dabble in some binge drinking from time to time. (Although don't partake in "riots.") But its getting old fast. I enjoy a good pale ale or a bourbon whiskey in moderation most of the time.

A hangover will kill my inspiration to hike most of the time but snowboarding is a different story...(less work)

As for not smoking anymore, I like being able to breathe on a hike when my heart rate goes up. And laugh at smokers who gasp for air, its their own fault. No offense to any smokers, to each his own.....

 

[sierra]

Man Ive done it all. Growing up was hard ( no details) smoked, drank among other things. Would party all night then climb all day, the only thing that made it doable was that I climbed all the time and trained like a madman as well.
Although Ive never been over 14,500, Ive summitted over 40 14ers and excell at altitude, Ive met some high altitude climbers and they all say smokers do well because their used to huffing and puffing, cant speak to the validity of that statement but it never hurt me.
To me, personal drive and commitment to what you love can get you up any mountain.

 

[bigmoose]

Last tobacco, 1974.
Last alcohol, 1994.
Last *other*, 1995.
Now I tell people I found a much better way to get "high."
I don't howl 'til 4 a.m. anymore, but I don't forget where I left the car, either!

 

[BrentD22]

Drinking, Smoking Pot, and Hiking...

Drinking has been a problem time to time. While hiking I tend to bring some nips or more to relax at camp. I see nothing wrong with it, except there are times I wake up and I feel so much more crappy and hung over than I normally would have at home.

I used to smoke pot when I hiked, but no longer smoke at all. It was a fun relaxed thing not a stoner thing. Now for some reason I still get the same feeling when I hike without the pot. It's almost like my body was used to feeling a particular way when hiking and camping and it stays that way when I'm up in the clouds (in a physical being way not druged mentally way).

Hiking and camping is deffenetly a natural high for me!

 

[giggy]

cool thread - pretty much like sierra - man I have done it all -

haven't smoked for while - still miss it though - been staying off the booze for the most part due to training for rainier - but love beer and will also pull benders (12-24 beers a night) every now and then. never liked pot - don't like the high - but wish i did becuase it probably cheaper than beer.

I think many elite climbers (doug scott and joe simpson come to mind) were smokers.

I pretty much just stick to the beer now and have since abour 1996 or so.

I don't recommend hiking hungover - I puked a few weeks ago near the valley way tentsite hiking up - but was fine after!! don't worry - puke was off trail and I didn't ruin any flowers!!

 

[Mr. X]

I occasionally smoke pipes, cigars, cigarettes. But not habitually. I drink like a fish though, especially during holidays and social events (refer to Stinkyfeet's signature). I find rounding the corners to be fun sometimes. Hiking? Well, dude I don't even hike that much, but more than the average "person". I camp and hike for the experience, it's somthing you can't explain to a person or even make them understand by doing it. I think it takes a certain type to truley enjoy the outdoors, and it's quite a group we have going right here!

 

[anita514]

I never was a smoker, but I partied very hard from the age of 17 to about 22/23. I was totally flabby, out of shape and could barely walk a mile. I'd be up all weekend, maybe getting 3-5 hours sleep in between, then I'd be at work mondays like a zombie, only to repeat it all come friday night.

Since then, I've quit all the drugs and booze. I'll have a couple drinks a month now, but no more getting hammered all the time. I still smoke pot, maybe a couple times a month (mostly when outdoors) - my only vice

It was very hard for me to get into hiking because I was so out of shape and overweight. It's still hard at times to keep up, especially on harder trails, but I am doing it, and getting better all the time.

 

[SherpaKroto]

I quit smoking in 1972 while puffing happily on the landing hill of the Little Nansen Ski jump in Berlin with my jumping skis leaning on my shoulder. Just didn't feel right.

I've done it all, still do some, and try to look forward, not back.

 

[Puck]

I lived in CA many years ago. landed there after a cross country bicylce trip. Alot of my "habits" just seemed to fall of the map. I didn't feal the need to follow the Greatfull Dead, etc. I went to Mineral King in the Seirras for a weekend backpacking trip. A friend had given me a joint. Watching a sunset 10K I lit the thing then thought "This is stupid" I put it out, placed it in a baggie and haven't touched the stuff since. I now will enjoy a beer, wine or scotch very occasionaly. (I have had a bottle of single malt for three years with only once taken from it.) However, a strong mug of English breakfast tea.....I think I am turning into my Grandmother.

 

[Puck]

Is it me or are we one pot of coffee short of an AA meeting?

 

[Double Bow]

I started smoking various things in High School and smoked and drank heavily in college (though I was smoking only tobacco for the most part). I tapered off smoking after college and didn't have a hard time quiting. At the end, I was smoking two cigarettes a day. For me, it was more a routine than an addiction. Of course, not being able to smoke at home or in the car made it easier. I've been a non-smoker for 3.5yrs now though I do enjoy a good cigar on special occasions (3 or 4 a year) and while I do enjoy adult beverages, I do so in moderation (for the most part). I go to the gym, which is something I never would have done back in college and I unapollogetically enjoy meat. I see nothing wrong with it. To quote Dennis Leary, "Animals were created to serve two purposes, to taste good and to fit well!" No offense to the vegetarians, to each his or her own.

It's funny how we change. Back in high school me and friends would ride out bikes 80+ miles a day at a good clip and have one hand on the handlebar and the other would be holding a cigarette.

To quote They Might Be Giants, "I was young and foolish then. I feel old and foolish now."

 

[The Sikes]

Never smoked and haven't drank in 13 years not that I drank much when I did. Changed to vegetarian about 10 years ago. I have to say that I feel much heathier than when I was 20 ...I think it has more to do with getting out and exercising this body of mine more than anything else. I hate to exercise....I need a reason to do it and hiking and doing lists gives me the reason I need to get out there.