Off the cancer sticks for good!

Let it be known that as of today, Sunday, August 1, 2010, is the day I'm quitting cigarettes for good. Yep, you heard right. No more puffs for me. Honestly I've never tried to quit smoking before but I have a feeling that this one will go smoothly. Like I said I had been smoking about 3-4 cigarettes a day for the past few months, so I guess cutting down to zero shouldn't be too difficult - I hope! Anyway, it seems like I tend to quit one vice every ten years. I stopped drinking alcohol almost ten years ago in October 2000, much to the surprise of some of my (American) friends. They got used to it after a while especially when I told them I would still hang out at the bars with them shooting pool and playing air hockey but only that I would be drinking juices or Coke instead.

My immediate goal now is to be as fit as possible and ultimately be able to run a half-marathon (26km/13 miles) in decent time. Another goal is reduce my body fat (BF) percentage to single digit. My current BF percentage is about 12-13 percent. One thing I don't want to do is to lose fat at the expense of muscle development. It means doing cardio at the appropriate time (preferably after weight-lifting or on non-lifting days) and take in enough protein and slow-burning carbs to prevent the catabolic effect (when the body devours muscles for extra energy and makes them shrink).

My mom will be so ecstatic when she hears this news but you know what, I'm not going to tell her (or anybody in my family) any time soon. I'll probably wait until my birthday in September (after Idul Fitri) to break the news to everyone - unless, of course, if they've already known about it through this blog post.

Today is the dawn of what I hope to be a much healthier, fulfilling, and productive life. Man, I feel much younger already!