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I got to a point in my life when I was not living a very healthy lifestyle. I needed to change that if I was going to make it into my 90s, like my grandmother.
I wanted to quit smoking, lose weight, and start exercising, but I knew I couldn't start all of that at once. It would be too much and I would fail at all of them. I decided to quit smoking first and then move on to losing weight.
I joined a smoking cessation program at Palmetto Richland Hospital. You can contact the program coordinators at 256-CARE. The group setting really helped me to quit because everyone there had a common goal.
The program lasts for a month, and you attend a class two times a week. You set your own group date to quit, and you choose either a nicotine patch or Welbutrin, which is a prescribed medication and supplied by the program. You see photos and videos of throat and mouth cancer and lung cancer patients and what smoking does to your body. You talk about why you smoke, and you talk about the benefits of not smoking. You really have to be ready to quit; it has to be a decision that you make and you need to have a specific tangible reason to quit. It has to mean something to you personally. It wasn't easy but I did it. It's been three years since I quit.
Like a lot of people do and I knew that I would, I gained weight after I quit smoking. I tried to lose the weight by myself but wasn't very successful. What finally kicked me into gear to lose weight was a birthday trip to Greenville. Some friends of mine took photos of me at different places around Greenville. When they sent me copies my friends carried on about how they were such good pictures of me. I looked at them and was horrified at my weight. I thought, 'If that's a good picture of me, what's a bad picture?'
I thought about how the group dynamic had helped me to quit smoking and I started going to Weight Watchers meetings. That program teaches you how to make the right choices. It's a lifestyle: you can eat whatever you want, you just don't eat as much or as often. I still go every Tuesday. I swear by Weight Watchers.
Once I had lost some of the weight and felt a little more mobile I started doing boot camp classes at the YMCA downtown. It's a no-nonsense exercise class that covers a lot of different types of exercise including running. I continued to run and built up to running distances, with a goal of running a half marathon. I ran my first half marathon in January 2007 in two hours and 36 minutes. I ran my second in October and shaved 20 minutes off my time, and I ran my third one on December 1 and dropped another minute and a half. I always need a goal, so I'm training for another one in February at Myrtle Beach. I run with a group through Strictly Running, a shop in Five Points that sells running gear and offers training classes. You shouldn't always run by yourself, but you shouldn't always run with a group, either. The group motivates me, but you need to run alone sometimes so that you can learn how to listen to your body. I think it's easier when you can look to someone else to get and give encouragement. But you also have to be able to do it for yourself.
You don't change your life overnight--it's a process. I still need to lose some weight, but I feel good about where I am. I'm healthier and I'm doing the right things. Some days are better than others, but you keep going and get back on track. I keep one of those pictures from Greenville in my running bag. It reminds me of why I run and exercise.
1/08
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Chip Wade
