Fitness Level Improving Already

Since I quit smoking, so many things seem to be happening at once that it's hard to keep track of them all. My attitude has changed in a lot of subtle ways, my energy level is through the roof, and I've started eating better and exercising.

I only started working out around a week ago, and already my fitness level is showing measurable improvement. Not just the kind you can measure with a-- um, what's something you can only use to measure really small stuff?

I'm going a touch faster on the Gazelle with a much lower heart rate. That's an important one, since according to all available information, I'm lucky my heart didn't jump out of my chest when I started. I was working way too hard, apparently. I'm not afraid of some good honest work, so long as I'm keeping the ol' heart right here inside the rib cage.

I've also doubled the amount of pushups I can do without slowing down, from fifteen to thirty. Last time I got on one of these kicks, I had myself up to sixty-something. Might have been seventy something. Sometimes it pays to be skinny.

This brings rise to the weight issue, which is mainly what got me started on this road in the first place. I'm sitting pretty right this minute at exactly my starting weight, after taking a brief stroll in the neighborhood of plus three to plus seven pounds. I expect to gain while I get back up to fighting weight, but at least now I can be sure it's not the Entenmann's talking as I work my way towards that ever-elusive six pack. I swear I think I can see the first little bit of a two-pack, but for some reason nobody else seems to be able to.