[bigjerry]

Originally Posted by skarlorn [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I grew up breathing my dad's shitty cigar smoke. The brand was Backwoods. Then around 15, 16, I started smokin dank nugglets and cigs and slowly of course became addicted to die ziggaretten. My lungs have had lifelong exposure to smoke with brief periods in my 20s now when I don't use dank (cigs are only on special occassions, like if I'm traveling or drunk on a roof top in San Francisco about to have a threesome)

I had asthma problems as a kiddo whenever I tried to do long term cardio. It kept me away from some of the SPORT I wanted to do, particularly made swimming distance difficult. I got into short energy-burst SPORT like Fencing and Rock Climbing to make up for it. I knew I was going to have to train my lungs to operate at the capacity of other people's because I was far behind in my teens, despite being an active, forest dwelling kid.

Truth be told, the childhood exposure to smoke developed something of an allergic reaction for me and this helped a great deal as I kicked cigarettes. If I smoke for several contiguous months, I get bronchitis. There's no way around it. Last time I smoked was for about 2 weeks to a month of a spliffs. Got bronchitis.

I realized when I was 20 that I needed to quit smoking. it was too detrimental to my health on the immediate front to ever be worthwhile. But since I grew up around smoking as a kid, it was engrained as a manly activity. My training taught me to slurp coffee and suck cigz and eat all the cheese at the disco.

Only by eliminating social scenes where I was destined to smoke (bars, coffee shop, outside college class), was I able to start going weeks at a time without a cigarette.

Nowadays I have no problems anywhere except drunk at a bar.

I am happy to report I am in extremely good physical condition despite a chronic irritable bowel disease.

agreed!