Photograph by Steve Buissinne
I am an amateur runner; I started running back in April of 2010 after I gain 22 pounds because I stop smoking the year before (2009) and the reason I started running was to lose the weight.
I lost some weight, and at that period, I was triumphal about my weight loss. My competitive bug bit me, and instead of focusing on losing more weight I shift my attention instead on running faster and longer in my races.
One of the things I used to do and still do if I have the time is to always train at a higher altitude of where the race will be held. I always try to train at least twice the competition altitude. For example, if my race is at the height of 420 meters then I will work and train at 800 meters.
A lot of you will ask why? Why would you do that? Well, the higher I go, the less oxygen I get, by training on higher altitude I train my lungs to optimize and utilize less oxygen so when I go in a race competition that is held in lower altitude, I can achieve more because my lungs will use more oxygen thus increasing my performance.
What Our Brain Needs.
Anyway, what all this have to do with smoking? Well, our brain to function correctly needs two things, glucose (natural sugar) and oxygen.
The first time I started training at high altitude, I would get disoriented and dizzy couldn’t focus well because I did not get enough oxygen and until I get into shape I had those symptoms.
When you stop smoking one of the many symptoms you might feel are headaches, difficult to consecrate, disorientation, time perception. You might don’t remember what you did 5 minutes ago or one minute ago.
Now, this is happening because for many years nicotine was bullying your liver into releasing glycogen and fat into your bloodstream tricking your brain that you ate, now you know why when you smoked your appetite was disappearing, you were getting sugar and fat through the liver and this action happened in seconds!
Manage Your Calories.
Now that you quit, the sugar and fat that you were getting with that unnatural way, must be provided the good old fashion way, you have to eat or drink those calories. That is why is a splendid idea to drink natural fresh squeezed juices for at least the first three days it will help you with the stabilization of your blood level and help you avoid all the unwanted symptoms I just mentioned earlier.
So if you get any symptoms like that, it is because you are not getting enough calories, drink your juices and try to divide your calorie intake evenly during the day. Have some breakfast, lunch, and dinner, try to distribute your calories during your time evenly.
Do not fall into the trap and the false conclusion that you will have this symptom forever, give time to your body to remember how to function again normally without a deadly toxin telling it what and what not to do.
Like for me, it took time for my body to adapt to the high altitude less oxygen supply same thing applies to you too, you need to give some time for your body to adjust to the new situation.
The above article is an excerpt from my book series The Best Way To Stop Smoking Permanently
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