All the healthy stuff

The parents were so funny.

I subscribed to their channel.

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My son is big enough now that I can push him in the stroller without him being in the attached car seat. Which means that when I run, Iā€™m only pushing 55 lbs, not 65.

Iā€™m never getting thos Michelle Obama arms. But im so relieved I donā€™t care.

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Last time I tried an e-cig was years ago. It worked ok, but not great. Too often the charge ran out, or the wick dried out, or I didnā€™t have liquid with me, or something. So I reverted back to the simpler, less failure-prone cigarettes.

Today I did some reading about how to compare ml of juice to packs of cigs and how long to wait between tapering down nicotine amounts (too fast doesnā€™t work well, advice I found suggested giving it 8 weeks or longer per level to reduce odds of relapse). Then looked for something thatā€™d be easier to use with less maintenance and still feel right. Then ordered a new vape set and some ejuice that reviewers say tastes a lot like the cigarettes that Iā€™ve been smoking, so might make a good substitute.

By my calculations, itā€™ll bring the cost down to $3-$5/week instead of per day, and if it works then eventually down to $0. Also want to measure how much it brings my blood pressure down.

:crossed_fingers: Worth another shot.

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Iā€™ve been vaping for 9 months or so now. Quitting is a long term goal for me but I like nicotine too much to want to cut it out of my life entirely, at least for the time being.

Itā€™s difficult to draw parallels between the strength of the cigarettes you used to smoke and the strength of the eLiquid you should use, because you have to take the resistance of your coil (specifically whether or not the vape is designed for direct-to-lung or mouth-to-lung vaping) and the VG:PG ratio of the liquid into account, as well as factoring in differences in consumption frequency (cigs are over when they burn out but itā€™s much easier to chain vape without even really noticing).

I went from a pack of Camel-strength cigarettes (Mevius, to be specific) a day to vaping a 6mg 70:30 liquid on a 0.5ohm coil and it felt like a step down, initially. I found that I ended up vaping loads to make up for a perceived lack of nicotine. I didnā€™t realise until a week or so later that my heart was constantly pounding all the time and that it was the other crap in the cigarettes that I was missing instead of the nicotine.

I dropped the resistance of the coil to 0.2 ohm and carried on with the same eLiquid, which gave me an easier draw on the vape but made my throat hurt. I dropped the nicotine to 3mg for a while, then bumped up the coil to 0.3ohm and stayed there. 3mg isnā€™t quite strong enough for me and 6mg is too much, so I started mixing my own liquid at 4mg and it seems pretty much spot on.

A couple of weeks ago, I dropped my vape while I was changing the coil and the tank smashed for the third time. Itā€™s been a royal pain in the arse trying to find replacement glass each time (itā€™s an obscure brand with a non-standard tank size), so I bought myself a cheap, plastic model to tide myself over until I could find a vape that corrects the problems I had with my previous one.

The plastic one is designed for high-resistance coils and canā€™t be used for DTL vaping. Teaching myself to vape MTL has been a bit of a pain (Iā€™d rather inhale big lungfuls like itā€™s a hookah or a bong than try to emulate cigarettes) and my usual 4mg liquid has been giving me a sore throat. If I were planning to use it long term rather than have it as a back up vape, Iā€™d try lowering the VG:PG ratio and fiddling with the nicotine levels again until I found the right balance for me but my new vape should arrive soon, so Iā€™m not that invested in my current one.

Of course, the new vape has different coils, temperature and wattage control, and adjustable air vents, so Iā€™ll end up fiddling with it for a few weeks until I find the right balance again. :man_shrugging:

My point is that cigarettes donā€™t map onto vaping perfectly and youā€™ll probably need to do some tweaking of nicotine content, throat scratchiness and ease of inhaling before you completely enjoy it. Itā€™s well worth persevering with though. I can smell and taste properly for the first time in twenty years, my clothes donā€™t smell and my lung capacity is slowly recovering to something approaching healthy.

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I got tired of never being able to find pre-mixed eLiquid that I liked so now Iā€™ve started buying the base liquid by the litre, then adding top up shots of nicotine and flavouring to 100ml batches that I mix in a separate bottle.

Each litre costs about $20 and the 100ml bottles seem to last me between a fortnight and a month. Once you factor in flavouring and nicotine shots, itā€™s probably closer to $3 a month than $3 a week, plus you get to control the exact strength and flavour. I was probably spending $7-8 a week on pre-mixed eLiquid (not to mention $10 a day on cigarettes), so itā€™s a pretty huge saving.

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That well describes why I havenā€™t done this yet. It felt like I needed to take a semester-long course just to understand what all the different types and variables are. :joy: But Iā€™ll follow your example of experimentation - better than not trying. I hadnā€™t thought of mixing my own, but it sounds like it might be a good idea to get some of the base, so if I end up with liquid too strong I could dilute it.

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Weā€™ve had really rainy weather lately. Iā€™m not sure how, but I always get very tired when itā€™s rainy, and I always have trouble getting up when itā€™s rainy. Much worse than when itā€™s dry. Any idea what could cause this?

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Perhaps itā€™s a lack of sunlight thatā€™s not diffused through thick clouds?

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I can imagine that having an effect over several weeks, but not hours.

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Fluctuations in atmospheric pressure can be tiring.

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Reminds me of sailors who can tell the weather by how their healed bone fractures ache.

Youā€™ve mentioned chronic pain in the past; the humidity may be playing into that.

Alternatively, more humid air is a lot more difficult to regulate body temperature in: you might be feeling hotter or cooler than usual, and Iā€™ve found it harder to get out of bed in either of those conditions.

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My new vape arrived today and although I ordered the brushed steel version, they sent the wrong colour. I was initially a bit revolted by it but now I think I like it.

Behold, the Naturevape!

This may be the most hipster item I own. Iā€™m glad I already have facial hair and glasses because Iā€™d basically have to get both before I could carry on using it. :laughing:

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Iā€™ve been exercising at my Y and found out I could connect to my Netflix account on the treadmill. A lot of fun rocking out to Thor: Ragnorok. What are some other great shows? (Lots of action, little thinking.)

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Any of the Marvel Netflix shows? Any of the DC-CW shows? Galavant?

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Update on my 6th attempt to quit smoking: I was smoking over a pack a day (pack and a half?) and since I started with the vape pen, that dropped to half a pack pretty quickly and today itā€™s 2:30am and Iā€™ve only had 5 cigs since I woke up this morning and no real desire for another.

Iā€™m being careful to use the vape pen the same way that I would cigarettes (same frequency, go outside, limit to about 4 minutes). Now I want it instead of a cigarette. And that transition happened within just a few days. Iā€™m surprised. Of course, the proof will be in the long-term results, but compared to my past attempts (cold turkey, gradual reduction, patches, chantix, ecig), Iā€™m feeling optimistic. The fresh air is smelling fresher and Iā€™m having no withdrawal.

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My husband is trying to quit now, too. Good luck!

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Good luck to both!

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Itā€™s summer, so I have more flexibility in my time. I now have three different workouts I do: three days a week 2.5 miles with the dog (about 8:30 mile pace), 2 days a week 7.5 miles by myself (about 8:45 mile pace), 1 day a week 2.5 miles with dog, 4 with son in stroller (death), one day whatever I want (usually 7.5 miles, then 2.5 with dog).

Iā€™m trying to get a little faster so that no workout takes more than an hour, so I can keep it up when school restarts, but I donā€™t really know how to do that.

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Okay, couldnā€™t get past ā€œeat less move moreā€.

That glosses over a huge amount of biochemistry, and all the fun on-stage chemistry reactions in the world canā€™t get over that. Sure, it works for some people, but if there was only one way to be fat and that was the cure, there wouldnā€™t be any fat people.

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