Mr.Buchko

AN OVERDUE UPDATE: I am very excited about this upcoming mile-marker for Nerd Fitness, because as of Monday, March 25th I will have been without a cigarette for one... solid... month. I'm happy beyond words about this but I'll elaborate on that more in a minute. My effort to cut-out soda hasn't "failed" exactly, but it has been roadblocked in a way I hadn't expected; without the nicotine in my system from the cigarettes (which, according to my iPad "Since I Quit" application, would have been over 520 smoked in the time since we started the challenge!), I am prone to deep, throbbing headaches that only caffeine seems to dissipate - no fun. BUT I have cut way back on the soda and am now only using it for medicinal purposes only :::laughs:::. I've done pretty well cutting out sweets but not as totally as I wanted to, and again this is because of quitting smoking. All these different websites and applications and self-help books all briefly warn of the increased appetite, but they do NOT do that craving justice. You will just have 15 solid hours of hunger, hunger, hunger. My wife and I will finish breakfast, she'll be stuffed and I'm looking for lunch. (Amazingly, I haven't gained much - if any - weight since we started this... not that I've noticed anyway). But when the only thing between you and a cigarette is small disc of frozen yogurt, you eat the sweet and don't look back. I lost my job a few weeks back, and with the stress of looking for work combined with the overwhelming stress of end-of-term finals, my goals for Strength Fit have unfortunately been cast by the wayside... wow, this update of mine is kind of starting to suck, isn't it? I'm still doing my workouts at home when I can, but finals take priority. I've built up good visible muscles in my arms but not so much in my abs yet. I guess the big win for me here is that I've quit smoking. I know it was only one of my challenges and goals but I'd like to think we all agree that it's definitely a major one. I was a really heavy smoker since I was about 12 or 13 years old and... to be able to say I broke the habit and quit before my 30th birthday makes me really, just, immensely happy - as is my young wife and my mother, neither of whom actually thought I'd ever quit. (And according to my mother, I'm the first person in my family to ever successfully quit. That's pretty amazing to me...)

AN UPDATE: I keep a tab open on my Vaio at all times, at least I have since the beginning of this 6 Week Challenge - a "time since" countdown clock that currently says 11 days, 5 hours, 6 minutes and 44 seconds; this is how long it's been since I've had a cigarette. My wife is very proud of me, as are my friends, family, loved-ones, etc. On the other hand, I am getting very... very fucking sick of this; I'm on day #11 and I hurt and crave just as bad as I did on days #3 and #4. I think that's the biggest reason people give up on quitting - it's not that they can't handle the cravings and withdrawals, it's the duration. I've had more soda than I planned to this week, but it's part of my warfare against the headaches which have become deep-rooted and throbbing. Work outs have been good and with the exception of a small bit of frozen yogurt on Tuesday I have been entirely "sweets" free. Now if I could only cigarette a cigarette, I could cigarette cigarette a cigarette cigarette's cigarette.

END OF WEEK ONE: A FULL UPDATE: First off, I really want to thank those of you who have been posting on my page and sending me private messages - your words of support in my effort to quit smoking have really made the difference for when I start fiending my worst. I have a small group of friends that have been championing my progress on my Facebook page as well, and I've found that the times where I may be tempted to smoke are much more manageable when I have to consider the disappointment of so many people if I fail. As far as smoking goes, I wanted to give myself a "B" for this week because, while not once has a cigarette touched my lips in the last seven days, the cravings and desires and mood-swings especially were nigh intolerable and I felt I should have been able to control them better. My lovely wife, on the other hand, says I deserve an "A+" for making it seven whole days without smoking. I might need some opinions here as to what I actually deserve... On the quitting soda front, no doubt I get an "A+" - not even a temptation there. With the sugary sweets stuff, I guess I get a "C" - I was hungry at work the other night and - focusing on the "blueberry" part and not the "muffin" part - I ate something I expected to be considered healthy... until my wife informed me otherwise. :::shakes fist::: Going into the physical fitness portion, I did NOT make it to Strength Fit twice this week and that's entirely because of my cigarette cravings. I went on Tuesday and expected to go on Thursday, except even the trainer said "dude, no, you need to get passed the rough spots of no smoking first," but at least I think I made up for it with some extra planking and hollow rocks at home - so I'll take a "C" there. My other two fitness goals are too early to really grade on. So... that's it. Week two begins tomorrow and, even after seven days of being smoke free, I am craving pretty bad right now.

AN UPDATE: At 5:45 this morning... I crossed the 100 hours mark. A hundred hours since I've had a cigarette. I never thought I'd see the day, and honestly every minute of this has been one increasingly painful moment after another - yesterday was particularly bad; screaming at the wife, threw one of my guitars across the room, made her cry - definitely not my finest moment. But I'm 100 hours in right now. They say that the bulk of the cramps and (what feels like) intestinal shredding ends after the second week, so I only have about 221 more hours to go... and I'll be sitting here, wanting a cigarette, the entire time. As far as everything else, haven't had soda or any snackie cakes or sweets, done really well about my trips to Strength Fit (except for yesterday, when the cravings wouldn't permit so I worked out at home) and I'm doing really awesomely with my planking and working on my abs and arms. Because of the cigarette withdrawals, I've been eating almost constantly, but I've restricted myself to things like baked chicken, light pastas, egg whites - healthy stuff like that, so hopefully it won't have too bad of an effect on my muscle mass. Is that it then... can I go have a cigarette now?!

AN UPDATE: I am approaching the 48-hour mark for "cigarettelessliness" and I am deeply in the throws of craving. At one point today I actually said, "Come on, how bad can cancer be?!" (My brain and my body are working against me to rationalize any given excuse to smoke again.) This is fucking brutal; my insides feel like they're rotting where they sit, I've lost all basic coordination and I can't stand to look my loved-ones in the face. End of day two and I'm already asking if this is worth it...

Good-evening, Nerd Challengers - my name is Christopher J. Buchko and I am a full-time student working towards becoming a Police Officer for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Department in Clackamas, Oregon. As part of my own prerequisite to carrying a shield I have begun some relatively extensive weight-training and dietary changes to better prepare my body for the physical challenges as an officer. My wife is a frequenter of this site and has recently signed up for her own 6 Week Challenge (also starting tomorrow); her enthusiasm for the project was passed on to me and I have decided to embrace this effort with excitement and eager dedication. MR. BUCHKO'S SIX-WEEK CHALLENGE - LIFESTYLE AND FITNESS GOALS Lifestyle Goal: Extinguish my 15-year-long smoking habit. Additional Lifestyle Goal: Cut out carbonated beverages completely. Additional Lifestyle Goal: Cut out overly-sugared sweets and deserts. Fitness Goal #1: Attend StrengthFit Cross-Training for sessions 2x a week. Fitness Goal #2: Achieve well-defined muscles in both arms and abdomen. Fitness Goal #3: Pack on a MINIMUM of 5-lbs of solid muscle. I understand that I am attempting more "Lifestyle Goals" than was required (or is recommended), but as I explained to my friends and family, I need to make these changes, I need to make them immediately, and... frankly, if I'm going to suffer through withdrawals and cravings, I'd much rather suffer all at once. Here we go... wish me luck.