ninja dave

Today is Kick Butts Day. It's a day when thousands of youth across the nation take on Big Tobacco to stop kids from even starting to smoke. This is the 13th year of the event.

I can tell you that when I first started smoking I was a Freshman in high School. My stepdad was a chain smoker. I used to say, "He uses one match a day for his first one then lights the next one off of the last one." That is what it was like. (READ MORE)

I found some old blood work results from 2002 and was comparing them to my recent results. In 2002 I was a newlywed and had not had gestational diabetes yet. The only inkling I had of any blood sugar problems was a strong family history of type 2 diabetes and a diagnosis of hypoglycemia when I was 19.

My numbers are exponentially better today. Fasting sugar, cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL; you name it. This got me to thinking about my health and lifestyle today versus 5 years ago. I may be 5 years older but I should be feeling 10 years younger!

The biggest change, health-wise; is that I no longer smoke. 27 years of a pack plus a day are history. I have been smoke free for almost 22 months now, this alone would bring up my HDL levels. I remain very proud of this and it continues to remind me that I can change old ingrained habits. (READ MORE)