Marathon Training - Stop smoking plan.

I started training for the Brighton Marathon on April 12th 2026 on World Mental Health Day October 10th 2025. You can read all about why I'm running a marathon and how my training started here.

Prior to this the last time I'd run was when I was in school in the late 80's.

I'm 54, I'm smoke 15 cigarettes a day. I like to walk and did so regularly with our dog, Bob until he died in 2023 and I swim occasionally. 

I've been running/walking 3 times a week following the couch to 5k. The furthest I've run to date is 5k. I have however been walking and trekking routes up to 17k twice a week trying to run at least 5k. 

I took part in a Winter Walk in London in January where I walked 26.2 miles in 7 hours and 44 mins. My reason for doing this, is because the Brighton marathon has a cut off for a medal of 8 hours and I really want something to keep from the day as well as my other reasons for entering the marathon in the first place.

After running my first parkrun in November 2025, I really struggled with running 3 times a week as by the time I was getting home from work at 4.15pm it was dark outside. It's hard in Malvern to find a flat route to run without going round in circles unless I run through the industrial park or off road and as you may appreciate these are isolated areas after working hours and in the dark.

I'm not one for joining groups, I tried a walking group in January to trek the end to end Malvern Hills, the pace was too slow for me, despite promises that you had to be of a certain fitness level and I was getting cold and after a few miles I just had to leave the group at British Camp and continue the walk on my own.

But I plucked up the courage and I joined the gym with the hope of using the treadmill to run on. It didn't go to plan, it hurt my feet running on the spot, but the cross trainer, bike and rowing machine are great with helping me to build up strength and stamina.

I was ill over the New Year and had got behind with the running but had been doing a lot of walking, especially over the hills. I started running again and did a parkrun the end of January, and I've been out running after work, now the evenings have been getting lighter, even when it's been raining.

I'm struggling to regulate my temperature in this cold and rain. I'm too cold when I leave the house, so I've started with a brisk walk into town, where Peter has met me and has then taken my coat back home while I've run back and I've been spending more time in the gym, working on strengthening my inner and outer thighs and my shoulders and chest and using the cross trainer more often for longer periods of time.

But I need to get back running and on the road more. I'm running where and when I can. Instead of catching the bus after the football. I run/walk back to the train after the match.

And now I'm giving up smoking. I've stopped many times before and restarted again. I'm away for the February half term. It had been my plan to run while I was here and to stop smoking. I''ve not run at all. I've walked the dogs every morning, but it's been so cold and wet and windy, I've put it the bare minimum. But I have gone 2 days so far without a cigarette.

I am receiving support from my GP and Boots online pharmacy with taking Varenicline. This medication is not nicotine replacement. I've tried that and vaping alternatives before. it's the habit I need to break. I successfully stopped smoking in the past using Champix which this medication was previously called and no excuses other than extreme stress, relocating to the UK during the height of covid, hotel quarantine, having been separated from Peter, restrictions on us both from travelling (not just going on holiday).

Varenicline reduces nicotine cravings and withdrawal symptoms. You pick a date between day 8 and 14 to stop smoking but by day 5 I'd just gone off the idea of wanting or needing one and the smell of stale tobacco on a hat made me feel a little sick. It costs £89 a month for 3 months. I'm currently spending around that per week on cigarettes.

Sometimes I set myself goals that are just too high. I've taken on too much at the moment. Too much is out of my control.

The weather is my biggest enemy. It's too cold and wet and windy to be out running. I've got to focus my time and energy on stopping smoking and not worry and stress myself out about not running this week or next week even. 

The Brighton marathon is 7 weeks on Sunday. As long as I'm not smoking I know I'll find it much easier to be running and walking. I already know I can walk a marathon in under 8 hours I already know I can do it physically and mentally.

I can still go to the gym next week.

Counting calories to lose the weight gained after stopping smoking.

Weight gain is easy, losing it is harder. We all know that.

I've spent this week counting calories to try to understand how I can best lose the 8kg in weight gain since I stopped smoking back in December.

According to my BMI I am over weight. I'm 5ft 7in and in mid February I was weighing just over 76kg. I've always weighed between 70-72kg for most of my life, but with some additional exercise and a house renovation during lockdown, I'd dropped to 68kg, where I felt my most comfortable, was happy with how I looked and how my clothes fitted. 

I'm not happy now and if it wasn't for lockdown I'd be having to buy new clothes for going out in.

I googled a few things, starting with my medication 'can it cause weight gain?' well medication doesn't cause weight gain, it causes an increase in your appetite, the weight gain comes from what you put in your mouth, however, my medication started in November, Beta blockers, does cause weight gain *sighs* Iron infusions also cause weight gain. I've had 2 iron infusions since October.

But that is no excuse, I've been more sedate with my activities and had bursts of exercise when I worked at the golf then did nothing for a few weeks in between, followed by isolation on my return to the UK and in general just eating the wrong foods, snacking and more snacking.

I decided to investigate the best way to lose some weight, then maintain it, without going on a special diet, just plain and simple lifestyle choices. After all for most of my life I've weighed between 70-72kg. I've snacked, had takeouts, have a sweet tooth, enjoy chocolate, sweets, cakes, ice cream alongside a normal diet and moderate exercise in the form of dog walking, gardening, housework etc.

So that's how I came to count calories. If I can cut 500 calories a day I can expect to loose 2kg a month. I've lost 1kg in the first 3 weeks, but that's been with increasing my exercise, longer walks and joining in daily with Joe Wicks exercises for seniors, yes I know, but I have coordination issues, I need a slower pace. 

Here's what I've been eating, how I'm counting and why I'm so giving up cake and sweets and allowing myself the occasional bar of chocolate instead.

I'm already on a wheat free diet due to my migraines and a bleed in the small intestine and I don't have citrus drinks/fruit due to dental and bone implants.

Calories in hot drinks come from milk and sugars. If I make a latte at home it's 110 calories as it's a smaller cup.

Swopping apple juice for no added sugar apple squash saves almost 90 calories per glass.

Weighing out ingredients gives you an idea of how much you are eating. There are 109 calories in 30g of this fruit cheese, slightly less than cheddar. How many times a day do you just snap off a piece of cheese to nibble on?

I weighed the amount of butter, sugar and mix used to work out how many calories each pancake contains.

I don't always get to eat all my calories anyway.

It gets a bit complicated keeping note of everything you eat. I started day 1 recording items as I ate them, Day 2 I planned a bit more as I knew roughly how many calories were in a lot of things and Wednesday/Thursday and over the weekend, I'll be planning the calories, snacks and drinks to achieve 1500 calories a day.

I followed the advice to have a breakfast every morning, but that makes me want to eat more during the day as once I start eating I want to keep on going.

A typical example of Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Non fat yogurt, tsp honey, banana. Low fat bacon, gluten free roll with butter and brown sauce and Chicken breast, carrots, hummus and beet root salad, all contain similar calories.

And here come the extra calories. A slice of cake and 5 boiled sweets. This is the same as 2 and a half Crunchies, almost 6 milky way bars or 10 kitkat fingers. I do have some banana bread I made in the freezer that I omitted sugar from and it works out at 80 calories per slice.

There's so many other things I've discovered about food that I will continue with after the weekend when I finish counting the calories as it's so time consuming.

I'm starting a list of the most common foods I eat and their calorie content, I'm already reducing the amount of butter/oils I use in baking/cooking and cutting out sugar in drinks. Weighing dried products such as rice and pasta before cooking not only keeps the calories within the RDA but cuts down on food waste also. I often meal plan to help with reducing the amount of trips I make to the supermarket anyway and with meal planning I can swop meals around, reduce quantities of cupboard and freezer items if I want to eat a bar of chocolate or treat myself to a glass of wine.

To lose the weight gained I need to cut out cake and sweets, alcohol, chunks of cheese from the fridge as I pass. Staying up late makes me snack, eating too early makes me eat all day. Writing everything down makes me more honest with myself about what I'm eating, weighing foods and working out the calories makes me think twice about having that extra snack or eating just the one bag of sweets. I'm drinking a glass of water before each meal as it does make me feel a bit fuller. 

I aim to lose a further 2kg this month, increase my exercise and improve my diet. I won't be counting calories next week, I'll just be reducing portion sizes and thinking twice before I eat or drink something.

Do you have any tips on maintaining a healthy diet, losing weight and exercising you'd be happy to share with me?

2013 Groovy Mums

Well Kate over on her #Groovymum blog is getting the year off to a flying start. She seems to have a plan for the year rather than a list of resolutions that we know we'll all break anyway. I've a vague idea of what I'm doing for 2013, but currently I don't have any firm plans. However I do have an order of things to do and I'm hoping by writing them down, I'll think of a few ways to implement them. 1. STOP SMOKING OK you've heard this before. I actually stopped smoking in September 2012 and stupidly (nicotine addicted) had the occassional one in November and I'm now a full time smoker. Back to the Doctors on Friday for a repeat prescription for Champix and THIS time I will take the full course. 2. WORK I can't work here....FULL STOP....But I can and have been volunteering with a shoebox project (taking over assistant coordinator role this year) and with @kwo_org supporting adults with disabilities. But there is so much more I could and will be doing so I'm writing this list to motivate me. Tweet more on their behalf, make an effort to find out what is going on Set up Blog for Kungwini Welfare Organisation (any offers?) Put together lesson plans for Sex Education, Basic Lifeskills Make and market more bags, childrens toys, plant holders and kitchen utensil holders and accessories Fix two days a week to visit and stick to it, treat it like a job 3. SEWING See above and MAKE THE BLOODY CURTAINS 4. TIDY/SORT Sort out the family photos, the childrens keep sake boxes, wardrobes, toys, take all unwanted items to KWO 5.MAKE THINGS See 2&3 I had a Dremel for Christmas I want to make some photo frames 6. CLIMB KILIMANJARO Feel free to join in if you ahve any plans and what you're intending to do for 2013 and check back with Kate and on my blog to find out how we are all getting along.

Getting my groove back with purple hair

I'm either first to the party because it's the only invite I've had in ages or last because I've given up on waiting for people to invite me and I've started my own party.

I've linked this post into @kateonthinice Groovy Blog Hop. Well to be honest I was going to write a post about this as I have a few lined up to write over the coming week. But in as today is a day for tidying up emails, sorting out the tweets I've favourited to get back to (this is one of them) and generally getting everything I need in some kind of order to work my way through next week.

Hubby was in Europe in September, he was back for 3 days when I went into hospital for a neck op. Any way it didn't go as planned and he flew off to Cape Town for 3 days with me assuring him I would be fine and later on that day the pain kicked in and I was bed bound for a week, unable to move. My friend came to my rescue and dragged me to the bathroom, phoned the hospital who told her to feed me chocolate, coffee and coke. I got out of bed on the Wednesday, one week later, to go to the Doctors who hooked me on a drip, pumped me full of pain killers, prescribed me sleeping tablets so I could make the night time flight to the UK for 3 weeks of rain in Wales, my aunts funeral and a catch up with the family, mainly our adult children.

On my return, it was straight into the Shoe box project. We collected 6,000 boxes full of gifts that needed checking, filling, re wrapping and boxing for the different facilities in and around Pretoria. Sorting out storage, contacting facilities to arrange Celebration Days and baking more cakes than you can shake a stick at (stupid phrase).

I then, well at the same time really, threw myself into volunteering with @kwo_org who I now tweet for, helping them set up with their Nickel Xmas Market. I made bunting, nearly 2kms of it.

There are loads of blog posts in the past month about the two organisations above.

I'm now frantically packing for the kids for their trip back to the UK on Wednesday. They haven't seen their Dad since last December. They are flying on their own. I'm so very much looking forward to a bit of time with hubby on our own, a trip to Cape Town and Kruger national park. We've had one child free night since we moved here in Jan 2010.

Christmas presents for family and friends in the UK have been bought, I'm wrapping and writing notes, before popping them in the kids cases. They don't have many winter clothes so there is plenty of room.

I have 3 more commitments in the next week. A celebration day tomorrow at Mamelodi in a township, helping with security at the @kwo_org market, box drop off to my last facility and a Shoebox meal next Thursday for the 12 committee members.

So I've been grooving, but it's all going to come to a stop soon....or is it? I'm going to be teaching some lifeskills with @kwo_org in the new year. The shoebox project last year collected 1,200 boxes, this year 6,000 so next year, who knows? All I do know is that we will start our preparations earlier than June next year.

So what about me? I think I need some me time. Which I'll have when the kids leave.

So back to Kates Blog Hop and to the questions she posts.

 How can you inject some colour into your life?
 I've already been for a pedicure and dyed my hair purplish

What do you need to say yes to?
Help. I do suffer with depression which manifists itself in a rather distructive manner.

What could you give up that would benefit you?
Well I gave up smoking mid September till end of October and since then I've had a few, but I'm tackling it again once the boys leave on Wednesday.

Could you write an interesting memoir of your life?  If yes, get on with it.  If not, perhaps it’s time to shake things up a bit.
Well I suppose that's what my blog posts are, I have like 1000's of other started writing a book, actually two books, one fiction, one on life as an expat.

So it's over to you know, link up if you've been in a rut and feel like you need to recover your groove.