Welcome to Livlife. Where I am living my life out loud, for all to read.

By now you all know that I am a non-smoker. It will, in fact, be SEVEN months tomorrow. I am, obviously, thrilled with my success.

There is just this one tiny thing that I can't seem to figure out....

According to, well, common sense, and the research I found; smoking makes people more sick. Because smoking actually controls the entire body, it affects every aspect of your health and, in fact, smokers are generally ill more often than non-smokers.

The following is taken off the Kids' Health website in the section for reasons not to smoke:

Increased risk of illness. Studies show that smokers get more colds, flu, bronchitis, and pneumonia than nonsmokers. And people with certain health conditions, like asthma, become more sick if they smoke (and often if they're just around people who smoke).

And we also have this taken off the American Cancer Society's webpage:

Ex-smokers enjoy a higher quality of life with fewer illnesses from cold and flu viruses, better self-reported health, and reduced rates of bronchitis and pneumonia.

So, it is pretty clear, 7 months smoke free and I should be healthy as a horse, right?  Here's the caveat: I've never been a sick person. I rarely ever, ever, get sick. Once a year at most, and I think a few years ago I was sick in the winter AND the summer and that was a rough year for me. I just don't get very sick. This, while a smoker.

Now, here's the kicker. You all know that I am truly one-of-a-kind and in my own unique fashion, my body has decided to react all in its own way to this quit smoking plan of mine. Hmm? Well, in the past seven months I have been ill FIVE times. (The fifth being the current cold that I am fighting). Five illnesses in 7 months which is as many times as I have been ill since turning 25 (that's FIVE years ago, people!). Someone explain this to me. I do the smart, healthy thing and quit smoking and I am "rewarded" with a virtuallyconstant illness? GRRR.

I am not considering smoking again to increase my health (isn't that an odd statement?), but seriously, these last few months were over the summer. I sure hope this isn't going to get increasingly worse since we're now passing into the winter months.

I will be sure and keep you posted but as it stands right now, I am about as unique as a girl can be. Quitting smoking to be healthier is making me sicker.....

Like the fabulous Dr. Seuss said, “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

Meer than me....I like that.  And as things stand, it's the only explanation I've got.

(By the way, this tribute to the unique-ness that is Livlife just so happens to coincide with my 300th posting. Yeppers, this is my 300th contribution to the blogosphere.....thanks for reading!)