OneStepStories-RickPI quit smoking and quit drinking alcohol.  Now, I have more energy and feel better about myself.

Before I quit, I felt sluggish and tired all of the time, even if I got a full 8 hours of sleep. l, throughout the day I still felt tired and sluggish and I knew I wasn’t performing my daily activities/duties to my full potential.

I’m in the Army Reserve, so I have to maintain a lighter body weight than most people, and with the motivation from my fianceé, I quit drinking beer. I needed to run a 2 mile run as part of the Army physical fitness test, I quit smoking because my lungs would be clearer, and my time would improve.  I also quit so I could feel better when I was working at Whirlpool. Since Whirlpool is going to be smoke free come June 1, 2016, so I wanted to get my body trained and prepared for not being able to smoke while I was at work at Whirlpool. It was hard at first. I had cravings for cigarettes and alcohol, but I applied mental toughness everyday to resist those temptations.

I feel generally better now than I did before. I feel more confident now that I have changed. I have more energy, and I have lost a few pounds and I feel lighter on my feet. This was and has been a significant change in my life because I needed to lose weight and feel better. This change has helped my Army Reserve career and my Whirlpool career. I know now that I have the mental toughness to overcome challenges (big or small) in my life.

For the near future, I want to stay on the path I am on right now.  I want to keep implementing exercise in my daily life without alcohol and smoking in my life to get to good health.

Rick Pritt, Marion, OH

March 29, 2016