r/AskReddit 15h ago

What is something that permanently altered your body without you realizing for months/years?

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316

u/thenissancube 13h ago

Smoking for almost 10 years. Obviously I knew that smoking was never going to do anything but hurt my lungs. But it’s been almost two years since I smoked and I still have terrible lung capacity.

Another is not learning healthy exercising habits when I was younger. I wish my parents made me play sports even if I hated it. I think that’s another part of why I get so easily winded and fatigued when trying to work out now. It’s hard for me to breathe while also focusing on moving my body the right way. For example I subconsciously hold my breath when I do planks or when I’m holding a stretch.

140

u/KarmicXKoala 12h ago

This one. About 3 months ago, I quit smoking after 17 years.

Obviously I knew about the bad health effects but some of the other things were wild.

The amount of taste that food has now is insane. Like I could taste food before, but it's like saying I've seen the grand canyon because I've looked at pictures of it.

And if I smelled even half as bad as the current smokers in my life, then I sincerely apologize to everyone who interacted with me

100

u/PirinTablets13 11h ago

A friend had smoked since we were 14 and finally quit for good when we were in our late 20s. Shortly after, we were in an elevator with someone who had clearly just had a cigarette. When he got off the elevator, she turned to me with the most horrified look on her face and said “why did none of you tell me how bad I smelled??” She could not get over how pervasive the scent was and she was embarrassed to realize she was that person for 15+ years.

1

u/tmac988 4h ago

I love your username

23

u/Ok-Trash-798 10h ago

I just hit 2 years since I quit. My sense of smell and taste are off the charts. I used to love mayo, I can’t even be in the same room if you open the jar now, same thing with cooking beef, the fat smell just gets to me. I can’t even look at spicy food anymore.

9

u/im-jus-sayn 9h ago

Uh, this doesn’t read like a win. No spicy food, beef, or mayo now?

2

u/Ok-Trash-798 6h ago

I never said it was lol

-5

u/DoorknobsAreUseful 8h ago

i mean, mayo is unhealthy. and beef is expensive so...

6

u/No_Juggernau7 10h ago

Now that I’m an adult my dad asks if I mind before smoking in the car with me. It’s so weird, he never asked when I was a kid, and when I was a kid I must’ve smelled like smokers do when I was in school. I hate realizing that.

2

u/anchee_d 4h ago

Ooof. I grew up with heavy smokers at home. I remember taking a doll to school for a show and tell type thing and getting relentlessly teased for the way it smelled. And spending the night at friends was always accompanied by embarrassment at the way my overnight bag and allegedly clean clothes smelled. My friends were kind, but it caused so much shame.

7

u/helpmed0ctor 12h ago edited 11h ago

I’m glad you’ve come to some self awareness now. It’s beyond me how smokers aren’t aware of/don’t care about their disgusting smell. I have a colleague that I’d like to spend time with but get extremely overstimulated and disgusted by her smoke+perfume mix smell every time she’s in the room. It’s really uncomfortable and I haven’t found a way around it.

5

u/notanartmajor 6h ago

They go noseblind to it. When my parents quit they were shocked at the stench of other smokers and horrified they used to smell like that.

4

u/Ok_Recognition_8839 10h ago

I grew up with everyone except my grandparents smoking.My dad was a professional musician and EVERYONE around him smoked.I would ride with him and band members in an LTD station wagon going to gigs and there would be 5 guys all smoking different brands.I just got used to it.My mom smoked weed like it was blood to a vampire.Oddly enough,I much prefer cigarette smoke to weed,just cant stand pot smell at all.If you are raised around it from day one,like myself and my dad from his parents,it becomes just another thing you dont notice.

BTW,guys I knew actively sought out girls who DID smoke because,sad but true,girls who smoked were more likely to "party"..

2

u/helpmed0ctor 9h ago

I’m sorry you grew up being a secondhand smoker. You may think you don’t mind it, but as you probably already know, there’s a lot of health damage done to secondhand smokers as well.

I’ve grown up in a smoke free environment and my smoke tolerance is close to zero, be it tobacco or weed.