SoccerDad - Ditching the tobacco

Today marks day one of quitting smoking. Any and all positive energy that can be sent my way over the next few days would be great and mucho appreciato!

Day #1: Not too too bad, tough getting past some of the comfort/habit stuff: coffee, driving, after meals…
Day #2: I'm hoping we'll have customers left by the end of this lol. Starting to get a little short on patience. Customer Service is prolly one of the harder fields to be in during quit time hehehe.
Day #3: This has been a tough one so far. Nico withdrawal conspired to keep me up most of the nite and today has been particularly hard from a craving perspective, but I'm not giving in. Have you ever noticed how hard it is to find gum with sugar in it? I'm keen on the sugar as I don't want any of that chemical sweetener poison, however, quite hard to locate that…here in Ontario anway. *chuckle*, I've been eating almost steady, so I should be about 1000 kilos by the time this is done. lol, need to stock up on celery and carrots.
Day #4: Mmmm, sad to say but butts on the ground are starting to look good. lol. It's also amazing the rationalizing that can occur in ones mind to justify having "just one". Not going to happen, however, things are still as tough today as they were on Monday, Day #1. I have been told that the first week is the hardest and after that, things are progressively easier. Can I jump right to that point right now??
Day #5: This was another tough one, but now it's over. Two more days and week #1 is over!!
Day #6: Seems to be easing up on the craving pressure now. Just need to be on the lookout for the habit portion creepin' in.
Day #7: WhooHoo! Made it through Week #1…only a few thousand more and all will be well.

Week #2: I had my doubts, but nonetheless have managed to make it through week #2. Things getting mucho easier now and it looks like the last of the work is from the habit point of view and not nicotine. Kewl!

Week #3: *chuckle*, this was the week that the lungs decided to begin ejecting the results of 30 years of tar collection; that's real pleasant!

Week #4: YeeHaw! Target reached, 4 weeks. Cravings are still kickin' around, however, not nearly as strong and totally managable. I was away on business last week and chatting with a bloke who had quit 5 years ago. Tells me he could start again in a heartbeat, nice…looks like I have my work cut out for me over the next 30 years or so. ;-)

Thanx everyone for the support!

Side Note: I'm just noticing the irony of making this type of statement in a quitting smoking context: "I'm keen on the sugar as I don't want any of that chemical sweetener poison". lol

Oh good luck.

Congratulations - keep it up!

Indefensible habit. Easiest habit to break, too. I do it regularly once or twice a month.

But for now, I think I'll continue puffing on my pipe. It's one of the VERY few pleasures left to me these days!

Good luck - and I mean that sincerely.

 

SoccerDad:

Go for it!  I smoked for (inaudible) years, and I was hardcore about it.  I quit in 2002, lapsed for 8 months in winter of 2003-4, and then quit again for good.  I wore the bloody patch for ONE full year because I was psychotic without it.  It CAN be done, because, trust me, if I quit, you can quit.  My sole regret is that I didn't do it sooner.  

Best of luck, and high levels of positive energy from me to you!

Hitch

You can do it.

Best wishes for your new and healthier life!

If you haven't smoked for a month, send me a PT and I'll get an hour of free custom programming stuff done for you by one of the team.

I should start smoking and then quite just to get that. LOL j/k I could not smoke even if I wanted to as I am allergic and I react pretty badly. I even get sick If I am around smokers to much.

SoccerDad said

Today marks day one of quitting smoking. Any and all positive energy that can be sent my way over the next few days would be great and mucho appreciato!

Keep it up, and it'll all pay off in the end!

Thank-you very much all! It's truly appreciated. Thanx also Chris for the added incentive; just that much more motivation!

I'm going to keep editing the first post each day as time goes on. I figure if I can make a month, I should have it licked…it's been 30 years this year…yuck!!!

SoccerDad said

Day #2: I'm hoping we'll have customers left by the end of this lol. Starting to get a little short on patience. Customer Service is prolly one of the harder fields to be in during quit time hehehe.

But at least you won't smell! Being near smokers after they've finished a cigarette is a horrible experience for most non-smokers.

that is very true and for people like me that are aligic you walk away from that person with a head ache.

Robbie Goacher said

But at least you won't smell! Being near smokers after they've finished a cigarette is a horrible experience for most non-smokers.

Very true as I noticed last nite with a kiss to my fiance: yuck!!! who knew? lol She is quitting in the next couple of weeks as well, however, we figured having both of us quit at the same time would be a bad thing.

@Ami: ya know, I wish I was allergic! I'd most likely be healthier and certainly wealthier than I am at the moment.

SD,

I can tell you that it's a bitch but so worth it. I quit during the first Gulf war in Saudi back in 1990 but I think that it was one of the best things that I have done for me and my family. I feel so much better and my health has improved dramatically over the years. So stick with it and don't let those urges get the better of you.

SoccerDad said

Day #4: Mmmm, sad to say but butts on the ground are starting to look good. lol. It's also amazing the rationalizing that can occur in ones mind to justify having "just one". Not going to happen, however, things are still as tough today as they were on Monday, Day #1. I have been told that the first week is the hardest and after that, things are progressively easier. Can I jump right to that point right now??

Okay, it's funny story time, with regard to rationalizations and quitting smoking (at least, I hope it's funny):

When I quit the penultimate time in summer of 2002, I put on the patch and had been quit about 2 weeks, when something pretty traumatic came up and consequently I ended up at a local drugstore trying to refill a prescription I needed.  I needed to fill it early to accommodate my need to travel, and the pharmacist decided to be a real w*nker (that's a**hole in American English, I'm translating for our hosts!) and my aggravation factor racheted up pretty quickly.  After arguing with this butthead for a few minutes, I finally gave up in fury and STOMPED to the front of the store, whereupon I purchased a pack of smokes, and stomped outside, tore off the patch and promptly lit up.  I smoked, calmed my nerves and drove home -where I had a second one.  

I thought about this for about 5 minutes, then threw the remaining pack in the trash.  I thought about it for another 5 minutes, and then grabbed the pack OUT of the trash, dashed to the sink, and DROWNED the cigarettes.  I then threw the sodden pack in the trash a second time.  5 minutes later, I went in, got the pack out of the trash, and twisted their little heads off (in other words, for you non-smokers, I tore the filters off of the now-soaked cigs), because I knew that if I only soaked them, I'd let them dry out and THEN smoke them.

This is a long way of saying, I feel your "just one" pain, but it is absolutely true that you are actually over the physical addiction hump…the rest is merely habit.  If it's any help at all, I find exercise a fantastic replacement addiction, and if you're not in shape, a brisk 45-minute walk will do wonders on all fronts, particularly in killing the crave.  

HTH,

Hitch


 

@ Rick, thanx for the encouraging words!

@ Hitch, perfect time for *chuckle* story…and totally relevant; I could see myself doing the same thing.

Interesting aside: I must be pretty committed to quitting deep down as my fiance still has smokes in the house (but does not smoke in the house) that are of easy access to me, however, it has not been a temptation…I'm hoping that's a good sign!

Congrats on week one.

Thanx Ami! It is also occuring to me that in order to take up Hitch's exercise advice, I'm going to have to change my definition of exercise to be of any effect:

Who is that a picture of?