An All Time High

Right now? I want to grab a chain saw and run wild in the streets. I am feeling so crappy, and angry. The nicotine is workin it's wiles on me. Why should I have to give in to social pressure? I just keep telling myself it will pass, and then my fat ass knocks a glass of water off the table. Then the nicotine says "You really shouldn't give me up until you've lost that pregnancy weight. You're just going to get fatter now." Ugh! And now the baby is screaming....
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I have been quit for 18 hours, 46 minutes and 6 seconds (0 days). I have saved $1.61 by not smoking 7 cigarettes. I have saved 35 minutes of my life. My Quit Date: 3/18/2007 12:48 AM

Hanging In There

The past few hours have been tough, but I'm hanging in there. Right now I am feeling very light headed and very irritable. We went out and came home for lunch. I think I'll be taking a nap soon; feeling very tired.

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I have been quit for 14 hours, 1 minute and 45 seconds (0 days). I have saved $1.20 by not smoking 5 cigarettes. I have saved 25 minutes of my life. My Quit Date: 3/18/2007 12:48 AM

It's Morning

Just got up and made some coffee. I made it lighter than I usually drink it, so I at least get my caffeine, but am not drinking it so strong that it triggers me wanting to smoke. Of course I woke up this morning thinking about it; I've been wanting to smoke since I opened my eyes. The craving right now is really strong. I think what I will do right now is get dressed and ready to go out. Keeping on the move really does help, so I may even get some cleaning done today, maybe. I can feel the irritability creeping in already.
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I have been quit for 8 hours, 53 minutes and 15 seconds (0 days). I have saved $0.76 by not smoking 3 cigarettes. I have saved 15 minutes of my life. My Quit Date: 3/18/2007 12:48 AM

Technically It's Tomorrow

I just smoked my last cigarette. It's 12:50 am. I stayed up way later than I usually do. I'm usually in bed by 11pm. When Aaron got home tonight I still needed to fill out my self-evaluation for my Performance review from work and then have dinner, and wash bottles and my French Press; make sure everything is set for an easy morning. I ended up smoking a whole pack of cigarettes today. I never smoke a whole pack. At the most, I smoke 10 cigarettes, a pack has 20; I smoked 18! The wasps mysteriously disappeared today so there wasn't that impediment keeping me from going outside.

So now I will go take a shower change into some fresh pjs and sleep. Tomorrow we have plans to go out so that should keep me busy.
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I have been quit for 10 minutes and 30 seconds (0 days). I have saved $0.01 by not smoking 0 cigarettes. I have saved 0 minutes of my life. My Quit Date: 3/18/2007 12:48 AM

Today is the Day/ My Reasons for Quitting

So sometime tonight I will smoke my last cigarette. I chose today because:
1. I go back to work in one week and want to be done with withdrawals before then.
2. Today is my last day alone with my baby and I don't want to be irritable around him.
3. I'd like to get some things out of the way before I quit. Namely filling out my Performance Review for work.

There are several things that sealed the deal for me to quit now.
1. I was stupid to go back to smoking after having my baby (Hello!)
2. I live in California, so I can't smoke anywhere but at home anyway.
3. Smoking didn't used to be a financial issue for me. Now it is. I'll be saving about $80 a month.
4. I'm tired of fighting with the wasps that have taken over my balcony. I can't go outside to smoke during the day, so why even be smoking at all?
5. I'm tired of being addicted. I do so many other things right in my life. I've never had a drug or alcohol problem, why am I smoking? It doesn't make any sense.

Having had two long quits in the past 3 years (9 months each), I have a good reference for how nice I know it will be to not smoke.
1. I actually wake up easier in the morning; I don't go through being groggy.
2. I have less headaches.
3. Getting ready to go places takes less time
4. I won't be thinking about when I can have my next cigarette, all. the. time.
5. Going places is more enjoyable, especially shopping and movies, and dinner out.
6. My clothes don't smell, that's a big thing for me; I'm very self-conscious.

So I'll be thinking about all of these things over the next few weeks, to remind myself of why this is so important for me.
I haven't figured out what exact time my last cigarette will be, but I'll post when I do.

Nicotine Withdrawal

The hard part for some people when quitting smoking is going through nicotine withdrawal. The nicotine replacement companies go to great lengths to convince you that it's so hard and that by using their nicotine, they can make quitting smoking easier. I guess it depends on your reasons for quitting. If you're quitting for social reasons, you just want to lose the cigarette and not the nicotine addiction, then I can see using nicotine replacement therapy, because that's all it is; you're replacing one form of nicotine for another. You could argue that it helps people quit smoking by making it easier to deal with the psychological reasons for smoking before having to go through withdrawal. I won't argue with that. If you are new to quitting, this can be very helpful. I used nicotine replacement therapy in some of my early quit attempts, it never worked(just made me want to smoke more), but I was able to work on psychological issues somewhat. The psychological issues for smoking I'll address in another post. Back to nicotine withdrawal. For me the withdrawal itself is the easy part, it only takes a few days. I feel light headed, maybe have a headache, I get very irritable, and tired. Some people get very sick. I have found withdrawal to be easy to manage through drinking lots of fluids (lots and lots), and keeping on the move, also keeping a positive attitude helps (even when it's hard). You should be drinking water; fruit juices, like cranberry juice, can help as well. Stay away from sodas. Get up and move. Smoking is a very lazy activity, we like to sit and smoke, or smoke to relax; when going through withdrawals we should be moving around. You can go for a walk, clean your house, do some aerobics, whatever, just move. In 4 days to a week the nicotine will be out of your system, physical withdrawal will be over. Even if you use nicotine replacement therapy, you will still have to go through this.
Nicotine withdrawal is something smokers go through everyday, all day long. When you put out your cigarette you go right into withdrawal. When you light up your next cigarette all you are doing is relieving the symptoms of withdrawal. Why continue to put yourself through that?
Here are some links where you can read more on withdrawal:

A Brief Stroll Helps Smokers Walk Away from Cigarettes

Nicotine Withdrawal and Recovery Symptoms

Researchers Find Nicotine Withdrawal Begins Quickly


Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice. If you are having a medical issue, you should consult your physician.