Well, I'm past the 4 month quit-mark now, and I have to say it's been a breeze. I've even got to the stage where I am regularly forgetting to update the 'how much I've saved' section of my diary (now standing at £733.50 @ 135 days) so end up doing it in weekly chunks. Result!
The coming two weeks are going to be great, as it's the first Christmas that I've had without cigarettes since I started smoking, and I have to say I'm really looking forward to it.
1/ No spending the whole day thinking about when I can go out for a cigarette.
2/ No going for the family walk before lunch and getting out of breath!
3/ No stinking of cigarettes around the dinner table, or at any other point during the day!
4/ Boxing day - knowing my nephews won't smell stale smoke on my clothing
So plenty of things to be positive and proud of for the coming Christmas day, but what about New Years Day I hear you ask? Well, that should be a doddle. Apart from the fact that I'll be going to a house party with people who don't smoke anyway, I don't see it as any different to the times I've been out with friends who do smoke. Alcohol will be consumed, and nicotine, I can say with complete certainty, will not.
So, for the first time in at least 5 of the years that I've been smoking, my New Years Resolution won't be to quit smoking. I suppose I'll have to think of a new one, maybe to 'Stay Quit', or maybe something different.
We'll have to see!
In the mean time, Happy Christmas.
ST.
Thursday, 23 December 2010
Friday, 5 November 2010
The "Old Friends"
I looked at them. They looked back at me, well they didn't so much look at me, as lie there, doing nothing...
I was cleaning out my car the other week, and underneath one of the seats I found a packet of cigarettes that still had a few left in it. I looked at this packet, innocuous looking, blue, shiny... then I looked at the cigarettes inside - neatly rolled, standing up like a row of little soldiers...
I was uploading some images to my PC from my old camera, and I saw a picture of some friends I knew through my ex, who had unceremoniously cut off all ties with me a few months back. We were smiling, having a laugh and a good time...
What connects these two things together I hear you ask. My complete addiction to cigarettes, and two people who I will, more likely as not, ever hear from again. Simple.
On seeing both of them, I had the same feeling. Confusion.
I knew that I'd been deeply connected at one time both to the people I was looking at, and the cigarettes (although obviously not in the same way). With the friends I was confused because I thought - here is a part of my life, one that I can't necessarily look back on and state was the best, but that did hold some good memories for me. On the flip-side it contained within it people who no longer wanted to be associated with me. The cigarettes were a part of my life, a burden, for many years - I hadn't had what I'd call a lovely time with them, however the knowledge that I'd spent ten years of my life working around them had the same impact. I, however, had chosen to live without them!
So, what happened? Easy - I chucked the cigarettes in the bin, as the most confusing part of coming across them was the fact that I no longer needed, or wanted them. The pictures I'm finding more difficult - it's sad to think that I'll never see or speak to these people again, it's sadder to think I'd be permanently deleting a record of one of the few good times we did have together.
It's odd to think this difficulty would have been the complete reverse only 4 months ago.
ST
I was cleaning out my car the other week, and underneath one of the seats I found a packet of cigarettes that still had a few left in it. I looked at this packet, innocuous looking, blue, shiny... then I looked at the cigarettes inside - neatly rolled, standing up like a row of little soldiers...
I was uploading some images to my PC from my old camera, and I saw a picture of some friends I knew through my ex, who had unceremoniously cut off all ties with me a few months back. We were smiling, having a laugh and a good time...
What connects these two things together I hear you ask. My complete addiction to cigarettes, and two people who I will, more likely as not, ever hear from again. Simple.
On seeing both of them, I had the same feeling. Confusion.
I knew that I'd been deeply connected at one time both to the people I was looking at, and the cigarettes (although obviously not in the same way). With the friends I was confused because I thought - here is a part of my life, one that I can't necessarily look back on and state was the best, but that did hold some good memories for me. On the flip-side it contained within it people who no longer wanted to be associated with me. The cigarettes were a part of my life, a burden, for many years - I hadn't had what I'd call a lovely time with them, however the knowledge that I'd spent ten years of my life working around them had the same impact. I, however, had chosen to live without them!
So, what happened? Easy - I chucked the cigarettes in the bin, as the most confusing part of coming across them was the fact that I no longer needed, or wanted them. The pictures I'm finding more difficult - it's sad to think that I'll never see or speak to these people again, it's sadder to think I'd be permanently deleting a record of one of the few good times we did have together.
It's odd to think this difficulty would have been the complete reverse only 4 months ago.
ST
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
2 Months - Times have Changed!
Yesterday was officially my 2 month quitversary - 2 months smokefree - not bad for someone who used to smoke 20 a day (and that was just on a good day!) I'm feeling good, and things have now got to the stage where I don't really think about cigarettes all that much.
I look at people smoking on TV, and it doesn't bother me like it used to. I had a dream that I had a cigarette a week ago, and didn't wake up feeling guilty. I've felt stressed, overwhelmed, underwhelmed, anxious, frustrated, bored and everything in between - but I've felt decidedly unaffected by the lack of cigarettes and nicotine.
At the beginning I just reminded myself that I've had problems before, and having a cigarette really didn't help that much. Smoking didn't help me when I was going through a bad break-up a few years back, it hadn't stopped me being bored at times (it just meant that I was bored in a different location, i.e outside), and yes I've been grumpy over the last few months too, but strangely enough I was grumpy before!
There are a few things that have changed though, including being able to smell a smoker from what seems like a mile away - I cannot even begin to describe how strong the smell is to me, and it's odd to think that I could stand it whilst I smoked. My sense of taste has now improved, and I'm finding it a lot easier to be able to taste individual ingredients in the food I eat. My clothes smell great now as any lingering air of stale smoke has well and truly gone, and I also find it a fantastic feeling to know that when I go to give my nephews a hug, that they aren't getting that 'aunty fag-ash' stench that they would've done before.
So all in all it's going well, and it has also been really easy, but although I feel extremely proud of what I have achieved, at the same time I also feel that nothing has really changed. I still get bored, I still get stressed, I still go out pubbing/clubbing, and still hang around with all my friends (those who smoke, and those who don't) but as I've accepted that these things will happen whether I smoke or not, I can enjoy all these things without feeling as if I'm missing out...
RESULT!
I look at people smoking on TV, and it doesn't bother me like it used to. I had a dream that I had a cigarette a week ago, and didn't wake up feeling guilty. I've felt stressed, overwhelmed, underwhelmed, anxious, frustrated, bored and everything in between - but I've felt decidedly unaffected by the lack of cigarettes and nicotine.
At the beginning I just reminded myself that I've had problems before, and having a cigarette really didn't help that much. Smoking didn't help me when I was going through a bad break-up a few years back, it hadn't stopped me being bored at times (it just meant that I was bored in a different location, i.e outside), and yes I've been grumpy over the last few months too, but strangely enough I was grumpy before!
There are a few things that have changed though, including being able to smell a smoker from what seems like a mile away - I cannot even begin to describe how strong the smell is to me, and it's odd to think that I could stand it whilst I smoked. My sense of taste has now improved, and I'm finding it a lot easier to be able to taste individual ingredients in the food I eat. My clothes smell great now as any lingering air of stale smoke has well and truly gone, and I also find it a fantastic feeling to know that when I go to give my nephews a hug, that they aren't getting that 'aunty fag-ash' stench that they would've done before.
So all in all it's going well, and it has also been really easy, but although I feel extremely proud of what I have achieved, at the same time I also feel that nothing has really changed. I still get bored, I still get stressed, I still go out pubbing/clubbing, and still hang around with all my friends (those who smoke, and those who don't) but as I've accepted that these things will happen whether I smoke or not, I can enjoy all these things without feeling as if I'm missing out...
RESULT!
Friday, 8 October 2010
The Beginning of the End
As you can see from this post, my first attempt at quitting smoking was far from successful, and it wasn't until 12th of August (day 2) when I posted it that I seem to have finally cracked it. That was nearly 2 months ago - yay me!
"My quit smoking schedule went way off track after a few days, and if I’m honest, there is absolutely no excuse for it. This time, I’ve gone back to the patches. I could never, during the first weeks of quitting, trust myself with the lozenges, and they weren’t brilliant. A few of the downsides were:
1/ not being able to drink whilst sucking a lozenge – nothing to do with alcohol consumption, but anything at all! One of the most important tips I’ve heard of is to drink plenty of water when you’ve quit to alleviate some of the cravings.
2/ Not being able to eat – whilst snacking isn’t something I want to do, trying to time a half hour lozenge, which in reality took almost 2.5hours to dissolve, around breakfast, lunch and dinner, was not easy at all – especially when you’re supposed to be consuming 9 lozenges a day.
3/ The taste – to be honest, it wasn’t brilliant and also, everyone knows mint screws with the taste of virtually anything!
4/ Having to persuade yourself to take something, rather than just getting cigarettes.
Patches are pretty much hassle free. They allow you to do anything you’d normally do, don’t screw with your taste buds, and once they’re on, you don’t have to think about putting another one on every few hours. There are a few downsides to them as well though – although I expect many of these will vary from person to person:
1/ They itch like crazy for the first 10-15 minutes of putting them on – uncomfortable but bearable!
2/ They also cause limb ache for the first half hour or so, which limb of course depends on where you put them. It’s not an awful pain, more like a dull ache or muscle cramping.
3/ They leave “plaster marks” which take forever to remove! I have heard one tip however, that using nail polish remover the day after taking the patch off, can work wonders at removing the excess glue – I shall see how that one pans out.
So, as before, I’m feeling quite positive. I put the patch yesterday afternoon, now I just have to make sure that I’m not tempted to buy any more cigarettes (easier said than done!) – luckily I managed to keep the patch on overnight and get to sleep ok, so that really helped avoid the craving first thing this morning, and seemed to stop me even considering getting a packet of cigs too. Another help has been to favourite the website of my first ‘bribery purchase’, so I keep looking at the shoes whenever I want a reinforcement of why I’m doing this!
I’ve decided to structure a bribery routine. Rather than just saying ‘I’ll treat myself’, I want to develop a scale of things to treat myself with – and to help myself with this I shall also be using the “Jar Method”. The Jar Method will involve putting the money I don’t spend on cigarettes in, yes, you guessed it, a jar, and dipping in to that for the treats.
So far, my treat scale involves the following:
Week 1 – 1st treat = SHOES!
Week 3 – 2nd treat = WEEKEND AWAY
Month 6 - big treat = TATTOO
Month 12 = HOLIDAY
I’m trying to think of a few things to put in between, little treats so that I don’t get too overwhelmed with waiting a few months for the big ones, so If anyone has any ideas, feel free to leave a comment, or send me a tweet!
And just so you know, any support is much appreciated :-)
Yours, The Perpetual Quitter.
"My quit smoking schedule went way off track after a few days, and if I’m honest, there is absolutely no excuse for it. This time, I’ve gone back to the patches. I could never, during the first weeks of quitting, trust myself with the lozenges, and they weren’t brilliant. A few of the downsides were:
1/ not being able to drink whilst sucking a lozenge – nothing to do with alcohol consumption, but anything at all! One of the most important tips I’ve heard of is to drink plenty of water when you’ve quit to alleviate some of the cravings.
2/ Not being able to eat – whilst snacking isn’t something I want to do, trying to time a half hour lozenge, which in reality took almost 2.5hours to dissolve, around breakfast, lunch and dinner, was not easy at all – especially when you’re supposed to be consuming 9 lozenges a day.
3/ The taste – to be honest, it wasn’t brilliant and also, everyone knows mint screws with the taste of virtually anything!
4/ Having to persuade yourself to take something, rather than just getting cigarettes.
Patches are pretty much hassle free. They allow you to do anything you’d normally do, don’t screw with your taste buds, and once they’re on, you don’t have to think about putting another one on every few hours. There are a few downsides to them as well though – although I expect many of these will vary from person to person:
1/ They itch like crazy for the first 10-15 minutes of putting them on – uncomfortable but bearable!
2/ They also cause limb ache for the first half hour or so, which limb of course depends on where you put them. It’s not an awful pain, more like a dull ache or muscle cramping.
3/ They leave “plaster marks” which take forever to remove! I have heard one tip however, that using nail polish remover the day after taking the patch off, can work wonders at removing the excess glue – I shall see how that one pans out.
So, as before, I’m feeling quite positive. I put the patch yesterday afternoon, now I just have to make sure that I’m not tempted to buy any more cigarettes (easier said than done!) – luckily I managed to keep the patch on overnight and get to sleep ok, so that really helped avoid the craving first thing this morning, and seemed to stop me even considering getting a packet of cigs too. Another help has been to favourite the website of my first ‘bribery purchase’, so I keep looking at the shoes whenever I want a reinforcement of why I’m doing this!
I’ve decided to structure a bribery routine. Rather than just saying ‘I’ll treat myself’, I want to develop a scale of things to treat myself with – and to help myself with this I shall also be using the “Jar Method”. The Jar Method will involve putting the money I don’t spend on cigarettes in, yes, you guessed it, a jar, and dipping in to that for the treats.
So far, my treat scale involves the following:
Week 1 – 1st treat = SHOES!
Week 3 – 2nd treat = WEEKEND AWAY
Month 6 - big treat = TATTOO
Month 12 = HOLIDAY
I’m trying to think of a few things to put in between, little treats so that I don’t get too overwhelmed with waiting a few months for the big ones, so If anyone has any ideas, feel free to leave a comment, or send me a tweet!
And just so you know, any support is much appreciated :-)
Yours, The Perpetual Quitter.
Thursday, 7 October 2010
The Quitters Quitter
This is just a quick post to get things started.
I quit smoking two months ago (ok well it will be on Monday the 11th) and this is/will be a blog about my experiences. I will put up a few posts from my original blog soon (as I've begun having problems with using the old blog-host) and will continue from there.
Check out my about me for more details of who I am, and feel free to discuss any topics with me!
TQQ!
I quit smoking two months ago (ok well it will be on Monday the 11th) and this is/will be a blog about my experiences. I will put up a few posts from my original blog soon (as I've begun having problems with using the old blog-host) and will continue from there.
Check out my about me for more details of who I am, and feel free to discuss any topics with me!
TQQ!
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