My best friend was not good for me
Hello!
Tomorrow will be three weeks being nicotine free. It can be difficult to admit to an addiction. When we do bad things to our bodies we can justify them as long as other people are doing these things as well. For me, there were people at work that smoked, and a good portion of my friends smoked. This happened to me over several years as the addiction crept into my life. As I started tapering down it quickly became evident how much other people smoked. It was not gross when I went out to smoke every hour, but now I see others leave and come back on this self inflicted schedule and it looks very depressing! My sense of smell has started to return and my appetite for food is more regular. I would often confuse the feeling of hunger with a need for nicotine so meals would get delayed and my overall energy level was not what it would have been if I had been giving my body the proper nutrition, and consistency with the time of day that I ate. The smell of smoke on others is not terrible to me, but it is definitely something I did not think other people would notice if I washed my hands.
Partway through the tapering process I started experimenting with activities that would fill the time typically spent sucking and blowing. I would go on 10-15 minute walks around the office. At first they felt pretty silly. I was just killing time until I could have another ciggie out of my baggie. I started creating lists of to do items and adding things no matter how big or small. Lists have become something I am proud to carry around. Checking them off gives me a sense of accomplishment. Here are some examples of items I started writing down and checking off:
wash car - when my body is clean things like this have become more important
paint baseboards
mow grass
work out - I already did this but with a very low intensity
grocery shopping - it is hard to find time to cook when you are always smoking
dog walking
For the first time in two years I am able to push my body and actually build some muscle! Feeling this strength grow inside me makes all the effort of quitting smoking worth it. After getting down to about 7 smokes a day it was important for me to fill my time wisely and distance myself from others that smoked. Another important habit became going to sleep on time. If I were to stay up too late and run out of cigs the temptation to dip into the next days baggie was very intense. Structure, health, and self improvement were all vital tools in my quitting arsenal. At this point my time was being spent more wisely and my cravings were not very intense. I had time to adjust to my new lifestyle and began turning some of these changes into habits.
Amy's and my emotions were a little bit of a roller coaster and we broke up. Since then we have been supportive of each other quitting and still live together. She has relapsed about once a week but now that her trip to Machu Picchu is about three weeks away her restraint has grown and I have faith that we will both never have another cigarette again. I have started drinking more coffee lately so my new focus is to cut down on caffeine and find other ways to maintain energy and focus throughout the day.
Thank you for reading and please post any comments you may have on your success or struggles with quitting!
Regards,
Liam
Tomorrow will be three weeks being nicotine free. It can be difficult to admit to an addiction. When we do bad things to our bodies we can justify them as long as other people are doing these things as well. For me, there were people at work that smoked, and a good portion of my friends smoked. This happened to me over several years as the addiction crept into my life. As I started tapering down it quickly became evident how much other people smoked. It was not gross when I went out to smoke every hour, but now I see others leave and come back on this self inflicted schedule and it looks very depressing! My sense of smell has started to return and my appetite for food is more regular. I would often confuse the feeling of hunger with a need for nicotine so meals would get delayed and my overall energy level was not what it would have been if I had been giving my body the proper nutrition, and consistency with the time of day that I ate. The smell of smoke on others is not terrible to me, but it is definitely something I did not think other people would notice if I washed my hands.
Partway through the tapering process I started experimenting with activities that would fill the time typically spent sucking and blowing. I would go on 10-15 minute walks around the office. At first they felt pretty silly. I was just killing time until I could have another ciggie out of my baggie. I started creating lists of to do items and adding things no matter how big or small. Lists have become something I am proud to carry around. Checking them off gives me a sense of accomplishment. Here are some examples of items I started writing down and checking off:
wash car - when my body is clean things like this have become more important
paint baseboards
mow grass
work out - I already did this but with a very low intensity
grocery shopping - it is hard to find time to cook when you are always smoking
dog walking
For the first time in two years I am able to push my body and actually build some muscle! Feeling this strength grow inside me makes all the effort of quitting smoking worth it. After getting down to about 7 smokes a day it was important for me to fill my time wisely and distance myself from others that smoked. Another important habit became going to sleep on time. If I were to stay up too late and run out of cigs the temptation to dip into the next days baggie was very intense. Structure, health, and self improvement were all vital tools in my quitting arsenal. At this point my time was being spent more wisely and my cravings were not very intense. I had time to adjust to my new lifestyle and began turning some of these changes into habits.
Amy's and my emotions were a little bit of a roller coaster and we broke up. Since then we have been supportive of each other quitting and still live together. She has relapsed about once a week but now that her trip to Machu Picchu is about three weeks away her restraint has grown and I have faith that we will both never have another cigarette again. I have started drinking more coffee lately so my new focus is to cut down on caffeine and find other ways to maintain energy and focus throughout the day.
Thank you for reading and please post any comments you may have on your success or struggles with quitting!
Regards,
Liam
Well done Liam, I will recommend your story to my neighbour who has asked me for help to give up. I stopped smoking a long time ago and dont remember too much about it. One thing helped I joined a group of people who didnt smoke at all.
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