Monday, March 30, 2009

Smoke-Free

It's been over a week with no cigarettes. Whew :)

I could have gone until March 23rd with smoking, as that was the last day of the first week of Chantix, but I ran out of cigarettes that Saturday and, well, I know this will come as a shock to some of you, but...

I'm lazy.

Leave the house to go buy cigarettes when I'm already quitting in two days? On a SATURDAY? Oh hell to the no.

So the afternoon of Saturday, March 21st, I smoked my last cigarette.

The rest of that weekend was insane as far as wanting one was concerned. The physical cravings were curbed quite a bit by the medication, but habits are a pain to break.

I do still have cravings, especially if I mess up my Chantix dose timing (I'm asking for it today because I started eating breakfast early and taking my meds then -- ouch), but it could be much MUCH worse.

I miss smoking, in the sense that I miss the activity of it. I miss walking up the alley on a break, thinking to myself between puffs. I miss waking up to that first cigarette and coffee. I miss having that to fall back on when I'm stressed, because it's a great filler activity.

I don't miss the stench. I don't miss the cost. I don't miss the cough. I don't miss my children asking over and over, "Mommy, when are you going to quit smoking???"

I've been asked by some friends how I know it's going to stick this time. Do I know that? As much as I can. I have several good indicators. One, the male factor in my life is as dedicated to quitting as I am and has likewise been smoke-free for over a week. Two, the federal tobacco tax is increasing hugely, and I am CHEAP. And three, my boys would be crushed if I started again.

That's all outside of the "it's bad for me and will kill me" logic.

----------------------

Now food intake while not smoking? Erm... well, it's coming along. The weekend I quit smoking I ate an entire box of Girl Scout Samoas. Didn't regret a bite of 'em. And I've been eating at the higher end of my 1200 - 1550 calorie range this past week, mostly hitting the calories in the evenings.

I've gone over some days. Oh well.

Ultimately, if I gain weight I've proven to myself I can lose it. Quitting smoking takes priority over hitting 130 lbs by mid-August. But I'd rather not regain what I've lost thus far, so I'm working on paying more attention to what I put in my mouth this week. I was trying to do that last week and didn't manage as well as I wish. I like to think, though, that if I hadn't tracked what I did last week that I'd have gone even more overboard. So basically, tracking was still helpful even thought it wasn't as detailed as it should have been.

I've got my food ready for this week, including snack options.

Bring. It. On.

3 comments:

Tycho Beresford said...

Congratulations Ajay! You Rock! Personally my list of things I don't miss also includes leaving SL for 5 minutes every hour or so to grab a smoke, and going outside to smoke when it's cold and/or raining. I do need to do better at watching what goes into my mouth though; my latest mantra is 'portion control!'

Amanda said...

Oh yeah, the "outside in the rain" smokebreak! A time honored tradition here in Central Florida, let me tell you.

It takes dedication to smoke sometimes. Folks just don't appreciate that... ;)

Portion control can be a doozy. My biggest struggle at the moment isn't so much portion control of one food item, it's stopping at one portion.

Or stopping before I pick another food to have "just" one portion of... so basically, a quantity issue.

Mauigirl said...

Good for you! I'm really happy you're smoke free! I too am trying to lose weight - I'm on Weight Watchers - and it's always a struggle.