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I Quit Smoking? I Quit Smoking!
Two or three weeks ago, I ran out of tobacco. Super sad was I. However, I saw the terrible opportunity in the situation. I’d always told myself before that I couldn’t possibly quit smoking while I’ve still got a half pound of tobacco on hand. It’s just wasteful, right? Right.
The plan, it is in motion! However, I hadn’t planned on this at all. I was purely just annoyed at the health effects, and decided I had had enough. I was going cold turkey, and that’s that. Simple.
Remember when I said I didn’t have a plan? Not so simple any more, now is it? Sure, there were 5 hour long stints where I was successful. But pretty soon I was bumming off of coworkers. Pretty soon I was just buying my own damn packs. Pretty soon I wasn’t exactly quitting any more.
No. Now I was just spending three times more money than usual.
Part of the problem was hanging out with other people while they smoked, part of it was nailing down the timing on that last cigarette. It couldn’t be right before bed, because that would be just like any other day, and it couldn’t be early in the day, or while I was at work, or, or, or…
I’m not entirely sure where the “trying to quit” ends and the “did quit” begins. My last cigarette was about 2am on the seventh. I figure 6 days is close enough to “did quit.”
Is it going to last? Probably not. I took a grand total of one break at work all week. I was absolutely shit tired at the end of the week. I’m having problems replacing the habit in many situations. Right now, writing, is one of those situations, and I’ve a half a mind to just walk down to the gas station and grab a pack.
Realistically, I give it a few more days. If I make it past a week, then the next large social gathering of persons of which I am one. See you at FINCON!
(ever the optimist, I know)
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I won’t congratulate you just yet, because I know how hard it is. Not quitting, but “staying quit” as we say here in the South. Still, going six days without one is a huge accomplishment! I have NOT been making progress in the quitting department, so I’ll cheer on anyone who can even make the attempt! Keep it up!!!!!
Yeah- it’s the most difficult thing I ever did in my life. And I’ve done some pretty difficult things. I’m still trying. Need to set a quit date and stick to it. Someone who does smoking cessation classes told me to get one of those electronic cig’s. Because there is a social aspect too. But of all places, she recommended I go to a tobacco store rather than on the Internet, because they’re cheaper. That’s like going to a candy store and asking for a vegetable tray! If you decide to go that route- let me know. She tells me you can choose to have nicotine or not, menthol or not, etc
Yeah, I thought about it, and also looked in to it before, but that would really just be continuing the habit. If I were still smoking right now, it’d be one thing, but after going without for so long (hah!)… it’d be kind of a bad idea.
Congrats for trying! I’ve “quit” a number of times, and never seem to stick to it. Keep going. I’ve heard that once you break a habit for 21 days, you’re 90+% of the way there.
Well hey, now I’m about 40% of the way to 90% then, right?
Did you ever make it past that 21 day mark?
I’ll have quit for a year on September 7th. Yes, I had the motivation of the CEO of the company I work for paying me $1000 to do so for a year, but anyone can do it if I can.
Just set a date, time your last cigarette, and don’t buy any more! I chose to do it over a 3 day weekend. This way, I was at my fiance’s apartment and we could do stuff to keep me busy and my mind off of it. When I got back to work, I was already smoke free for 3 days and I signed the $1000 challenge thing.
Even though I had been through 3 days, not smoking at work that first day was a challenge. Eventually, it’ll feel normal that no matter what you do, you don’t take a smoke break. The biggest “fear” I had was that I only felt normal while smoking, and that I would never feel normal again.
Now I’m as healthy as ever, and it feels awesome. If you can manage to quit for an extended time, you’ll wonder why you ever started smoking.
Yeah, timing is huge, Justin. I, of course, ended up doing the opposite of you, and quit at the end of the weekend, because I really don’t keep busy at home. That’s why these nights on the computer after work have been so stressful for me.
Still, even this week, I haven’t taken any breaks at all. About the best I could do, if I wanted to, is stay in and sit on my forklift fiddling with my phone for 10 minutes.
I quit 20 something years ago & haven’t had one since (after unsuccessfully trying for years and years). The secret? NEVER EVER FOR ANY REASON TAKE ANOTHER PUFF. NOT EVEN ONE!
Fight the urges one at a time – and just tell yourself that you are never gonna take another puff.
YOU CAN DO IT!
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