OOBERLOOBA!!!

It's now three weeks since I stopped smoking. It all going really well and I hardly have cravings any more. I think I had one on Sunday but that's it. I've kicked the habit, having something in your hands and the like, but I haven't kicked the addiction. This was proven yesterday when I was in the foulest of foul moods. I didn't know why and I just carried on, biting my tongue seemingly about every five minutes. It got to about three o'clock and I realized that I hadn't put my patch on! The good thing that came from this is that I found out that my habit is pretty much licked but the bad thing is that I'm obviously still addicted to nicotine.

The patches ARE a good thing because I've not had to kick the habit and the addiction at the same time and in three weeks time when the patches get smaller, I will be kicking the addiction and doing it in a controlled way. I'm staying at defcon three.

On the weight front, I lost two and a half pounds this week. I was a little worried because there was no loss last week but I put that down to my metabolism changing after stopping smoking. I've said it before, Yes... smoking really DOES affect EVERY aspect of your life. I've started to exercise regularly and this has definitely helped and having the lung capacity of an eight year old instead of a six year old helps a great deal.

Onwards and upwards =)

Diet Progress

Anyone notice any difference yet? I think my face is a bit thinner but I think my choice of wardrobe isn't helping to potentially show anything else. I've had a few comments on how the weight loss is showing but there's still a stone and a half to go. I've made a page for you to be able to look at my progress pictures easily. Click the link in the sidebar or if you're feeling lazy, Click here.

One Stone Off and One Week Later

It's been a week since I stopped and it's going a lot more smoothly than I thought. I was really nervous last Tuesday but I've had nothing worse than a few seconds of craving for a cigarette. I've got used to the physical symptoms and they don't bother me as much and I'm getting the coolest and most vivid dreams every night! I wonder if it's the withdrawal or do non-smokers get them like this?

I lost two and a half pounds this week. I wasn't expecting that at all. With stopping smoking, I was expecting my metabolism to increase and absorb more stuff from my food but it hasn't happenned yet. This takes me over the stone since I started.

One thing I have noticed is how much smoking dominated every single aspect of your life. It's going to take a while to program my head to not miss lighting up and I'm doing everything WITHOUT a cigarette when it should be perfectly natural.

I'm going down to defcon3.

3 days later

It's all going alright. I don't seem to be having any serious trouble with cravings yet. If I compare how I feel now to how I felt when I failed to stop, there is a significant positive difference and I put this down to the Niquitin CQ patches I am using.

In the first 24 hours, I found myself thinking about smoking a lot but no really bad cravings. The worst was after dinner on Wednesday when for about two seconds I found myself looking around for my cigarettes. It was like getting an electric shock when I suddenly remembered that I don't smoke. Very strange feeling. I had another one about an hour ago while driving back from work but that wasn't too bad at all.

Physical effects have really started to appear now hence defcon2. I've got a really stupid and persistent cough and I had a splitting headache earlier today. These are just my body healing from the damage that smoking causes. What you must remember is that when you start smoking, the body sends some pretty serious warning signs of the harm being done like coughing and the burning sensation in the lungs. I honestly can't remember exactly why and when I started but if I think about it rationally right now, what on Earth was I thinking?

Luckily for the rest of the planet, the bad moods have yet to appear like last time. Again, I reckon that this is the patches. They are bloody expensive but they are working and I'm going to stick to the plan. I was originally only going to use them for a week but I'm going to wean myself off them like you're meant to. One thing I find funny is that many people, a lot of them smokers, find the patches to be a sign of weakness. That is bullshit. The weakness is in starting smoking in the first place!

defcon4

I'm going to rate how good or bad I feel my withdrawal is from one to five for the next few weeks- defcon1 being ARRRGH! and defcon5 being no symptoms . I feel like I'm on defcon4 today. The physical side of stopping has yet to show and I haven't had any bad cravings but I'm still thinking about smoking a lot.

24 hours later

It's been 24 hours since I stopped smoking. Here's some things I found out about my habit and stopping. All are 100% FACT.

:: I have been smoking an average of 20 cigarettes a day for 15 years
:: I have tried to stop before and can remember what started me again
:: On a previous attempt, I was successful for four months
:: I am heavily addicted to Nicotine and will need help to overcome this
:: I am using nicotine patches
:: A new motivation that has recently arisen is that my ickle sister has quit
:: I will save about £700 this year by stopping
:: If I smoked all my cigarettes from the last 365 days in a row, I would have to smoke contiuously for 30 days
:: I want improve my general health and be able to exercise without running out of breath quickly
:: I want to reduce my risk of serious illness
:: I am practicing deep breathing exercises to do if I get the urge to smoke
:: I am worried that I deal with negative emotions by smoking and this may be a factor that works against me, especially at work
:: I need Amy to support me and she is already doing this by stopping herself and I think she will be successful
:: I need Mum to support me by being non-judgmental and understanding if I go "off on one"
:: I need my mates to support me by providing refuge if I'm at home alone and my motivation deserts me
:: My home smells like an old ashtray

Since my last cigarette, how has my health improved?

:: My blood pressure and my pulse have returned to normal
:: Circulation has improved in my hands and feet
:: Oxygen levels in my blood have returned to normal
:: My chances of a heart attack have fallen significantly
:: Carbon Monoxide has been eliminated from my body
:: My lungs have started to clear out excess mucus and other crap

[Sources: Ash and Niquitin]

I'm Quitting

Yep... It's that time. It didn't come around as quick as I thought but I will be honest and say that I am just a little apprehensive about quitting. I keep telling myself that it's bad for me and that I will soon have a lung capacity greater than that of a small asthmatic vole. I don't feel quite as positive as I have been on the run in but if I can make it past a month, I'll be home and dry.

I'm going to be using patches to take the edge off. Cold turkey is all fair and good but it's been tried before several times as has gum and tabs. I read that on average, it takes seven attempts to finally quit and I'm sure I'm around that mark so that's definitely a good omen.

So that's it. Expect rabid posts for about the first two weeks. I may very well go off on one at some point but it'll all be here for everyone to see, I promise you that.