Quitting Smoking

2008 is almost over, and tonight at 10:48PM I will be smoke free for 9 months.

I can't believe it has only been 9 months. It feels like forever.. in a great way. I barely remember what it was like to be a smoker except that I can actually breathe now.. I can work out without feeling as though I was going to die from lack of oxygen.. and i can taste food - which is something I wish I wasn't able to do as I want to eat everything yummy now.. and that is pretty much everything fattening. Lattes, burgers, bloomin onions you name it I want it.. but that's besides the point.

The point is.. I can't imagine why anyone would want to still partake in that smelly, expensive, unhealthy habit.. I don't want to hear that they "enjoy" it because that's BS.. Remember, I was a smoker and I said those same things.. but that was the addict in me talking.. Sick sticks are that evil devil on your shoulder convincing you that you don't want to be without them. We call it the Nicodemon in the quit world.. and that demon can be intense in the beginning.. but just like anything.. a screaming puppy, a screaming child, traffic.. it stops eventually. My nicodemon took about oh 90 days to shut up, and he was LOUD most of the time.. but I didn't give in.. (I'll be a good mommy won't i? lol) ya know how i shut him up most of the time? Apples.. that's right apples!

Whenever my demon had a fit i went outside to my designated smoking area and ate an apple instead of smoking.. took about the same time and it shut him up AND it was healthy.. and when you quit smoking you need to eat as healthy as possible. Why? because quitting takes everything your body has and depletes it.. it's a major form of stress and most people (myself included) catch the dreaded quit flu.

You get the aches, the fever, what seems like a real flu.. and once that storm is over is when the healing truly begins because the nicotine is pretty much gone from the system.. It's all a mental battle from this point on.

Although you can take Nyquil and the like to get you through the flu.. it takes an even stronger person to overcome the mental addiction. The one rule is this "Smoking is not an option". A Nic-fit lasts mere seconds, in the beginning the fits roll in quickly one after another. Then the next thing you know it's just a few times an hour. In this stage of the game it's water, water and oh more water. Sugar then calls, so you can opt for gums, jolly ranchers, tic-tacs or in my case, Apples oh and Pepsi became my friend too.. not so my back side's but my taste buds were happy lol.

By the end of the first 30 days i was exhausted, but i wasn't going to let it win. I had too much to lose. Oh and i made Kyle rub in my face the day i almost couldn't catch my breath.. If i slipped he was to remind me of that day.. Well he didn't need to because i never slipped. NOT ONCE.
I will not deny that the thought didn't cross my mind, but I quickly remembered what not breathing was like. It was horrible.

Also, knowing how proud my support-group was made me continue when I wanted to give up the battle.. I couldn't let my fans down. Kyle in particular.. everyday, when I told him I didn't smoke, he told me how proud he was of me and that made it stick harder. My co-worker Sandy to this day tells me how proud she is of me when a new monthly anniversary comes up. Sandy smokes unfortunately, but one day she'll find it in her to quit. It has to be when they are ready though. My Mom also smokes, and one-day hopefully she'll quit too.

Anyway, back to the story..

I had quite a few resources at my disposal. I went to NJ Quit Net for starters and sought advice and gave advice to newbies. I befriended a few people and unfortunately I had to watch some people pass away from the addiction because they just didn't quit soon enough. When you get a post from their family members it really just sucks. That also was a reinforcer in my quit.

The funny parts of quitting: Because it's SO much easier when you have a good sense of humor lol.

Into my first few weeks i was used to having one at a certain time. One night when i left my chiropractor's office i reached in my purse for my pack.. lol yeah.. ok.. dippie.. you quit remember!? lol i laugh about that to this day.. It amazes me what creatures of habit we truly are, addiction or not! because that wasn't a nic-fit.. that was a habit-move lol.

There were other instances just like that one, but that one sticks clearly in my mind because it was my first habit-move lol.

The harder parts:

Socializing wasn't something i really got to involved in during the first 90 days. In fact, i even locked myself in my room and didn't talk to anyone at the house when i was here because that would spark a nic-fit.

Drinking was off the list too until I could socialize successfully.. Now, I can't imagine having a sick stick when I enjoy the full taste of my beer.

Hand cravings.. yeah you heard right.. i had to do stuff with my hands.. now I floss a lot lol.. the dentist is happy. Well, I don't have those anymore anyway but I still floss doc! lol

Unexpected surprises:

My car almost has it's new car smell back. I'm happy about that.

My skin cleared up a lot (I’m not grey anymore)

I don't stink anymore.. yeah now i don't know HOW any NON smoker can date a smoker.. I can smell them across the room .. blech..

My clothes don't stink (well the ones that aren't in my mom's house, all those wreak like a stale ashtray.. it's f'n gross so even though I don't smoke anymore I still smell like ass sometimes)

All-in-all i'm happy that i made the leap to the non-smoker realm. Maybe one day the gov't will ban it at ALL public places.. Including the beach, and outside of restaurants.. cause ya know what smokers? It's not a good thing to be blowing in someone's face, just becuse you like it doesn't mean others do too, have some respect.. There are 400,000 carsinogens in a cigarette.. so you tell me what's more important? killing another person slowly or caving in to the crave..
Trust me, if i can do it anyone can do it.