I woke up late today, very late actually (11am - ouch !)
Anyway, I was feeling quite excited about my resolution to quit smoking tomorrow so, I decided to quit today instead !
Yep, this is day 1, it's 18.36 and I haven't had a fag. In fact bizarrely I don't want one. How wierd is that ?! I'm already feeling like a bit of a non smoker - although the real test will come next time I have a drink or am constipated :)
It's 2am on 30th December which means I have 22 hours left before I quit.
I'm thinking I might be able to 'tough it out' for a while but I really might need some kind of backup.
I'll let you know what I decide. My only other idea right now is to smoke so much over the next 22 hours that I never want to see the site of a ciggie again.
I have been thinking exactly why I smoke.
The bottom line is I am addicted to it. I got there by occassionally smoking at weekends when I went drinking with friends and while on summer holidays when I was in my late teens and early twenties.
There are however som other reasons that I will need to find a way around.
1) Smoking helps my morning movements - if you know what I mean ;)
Yep, there's no two ways about it, smoking helps me go to the loo, as do a few pints the night before. I even met a girl once who never smoked except when she was constipated. So, I can't be the only one !
Well, I will be trying a diet of lots of salad, vegetables, fruit and liquids to try to make sure I don;t have any morning "trouble". I see this as quite a challenge because I do NOT like feeling blocked up. The last time I quit, I actually found that everything returned to normal within 48 hours so hopefully my plan will work out ok.
2) There are times when I genuinely enjoy smoking both socially and on my own.
When at work I usually smoke with a friend, unfortunately, I don't think he has any plans to quit.
Anyway, he's a good friend and I know he won't invite me for a smoke if I tell him that I've stopped so I don't anticipate any unwanted temptations as a result of our friendship.
3) Smoking while drinking is a given and can be a genuine pleasure sometimes.
The only way I have around this is to make sure I don't drink for a while to stiffen my resolve the next time I do drink. Also, I have friends and relatives who can't stand smoking so the first time I do drink will be with them so I am less tempted to join in with the smoking.
4) Habit, not nicotine addiction but real habit.
We all have some routines I guess and smoking is one of mine. While waiting for a bus for instance or when I crack open a can of lager at home in the summer, or while barbequeing. I smoke on the way to work, just before I arrive (outide the building) and on my way to lunch.
I am going to try a few new routes into work, take sandwiches and generally disrupt my usual routine to try and get around this.
I have a LOT of reasons. It's nothing to do with the anti-smoking police who are making smoking life in the UK a misery, in fact they made me smoke for longer in sheer defiance !
Nope, here are my reasons which might sound familiar to some other smokers...
1) I want my freedom back and I'm sick of the inconvenience.
Nipping down to the shop before it closes to make sure I have some smokes. Sitting in my garden to smoke in the rain, snow, cold. Popping out at work to smoke (no smoking rooms anymore, or in fact anywhere undercover that I can light up). Finding time to light up in anti-smoking company (I assume everyone is now anti-smoking so make myself scarce when I want to light up).
2) I don't want to feel like a loser anymore
Our nanny-state has well and truly made us smokers feel like lepers. I felt quite defiant about all their anti-smoking fascism for quite sometime. The media simply propogate all the "THIS is how you will live" bully boy tactics which comes out of these government sponsored health reports.
I have tried to ignore it as much as possible but, to be frank, it's really becoming an effort now. I feel like I've been ground down, everyone thinks you're a moron now if you smoke and it starts to rub off on you after a while.
3) It's bloody expensive in the UK
Enough said.
4) I don't want to feel so slobbish
It never used to affect me but nowadays smoking kind of makes me feel tired. I can have a smoke on a Saturday morning and end up back in bed for a kip !
5) I don't want as many hangovers
They say you can't have a drink without a smoke and I agree, it's not easy to drink without smoking. I have developed such a close association between the two that I now find it difficult to smoke without drinking. Yep drinking is another vice of mine. Anyway, I figure stopping smoking should also significantly reduce my alcohol intake. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love drinking or "binge drinking" as they call it nowdays. The problem is, I now find that the after effects outweight the previous evening's enjoyment. I'll never manage to stop drinking... ever ! but I would like to reduce the frequency and reclaim some of my mornings :)
6) Health reasons (I suppose !)
This is the one I am supposed to be most concerned with but to be frank it's the last on my list. I don't particularly have a death wish but I don't think that smoking is the killer they keep saying. It's dangerous in the long term for sure but they make out it's like playing with dynamite and if you smoke you will have a horrible painful death years before your time.
