I THINK I CAN....I THINK I CAN... IT WILL BE OK. Day's 4-7.

I THINK I CAN I THINK I CAN*

*Only if you've been tied down by giants and told that a small kitten will be injured every time you smoke. 

I made it to day 4. It's been a terrible.....terrible few days, and physically.  I'm pretty sure I've eating all the non-perishables in my pantry along with anything snacks I had hiding in my purse.  NOT GOOD YA'LL, I'm starting to substitute food for smoking. NO NO NO NO.  But i'm soooooo hungry, I think.  

It's been pretty difficult to determine if I'm hungry or thirsty. Tired or awake. Sad or happy.  My mind and body have no clue what is going on and is taking the low road, to say the least. 

What I've been doing to remedy this:  This isn't "Healthy" or "PC", but I've been sleeping. To me, if I'm not awake to deal with the craving, maybe I'll wake up without one. Maybe.  Also, anytime a hunger pang is hitting me hard, I chug a huge glass of water, wait about 20 min, and if the hunger's still there, I'm genuinely hungry, then a raid the fridge for goodies.

So far, there's been no major fights with the family or S.O.  But, we've still got a few years to get through. :)

I've also made it a point to immediately do something when I wake up in the morning.  Read, paint, cook, clean the house or myself. For me, this time of day is the hardest.  I wake up, and within about 30 min i'm craving. NUTS!  This has helped distract me from the craving and got my creative or cleanliness juices flowing. 

DAY 5

Why did I ever start smoking?? 

This was the first question that popped in my head this morning. WHY? In sweet baby Jesus' name, why did I take up this filthy habit?  Everything around me is beginning to REEK of smoke and ash and cigarettes. I thought, EW.  For the first time ever...EW came to mind.  I smelled like that allllll the time. I never noticed.. Poor co-workers. Poor S.O. Poor toothbrush.. They deserve someone who doesn't smell like a fireplace full of tar. This is getting SO MUCH EASIER! It seems like the "need" is going away and being replaced with "want".  I want to be healthier and live longer.  I want to be able to walk up the stairs or get out of bed without being winded. I WANT to quit smoking.  And I did! I considered this feeling ( and the decrease of pangs) as being a non smoker.  I DON'T smoke.  No smoker ever, wakes up after smoking for 10 years and quits, then starts again.  Well, maybe not NO smoker ever. But, I'm having strong feelings that it won't be me.  Not again,,,,NOT EVER AGAIN.
Day 7

I've had 1 craving today, it's 10 pm. I think I did it. I KNOW I did it!!!!!

Finally,,, the craving came to me and I shook it off like it was a baby fart in a movie theater.  Nothing, nada, nope.  It came and went in about a minute. Done and Done.  After 10 yrs of proactively killing myself, I can breath. I don't feel trapped anymore. I feel more self confident and assured.  I'm proud of myself and have a wee bit more respect for myself.  If I can break addiction with an e-cig I bought at Walmart for $20, of which I haven't used since day 4, and a little time off from stress, what else can I do!? Or you!? What else could you do? ASK yourself this.  Make a list. These are all the things I would rather be doing that smoking a cigarette, you'd be surprised  how basic those actions will be.  I'm a non-smoker now after 10 years. You can do it too. I PROMISE, just start.  It's okay to fail and falter, it's just practice in the beginning.  :) Eventually reason with expectation meets, and it's easy.  You WON'T want to smoke anymore.  Your WANT will outweigh your NEED. Start now, and get ready to say "No, I don't smoke anymore"  OR "No thank you, I quit." It can my WAY sooner than  you think.  

Any questions or concerns you may have or just need someone to talk to.  Feel free to comment here or email me @ OLLIEDOO88@GMAIL.COM

Do I Smell Roses? Day 3

I MADE IT TO DAY 3!

CELEBRATE!!

      

HELLO Olliedudes!! Day 3! This was the longest I had gone without faltering and smoking and was a major turning point in OPERATION NO SMOKEY. :) Knowing it was possible to make it this far, without going crazy or drop-kicking my family or friends, blew my mind.   Make very small goals in the beginning. 

You could even start out just having a few smokes a day, then a couple, then switch to the e-cig. Which, this e-cig by the way has been at my hip the whole of day 3.  I was no longer using it as an emergency nicotine dose, but as a crutch. This worried me, as the last thing I wanted to do was substitute something kinda bad for something really bad.  I soon realized that I was putting faaar to much pressure on myself to QUIT, rather than faze out.  So I CELEBRATED!! I went out to dinner with friends. I made cupcakes.  I soaked in the tub for awhile with a Hawaiian scented candle burning.  Of which, I could completely smell at this point. My sense of smell was coming back. SNIFF SNIFF :P Sorry for being gross, but I has waaay less snot and congestion in the mornings.  It started out anxiety-ridden and questionable and ended with the best dinner, dessert and bath I'd ever had.  

Getting my sense of smell slowly back was my first physical benefit of quitting smoking. Along with having a few less boogies. My wallet was staying a little thicker as well. I can say that experiencing this again for the first in 10 yrs was so motivating. I truly feel once you feel that first benefit, you'll feel the same way. This definitely motivated me to at least set my next goal at a week, 4 more days. If I could make it 4 more day's using my e-cig, I told myself I would have a salon day. Full well-knowing that when I went to my hairdresser I wouldn't feel the awkward feeling smelling like and ashtray.  I felt the same way around many different people; the eye doctor, my co-workers, my friend that didn't smoke and my pets for goodness sake.  I don't know if my dog was bothered by my breath, but I sure imagined he was. It was a real stigma for me up until day 3! TIME TO GO TELL SECRETS and Lick Faces! 8P

I spent that night, eating one of my blueberry cupcakes and sticking glitter to candles.  It was moment of zen in a seemingly overwhelming situation. I went to bed confident that the next 4 day's will be testing my longevity and persistence. Bring it on Week.....Bring it on.

Day 1 and 2. Optimistic and a Little Scared.

THE DAY IS HERE! SEIZE IT! CARPE...something.:)

Hi my Olliedudes!  Are you ready?! Are you done feeling exhausted and smelling like the bad side of an elephant?? Is there a good smelling side? :)  You HAVE to be prepared. Read my previous posts in this blog to know a few good ways to become prepared and put yourself in a good place before flipping it upside down. By this time, you should have removed all traces of being a smoker from your living/working areas. Don't forget your car, there's plenty of indicators and instigators that can be in your car. Check it, 'for you wreck it.

If you begin this anything like me, which could be the minority, you're excited and pumped to be smoke free.  Remember, this is day one. No withdrawal symptoms or nail biting anxiety.  I finished the last smoke of my pack threw away both the pack and the butt, washed my ashtray out to remove and lingering odors and stored that puppy away in the attic. If you feel inclined, throw that piece of junk out too. You won't need it anymore. :P

ANXIETY-----BALLS!

My first withdrawal symptoms was anxiety and stress. This symptom came about 6 hrs after my last smoke.  This rose my heart rate and literally made me sweat buckets after awhile. I was going stir crazy.  I was thinking about smoking about every 10 min.  I felt like I was torturing myself. Every time I thought of smoking, I busted out my gruesome photos, grossed myself out and the craving would go away.  So, I busted out my painting set and a blank canvas.  That's when I began painting the number " 2548 ".  With my math, this was the amount I stood to save every year by not smoking. That's a trip to Florida or California! That's a good portion of my car loan! I painted a little California and to the best of my ability, my car too. This "painting" is still hanging for my motivation after this process.  In truth, this took my about 3 days to complete, only because I would get so high-strung and stressed I'd start crying and shivering like someone strung out on heroine! It would get so intense, I would have to get up and move around, go outside, take a shower, SOMETHING! 

Be prepared for feeling this way.  It will pass, THE FIRST WEEK IS THE HARDEST! I can't say it enough. Once I was out of the "one-week-woods" it was cake.  REMEMBER THIS, you only have to "work" for the first week. 

Day 2 was full of stress and anxiety, then came the next symptom:

HUNGER-----DOUBLE  BALLS!

I was starving! I felt like I hadn't eaten all week. The hunger pangs were unbearable! It felt like I was physically ill. BECAUSE I WAS.  My body and brain think I'm losing a vital nutrient, nicotine. Knowing that and knowing that nicotine is an appetite suppressant helped me understand and cope with it much more easily. I slammed some baby carrots, then some sugar snap peas, then a big glass of milk followed by a big glass of water.  Nothing was satiating this hunger! My stomach was growling AS I was eating. I didn't know that possible. 8) This was my first Google search, "Why does my stomach hurt so bad after quitting smoking?" Along with finding out why I was so hungry, I found out a few more details on nicotine and what it does to your appetite. Nicotine makes the muscles in the abdomen and chest seize and flex. After smoking for so long, you don't notice this anymore, but this contributed to a smoker's lack of appetite. WHAT? Opened my eyes a bit and helped me understand why I never wanted breakfast, or lunch for that matter.  I would wake up and have a smoke and not eat anything but a cup of coffee, because I was genuinely not hungry.  Then go to work and not eat lunch, because I was going directly to the smokers hut or lighting up in my car on break.  During this process, you need to be able to differentiate between hunger and thirst. When you get your first major hunger pang, drink milk or water and wait about 20 min.  IF you're still having pangs and your mouth is watering whether from hunger or the chance you might throw up, ( this is how it's felt) EAT.  Just because there's a chance you'll gain some weight from not smoking doesn't mean it will always be that way.  The more likely situation is that you'll start eating your 3 meals a day boosting your metabolism and ultimately losing weight

This was Day 1 and 2.  Phew! In summary, the worst symptoms were the anxiety and and stomach pains.  They were bearable, but really made me question why I was putting myself in this situation.  I thought, on day two, "well, I made it a full day without smoking, why throw that away for 5 mins of pleasure?" That rang true in my head every time. Even if I did breakdown and smoke, I would only make me happy for 5-10 min and then I'd just want another one.  That's a black hole if I've ever heard one.  Remember to tell yourself on day 2, "I'm going to be OK. I will succeed at this. I will be good to myself." 

 Let me know if something is confusing and you want more detail or if you want to know a little more about a certain area! 

SEE YA'LL OLLIEDUDES IN NEXT POST!

You're Backup Plan.

Welcome back my soon-to-be non-smokers! Holy hyphen! This post will cover what physical tools I kept with me to aid me in staying on the right path. 

I bought an electronic cigarette. I spent $20 on a little dinky no-name e-cig from 7-eleven.  It doesn't need to be fancy.  I do recommend getting one that doesn't resemble and real cigarette as I've tried the multi-colored ones and just plain black ones in the past and they didn't cut it. I'd assume because it didn't trick my brain into thinking I was smoking a real one. The one I bought came with a wall charger and looked like this:


Before you buy an e-cig and think, "Hey, this is a good alternative" Don't kid yourself. You'll soon realize after reverting to the e-cig, it tastes, feels and smells completely different than smoking a real cigarette.  Most people that decide they're going to use an e-cig instead of smoking usually ( about 40%) end up reverting back to smoking cigarettes. I bought this e-cig fully knowing it's not going to be my "replacement".  It was only going to be there if the craving was too much to handle so I wouldn't catch myself thinking of driving to the gas station to pick up some smokes. It worked for that purpose 100%.

Now for the gruesome pictures that kept me motivated.  Again, skim through if you've got a sensitive midsection. 



I saved these pictures on my phone so I could literally gross myself out of wanting a cigarette when a craving would strike.  These hit home every time. Find some photos like these or use theses! Sometimes the glory of saving money and being able to travel or pay off debt it's quite enough of an aid as some my think. Having something to represent a different benefit of quitting is very much advised.

FOOD! ( I know, I should have written about food before those photos. lol )
I knew before quitting that doing so would increase my appetite dramatically.  Some people don't experience this at all. So, before the journey began, I went to the store and got healthy snack options like fruits and veggies primarily. With these I could stuff my face happily and not worry about weight gain because of my ravenous feelings.  People will try both quit smoking and eat healthier, but I don't recommend it. It's far too much on your plate.  In my experience, once I starting paying attention to not smoking, I also paid a lot more attention to what I was eating for some reason. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big girl all 200lbs of me, and I fully expected to put on a weight during this process. I never before watched what I ate until now. And I wasn't even trying! It's amazing what happens in your brain when you flip that switch.  I ultimately lost weight during my 30 day process. 

The last tool I recommend is time-wasters. You'll find out very soon on that there are times you're body automatically get's prepared for a smoke. Like, after eating and when you wake up in the morning.  This will pass.  Every time you get a craving, IT WILL GO AWAY and you have to remember this every single time.  That's why time-wasters are a great idea. In my case, I love crafts and art projects so I went to Hobby Lobby for a haul.  I bought paints, glitter, glue, canvas' , yarn and needles. etc. I figured, I'd normally be spending this money on smokes, why not get whatever I want in their place. GREAT IDEA. I youtubed and googled DIY crafts and made a list of all the cool things I could make.  This made those difficult cravings and lack of stimulation seem like little speed bumps.   For some, it may be cooking, reading, cleaning or outdoor activities that will strike your fancy, along with many other likes. Go to that awesome sports store and get that racket you've wanted or go to Trader Joe's and let you're heart go wild. 
Doing this, you'll remember how happy these things made you before you used smoking to compensate for it. For me it was Goodwill, I got so much stuff to upcycle, I'm still doing them well after quitting smoking.

These are the most prominent tools I used to help me quit smoking. There are other's that played a much smaller role in my quitting, but I'll disclose those as we're going through the process and steps to quit.

I hope you find time to get some of these tools to aid you as well.  If you have any questions about these tools or need support in any way please comment and I'll gladly help you out! :) Tomorrow, I'll start from day one and explain the process of smoker to non-smoker.

The Ciggy Raid.

This sucks so bad.....Get ready for a true test of will power and perseverance. :)

Quitting Smoking isn't really so bad, it's the withdrawal symptoms that knocked me on my bum.  They made me question whether is was worth quitting at all. (Obviously any reason is a reason to quit smoking, but follow me here.)  I never knew beforehand how many different bodily functions are controlled or altered by smoking and nicotine.   The 2 am Google searches for " Does this mean I'm dying " were so frequent, I decided that I should put together all the answers I searched for,  the emotional roller coaster I forcefully rode, and how I was able to stop after 10 years of smoking. 
My biggest motivation here was knowing that 80% of kids who's parents smoke, end up smoking themselves. I don't have kids yet, but I don't want to be the reason other people's lives are ruined.   You have to have a motivation for quitting or it won't happen, just saying this upfront. 

I can't even begin to count how many times I attempted to quit on my own. 10? 50? Who knows?  It was becoming a bi-annual mental battle to quit smoking or to at least cut down to make it easier in the end.  Nope, I continued to smoke. I actually was increasing how much I would smoke after each attempted quit.  Probably because I felt I "deserved" it.  I hope this blog will give you the tools and education you need to finally kick this nasty habit. That being said, everyone is different and some friends of mine that quit (or tried) had no withdrawal symptoms outside of irritability.  So, some of this may apply and some may not.  Either way, get educated on your situation. Knowledge is SO powerful with quitting, it's almost the horse I rode out on. :) I'm also going to be posting the the photos I kept saved on my phone to keep me motivated to quit.  WARNING: Some are really gross so if you've got a shy stomach, imagine boogers and dirty toenails and skim past those guys.

 Doesn't it sound strange to you right now? You being a non-smoker?? It took me 30 days to feel like I fully "QUIT" w/o cravings or thoughts of relapse.  The first week is the worst.

First tool you must have to begin this process.  TIME OFF! Too many people don't see smoking as a drug addiction, it's insane! If you had a friend addicted to crack, I'm sure you'd advise a little personal time.  Take a week off if you can. I feel the biggest part of my success in quitting was not having an outside source of stress weighing me down or making me want to light up again. I personally took two weeks off for my Smoker Battle-2014. 

Second, The CIGGY RAID.  You need to raid your house, apartment, car, garage, work space and any other areas you frequent while smoking, of any smoking appliances. ( I.E. Ashtrays, filters, cigarette making machines lighters.) Especially any leftover smokes you may have.  I don't know if I necessarily recommend it, but I smoked the last of the pack I had bought previous to deciding to finally quit. I did this because, 1. I'm a cheapskate and wasn't going to waste the money, 2. I knew if i had smokes near me I'd be tempted to smoke them.  SO whatever works for you, finishing them or destroying them are your options.

Third, you need a catalyst.  Something that you can look at, listen to or imagine to keep you motivated with this change.  For some peeps it may be how much money you'd save in a year. Calculate how much you'll save.  Search online what you could buy or where you could vacation (that's right, VACATION WITH $$$ YOU USED TO SMOKE) with that savings and print out the pictures\, tape them up, or save them to you're phone or tablet to have them readily available anytime a craving may hit.  I painted a canvas with the dollar amount I would save! LOL. It certainly kept that number in my mind and it ended up being a great go to when I needed something to occupy my mind.

These 3 things were the most useful and ultimately the staples I had to help me through.

I'll be doing this blog everyday until the whole kit and kaboodle is relayed.  I want you to know everything I know about this.  Please let me know if you have any specific ?s you want answered or if you're quitting or recently quit, what's worked for you?  What made you make the change? I want to know too, how YOU did it.