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Quit Day 10:

Yesterday wasn't too bad; is the nico patch helping? IDK. I wonder how this will be when I quit that, too. It feels like I am just postponing the inevitable. I do know habit is a very big part of this. Silly things like when a commercial came on the TV, I would light up. I still catch myself reaching for one without even thinking about it, then realize, "Oh, right." The toy cigarette I made is a big help, so is the gum (not nico gum) and decaf coffee. They are all substitutes for reaching for something oral. I don't know how easy it will be to kick those later. Now and then, I back off one of them just to see what happens and get in practice.

It is interesting that as a child, I sucked my fingers until I was 13 years old (I started smoking at 15). I was careful to do it only in private once I entered school, etc. My mother grew those really hot chili peppers and she would rub them on my fingers in an attempt to make me quit. To this day, I love spicy hot foods. I am sure there is some psychological connection here but I'm not going to try to analyze it. With the exception of a few interval years, I have had some sort of oral fixation/habit all of my life, including food and overeating. Huh. Maybe I should start sucking my thumb, although that would make it difficult to use the keyboard, so maybe not.

Got most of the chores done yesterday except the floors which I hope to do today. I don't like mopping but it is nice to see clean floors. For about 10 minutes till the dogs track in snow/mud. If I get that done, I will boot up and go rake snow off certain sections of the roof. Just for fun. Maybe just skip the floors and do the roof. Not getting on the roof, no way! I have one of those snow rakes with the l-o-n-g handle that you use from the ground. I like the sound the snow makes as it slides off the roof and hits the ground: Thunk!
 

Ten days is fantastic, GoodEnuff!

You're also being active and eating healthy! Amazing.

Now those nicotine patches. Hmmm. I can't remember exactly how long I used them, but it was closer to two months than two weeks. I think it's important to keep them going for as long as you feel the slightest need. I had tried quitting without them a few months before I really quit and, boyo, I had nightmares that threw me out of bed heading for the door. Then I had no nightmares when using the patches. So I tend to think it's your brain adjusting to no nicotine that's causing your dreams and I would definitely keep the patches going until they stop. Why not? After all, nicotine doesn't cause cancer, tobacco does.

I was a long time thumb sucker, too. We are certainly orally fixated ladies. I wonder if a pacifier while on the computer or reading would help? Who's going to know? (Except us, we want to know everything.)

Also try singing along with those YouTube videos with lyrics when you're done line dancing.

I played solitaire by the hour while listening to the radio -- with actual cards. The tactile part is soothing.

Or --tell us all to go jump in a lake with our danged busy work!
 
GoodEnuff said:
Quit Day 9:

Last night was a bit rough with frequent waking, crazy dreams and a screaming headache. Maybe the dye from the scan? I drank a lot of water yesterday to help kidneys do their filter thing. First cup of coffee almost down and headache is easing.

The dreams are really strange. I don't usually remember dreams but the last couple of nights they have been so crazy, it wakes me up. Always the plot is about some minor insignificant waking concern that the dream rewrites into a major concern. One was about the water line freezing (which is pretty unlikely as the lines are buried 3-4 feet deep and inside pipes are in heated spaces). I woke up and got out of bed to turn on the bathroom faucet to make sure it was okay. Of course it was. Sheesh.

I think today I will do laundry, change sheets, cook meat for the dogs (well, crock pot), maybe vacuum and mop. DO something. Sitting here Feeling Sorry For Myself just isn't working.
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Yes, do something. How about a walk? Call a friend? Start a diary about your travel?
 

Della said:
Now those nicotine patches. Hmmm. I can't remember exactly how long I used them, but it was closer to two months than two weeks.
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I think the package instructions say the 21 mg for four weeks, then reduce to the lower dose for four weeks. Don't bet money on that. I have enough of the 21 mg for two more weeks.

A pacifier? LOL! Something to think about...
 
Twostep said:
Yes, do something. How about a walk? Call a friend? Start a diary about your travel?
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I do short walks with my little dogs almost every day. It's hard because a lot of times it is very painful; I try to push through or just shorten the walk. On good days, we walk farther. (Half of the walk is steep uphill.)
 
I can't walk far either. After a bad fall I've been left with one leg that has no MCL, so every step causes the knee to bow in slightly. So I do calisthenics and things that I can stand still, holding the counter, and do. Aerobics and dancing are things of the past. I'm grateful I can walk when I need to and make it through the grocery store without using a riding cart.

Your efforts inspire me, GoodEnuff. I've been wanting to go off my diet and have a big brownie binge all week. I think it's the cold weather making me want to bake. So far I'm just thinking about it.
 
Della said:
I can't walk far either. After a bad fall I've been left with one leg that has no MCL, so every step causes the knee to bow in slightly. So I do calisthenics and things that I can stand still, holding the counter, and do. Aerobics and dancing are things of the past. I'm grateful I can walk when I need to and make it through the grocery store without using a riding cart.

Your efforts inspire me, GoodEnuff. I've been wanting to go off my diet and have a big brownie binge all week. I think it's the cold weather making me want to bake. So far I'm just thinking about it.
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I fight that food thing, too. It's hard to have just one brownie or one slice of pizza. I try to avoid that kind of thing as much as possible; you have my support on it!
 
GoodEnuff said:
Yes.
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Tell yourself! Put notes all over the house. You can do it! There is a reason. Whatever a woman wants she can accomplish!
Come on. I looked in the mirror after a trip down the black hole. How did SO live with something like that? Fifteen months later and almost 60 pounds less I can wear jewelry again. I want to be me again.
You can do it! Write a honey do list for the next day. Figure out what you want to eat. No starvation, no punishments!!!
Anything with your hands - knit, needle, cook.
 
GoodEnuff said:
I fight that food thing, too. It's hard to have just one brownie or one slice of pizza. I try to avoid that kind of thing as much as possible; you have my support on it!
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If you have one buy a single brownie. Enjoy it.
You can make a pizza and freeze the other two helpings. Eat a salad first!!!! Yes, rabbit food. I learned to eat cucumbers with lots of hot sauce.
 
Quit Day 11:

The cravings have abated a bit; now they feel more like "I want a cigarette" not "I WANT A CIGARETTE!" I take this time to remind myself of the reasons for quitting.

Number One: Tired of cigarettes controlling my life. Where I go, what I do, planning everything around smoking.

Number Two: Health, although this seems almost silly after an entire lifetime of abusing this body. It's a little late but wth. I am borderline obsessive about food, no plastics, no additives, it's a long list. Then after eating that oh-so-healthy meal and denying myself all those lovely foods out there, I light up.

Go ahead, preach to yourself about diet and health. Read every word on every label, shop only fresh foods, organic this and that, for which you pay a bit more and complain about it. And on the way home from the store, stop and pick up a carton of cigarettes (that is ten packs!) for $120, more than the entire grocery bill. If this was somebody else doing that, I would just shake my head and laugh at them. Really? Look in the mirror!

Number Three: The health care establishment has basically said they don't believe I can do this and do little to help; I am a helpless cause. If you tell me I can't do something that I want to do, as if I am too weak, lazy, stupid, whatever, then I suggest you step back and stay out of my way. I will quit this smoking (wait, I already have) and the first thing I will do is drop those doctors and find another. This is probably the strongest incentive for me. DO NOT TELL ME WHAT I CAN AND CANNOT DO!!! AND epiphany! I am not "trying to quit". I already have!

Number Four: $$$. Every now and then I sit down with a budget. Including mortgage, utilities, insurance, groceries, etc., I can easily live on $1400/month. Add in cigarettes, and it is $2,000. Thirty percent of what I spend is on cigarettes! That $600 would cover the mortgage payment! That would also pay for a four-wheeler/atv with a snow blade and a trailer that would really come in handy for hauling stuff around this property. And a new bridge across the creek that would accommodate it, as the current bridge is too narrow. And a shed in which to store it.

OMG! I never really thought about that until just now! Can't do this during winter but by george I can sure get ready for summer!

I know there will still be hard times ahead but that's nothing new in life. Gonna print some ATV, bridge and shed pics, and hang them in a prominent place. Every time I think about a cigarette, I will imagine tooling around on the ATV on my own property with my dogs riding in my lap or on the seat next to me.

I don't know how this would be if it weren't for all of the support y'all have given me. Maybe next fall, you can come for a ride on my new ATV, in a smoke-free environment, assuming we live that long, lol.

I'm gonna get dressed and go shovel snow; if I had an ATV w/blade, it would be lots easier.
 
I live with numbers. My coworkers went out for giggle lunches every day. That makes about how much per week, month, year? When SO was not travelling he brown bagged it. Generally extra cookies for the rest at the table. It was my running errands time. Make yourself lunch bags. Call them bento boxes or brown bags. Food ready to eat! Play around with homemade dips and add vegetables/fruit. Use small fridge containers. Keep a log. For me small 1 cup canning jars and screw on lids work well.

You found the 4wheeler. That is a big incentive! Get a dealer spec sheet and tape it to the fridge.

Make a weekly meal list. Of course it will not be set in stone but you can balance nutrition, cost, treats. Treats day is the one to look forward to. Mine is today! Big chunk of salmon, yoghurt/horseradish/dill dip and a bit of Cowboy Candy!
 
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Quit Day 12:

Why is it called snow "removal" when snow "relocation" would be a more accurate description? Yes, I removed it from the roof, right onto the ground below where then it needed removing again by hand-shoveling away from the wall to another place where there it sits till the spring thaw. That's not removing, that's relocating. Every shovelful, I was thinking, "I can have a cigarette with my shovels OR an ATV with a blade on front and a trailer behind." Who even needs to think about that?

I think I got this!
 
And...

I quit because I was done with cigs ruling my life.

Now, I am sick of thinking and posting about NOT having a cigarette. Done with that (I hope).
 
GoodEnuff said:
Not yet. But today I plan to go to town and there is a dealer for them. I will stop in and take a look. Time to educate myself on those things.
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Please take your sweet old' time. Get to know the owner or senior sales guy. Bring the sugar. Leave the salt at home. After my ting season prices for floor models may drop.
 
Twostep said:
Please take your sweet old' time. Get to know the owner or senior sales guy. Bring the sugar. Leave the salt at home. After my ting season prices for floor models may drop.
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Absolutely. To quote my mother, "I'm just a simple peasant girl. With a mind like a steel trap."

Wonder if one of those small tractors might be better? Not as fast, not as fun, but maybe stronger and better in snow? Will definitely look into all of this.
 
Twostep said:
Ok, what are you and the furries up to today.
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Gonna head to dealer, look at atv's. Maybe small tractors, too. I don't leave the furries for longer than four hours. The younger one has to be crated to avoid possible fight with the older one, who usually starts it but the younger one would definitely finish it. They will get a walk this afternoon. It's been in the 40'sF the last few days.
 
GoodEnuff said:
Absolutely. To quote my mother, "I'm just a simple peasant girl. With a mind like a steel trap."

Wonder if one of those small tractors might be better? Not as fast, not as fun, but maybe stronger and better in snow? Will definitely look into all of this.
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When we had property I had a small one with a trailer. Less likely to get you into mischief!
 

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