Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Welcoming Withdrawals

The day has finally come for me to quit smoking.

Again.

I am a cold turkey believer. Once you get the the first 1-3 days out of the way the nicotine is out of your system and it really does get much easier after that. Besides, you're already AT your goal! How can you not love that?? You've already stopped smoking! You're not still feeding yourself with tiny doses of nicotine whether it be through the patch or gum or even gradually cutting back on cigarettes. YOU ARE KEEPING YOUR BODY IN A STATE OF WITHDRAWAL YOU CRAZY PEOPLE! YOU ARE TORTURING YOURSELF! YOU WANT TO GET OUT OF WITHDRAWALS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE SO YOU CAN FOCUS ON HEALING!!!

Ahem, sorry about that. Flares in my temper are actually one of the smaller symptoms for me. Mostly I am just extremely tired (because nicotine is a stimulant) and really hungry (because I want the hand-to-mouth action as well as my blood sugar levels are probably dropping and/or going haywire). So I am a little concerned what this might to do my diet in the short term. Even though long term I know this is the best thing for me.

So this long-winded babble is an apology in advance. So I'm sorry. I don't know what I'll be like in the next 3 days. If I'm around at all (Inability to concentrate is another lovely withdrawal symptom of mine.)

THREE DAY PLAN OF ACTION:
1.) Do not smoke
2.) Lots of water, fresh fruit and veggies
3.) deep breaths, relax, I can do this!
4.) Sleep if I need to, my body is trying to heal afterall :)
5.) Replace cravings with exercise. Go for a walk and clear my head. Hell, it's the best '3 for the price of 1' deal:
              i.) Walking/exercise to distract me from the craving
              ii.) the exercise will help offset any quit smoking weight gain (from no longer having the stimulant to speed up your metabolism)
              iii.) more exercise might even equal more weight loss



OK. Deep breath. Here we go!!!



PS: This is my 4th quit in the last 18 months. Everyone's quit is different, and I can even vouch that even the same individual can have different experiences for different quits. The above are facts that pertain to ME. If you're looking for some cold turkey info though, please visit www.whyquit.com. In my opinion, it is the best site out there. (Although please feel free to recommend other cold turkey sites, I'd love to hear about them!)

SIDENOTE: Non-smokers giving quit smoking advice bugs the CRAP out of me. If you've never had a nicotine addiction, I do not want to hear your opinion nor advice on the matter. If you must get involved politely offer your support and leave it at that. You trying to offer advice or tell me about your friends' sister's husband's quit, just makes me want a cigarette more because you are pissing me off. I realize you're trying to help, but you can't. So just stop. Please. I beg you.

DID YOU KNOW? Studies have shown that nicotine just might be more addictive than cocaine or heroin.

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