I quitted smoking, day 9.

Second Monday after I quitted smoking. I feel great and energetic. Although not drinking may have affected more than quitting smoking. Anyway, point is that it's Monday and I'm in a good mood. I haven't had not a single irritable thought or act since I quitted. Good for me. To some it ain't that easy and I can relate since its hard for my wife to quit and she feels bad when she goes for smoke as she is more addicted to it than I am. She said that after couple of weeks when her work load gives in a bit she will quit. Her job description has changes since we last time had a pause from smoking and I can understand that it might be too much quit smoking and having a stressful job at hand. She has reduced daily smoking amount which is good.

I am glad that my quitting has some effect on her and her smoking hasn't got me craving for a smoke. That's the hardest part quitting when the other is still smoking and you are not. My father quitted smonking after doctors said that he has vein thrombosis after mini stroke. He hasn't smoked since. My mom smoked too. Few days later my dad said that in this house hold either nobody smokes or everybody smokes. And my mom quitted too. Both have been non-smokers evere since. 

I quitted smoking, day 8

Woohoo! I made a week without smoking! Hooray for me! Wife was at party and I drove her to there and also picked up her at middle of night and as she was leaving she had her last smoke before we drove home. It smell awful as she sat next to me. There is good thing about this, that as smoking smells so horrible it don't give me any ideas of smoking myself one cigarette. I repells me from smoking which is of course a good thing. Now I just wish my wife could have that same inner strenght to quit smoking. I know that I won't be so easy as my cold turkey quitting smoking, but she knows how to handle that, since last time in spring when we quitted, which turned out to be a bit longer pause, she used chewing tobacco. Nicorette aerosol and nicotine chewing gums are bad choices as one is expensive and other gives her jaws a too much stress and that leads to headaches.

I quitted smoking, day 7

I didn't drink as I had to much to do and had to drive a car later in the night too. That went well then. Tonight I am also driving so I won't be drinking and less tease to smoke. I think I might get over smoking while drinking as time passes by. Since I don't have a physical addiction to it, it ain't that bad to resist it while drinking. Of course I am going to miss that small and fast "high" when you smoke your first cigarette when you drink alcohol. After all it ain't that much of a "high" and it won't enchance drinking at all after that first smoke.

Mucus still coming and but not so much as in the begining. I am not irretable at all. I have noticed that now that my sense of smell is getting better I can smell my wifes smoking about hour later. Even if she has brushed her teeth. I don't remember that I had this good sense of smell earlier in my life at all. Has my sense of smell getting better due aging?

I quitted smoking, day 6

Friday. If I should drink do I fall for smoking, again? I guess safe bet would be not drink, but after all I am not in the mood of drinking, now that I feel more energetic when I haven't been smoking.

I should have measured my blood pressure before I quitted smoking so I could have a reference point how much smoking affected my blood pressure. Well for now it's a bit too late as it take few days to see affects. And before you start saying that your blood pressure will drop around 15-60 minutes after last smoke, while it is true, it's still elevated compared to not smoking at all. 

So benefits so far:

• sense of smell and taste is better
• better periferic blood flow
• no stuffed nose, better breathing
• blood pressure has dropped
• sleep quality is better and feel more energetic in the morning
• more money to spend on my car

And all this in less than week after I quitted smoking.  Let's see what this evening has stored for me...

I quitted smoking, day 5

Day begun quite good and I didn't have any problems with candy or cravings. I am getting used to this feeling when I wake up in the morning and I don't have to go to balcony to have days first smoke. I also feel more energetic.

My blood pressure is now normal, or it should be but I do have a bit elevated blood pressure so I can't really tell if my blood pressure is normal or in my normal.

And I noticed I don't have that cold feelings in my finger tips anymore, so my blood circulation has improved and I do sleep much better now.

So far I haven't had any good challenge for cold turkey quitting. Tomorrow is Friday and that gives it a bit of challenge. 

I quitted smoking, day 4

I noticed that my lungs has start to clear out mucus and other smoking debris, which means that my lungs are starting to heal. I read from various sites that starts within 2-7 days after your last cigarette. For me it took 4 days. Breathing has become more easier now, althought it wasn't that bad in my own opinion at the time when I smoked, but I noticed it's a bit better, mostly due that my stuffed nose is gone away now.

Not a single craving for a cigarette. None after I quitted smoking. That's good and reason why I can quit so easily. I am was not addicted physically. Hardest part is coming on this weekend. If I drink, do I have urge to smoke cigarette? Probably I have a craving for it if I drink. Should I consider not to drink? Maybe, but at least now I don't feel like drinking on weekend. I have so much more energy to do things, thanks to not smoking for four days.

Also I did scale my weight and it was two months ago and I weighted 94,7 kg, today I scaled at 95,1 kg.  So far that I haven't gained any weight, that 0,4 kg goes day-to-day variation. Challenge is to keep it under that, now that my smell and taste senses are back.

I quitted smoking, day 3

The Third day. So far everything is going well. Haven't had any urges to smoke, actually I started recent the smell of it. My wife still smokes and I am glad that she isn't chain smoking and she too wants to quit smoking. Every time we had stopped smoking it has been harder for her. As she came of the balcony where she was smoking, I could smell that foul smell across the room and wondered how anyone can stand that smell? It all comes down to sense of smell is coming back. When we smoke that cause our sense of smell to dull so that we don't really smell that foul smell. I started to wonder has it always been that way or has the tobacco companies engineered that so, that we don't smell that stench.

"72 hours
Your entire body will test 100% nicotine-free and over 90% of all nicotine metabolites (the chemicals it breaks down into) will now have passed from your body via your urine.  Symptoms of chemical withdrawal have peaked in intensity, including restlessness. The number of cue induced crave episodes experienced during any quitting day have peaked for the "average" ex-user. Lung bronchial tubes leading to air sacs (alveoli) are beginning to relax in recovering smokers. Breathing is becoming easier and your lung's functional abilities are starting to increase."

Basically this was it. Three days and I am free!!! Not quite. Althought I haven't had any crave for cigarette and find that those idle minutes that I use to light one up when I smoked are a bit dull or... too idle. I have started to use my phone a lot more, since I need to occupy my mind with something else. Isn't that a craving? No, as I don't want to smoke, I use to use this idle moment to smoke cause I needed to occupy my mind. That was there already, before I starter to smoke in the first place.

I quitted smoking, day 2.

So, Yesterday went well. Didn't crave for a smoke at all. One thing that I have noticed in the morning is that I didn't have stuffed nose. It was good morning to wake up. I didn't have any urges to go first to balcony to smoke days first cigarette.

"48 hours
Damaged nerve endings have started to regrow and your sense of smell and taste are beginning to return to normal. Cessation anger and irritability will have peaked."

I don't have anger or irritability problems at all, but I have started crave for candy and snack. This is going to be problem when you quit smoking. As your sense of smell comes back, you will start to crave for food, sncaks, candies, all kind of treats.

So far I have kept my mind busy and sweet tooth hasn't been a problem. I should have weighted myself to see how much I am going to gain in the first few weeks. Well one day doesn't make that much of difference, now does it?

I quitted smoking, day 1.

This use to be my personal "training" diary for 40+ year old man and now it's my I quitted smoking diary. Been smoking past 20 years now and I have paused smoking for few times. Now it's permanent. Till next time. Last time it lasted two and half months. Before that it lasted year and half. And I have paused from time to time but those lasted from few days to couple of weeks. So it wasn't that hard physically for me as I had been few days with out smoke. Usually those breaks came day-after. On hungover, which wasn't that bad for me either. No matter how hard I drank it really didn't physically make me sick, well sometimes yes, but once in two years or so. 

So, yesterday was fun, free booze and good company. I had almost full pack of cigarettes and I knew it won't last till next day or I might get high and dry before night is over. I knew that this time it was it. It has been said that few first days are the hardest and for me it never has been those few first days, it has been those days when have not been smoking for few weeks and you feel comfortable and you get that sweet smell in your nose and you start to crave for it. 

It's physcial and mental addiction. You have to fight your urges, usually mental is the hardest part.  Physical urgers are the easiest ones. Once you get past few weeks it gets easier to resist urges to smoke just one, few inhales, nothing more. Yeah, right. That's how it starts all over again. Mentally it is much harder. If it weren't, it wouldn't be addictive. To understand mental separation from smoking we have to understand addcition.:

addiction

əˈdɪkʃ(ə)n/

noun
    the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance or activity.

synonyms:
    dependency, dependence, craving, habit, weakness, compulsion, fixation, enslavement; 




For me it has been social and wasting idle time. If I waited for a bus to arrive, I smoked. If I waited for a store to open, I smoked. If I had a long walk ahead, I smoked. Party at friends house and some one goes out for a smoke, I joined or instigated it. At the bar, at the picnic, after meal, I smoked. Worked too hard, needed a break? I smoked. There were countless reason to smoke. But I didn't had countless reason not to smoke. We all die anyway, if smoking reduces my life from those days when I am wearing diaper and can't remember my name, fine. I can live with that. It's not like I am going to live forever and be healthy because I didn't smoke. I didn't quit because I want to live longer and being healthier, I quitted because smoking smelled bad, cost a tons of money and I didn't have a physical addiction. I can't afford smoke on regular basis.