Hmmm, Not really seeing the financial rewards of quitting yet like I would expect.
Its a little disheartening when I check my bank account expecting to be pleasantly surprised and finding it looks pretty much the same as it did a couple months ago.
How the hell can that be?
I've been quite the hermit since I quit, did I maybe miss something? 2+2 still equals 4, right? How is Robby and I not spending $24.00 a day, not adding up to saving $24.00 a day?
Robby's still taking Chantix and had to have the prescription filled, but it still doesn't add up.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
You Are What You Eat
Just a quick update, cause I got a lot of studying to do today.
What week is this now? 4? I'm starting to lose track.
Last week I spent some time thinking about how I wanted to change my diet. Since my motivation for quitting smoking is largely based on economics, I think it follows too that my food choices reflect this as well.
I need to save money and forgo calories. And I suppose it won't kill me to try to eat "healthier."
Simple enough, right? Well, the tricky part is coming up with a game plan that is realistic for a family of four. It can't just be about me and what I eat. I've seen some of my girlfriends try this and it never works and I know me, I won't be satisfied with my rice cake while everybody around me is eating their Big Macs. That's just setting yourself up for failure.
Here's where I think I want to go with the diet thing. I don't have a lot of money, but I do have time lately since I don't have a job right now and my school load is light this semester. Time is a resource and I need to better use it to my advantage. Until now, we've always ate out a lot. We do this out of convenience mostly. But, sometimes because its cheaper than cooking at home. Don't believe me? Check out the prices of chicken breast at the grocery store, then compare it to the dollar menu at McDonalds.
Still with me? Ok. So, I remembered hearing about how Mediterranean cuisine is very healthy. I happen to love Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food and Robby does too, so I decided to see if I could incorporate more of it into our weekly routine. The more I'm cooking the less we're eating out. And I wanted to see if this could be done on the cheap, too. I found a good website with recipes and even monthly menu ideas. What I liked most about the site is that it reminds its visitors that eating Mediterranean style is not just about the food. Its also about the when and how. Its about serving meals in courses, slow and in small, but delicious portions. You take the time to enjoy the food. This is key. And as the cook, you don't compromise on taste for convenience. Ever. You don't rush breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Bottom line; if you cook your meals from scratch or as close to scratch as you can, they will be healthier and they'll taste better.
But will they be cheaper?
Well, that's the real challenge, I think. And, my guess is, yes. If I cook the majority of my meals from scratch, I'll save money because I can cook in bigger batches so that we have quantity and quality. But, it will be a challenge. I will need to clip coupons and hit the farmer's market more often than I'm use to. And I'll need to organize and plan the meals out (and I'm not known for my organizational skills.)
Does every meal need to be taken from a secret Italian recipe? No. I think what I'll do is just work off the basic principles of the Mediterranean diet and lifestyle. They eat lots of veggies. So I will try to add more to our diet. This is a challenge with my kids. We'll see how it goes. But the main principle I think is fresh, basic ingredients. The less the food is processed, the better. If one day a week we would rather have Irish corned beef and cabbage instead of Lebanese Shawarma or Italian linguine in pesto sauce, as long as its homemade, we're doing good.
Will this really help me to not gain weight now that I'm not smoking, and wasn't that the whole point?
Well, yes it was the whole point. I don't know. We'll see. I'll try to keep a record of it. My thoughts on this are that by eating 3 squares a day (something I've never done before) I'll limit how much I want to snack throughout the day. And keep in mind, the food might be from scratch and taste fantastic, but the slowed down pace of eating in courses, ie: salad first, main course, fruit for dessert, should help to keep the portions of the high calorie foods down. That's the theory, anyway.
All I know is, I think its important to be realistic when considering a diet plan. I could never do what I've seen some people do to lose weight. I love food too much. And again, I have to come up with something that will work for my whole family, not just me.
I thought this was supposed to be a quick post? See, there's those organizational skills I need to work on.
I'm off now to start my homemade spaghetti sauce, so it will be ready in about 6 hours and get some studying done.
Here's the recipe if anyone cares to try it.
Maybe later I'll do a cost analysis on this homemade version compared to the price of what I would have normally made with canned sauce.
What week is this now? 4? I'm starting to lose track.
Last week I spent some time thinking about how I wanted to change my diet. Since my motivation for quitting smoking is largely based on economics, I think it follows too that my food choices reflect this as well.
I need to save money and forgo calories. And I suppose it won't kill me to try to eat "healthier."
Simple enough, right? Well, the tricky part is coming up with a game plan that is realistic for a family of four. It can't just be about me and what I eat. I've seen some of my girlfriends try this and it never works and I know me, I won't be satisfied with my rice cake while everybody around me is eating their Big Macs. That's just setting yourself up for failure.
Here's where I think I want to go with the diet thing. I don't have a lot of money, but I do have time lately since I don't have a job right now and my school load is light this semester. Time is a resource and I need to better use it to my advantage. Until now, we've always ate out a lot. We do this out of convenience mostly. But, sometimes because its cheaper than cooking at home. Don't believe me? Check out the prices of chicken breast at the grocery store, then compare it to the dollar menu at McDonalds.
Still with me? Ok. So, I remembered hearing about how Mediterranean cuisine is very healthy. I happen to love Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food and Robby does too, so I decided to see if I could incorporate more of it into our weekly routine. The more I'm cooking the less we're eating out. And I wanted to see if this could be done on the cheap, too. I found a good website with recipes and even monthly menu ideas. What I liked most about the site is that it reminds its visitors that eating Mediterranean style is not just about the food. Its also about the when and how. Its about serving meals in courses, slow and in small, but delicious portions. You take the time to enjoy the food. This is key. And as the cook, you don't compromise on taste for convenience. Ever. You don't rush breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Bottom line; if you cook your meals from scratch or as close to scratch as you can, they will be healthier and they'll taste better.
But will they be cheaper?
Well, that's the real challenge, I think. And, my guess is, yes. If I cook the majority of my meals from scratch, I'll save money because I can cook in bigger batches so that we have quantity and quality. But, it will be a challenge. I will need to clip coupons and hit the farmer's market more often than I'm use to. And I'll need to organize and plan the meals out (and I'm not known for my organizational skills.)
Does every meal need to be taken from a secret Italian recipe? No. I think what I'll do is just work off the basic principles of the Mediterranean diet and lifestyle. They eat lots of veggies. So I will try to add more to our diet. This is a challenge with my kids. We'll see how it goes. But the main principle I think is fresh, basic ingredients. The less the food is processed, the better. If one day a week we would rather have Irish corned beef and cabbage instead of Lebanese Shawarma or Italian linguine in pesto sauce, as long as its homemade, we're doing good.
Will this really help me to not gain weight now that I'm not smoking, and wasn't that the whole point?
Well, yes it was the whole point. I don't know. We'll see. I'll try to keep a record of it. My thoughts on this are that by eating 3 squares a day (something I've never done before) I'll limit how much I want to snack throughout the day. And keep in mind, the food might be from scratch and taste fantastic, but the slowed down pace of eating in courses, ie: salad first, main course, fruit for dessert, should help to keep the portions of the high calorie foods down. That's the theory, anyway.
All I know is, I think its important to be realistic when considering a diet plan. I could never do what I've seen some people do to lose weight. I love food too much. And again, I have to come up with something that will work for my whole family, not just me.
I thought this was supposed to be a quick post? See, there's those organizational skills I need to work on.
I'm off now to start my homemade spaghetti sauce, so it will be ready in about 6 hours and get some studying done.
Here's the recipe if anyone cares to try it.
Maybe later I'll do a cost analysis on this homemade version compared to the price of what I would have normally made with canned sauce.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
More Incentive to Eat Less
I guess if there was ever a good time for me to start a diet plan.......
It's now.
I'll save money on cigarettes and food.
Is it time to stock up on the Special K?
It's now.
I'll save money on cigarettes and food.
Is it time to stock up on the Special K?
Taking It To The Next Level
(First, let me say that this post was originally much longer and detailed. Blogger ate it in the middle of editing the post. Don't you just love when stuff like that happens?) Ah, well, here's what did not get eaten....
Now that I've cleared the hurtle of physical addiction, its time to start thinking about "maintenance."
I believe that quitting smoking is a very personal experience. Since every smoker's habit is unique there is no one way to go about quitting that works for everyone. Through trial and error, we figure out what works best for ourselves.
For a lot of people, long-term success hinges on specific changes to routine and lifestyle. For others, it seems quitting smoking is only that - quitting smoking, nothing more. John The Smoker becomes, simply, John The Non-Smoker. He doesn't feel the need to change his evil ways and become John The Non-Smoker Church-Going Vegetarian." Now, this is perfectly fine for John, so long as certain unpleasant side effects don't pose a new challenge for him.
You know, like getting fat.
And this is right about where Blogger decided to flake out and eat the rest of my post. So, this here attempt will be my second to finish this bad boy and I'm pretty put out by it all, so I'll just cut to the chase......
I'm not like John, but I like to think I am. I like to think that I can just quit smoking and let that be it; to not have a need for comprehensive lifestyle "adjustments" such as diet and exercise. Frankly, I'm kinda lazy and it all sounds like more work than I'm willing to commit to. I feel like from here on out, my ability to resist smoking is pretty much in the bag, so why add on more restrictions and discipline needlessly?
That's what I'd like to think. The reality is, the last two times I started smoking again after quitting (once for three years) is largely because I wanted to lose the weight I had gained from quitting. It's no secret that smoking is an easy, fast way to shed pounds. And if there is one thing that will cause me to smoke again...its gaining weight. And we all know quitting smoking causes weight gain.
In order to avoid this little Catch-22, I'm going to have to make some adjustments to my diet and amount of daily exercise. I'm not happy about it.
Not one bit.
So there.
Now that I've cleared the hurtle of physical addiction, its time to start thinking about "maintenance."
I believe that quitting smoking is a very personal experience. Since every smoker's habit is unique there is no one way to go about quitting that works for everyone. Through trial and error, we figure out what works best for ourselves.
For a lot of people, long-term success hinges on specific changes to routine and lifestyle. For others, it seems quitting smoking is only that - quitting smoking, nothing more. John The Smoker becomes, simply, John The Non-Smoker. He doesn't feel the need to change his evil ways and become John The Non-Smoker Church-Going Vegetarian." Now, this is perfectly fine for John, so long as certain unpleasant side effects don't pose a new challenge for him.
You know, like getting fat.
And this is right about where Blogger decided to flake out and eat the rest of my post. So, this here attempt will be my second to finish this bad boy and I'm pretty put out by it all, so I'll just cut to the chase......
I'm not like John, but I like to think I am. I like to think that I can just quit smoking and let that be it; to not have a need for comprehensive lifestyle "adjustments" such as diet and exercise. Frankly, I'm kinda lazy and it all sounds like more work than I'm willing to commit to. I feel like from here on out, my ability to resist smoking is pretty much in the bag, so why add on more restrictions and discipline needlessly?
That's what I'd like to think. The reality is, the last two times I started smoking again after quitting (once for three years) is largely because I wanted to lose the weight I had gained from quitting. It's no secret that smoking is an easy, fast way to shed pounds. And if there is one thing that will cause me to smoke again...its gaining weight. And we all know quitting smoking causes weight gain.
In order to avoid this little Catch-22, I'm going to have to make some adjustments to my diet and amount of daily exercise. I'm not happy about it.
Not one bit.
So there.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Yawning Issue Has Subsided, Thank God
I have not officially adopted any new meditation or breathing techniques since my previous post on the yawning thing, but I did cut back on the caffeine and it seems to have helped.
Strange that out of control yawning would get better with less caffeine, but it did. I feel a whole lot less edgy too, which is something I was relating to nicotine withdrawal rather than a new sensitivity to my other beloved addiction, coffee.
Strange that out of control yawning would get better with less caffeine, but it did. I feel a whole lot less edgy too, which is something I was relating to nicotine withdrawal rather than a new sensitivity to my other beloved addiction, coffee.
Note To Self: Still To Soon For Alcohol
I was feeling pretty cocky this weekend because I had managed to make it through my first two weeks of not smoking. After all, stopping something you've done most of your adult life upwards of 20 times a day, gives me reason to feel a little Billy Badass. Its no small thing to accomplish. I've just made it through my own little personal hell on earth and survived. I've always said, if you can quit smoking, you can do just about anything, so its a very powerful feeling having the worst part of the battle behind me.
So feeling all Super Woman like, I thought I could handle some wine, too. I was wrong. It didn't take long for the old familiar pestering to come back. The nagging want. Alcohol is, in my opinion, the #1 worst smoking trigger. First, it makes you want a cigarette, then it dulls your conscience about it all. It hits a vulnerable quitter with a one, two punch.
I did not relapse, I didn't smoke, but I can say this is only because I did not have the opportunity to. Had a pack of cigarettes been sitting in front of me, there is no doubt I would have smoked one.
I'm strong, but I ain't that strong. Nobody is. It was stupid to put myself in that position. And for what really? I should be more careful.
At least now I know. And you know what they say about knowing.
So feeling all Super Woman like, I thought I could handle some wine, too. I was wrong. It didn't take long for the old familiar pestering to come back. The nagging want. Alcohol is, in my opinion, the #1 worst smoking trigger. First, it makes you want a cigarette, then it dulls your conscience about it all. It hits a vulnerable quitter with a one, two punch.
I did not relapse, I didn't smoke, but I can say this is only because I did not have the opportunity to. Had a pack of cigarettes been sitting in front of me, there is no doubt I would have smoked one.
I'm strong, but I ain't that strong. Nobody is. It was stupid to put myself in that position. And for what really? I should be more careful.
At least now I know. And you know what they say about knowing.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Yawn, Yawn, Go Away, Come Again Some Other Day
It didn't take long this morning to realize the weird excessive yawning problem has not gone away. Its become incredibly irritating.
I have noticed a mild shortness of breath ever since I started trying to quit. I have read that this is a common symptom of nicotine withdrawal and it should subside eventually. When I noticed I was yawning more than usual yesterday and that I was having a hard time controlling the urge to yawn, I associated it with the shortness of breath. I figured it probably has something to do with coming up on the last few days of "physical withdrawal." As the day progressed, I became more and more irritated with the yawning and the soreness it was causing in my jaw. I felt like I had to fight the urge to yawn just as much as I had to fight the urge to smoke in the first couple days of quitting. That's how bad it was, I had to fight yawning yesterday like I was addicted to it for my entire adult life or something. Even when I gave in and let myself yawn, I could never quite get a full yawn in. It was as if the yawn was cut short, robbing me of any satisfaction. Imagine trying to yawn or even sneeze over and over again and each time being cut short! It was oddly a lot like trying to smoke a cigarette while taking Chantix. Despite my best efforts I just couldn't scratch the itch to yawn! It went on all day like that.
When I noticed this morning that I had the nagging need to yawn again, I decided it was time to google for some answers. Here's what I found out:
It seems excessive yawning is a common side effect with some smoking cessation drugs. But, I haven't taken Chantix for over two weeks now. I'm cold turkey now, so, the connection to Chantix, wouldn't really apply in my case.
I did find a few people who had posted questions on various medical bulletin boards with concerns about yawning who had also mentioned they recently quit smoking. Some described exactly what I have been experiencing. Here's what one poor guy named "Mike" had to say:
"It started when I was driving home from work in Jan 2002. I couldn't seem to get out a full yawn. The feeling of a yawn would come on, I would start to inhale like I was about to yawn, but just when you would expect your body to push out the yawn, it doesn't happen. The yawn is left incomplete, and I am left with the feeling of still having to yawn. (basically it's like taking a deep breath as opposed to a yawn, you know the difference.) On this particular drive home, my cheeks and mouth had sort of a tingling sensation when I got home from trying to complete yawns. I think this was because my mouth was open so wide the whole ride home trying to yawn."
Mike goes on to say he's had an ongoing yawning problem for over 2 years.
Dear God! Imagine being yawn-punked for 2 years! If I don't get the satisfaction of a honest to goodness yawn soon I think I'm gonna kill somebody, and I've only been dealing with this for 2 days!
Mike's comment comes from a website called AskWaltStollMD.com . I'm usually pretty leery of any websites offering medical advice unless they're associated with a well known name in the medical industry, such as the Mayo Clinic. But, since the responses to Mike's post on the bulletin board seem benign or common sense rather, I think its ok to consider some of the suggested tips, like breathing exercises to reduce the urge to yawn.
I didn't get much more than finding similar complaints from others on various bulletin boards from my Google search.
So, Here's what I've determined about my newly acquired and very irritating yawning problem:
A. Its definitely related to quitting smoking.
B. It could be some kind of psychological/mental replacement for wanting a cigarette, which may pass on its own, so maybe I should just avoid thinking about it as much as possible.
C. I need to explore some meditation and breathing techniques.
D. It could be related to a need to reduce my caffeine intake now that I've quit smoking.
What makes me think "D"?
I found this interesting article about nicotine withdrawal from a very good quit smoking website called WhyQuit. I like this website because it has a pro cold turkey philosophy coupled with a one day at a time approach. The page about withdrawal discusses the importance of cutting back the caffeine intake after quitting because your body becomes more sensitive to its effects. I've never heard of this before, but it makes sense. But, what does this have to do with yawning? I drink a lot of coffee. Yesterday, the only way I could get through a torturous section on Probability, Z scores and Confidence Intervals in preparation for a Statistics test was to keep the caffeine a com'in. I mentioned yesterday that I had a heightened sense of overall anxiety. This could have very well been the extra caffeine. In other words, I may be inadvertently exacerbating my withdrawal symptoms with too much caffeine. I haven't got the connection down to the exact science yet, but I bet somehow the out of control yawning fits into all this, too.
Its a fact that a rather common side effect of anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications is excessive yawning. So, what I gather from this (and I'm just talking out my ass from here because I don't knows nutt'in bout no head doctor'in.) is that yawning has some sort of connection/correlation to whatever chemicals in your brain regulate stress responses.
So what to do now?
Well, I think its time for me to cut back on the caffeine and talk to my buddy Barney (an experienced and knowledgeable yoga instructor) about breathing and meditation techniques.
I think the yawning is my body's way of telling me I'm ready to take the next step on the path to non-smoker enlightenment.
Here's more from the WhyQuit website about the connection between caffeine and nicotine and the need for evaluating your caffeine intake during cessation.
I have noticed a mild shortness of breath ever since I started trying to quit. I have read that this is a common symptom of nicotine withdrawal and it should subside eventually. When I noticed I was yawning more than usual yesterday and that I was having a hard time controlling the urge to yawn, I associated it with the shortness of breath. I figured it probably has something to do with coming up on the last few days of "physical withdrawal." As the day progressed, I became more and more irritated with the yawning and the soreness it was causing in my jaw. I felt like I had to fight the urge to yawn just as much as I had to fight the urge to smoke in the first couple days of quitting. That's how bad it was, I had to fight yawning yesterday like I was addicted to it for my entire adult life or something. Even when I gave in and let myself yawn, I could never quite get a full yawn in. It was as if the yawn was cut short, robbing me of any satisfaction. Imagine trying to yawn or even sneeze over and over again and each time being cut short! It was oddly a lot like trying to smoke a cigarette while taking Chantix. Despite my best efforts I just couldn't scratch the itch to yawn! It went on all day like that.
When I noticed this morning that I had the nagging need to yawn again, I decided it was time to google for some answers. Here's what I found out:
It seems excessive yawning is a common side effect with some smoking cessation drugs. But, I haven't taken Chantix for over two weeks now. I'm cold turkey now, so, the connection to Chantix, wouldn't really apply in my case.
I did find a few people who had posted questions on various medical bulletin boards with concerns about yawning who had also mentioned they recently quit smoking. Some described exactly what I have been experiencing. Here's what one poor guy named "Mike" had to say:
"It started when I was driving home from work in Jan 2002. I couldn't seem to get out a full yawn. The feeling of a yawn would come on, I would start to inhale like I was about to yawn, but just when you would expect your body to push out the yawn, it doesn't happen. The yawn is left incomplete, and I am left with the feeling of still having to yawn. (basically it's like taking a deep breath as opposed to a yawn, you know the difference.) On this particular drive home, my cheeks and mouth had sort of a tingling sensation when I got home from trying to complete yawns. I think this was because my mouth was open so wide the whole ride home trying to yawn."
Mike goes on to say he's had an ongoing yawning problem for over 2 years.
Dear God! Imagine being yawn-punked for 2 years! If I don't get the satisfaction of a honest to goodness yawn soon I think I'm gonna kill somebody, and I've only been dealing with this for 2 days!
Mike's comment comes from a website called AskWaltStollMD.com . I'm usually pretty leery of any websites offering medical advice unless they're associated with a well known name in the medical industry, such as the Mayo Clinic. But, since the responses to Mike's post on the bulletin board seem benign or common sense rather, I think its ok to consider some of the suggested tips, like breathing exercises to reduce the urge to yawn.
I didn't get much more than finding similar complaints from others on various bulletin boards from my Google search.
So, Here's what I've determined about my newly acquired and very irritating yawning problem:
A. Its definitely related to quitting smoking.
B. It could be some kind of psychological/mental replacement for wanting a cigarette, which may pass on its own, so maybe I should just avoid thinking about it as much as possible.
C. I need to explore some meditation and breathing techniques.
D. It could be related to a need to reduce my caffeine intake now that I've quit smoking.
What makes me think "D"?
I found this interesting article about nicotine withdrawal from a very good quit smoking website called WhyQuit. I like this website because it has a pro cold turkey philosophy coupled with a one day at a time approach. The page about withdrawal discusses the importance of cutting back the caffeine intake after quitting because your body becomes more sensitive to its effects. I've never heard of this before, but it makes sense. But, what does this have to do with yawning? I drink a lot of coffee. Yesterday, the only way I could get through a torturous section on Probability, Z scores and Confidence Intervals in preparation for a Statistics test was to keep the caffeine a com'in. I mentioned yesterday that I had a heightened sense of overall anxiety. This could have very well been the extra caffeine. In other words, I may be inadvertently exacerbating my withdrawal symptoms with too much caffeine. I haven't got the connection down to the exact science yet, but I bet somehow the out of control yawning fits into all this, too.
Its a fact that a rather common side effect of anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications is excessive yawning. So, what I gather from this (and I'm just talking out my ass from here because I don't knows nutt'in bout no head doctor'in.) is that yawning has some sort of connection/correlation to whatever chemicals in your brain regulate stress responses.
So what to do now?
Well, I think its time for me to cut back on the caffeine and talk to my buddy Barney (an experienced and knowledgeable yoga instructor) about breathing and meditation techniques.
I think the yawning is my body's way of telling me I'm ready to take the next step on the path to non-smoker enlightenment.
Here's more from the WhyQuit website about the connection between caffeine and nicotine and the need for evaluating your caffeine intake during cessation.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Strange Intense Cravings
I don't have much time today to write, but thought I should quickly share an update.
So far today, I've had unusually intense cravings. This seems to have come out of the blue, as yesterday and most of last week, I can honestly say I didn't feel this way. The antsy, irritation level is almost on par with the intensity of the first or second day of quitting. I think I know why. This Saturday will mark two full weeks of no smoking, cold turkey style. I remember from my other attempts there are certain benchmarks of withdrawal and I seem to have hit one today. There is the 3 day benchmark and the 10-14 day one. This is why you always hear quitters say the first 2 weeks are the hardest. If I understand it correctly (and I'll do some research and maybe do a more extensive post on the topic later) It takes about 3 days for the nicotine to reach negligible levels and about 10-14 days for the physical symptoms of withdrawal to subside. After those two bench marks, most of the fight against smoking truly is "all in the smoker's head."
I think today, my body is in the last throws of physical withdrawal. "Craving" might not be the best word to describe how I'm feeling today. It's not really that I'm sitting around right now craving a cigarette. Actually, I can honestly say I haven't even thought about a cigarette too much. It's more like a general anxiety .... like being on the verge of a panic attack or something. And I keep yawning. Yes, yawning. Its not a tired thing. It's weird, I keep yawning and yawning, to the point where I'm conscious of it now and my jaw actually is starting to hurt. Its almost like I'm a little short of breath and the yawning is a way to get some extra oxygen to my brain or something.
This too shall pass, I guess. Kinda sucks it all came on today, as I have a major test to study for.
Speaking of...better get back to studying.
"YYYAAAAAwwwwwwnnnnnn"
So far today, I've had unusually intense cravings. This seems to have come out of the blue, as yesterday and most of last week, I can honestly say I didn't feel this way. The antsy, irritation level is almost on par with the intensity of the first or second day of quitting. I think I know why. This Saturday will mark two full weeks of no smoking, cold turkey style. I remember from my other attempts there are certain benchmarks of withdrawal and I seem to have hit one today. There is the 3 day benchmark and the 10-14 day one. This is why you always hear quitters say the first 2 weeks are the hardest. If I understand it correctly (and I'll do some research and maybe do a more extensive post on the topic later) It takes about 3 days for the nicotine to reach negligible levels and about 10-14 days for the physical symptoms of withdrawal to subside. After those two bench marks, most of the fight against smoking truly is "all in the smoker's head."
I think today, my body is in the last throws of physical withdrawal. "Craving" might not be the best word to describe how I'm feeling today. It's not really that I'm sitting around right now craving a cigarette. Actually, I can honestly say I haven't even thought about a cigarette too much. It's more like a general anxiety .... like being on the verge of a panic attack or something. And I keep yawning. Yes, yawning. Its not a tired thing. It's weird, I keep yawning and yawning, to the point where I'm conscious of it now and my jaw actually is starting to hurt. Its almost like I'm a little short of breath and the yawning is a way to get some extra oxygen to my brain or something.
This too shall pass, I guess. Kinda sucks it all came on today, as I have a major test to study for.
Speaking of...better get back to studying.
"YYYAAAAAwwwwwwnnnnnn"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)