i have decided to quit smoking and for several reasons i dont want to wait until i hit goal (which was the plan)
the short story is this: i feel like crap
for the past 3 weeks ive had a cough that i cant kick. its waking me up at night and i find myself coughing and clearing my throat constantly. im wheezing all night (i feel the best right when i wake up in the morning before ive smoked)! today i told my boyfriend i was thinking about quitting and he said, "good, you cough *constantly* lately. ill totally quit with you". if he says he'll do it, i know he will. him noticing my cough with as oblivious he can be really let me know that i need to do something.
i hate being a smoker. ive hated it for years now. i finally quit for 4 months last year (my all time record) and gained about 30 lbs. i actually made a CONSCIOUS decision to start again, yep. i couldnt deal with the weight gain and decided to start smoking again... sooooooooooooo stupid.
ive heard from nearly everyone that you cant quit without gaining so im going to write a detailed journal for the next few months in the form of updating this post.
staying on plan and quitting is going to be damn near impossible but im going to try. it may delay my weight loss goals which will only depress me on top of dealing with the no cigarettes. i sincerely ask for your support.
i am a heavy smoker, the kind where even my smoker friends talk about how much i smoke. "man i smoke too much but im glad i dont smoke as much as you!" probably 1 and 1/2 packs/day. i started at age 14 but i did not smoke 1 and 1/2 packs/day back then. i just sort of slowly worked my way up to that by the time i was in my early/mid twenties. im preparing myself now. my quit date is nov 9 which is this friday. i know we're all big advocates of "dont plan, just start", but everything ive read suggests a quit date and ive also ordered some nicotine patches that wont arrive for a few days. the only other times ive quit for any significant amount of time (more than an hour, in other words) were times when i used the patch.
im going to be completely honest and no matter what happens i hope that i can create a reference for other women who are considering quitting while dieting.
ive always heard that if you stop smoking by 30 you can basically completely reverse the effects of smoking and end up with the same health risks as never smokers.
(http://www.time.com/time/health/arti...092120,00.html this article and numerous other resources including www. cancer.gov agree). i figure that even though im 31, itll add up pretty much the same
i am actually excited to quit again. it always ends up being less horrible than i expect (much like dieting) and i feel better about myself once im actually doing it even though im super crabby the whole time. how im going to fare without stuffing my face as a substitute? we shall see...
im going to weigh in on wednesday as usual and consider that my starting weight. wish me luck!