I've been smoking since I was about 14...that's almost 7 years for me. Not as long as thousands of other smokers, but that is about 1/3 of my life! That's A LOT of time to waste smoking! I used to live with my grandmother who was a heavy smoker...she quit around the time I was 12, and I'm glad she did, because she probably wouldn't be here anymore (she'll be 92 this April!). Not only did she smoke, but my older cousins that also lived with her smoked too. My older brother smokes as well. Neither of my parents smoke cigarettes though, so they're always looking at me like "Where you you pick up such a nasty habit?"....I feel the same way sometimes.
I definately became a heavier smoker once I turned 18 and was able to buy cigarettes myself. I've never been one to smoke more than a pack a day. At the most, I smoked between 10-14 cigarettes a day. I've been thinking about quitting for about a year...but it's an extremely difficult habit to kick!
I got serious about quitting in the Fall of 2009. I set a couple of quit dates...they didn't work though. My most recent solid quit date was January 1, 2010; I stayed cigarette free for 3, maybe 4 days. That always seems to be the longest I can last. Whenever I'm driving, I want to smoke. Whenever I'm drinking, I want to smoke. I curbed the "after sex cigarette" a couple months ago, but I still tend to smoke at least 1 or 2 cigarettes every day.
I stopped buying packs of cigarettes around the same time. Newports are almost $7.00 a pack, and that's just outrageous. There's a gas station and a convenience store right around the corner where I can buy single cigarettes for $.50 each. It's really not much more economic, but it does help me smoke fewer cigarettes. I usually dedicate about a dollar a day to my habit now, if I even buy every day. I'm also in the habit of sharing all of my cigarettes with my boyfriend...we've both been trying to quit for a while now. When he gets half-way though one, he hands it to me, and vice versa.
I am proud that I can smoke 2 or less a day, but I won't be truly proud until I REALLY quit.
Wednesday I said I'd quit smoking...I think I went less than 24 hours before I lit up again. I've been trying to conceive for the past couple months, but I know smoking will ALWAYS stand in the way of that. The stress of waiting on a period is more than enough to make me want to smoke!
Since Wednesday, I've smoked 3 cigarettes. That's 3 cigarettes in 3 days. Not bad. And I'm actually able to smoke half of a cigarette, put it out, and save it. Right now I'm looking at it like this...if I smoke a whole cigarette I won't have anything left to tempt me.
I went all the way through Thursday without smoking until about 8 or 9 pm. I only smoked one. Around 2 am I finished the half cigarette I had from earlier. I went the remainder of Friday without smoking, and that's mainly because I'm broke. Today is Saturday and I just smoked my first half cigarette since then. I don't know if I should just flush it or save it for later.
I set my quit date for Sunday (yes, tomorrow!). I'm feeling a little doubtful though; I don't have anything to help with the cravings. Nicotine gum costs too much! But I'm still thinking about buying some. I need to stock up on chewing gum and hard candies too...I think they'd help a lot with the oral fixation.
Tomorrow is the SuperBowl, and my Colts are playing! I'll probably be at a Super Bowl party, and there will probably be alcohol there, as long as many friends who also smoke. That's A LOT of temptation. Maybe I should just watch it at home by myself instead?
