My Quit Smoking & Start Running Thread

[princesa]

I would like to quit smoking, I smoke one cigarette and night to help me sleep and relax. I usually sneak to the yard with my husband to smoke, my children (10 and 8) don't know. Been this way for 10 years. I almost always go straight to bed for lack of energy afterwards, (which is the point b/c i want to go to sleep quickly so i smoke at night, this obviously has its psychological component)

i want to quit. i'm getting new neighbors who might not be too friendly with the cigarette smell (we share a yard) and PLUS i hear the woman is pregnant and I know i hated cigarettes when i was preggers and that's the only time i quit cold turkey.

So! I've decided i want to quit right away (before she moves in Oct.1) b/c she must be the kick in the pants i needed to finally do it aside from the "sneaky" feeling i get when i do it. I want to be more healthy anyway , so in comes this running idea...

i want to wake up every garsh darn given day at 5:00am (maybe 5:30) to walk to the park and jog my heart out for 20 minutes, then go home and get ready for work before waking my kids up at 7. I am psyching myself up by downloading music on my mp3, borrowing my sons baseball cap and maybe buying running gear for that little extra mental boost.

Everytime I do something positive towards this goal, i'll post an entry. If I don't, then i'm doing poorly. (hey, maybe i'll get those green e-cigs?...ok, no, that's not better is it?....)

please feel free to wish me luck, i really do want to change my poor habits into healthier ones because, after all, i was unfortunately born a human and these things are important apparently.

[themuzicman]

I think it is great that you're doing this.

And you CAN do it!

I look forward to following your progress! We all want daily updates, both of success and missteps. (Failure is NOT an option!)

[Philosophickle]

Here's something to consider.
It's hard enough to start waking up at an early hour consistently and begin the day exercising (though an excellent goal). But smoking one cigarette a day is not harming your body. If that is helping you sleep at night, I would try to phase that out a little later, perhaps after you establish your morning customs.

I had a similar problem, and that was some good advice that I got from my doctor.

[princesa]

thanks muzicman!

i know Philosophickle, you're right, but because my new pregnant neighbor will be moving in in less than 2 weeks, i thought i would attempt to give that up sooner than later, that way, by the time she moves in in less than 2 weeks my body would have already gone through the feeling like crap days with nicotine withdrawal beforehand instead of while she's there. (i've gone without one a few weeks back and i will tell you, sleeping did not come easy, it was a bad night)

truth is, if it wasn't for the fact that my kids will eventually find out how hypocritical i am by telling them smoking isn't good for you (I tell them the habit is not good but i make sure they understand the person can still be good)...i just don't look forward to that enivitability. i enjoy my cigarette, but i can't anymore because i can't keep hiding it from my children and out of consideration for my pregnant neighbor. i don't want any problems with them over this habit. My husband also smokes but he doesn't NEED it at night like I do. He can smoke during the day while i never feel the urge to during the day.

If only our houses weren't connected!

[themuzicman]

One thing I've learned about these kinds of addictions is that it is healthy to fill the void left by not doing something with something else.

In this case, you smoke to help you sleep.

I know that warm milk is supposed to have the same effect. Why not, rather than smoking, making a cup of warm milk and having that aid your sleep. It will take a bit for your body to adjust, but that will at least fill the psychological gap for the time being...

[princesa]

I will...TRY THE MILK!! **said princesa firmly to herself with a nervousnous in her voice that betrayed her faith in herself**


i will try it and update tomorrow. thank you much.

[Sparko]

or cigars.























...just kidding!

but if you are smoking only one cigarette per day, then it is doubtful that you are chemically addicted to nicotine, it is more likely psychological (which in itself can be hard to break, but at least your body won't be craving the nicotine)

Muz had a good suggestion. Replace your habit with another one.

PS - I always have a hard time going to sleep at night too. Insomniac. Melatonin is a sleep aid that helps me. You can get it at any drug store. It is the chemical that your brain naturally makes that helps you sleep. Sometimes it helps to take a supplement if your body's clock is out of whack like mine is.





... or you could just start drinking a bottle of rum every night..

:alky:

[princesa]

oh boy, my brother offered to give me his "Green Smoke" cigs, i did try them once and to be perfectly honest, they did the trick. You get the "burn" in the throat and exhale water vapors without the stink of a cig. the best part is, it does not smell at all, so i can read a book in my bed while smoking a fake cig, I actually do look forward to that as sad as that may appear to some. I figure if I can get down to the "0" level nicotene, well i won't even need a 'green' cig by then.

I will report back tomorrow regarding my first run attempt tomorrow. In the meantime until i get the green cig, I will try the milk and who knows, maybe by the time i get the e-cig, my urge for nicotene will have been replaced by vitamin D. I did think of drinking a glass of wine each night but everytime i drink (which is not often) I always have a cig to go with it so I think i'll stick with the milk.

now, i'm going to go find a picture of a fit athletic lady to post on my fridge as inspiration for eating healthier and running in the morning. i might be trying to do too much like Philo said but if i overload my mind with these positives i'm sure to stick to at least one. we'll see.

[Sparko]

just don't use the e-cigarette to smoke at other times, since it is so "convenient", or you might make your habit worse instead of better.

[princesa]

good point Sparko, it's as if u knew i was already contemplating carrying it in my purse ....but i mostly only have a chance to relax in the evenings so i think i'll stick to that timeframe

[Sparko]

you are going 23 hours without smoking. what's one more hour?

Think of it that way.

[justgin]

Princesa,

Try this to help you quit smoking (yes even one cigarette a day).

http://www.luckyvitamin.com/p-3099-n...wal-60-tablets

When i quit i had terrible cravings and this product actually did help just as promised. There is a nicotine ingredient in the tablet which you let melt in your mouth, but it doesn't increase your need for nicotine, it helps you quit. I got a bottle of 60 tabs at the health food store and only took about 10 or so. There are two different kinds. One is to help you quit, the other is for cravings after you have quit. I got the 2nd kind.

I agree with muzicman about not changing too many things as once, mebbe just the smoking thing for now. That is enough.

Gin

[Raphael]

Ok, I can't contribute too much as I've never smoked (which is an especially good thing as my beloved is hyper-allergic to cigarette smoke), but when my one brother quit smoking a number of years ago, his problem wasn't the lack of nicotine, but something to keep his hands busy.

As others have said, if you're smoking only one a day, it's not too likely you're addicted to the nicotine as much as you are addicted to the habit of having a smoke before bed, if you find another habit to substitute that with you should have an easier time of it.

Also pray!
One of the elders at the last Church I went to when I lived in South Africa used be a very heavy smoker and had done so for nearly 30 years. One day he felt it was time to quit. he prayed about it and through the box away. Cold turkey. No cravings and when he was renewing his private pilot's licence 5 or so years later the person doing the medical commented he must have never been a smoker his lungs were so good.

Onto the exercising: In order to make it work, you need to commit do doing it no matter what.
I cycle (normally mountain biking, but do some road for endurance), and when I start doing a program that involves early mornings, I have to make a decision that unless I am sick I will ride, regardless of temperature, rain, late night etc. I find if you don't do that you start finding excuses each day why not to get up and go for it and after a short while you find that you're maybe getting out to ride (or run) once or twice a week or less.
(This has resulted in me riding in -5°C, with thick frost every where using lights because the sun only gets up at 8am in mid winter .... although I do draw the line at riding in hail, and temps above 40°C)

Speaking of which I need to get back into cycling, the relay race I did a fortnight ago had shockingly slow times.

[princesa]

thanks guys....

welp, one out of 2 aint bad! I woke up at 5am this morning, slept in my jogging clothes, brushed my teeth, put on my sons baseball cap and my fanny pack and was out the door by 5:22. I walked around the block to the park,...I had the mp3 player on but nothing was playing, it was more to have the "jogger look"...i like the quiet and the moon literally stopped me in my tracks and i really did have that look of awe for a few seconds at how beautiful it looked, such a soft beige and so large!

I managed to break out into a run (mostly in the park area when I realized how very dark it was at that time [i was also thinking of coyotes]) and when i finally got to the sidewalk I WAS OUT OF BREATH! ofcourse it felt great. then i walked in the direction of my house, caught my breath, jogged for another half a block (yes, i'm that out of shape), caught my breath and made it home. All that excitement in 26 minutes. I didn't work up too much of a sweat but there are lots of hills so i felt it in my legs. i got home a few minutes before 6 and got myself ready before waking up the kids for school.

last night i did smoke a cigarette b/c i couldn't find e-cigs in the city, i have to order them and my brother found out that his broke. i really don't even want an e-cig, i'll try again with the milk. I did have a cup ready with milk last night ready for me to heat up but i admit i left it in the fridge and saw it there this morning as a reminder of my will in that aspect.

thanks for the support :), getting out there early really felt good,i can only imagine how good it must feel to do it regularly, we'll see how i do.

[themuzicman]

First steps are always hard. The key is to just keeping going.

You're doing great! Keep working at it!