Smoking, need ideas to kick it before I get really hooked

I have passed the 100-day mark with zero tobacco use.

 

Great job!

The hard part is over.

 

I've had longer runs when I 'quit,' but there was always some cheating.
This has been 100 percent no tobacco.

I still get cravings and thoughts of smoking, but they are pretty mild and pass quickly.
Maybe I'll slip up at some point, but today I'm not smoking.

 

My understanding of alcoholics is that even one slip is dangerous. They can't just have one drink. If they drink, they keep going.

Is it the same way for people addicted to smoking?

 

Certainly has been for me in the past.
Over the years I gradually reduced my overall smoking dramatically, but every slip has eventually led back to semi-regular or regular smoking.
It can be very gradual, but it has eventually led back for me.

 

Buck, what changes have you noticed about your health?

 

That's hard to say because this has all coincided with sinus surgery.
I used the need to stop smoking in prep for the surgery and the fact that I couldn't smoke during surgery recovery as the impetus for this current attempt at stopping.

So I can say that I am enjoying better energy and less fatigue.
My senses of smell and taste have improved.
And I'm breathing better.

What I cannot say is how much of any of those result from the surgery ending decades of bad sinuses and much result from stopping smoking.

Overall, I feel very well.

 

In day 149 now.
No cheating or slip ups.
100 percent tobacco free the duration.

I put on about 20 pounds, which is to be expected. Unfortunately, I was already about 15 pounds overweight.
So I got fat.
I told myself I wouldn't worry about weight gain until I felt good and confident on the tobacco front.

Last week I started with some changes in food choice and some portion control, and I managed to hit the gym three or four times.
Dropped about eight pounds in first week.
Cranking three miles on the elliptical in 30 minutes with relative ease. That used to be a very challenging pace for me.
I'm going to hit some interval training tomorrow.

Almost no cravings now, but still the occasional thought.
MLC app says risk of heart attack down 4.1 percent and risk of lung cancer down 2.1 percent.
And I've saved almost $500.

 

I don't remember if I or anyone else mentioned this yet, but there was a radiolab where a woman had failed to quit many times, and then promised to give $10,000 to the KKK if she ever smoked again. And she never did. Then they had Oliver Sacks tell about the time that he had writer's block so badly that he promised that if he didn't finish his book in a week, he would kill himself. He finished it.

 

I haven't had a smoke since late October. I've not experienced weight gain, but I'm also doing pretty intense physical therapy to recover from the fusion. I've actually lost weight. Hadn't even thought about smoking until this thread popped back up.

 

So I passed the one-year mark on Aug. 20.
One full year and counting with absolutely zero tobacco use.
Frankly, I'm more than a little surprised. I am prone to many vices, and tobacco has almost always been one since I was really quite young.

 

Great job, Buckaroo.