Smokeless Man

It feels strange looking back at my attempt to quit so long ago, but hopefully my next attempt will be more successful.
Here goes!

OK - so far, my attempts to give up smoking have been a little lacklustre. But I think I've found the perfect way to re-ignite my attempts, and also get some use out of the Nintendo DSi
which is sat gathering dust...



Considering I wouldn't have figured I'd have spent a couple of months messing around with Dr Kawashima's Brain Training, maybe this could get me through the first couple of weeks?

It's ridiculous how easy it is to convince yourself that you'll give up 'when it's the right time'. And it's not worth trying to give up because work is too busy, or the family are too stressful, or you don't want to try and give up when you've got a cold etc.

It's all rubbish, but it's why I haven't made any posts recently - after relapsing, I've made one excuse after another, and set one hypothetical date to quit again after another. And all the time I've been damaging my health, the health of my family, and the health of my bank balance.

So I think there are two options.

1. Ignore the distractions and give up smoking
or
2. Try and do something about the distractions and give up smoking.

So I'm currently following plan 2 by making a list of the things which are causing me stress, and starting to do something about them - it seems to be helping my general self-esteem and determination already, as I'm tackling various problems rather than ignoring them - which should then help me make a proper effort to quit.

'About 3,000 policemen gathered Saturday in front of the Interior Ministry building in the center of Sofia to light cigarettes as a sign of protest against their low salaries.'
Via http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=99825

Well, I've been cutting down and tomorrow I'm back on the nicotine lozenges.

In the meantime, there's an interesting article on the Esquire site by a 46-year-old who decided to smoke for a month to see what it was like - and then quit again. It makes for an interesting read, and highlights some of the reasons why people find it hards to quit. And let's all be honest here, it's hard to quit. Saying that doesn't make it any less worthwhile, and allows us to feel better for every day, week, month and year we manage.

Meanwhile the Washington Post flags up the fact Barack Obama smoked until his presidential campaign, when his wife made him promise to quit. And a release from his doctor revealed he was currently using Nicorette gum with success (Good PR for Nicorette).

But the columnist Michael Kinsley, finishes with one important question. Quitting will definitely improve Obama's life expectancy, but having someone capable of initiating the end of the world suffering with cigarette cravings might not be in all our best interests!

The effects of smoking within the American nursing profession have been revealed by a study by UCLA, according to Medical News Today:
'The rate of smoking among women in the Nurses' Health Study declined from 33.2 percent in 1976 to 8.4 percent in 2003. The number of cigarettes smoked per day also dropped. However, the daily number among current smokers still averaged more than 15 cigarettes, or over half a pack.'

Meanwhile in the UK, the Conservative party has questioned whether banning display adverts in shops, and stopping the sale of packs of 10 cigarettes will have any effect on smoking rates. That and the banning of vending machines could lead to a rise in buying illegally imported foreign cigarettes - not only masking the true numbers of smokers, but also meaning the Government misses out on a lot of profitable tax money.

Back in the U.S. in Atlantic City, 11 casinos will now allow people to smoke indoors, after profits were hit by a month-long ban. It's now been repealed for a year, and casinos can offer a ventilated smoking lounge.

And my personal total for the day is 10 cigarettes, with the nicotine lozenges being used again from tomorrow!

An estimated 19.8 percent of U.S. adults (43.4 million people), were current smokers in 2007, down from 20.8 percent in 2006, according to a study in Center for Disease Control's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, released in advance of the Great American Smokeout.

And Reuters has reported another good reason to quit, with women between 27 to 44 years old doubling the chance of premenstrual syndrome, especially hormonally-related symptoms like backaches, bloating, breast tenderness, and acne. So while a cigarette might seem like it's making things better at that time of the month, you might be better off quitting instead!

Meanwhile I'm cutting down again. Down to 10 a day, and planning tomorrow as the last day of indulging my relapse before hitting the nicotine replacement again!