Not a “smooth” transition

  Lets just say it’s not the sweet aroma of Marlboro Smooths that force me to lite up countless cigarettes. I hate the smell of cigarette smoke, almost as much as I hate watching soccer. Some of my first memories were nagging my grandma about smoking so I guess that’s karma in a warped sense. But if I hate it so much, why do I keep smoking?

  That’s more of a question for the doctors that testify before congress but what I need to figure out is how I am going to stop…

  When I first started smoking a little after my 18th birthday, I told everyone “I can quit when I want to,” a quote everybody says before they realize how much pull something as addicting as a cigarette is. Now almost 2 years after I started and many unsuccessful attempts at quitting, I’ve set my mind to giving up the habit.

  I know it’s going to be hell, but at least I’m trying over the break and not mid-semester.

  On the government’s quit smoking page, it lists steps on how to quit. The acronym that they use is START.

•      S-Pick a quit date with-in the next two weeks. That’s easy enough, New Year’s Day.
•      T-Tell people…what am I doing right now???
•      A-Anticipate and plan for the challenges you’ll face while quitting. For this, it tells you to make a “Craving Journal” so here’s what I got;

My Triggers Are…

Feeling stressed

Drinking liquor, like wine or beer

Driving your car

Finishing a meal

Taking a work break

Being with other smokers

Seeing someone else smoke

After certain strenuous activities

• R-Remove tobacco products. You’d think that’s one of the easiest things that it’s what has stopped me in the past, I’d always keep a pack “just in-case” I wanted a smoke and that “just in-case” always came to premonition.
• T-Talk to your doctor. I actually just talk to my doctor about quitting, one of the things that we talked about was the prescribed medication but it kind of freaks me out because I’ve heard about the sucidial thoughts that some who have taken the pills claim to have had so he just said to pick a quit date and stick with it.

 Man is this going to be fun…