Smoke Free 365!

Yesterday was my one year anniversary for quitting smoking! Yay! I have been smoke free for 366 days!

It seems, simultaneously, that I never smoked, and that I just quit!

Quitting is easy now. I say it as an active verb because it always will be. Sure it seems easy now, but when you get a couple drinks in you - smoke smells a hell of a lot better, especially after a long, hard day. So it is always something to work. It's now almost first nature, but there are time the craving comes up and pounces - now it is easier to combat.

When I first quit smoking was the hardest, everyone will say that. I felt like my chest was caving in - that no breath I took could be big enough, had that burn. I was shaky, anxious, bitchy, cry-ey...all kinds of moods.

The first time I quit smoking there was a five minute spam where I literally went through a huge range of emotions. I was fine, laughing with my husband (then boyfriend), then I got angry, stormed off to the bedroom, punched the wall cause I missed the light switch, then proceeded to go into the bathroom to bawl  eyes out! Don't worry there was no damage to the wall, I can't really punch.  But I was moody.

This time when I quit smoking I did it for me. It was time. You will never be able to quit until you are ready. I was finally ready on October 17. The day my husband (then boyfriend) came back from his annual hunting trip. I planned it over the weekend to be a surprise to him. (Andrew hates smoking!) He knew what he was in for, though, because he'd been through me quitting smoking at least 2 times. I was moody and very hard to deal with. But this time I was ready. It made all the difference.

I have quit before using spitz and I have quit before using prescription medication. Sure the cravings were less when I used the medication, but when I weaned myself off the meds - they came back. I hadn't built myself up. When I quit, cold turkey, no help - the cravings went away faster and they went away stronger. I suddenly didn't want to smoke. I didn't like the smell.

It helped that I no longer had smoking around me. My sister in law (who I used to commute to work with) moved to Alberta, and I was at a new job where the only other person there was a non-smoker. I literally had no interactions with smokers aside from pedestrians. I avoided some people in my life for the first month because they were smokers. My best friend and my mother in law - both smokers I loved smoking with, both people I had to avoid.

Once I could easily go around those people it was easy! I didn't want a smoke, I didn't like the idea of it, and my body enjoyed breathing easier. I found myself putting on weight, but it wasn't an overt amount (i had previously put on a ton of weight, so the little bit extra from quitting didn't change much).

Now I have no cravings, except for those rare times - and those go away as soon as the thought is formed.

So yay for me and my anniversary!

Now I can concentrate, this year, on being healthier in a different way. Any suggestions?