2010 really wasn’t that bad!

I’ve seen more than a few status updates today that bid 2010 “good riddance”, and express hopes that 2011 will be a better year. I, on the other hand, don’t think 2010 was that bad. Granted, it’s going down in history as the year I made it through my first foray into graduate-level studies… and the year that someone saw fit to ask me to marry them; so it was bound to stand out as a personal favourite.

I am looking forward to 2011 standing out as well though – because it’s looking more and more like it will be the first year in a very long time in which I haven’t smoked!

Yep – seven tobacco-free weeks under my belt now, and I’m feeling pretty confident that I’ve got this thing licked. I remember being nervous at the outset of this journey about whether I’d be able to stay tobacco-free during the key eligibility period for the BC Lung Association’s QuitNow and Win contest… now I’m not worried at all. (That period, by the way, starts next week and goes to the first week of February – there’s still time to register though, and I highly recommend it!) I haven't had to dread the check-in calls from the folks at Northern Health's Nicotine Intervention Counselling Centre, either -- in fact, I look forward to being able to say I'm still on track!

I heard on the radio today that if you tell other people about your New Year’s resolution, you are three times more likely to keep it than if you kept your plans to yourself. It’s the same method I’ve employed with this quit attempt, I guess – just knowing that so many people are aware of my efforts keeps me on the wagon. That, and cinnamon-flavoured, 4mg Nicorette gum!

So - if you or someone you know made a resolution to quit smoking in 2011 – get, or give, as much support as you can. And thanks, everyone, for the support you’ve given me over the past couple of months. Happy New Year!!!

Good things happen when you make healthy choices!

(as of December 28th)

My Stats:

Your Quit Date is:  11/12/2010 7:45:00 AM 

Time Smoke-Free: 46 days, 3 hours, 11 minutes and 53 seconds   

Cigarettes NOT smoked: 784 

Lifetime Saved:  5 days, 23 hours 

Money Saved: $254.15

Now, for some additional stats:

My engagement date is: Christmas morning, December 25^th 2010

Time engaged: three days or so

Happy? YES!!!

I hope this explains my absence from this blog, and all other forms of social media for the past few days – there were quite a few phone calls and in-person conversations to be made and had, and I really didn’t trust myself to keep the second part quiet!

I hear weddings can be stressful. Well, I’ve recently survived last minute Christmas shopping, house guests, and a nasty little cold bug that has taken up residence in my throat – I think I’ll be able to get through a wedding, too. Even if it is my own!

A status update...

From the handy calculator that comes with free registration to QuitNow Online...

My Stats:

Your Quit Date is:  11/12/2010 7:45:00 AM 

Time Smoke-Free: 41 days, 3 hours, 15 minutes and 47 seconds   

  

Cigarettes NOT smoked: 699 

Lifetime Saved:  5 days, 8 hours 

Money Saved: $226.52

Merry Christmas to me!

And to all of you... thanks for the support so far!

http://www.quitnow.ca/
http://www.northernhealth.ca/

At least I got that resolution thing out of the way…

I have discovered my own personal Kryptonite, and it is stress.

Even I had started to wonder why this quitting smoking thing hasn’t seemed that difficult over the past few weeks. I haven’t been any (okay, much) more cranky than before; I’m not crying myself to sleep at night, and I’m truly enjoying the benefits of having quit (breathing, smelling, tasting, etc). And then – I decided it was time to go shopping.

In the last 48 hours, I have nearly done, or wanted to do, (or some combination of both) the following things:

• Run someone over with a shopping cart
• Run over someone who is pushing a shopping cart 
• Climb into a shopping cart to have a cry, and let someone else do the pushing
•  Scream at a perfectly nice person for no apparent reason
• Scream at a perfect stranger (with several good reasons)
• Scream at everyone within earshot
• Punch something 
• Punch something while screaming
• Hop a flight to Puerto Vallarta (yes, I was dumb enough to enter an airport, too)

The above points are merely an excerpt from a FAR more exhaustive list.

During my appearance Friday on Ben Meisner’s talk show on CFIS FM, Ben asked for my thoughts on the claim that quitting tobacco can be harder than kicking heroin. Since I’m lacking a certain perspective on that, I can’t really say… but I believe that when an addict encounters a trigger for their respective addiction – especially if it pops up unexpectedly, it can be the hardest thing in the world to ignore. And were it not for the support of some very special  people in my life, I don’t think I could have made it through the weekend. Even if in some cases they were the “someones” referred to above.

Based on the length of my current to-do list, and the stress it is undoubtedly going to induce, I think I’ve hit what will be the true test of my resolve to quit – the holidays.

My 15 minutes...

I've been invited to join legendary radio broadcaster Ben Meisner on tomorrow's edition of The Meisner Show, on Prince George's community radio station, CFIS 93.1 FM. And since I'm apparently not shy about letting large groups of people know about my pursuit of a tobacco-free existence - I accepted Ben's invitation!

Feel free to tune in if you're in the neighbourhood. For those of you further afield, fear not - you can also hear "Meisner" streamed online, at http://www.opinion250.com/. The show runs from 9 AM to 10 AM - I'm not sure exactly at what point in the hour I'll be on.

If you miss it, don't worry. I'll be sure to let everyone know how it goes!

Considering the blog name, I should be more social.

Wow, I’m bad at this - keeping up with my blogging responsibilities, that is. On the quitting smoking thing, I’m still a rock star. I hit the one-month-tobacco-free mark yesterday, in fact!

But with less and less frequent cravings, come fewer impulses to talk about them. I’ve come up with a solution – I’ll be turning my attention to writing about things that are happening because I’m having fewer cravings: things like, oh, I don’t know… being able to smell well-done grilled-cheese sandwiches before they become burned grilled-cheese sandwiches. And I’m also committing to responding to any and all comments between posts, so bring them on!

I am VERY excited at having made it a whole month without a smoke… especially after having jolted awake quite a few times in the past four weeks convinced I'd blown it because I'd just had a cigarette – in my sleep! Now, this is different than the other sleep- and smoking-related issues I was having around week one. This is one for anyone who’s into dream analysis - I keep dreaming that I’m smoking! It takes a minute or two upon waking for the relief to sweep in over A/ still being tobacco-free, and B/ never having been prone to sleepwalking!

Not that I should be surprised… I haven’t worked in broadcasting for more than 4 years, and I still have work-dream s where I’m sitting in the news booth; the new intro goes off, and I look down to realize I’m holding a magazine or grocery store flyer instead of a newscast. I wake from those nightmares in a cold sweat after having tried (and failed) to make the disclaimers at the bottom of the advertisements sound like legitimate news stories. But I digress…

Now that the pesky cravings have largely disappeared, and I’m not so concerned that talking about smoking will lead me back to smoking… I invite you to help turn this project into a conversation. Got advice? Got questions? Got answers? I’d love to hear them…

Ask, and ye shall receive

Perhaps if I were more shy about public speaking, and had therefore been more anxious about having to officiate at the Northern Health staff Christmas party on Friday night, I would have been more concerned about getting through it sans-nicotine.

As it turns out, I managed to get all dressed up and all the way to the hotel, before realizing that I had not a single nicotine replacement therapy product on my person! Not only that, but the fact that the hotel's gift/convenience store was conveniently located  right outside the ballroom doors didn't escape my attention. Anyone else see a potential problem here?

So - in keeping with my "if enough people are watching" method of quitting - I took to the stage, introduced myself as an ex-smoker, and proceeded to offer a door prize to the first person who could furnish me with a piece of Nicorette.

Thanks to "James" (and the cheers of a very supportive audience), I'll hit the one-month mark on Friday!

21 days to make, or break, a habit...

I have no idea where that saying comes from, but I'm hoping it's accurate! The three-week mark passed at 7:45 this morning.

I got an email this week from Nancy Viney at Northern Health's Nicotine Intervention Counseling Centre, checking in to see how I was doing. Given my cumulative tobacco-free status as of this week, I'm plannign to email her back and suggest they start telling people that NICC stands for "Now I Can Celebrate!"

She also passed along a link to an online support resource she thought might be of interest - some inspiring stuff!

A couple of other developments... my sense of smell has been resurrected and I can't believe some of the things I can only assumed I've been missing on that front, both good and bad. Food is tasting great, which is why I'm in the process of converting a clothes-rack in my basement back to its original treadmill form. And I'm looking forward to not missing a moment of tonight's Christmas party because I was standing outside in the cold in a dress and high-heels.