The immediate cravings are gone now. Most times, I can pretty much go about my day without wanting a cigarette. As a consequence, I can now recite every flavour of Chupa Chups. As a word of caution, do not get Peaches and Cream - it is just not a good idea for a lollipop. My current favourite is Cherry.
A non-smoker friend recently asked me to go easy on the lollies and choose some other healthier alternative, suggesting everything from carrot sticks to chewing gum. Well, I guess non-smokers probably won't understand, but the lack of something to do with your hands is perilous for a quitter. These lollipops are saving my life right now. I'll cut down on the sugar in a coupla months.
No more munchies cravings either. Pretty much back to normal appetite. It hasn't heightened my sense of taste or smell just yet cos I've been having a blocked nose since the weekend. Many ex-smokers tell me this is quite normal. They also tell me alot of different things like "once you make it past the first 2/5/30 days, you're fine!" or "it gets worse before it gets better". I guess if there's one thing i've learnt...
Rule#1 - Each quitters journey is different, so don't pay too much attention to what others say.
Rule#2 - Your reasons for quitting are personal as well, which leads me to believe that bets and pacts probably don't work as well as they should (although if you want to try this anyway, refer to Rule #1).
One thing I can tell you, is that after the cravings are gone, it gets emotional. Today I had lunch with AnnaRina, the friend I was supposed to quit with at New Year. She recently had a lapse and smoked half a stick with her sister. I probably shouldn't have asked, but I did.
Me: "So how'd it feel?"
Anna: "It tasted bad, like i expected, but also very comfortable... EeeeeeeeEee... I don't wanna talk about it. Change subject!"
I swear at that point, I wanted to buy a pack right there and then. It didn't help that these two acquaintances at the next table offered me cigarettes like 3 times (just to be dicks, really). But again, I held fast, and after a while, my mind got distracted with other things.
That's the thing really... now that I'm physically off it (at least i think so), it's only the missing it that's left. That emotional connection to the relaxation of a cigarette is a tempting mistress. I can honestly tell you that my mind is still looking forward to an occasional cigarette when I'm on holiday somewhere. However, another part of my mind also tells me that this is exactly how i got back into it after my last attempt to quit.
<reminisce>
This was back in uni in 2000, and I was in Melbourne. Cigs were bloody expensive, so during one particularly bad flu, I stopped buying cigarettes. Soon after, I stopped smoking them altogether, only pinching the rare one every two or three weeks. These gaps became months, and then I took a quick trip to The Gold Coast with my mates. AS you'd expect, more than half were smokers so i told myself that i'd allow myself to smoke on the trip, and after, stop just as I had started. Problem was, at the end of the trip, I still had half a pack left.
For those who know me, you'll also know one of my main traits is that i hate wasting things. In hindsight, I should probably have just thrown em away, but I didn't. I kept them, and worse, rationed them over the following week.
Less than a month later, I was back to a pack a day.
</reminisce>
So maybe it's not such a good idea to smoke on holiday. Well, we'll see. The problem as someone who's ever smoked more than a pack before is this:-
You know the physical addiction will end. There's a light at the end of the tunnel. You know the benefits as well. But...
You don't know when you'll stop missing it. Some people say you never do. That's scary. To me, it's like your favourite food in the whole world, and telling yourself that you can never eat it again. Even typing that makes me feel like smoking right now. The only difference is that this dish is incredibly addictive, and will soon get you back into physical addiction.
Still haven't figured out an answer to this one yet. I will though, and I'll let you know once I do.
Almost a week now. Tomorrow will be the real test. The horridest non-holiday for single people... Valentine's Day.
After that, it'll be a week as a non-smoker. *tentative whee!*
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