I have been smoking 6-7 cigarettes per day on an average for close to 7 years now. I have finally decided to give up the habit. I shall post here regularly about the successes and failures (hopefully not) in this ordeal. About a couple of years back I had tried to kick the habit and relapsed after 100 days. I hope to go for a year at-least this time around. |
posted Jul 5, 2010 9:57 AM by Bhaskar Ramaiah
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updated Jul 5, 2010 9:58 AM
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June 27, 2010 Party at Dilip's farm and I had decided to smoke the moment I reached the place. Smoked about 10 cigarettes and loved it. I know that this is bad strategy and this only makes it easier for me to get back to my old ways as a full time smoker. I hope I can keep this under control and smoke only when I am away. I am quite surprised that getting back into old habits is so easy. Got behind the wheels for the first time ever and loved every minute of it. I surprised myself, I am confident of learning to drive in about a couple of weeks. My confidence is sky high after that short driving stint. All thanks to Abhi for letting me drive his Maruti Wagon R. |
posted Jul 5, 2010 9:56 AM by Bhaskar Ramaiah
June 18, 2010 I had a puff yesterday and the taste of nicotine was delightful. It felt very good to smoke and I was extremely tempted to have just that one cigarette. It is quite unbelievable, the kind of rationalization that starts working in your head when your temptation is just about to get the better of you. It took a couple of minutes to get the "evil me" of of my head. I finally resisted the temptation and felt happy about having passed the small test. This again underscores my conclusion that I am a nicotine addict for life. The best that I could do is to keep it under control. |
posted Jul 5, 2010 9:54 AM by Bhaskar Ramaiah
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updated Jul 5, 2010 9:56 AM
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June 14, 2010 Haven't smoked yet. I was on the verge a couple of times and I can't seem to think of a trigger for those episodes. I hardly think about it now, however, when the craving does come, it gets very difficult. |
posted May 26, 2010 11:55 AM by Bhaskar Ramaiah
May 16,
2010
I am back
in Bangalore. I haven't smoked all day. Heavy rains, beautiful
weather and no urge to smoke, that's a great day. I need to get the
pre-auricular abscess drained tomorrow.
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posted May 26, 2010 11:54 AM by Bhaskar Ramaiah
May 13,
2010
Today
reaffirms my status as an addict. I will remain a nicotine addict for
life. The best that I can do is to control it. As soon as I got out
of the lousy Goan airport and walked a few paces, I had made up my
mind to smoke as long as I was in Goa. I was a chimney for the next 2
days and enjoyed each and every cigarette to the fullest.
Such a
system of smoking only during the vacation sounds very good, but I am
not very good with moderation and I fear that I will become a full
time smoker soon.
However, I
am determined to not smoke and I shall treat these couple of days as
a minor setback and go ahead without beating myself up too much.
As a matter
of fact I was looking forward to going to Goa and may be deep down I
was looking for a reason to smoke. It is this attitude that I am
scared of. If this continues, I shall start taking more and more
vacations. I need to go on a vacation where I don't smoke, just to
prove to myself that I can control my urge.
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posted Apr 26, 2010 10:37 AM by Bhaskar Ramaiah
I am still going strong, haven't had a single puff in 24 days. It feels really good. About a couple of weeks back I decided to inform my parents about my decision. Why did I wait so long to inform my parents after having decided to quit smoking?? Well I wanted to be sure that I could do it. After a week, I realized that I was strong enough to go through with my decision and hence decided to tell my parents. My mother was thrilled that I had finally decide to do what she has been asking me to do from the day she learnt that I had become a smoker. My dad was skeptical as usual, but that is understandable.
The cravings that I used to get almost daily, usually after a heavy meal have slowly reduced. I get strong cravings once in 2-3 days. It surely is a very good sign. There is one situation which I have been trying to avoid and that is to stay away from the smokes while having drinks. That would be the final test of my will to keep going. I will probably take up that test after a few days. |
posted Apr 6, 2010 12:49 PM by Bhaskar Ramaiah
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updated Apr 6, 2010 12:54 PM
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Am doing better than I expected. The urge to smoke has come
down to only about once a day. I must admit, I didn’t expect it to be this
easy. Or, is it the calm before the storm? AM I going to have a tough time in
the coming few weeks? I am determined to beat it.
I am feeling good about myself, although, I don’t notice any
physical changes in the way I feel. Other smokers who have quit seem to suggest
that they feel energetic and start enjoying food more than before. I didn’t have any such
problems before, as a smoker and I am not noticing any difference now.
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posted Apr 4, 2010 2:04 PM by Bhaskar Ramaiah
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updated Apr 5, 2010 10:31 AM
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It's 4:24 am and I feel like smoking.The weird thing
about the cravings is,that it is almost always present for a short
duration of about 10-minutes.As long as I can get past that 10-minute period, I can stay sober. Not getting exposed to friends who are
smokers also plays a vital role in the first 2 weeks,because we are
most vulnerable during this period for a relapse.
It was an easy
day, no tough craving episodes. Only once in the noon after a
good heavy lunch. Most smoker's will identify with the fact that the
urge to smoke is maximum after a good meal or during a drinking
session.I don't know the reason for it, and I shall try to find it.
Stress seems to be another factor which seems to get everyone to smoke
like chimneys, but that hasn't been a problem for me, until recently
when I started smoking 2-3 at a time the day before my exams. It is day 4 and I am not feeling any
different. I thought about a cigarette only once today and that is an
achievement in itself. The fact that it's going so well is a little
scary. It all feels a little too easy.
I must not celebrate any
sobriety landmarks with a cigarette. That was my mistake, the last time I
tried to quit smoking. I celebrated 100 days of being smoke free with a
cigarette and never stopped. I know, I know, very stupid of me. I will
definitely not repeat that mistake again.
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posted Apr 3, 2010 4:02 PM by Bhaskar Ramaiah
I have decided to kick the habit before
it makes me kick the bucket. I know, I know, Clichéd line, I must be
having withdrawal symptoms!! LOL! It has been close to 36 hours since
my last cigarette and I am doing pretty well. No urge to light one up
so far. I should be able to manage for a week easily like this. It is
only during the 2nd week that the urge to have that one
“harmless” cigarette begins to make weird sense in my head. That
will be the most difficult period to get through and I hope I will
pass that test. This was my experience during my 100 day no smoking
experiment about 3 years back. This time I am planning to go a full
year without smoking and take it from there.
Let me first confess that I am an
addict, addicted to nicotine. I have been smoking close to 6-7
cigarettes a day on an average for almost 7 years. I have decided to
go public with my decision, and I know there will be many skeptics,
who will say “He’s gonna light one up soon.” I am not quitting
for anyone, I am doing it for myself. I am going to be very truthful
and confess as soon as I relapse, in case I do.
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