Three Weeks In.

I know it's been ten days since I've posted anything, but life has been busy.

So this past Wednesday I played in my first PGA Tour Pro-Am. Granted, I'm not that good a golfer. I usually shoot in the mid to high 90's. So going out and playing with a pro, and having a gallery of people watching me was quite nerve racking. The pro was alright. He would talk to you if you talked to him, but never went out of his way to chat it up with you. His caddie was great. Very chatty and originally from my hometown, so we had some things to talk about. Anyway, had a great smoke free time. It was pretty nerve racking, but I didn't want to smoke at all.

Work has been a little more stressful lately. We have a group of folks performing poorly, and they are looking to lay blame elsewhere so they are taking shots at my department. We have a meeting coming up this Monday with all parties, so we'll see what happens. I can certainly lob some grenades back over the wall if I have to.

So I didn't want to post anything in the blog about what I've been doing with my medication, but I'm going to anyway. When I originally got the prescription, the doctor told me because I wasn't a heavy smoker that I might feel more sick than if I was a pack+ a day smoker. I didn't feel sick really, so I kept downing two a day. At some point, I forgot to take my medication twice a day, for two days in a row but I still didn't have any cravings. I figured, let me try to save a little money and just take one a day. Well, it's working. I've been taking 1mg a day for two weeks and I still have no cravings. Let me also say, I don't recommend anyone try this at home. Just because it works for me doesn't mean it's going to work for you. Good luck everyone. Just a couple days away from my one month anniversary.

Tim

Day 13.

It's been a few days since my last post, but I'm happy to report everything is going A-O-K.

In even better news, I had a few cocktails on Friday evening. Sure, I certainly had the urge to smoke, but I did not. Marlboro lights were available as well, as the couple that came over were smokers.

On Saturday I had a golf tournament where I knocked down a few beers, and didn't smoke. More powerful urges on Saturday, but still no smoking.

So here is smoke more good news for me :

After 2 weeks:
Blood flow improves; nicotine has passed from your body.

Within 2 weeks to 3 months:
Circulation will improve, making walking and running easier; lung functioning increases up to 30%.

Later..

One week and counting.

This is too easy. ;-)

Just kidding! I have tried to quit cold turkey at least three of four times. I tried the gum without much success. This is by far the easiest quit I've had. I'm now telling my smoking friends they need to try this medicine if they really want to quit. My insurance isn't covering it, but I did the math and right now at $122 a month I'm breaking even by not buying cigarettes, so I'm fine with it.

The NFL season starts tonight. How exciting is that? Football is by far my favorite sport. It's something I look forward to every year. Summer used to be my favorite season of the year, but now fall is my favorite season, because of football.

Problem is the first game is tonight but I have for the first time, watched Big Brother obsessively since it began. What to do? I'll have to DVR one of them I guess. I think I got hooked on Big Brother because of the whole Showtime thing. Even though it can be boring as hell, it's still pretty cool.

Enough for now.. later..

Keep on keeping on.

Don't have much to talk about today. Same as yesterday. No real urges. I did have Chinese food for lunch. That can be a test, but to be honest I didn't even think about it. So Day 6, and this is what I'm told.

-Your sense of taste and smell will improve.

-You will feel and sleep better and your breath, clothes and hair
will smell fresher.

I haven't really noticed the taste or smell thing. I'll have to ask my wife about the smelling better part. I'm sure I smelled like a smoker before, but I couldn't tell. I am getting sick of the coughing and phlegm thing. I'm told that takes two months.

I love short work weeks!

Day Five.

I'm wrapping up day five as we speak.

All in all, the weekend went pretty good. I didn't have any drinks, so that went well but I did play golf, which is a trigger. I had some cravings for sure, but nothing overpowering. I think if you asked my wife, I was definitely a little more irritable than normal but that is to be expected right?

This Chantix GetQuit website is a joke. I signed up, and I get these emails with "tips" to print out so I can read them throughout my day. Are they serious? They really don't think their website is going to help me stop smoking? Only one thing is going to get me to stop smoking, and that is self motivation. Of course their medicine sure is helping with that too, but not so sure about the web site.

So back to work tomorrow. I'm actually looking forward to it. I think it helps me not to think about smoking. My buddy is now on day 3, so we're neck and neck. We've got a little bet going on the side as well. Have a good week everyone!