Today I bought my last pack of cigarettes. Forever? That’s the plan. I actually quit on Saturday. I have been smoking a lot less but still more than one pack to get me through to Saturday. Yet I am afraid that if I buy a pack tomorrow I will have leftovers and not sure I could toss them on Friday night. I will just have to make this pack last me through tomorrow night.

I have also been thinking of the reason I won’t to quit, my motivators so to speak. It is one of the recommended things to do. One should make a list of why they are quitting or wish to remain so. That way when a craving comes around that is strong, you can whip that list out and remind yourself of why you chose to quit.  Not sure I am actually going to carry a list around (perhaps there is an app for that), but I made me a list anyway. A short one.

1.    To not die as soon as I would if I was smoking. Delay that event in my life

2.     To breath easier. COPD makes it hard to breath smoking exacerbates it. Plus I would like to walk up stairs with huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf. In fact, one of my goals it to go down the giant hill to Emerald Bay near Tahoe and then get back UP that hill without resting every five feet and not feel like my lungs are going to burst. I am not that out of shape, except for the lungs, so if I breathe easier I should be able to make it without resting.

3.     Smelling better. Yep, I am fully aware that I reek.  I am also aware that certain materials hold the smoke better than others, so what do I do? I do not wear them when I am meeting up with someone who does not smoke. I also use an amazing amount of body sprays and mints. Just so that I am less offensive. Doesn’t really work. I know that as well, I just smell like a flowery, minty smoker.

4.     Better skin. This is my vanity reason. I am 40 something and my skin sucks. Quitting smoking helps out with that.

Those are my reasons. There probably could be more, but honestly, those are my reasons that stick out in my head.

The other though I had was to make a list of rewards. Rewarding myself for not smoking for a day a week a month a year, etc. this is something tossing back and forth on. Almost every reward I could think of right now involves food. No, I am not hungry; it is just that many things that are special to me involve food for some reason.  I really do not need to reward myself with Godiva, or dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse or even a piece of Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. My intention is not to gain weight but to quit smoking. I honestly am going to hold off on the whole reward thing for now. My true reward is actually not ending up with an oxygen tank, riding around Wal-Mart in my motorized scooter at 50 years of age.

I have 2 days before my quit date

DISCLAIMER: These posts are nothing more than chronicling my efforts to quit smoking. Anything I write is nothing more than my way of doing so and my feelings associated with those efforts. If you are inspired to quit smoking by anything, you read here, please see a doctor and follow their instructions. I, in no way, am suggesting or recommending anything as means of smoke cessation.

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