Day 9 - Nicotine Free

More than half way through day 9. Starting to make fun of myself when I want a cigarette now. Walk around the house calling myself dumb **bleep**, loser, twit. Saying things like “Oh no you don’t”, “I’m not that toopid”, and “Nuh Uh, Nope, Nuh Uh”.

It really is kind of crazy, funny, and sad when you really think about it. Something so small, that takes up so little of your time (in the scheme of things 3 minutes a cigarette is not a lot of time) can be so controlling.

So my goal today has been to ignore that little itch that makes me talk to myself. That seems to creep into every thought I have and that is doing its best to seductively lure me back into dependency.

I say “NO”. It’s not going to happen. I have come too far and worked too hard. Now aint that funny. It’s only been 9 days and I’m on a tirade about working too hard and how far I’ve come. Hahahaha. Maybe I haven’t come that far yet, but I have learned a lot of stuff about addictions and about myself.

Learning that eating breakfast and having some fruit juice in the morning helps a great deal later on during the day. Not so much caffeine either. Drinking ½ caffeinated and ½ decaffeinated. I haven’t given up my glass or 2 of wine at night. I won’t give it up. I’m not going to give up everything just to make this fight easier. I can do hard if I have to.

Ok, I’m off to be productive………Thanks for listening!

Interesting Facts:
I have smoked approximately 378 pounds of tobacco.

The one-year success rate for those who go through heroin withdrawal is about 20%, whereas with nicotine cessation it's only 5%. Except for the type of high experienced and the fact that our stimulant is legal, we truly are drug addicts, just as much as the addicts that fill jails and prisons around the globe.

In 1998 tobacco killed 25 times more Americans than all illegal drugs combined (418,690 to 16,926 - U.S. Center for Disease Control).

Smoking Joke of the Day

Day 9
I have now stopped smoking for 1 week, 1 day, 16 hours, 2 minutes, 28.99 seconds. At 5 minutes per cigarette I have increased my life expectancy by 16 hours, 36 minutes, 51 seconds.

1. Cigarettes Not Smoked: 198
2. Money Saved: $59.58
3. Future Value of Invested Savings: $125.94

In My Lifetime

Number of cigarettes I have smoked:	251,850
Total amount I have spent on cigarettes:	$75,555.00
Forgone interest earnings on money spent:	$99,115.28
Total cost of my past smoking:	$174,670.28