Sorry to have disappeared for so long and caused people to worry. I am indeed still not smoking. I am now on day 12 without a single puff. So what have I been up to? Well I met a new boy just before my quit day and he kept me quite entertained for a while. He even decided to join me in quitting smoking so I have had a RL quit buddy, which has been pretty nice. (The friend sleeping on my couch was going to quit as well but she only lasted like 2 days). The 4th of July was a bit rough as I would normally have spent it with all of my smoking friends but instead came home after the fireworks with new boy. I left the next morning to go camping on the coast and didn’t get back till last night. My first non-smoking camping trip!! Go Me… I thought it was going to be much rougher than it was. I also thought having a whole week off work would be a lot tougher. Don’t get me wrong it wasn’t a cakewalk but hey I made it.
There have been a couple times I have been sorely tempted and I have certainly had ample opportunities but I don’t want to give up the days I have already put into this so I have basically just sucked it up and moved forward. There is still this evil little voice in my head trying to convince me that I could have “just one” and be fine but for me the biggest motivation to not smoking has been that I haven’t cheated this time and I fear that even one puff would lose that motivation for me if that makes any sense.
My sister is still currently smoking though she really wants to go on Chantix and quit as well. She has her prescription filled but she is still breastfeeding so isn’t supposed to take it yet. Her husband also quit using Chantix. During our camping trip she was telling me that on one particularly stressful day about 2 weeks or so into his quit he did have one cigarette and that he said it had no effect on him whatsoever. I know she was trying to make me feel less stressed but in some ways it makes it harder not to listen to that little demon telling me I can have just one.
Now on to the most disturbing factor of this whole quit. Not that I hadn’t heard you may gain weight but I assumed that wouldn’t apply to me. I have always been fairly thin and have had problems trying to gain weight; I have weighed 118 lbs for the last 15 years with the most fluctuation ever being only + or – 3 lbs. Even when I was pregnant I only gained like 29 lbs. Imagine my surprise when I discovered I have gained almost 10 lbs since I quit. It is showing in my waist size ACK!!! My baggie jeans now fit me and I can’t even bring myself to try on my favorite pair of jeans for fear they won’t button and I will go into an absolute panic attack. I know I have been eating a lot more but SO!!! I have been eating healthy food and I have been exercising. What the fuck!! Looks like I may have to go on a diet or something? Just not cool at all. I would love any suggestions here, as I have to eat at least the 2 meals a day to take my Chantix. Think the eating of breakfast regularly, which I never did before could have caused that kind of dramatic weight gain?
As to the Chantix itself one little note. On Friday night while camping I forgot to take my Chantix all together. Didn’t even realize it till I woke up Saturday morning and I certainly didn’t have any greater cravings on Friday night than the rest of the weekend. Last night I wasn’t able to take it till like 1 am. So I am thinking I will at the very least cut down my intake in the next couple days. I have also been toying around with the idea of simply taking one pill around lunchtime. What are all your thoughts?
2 comments:
So glad you are back and still not smoking. That's awesome.
On the weight gain, every time I have quit, I've gained 10 pounds. Sadly, that became a secondary reason in the back of my mind whenever I started again. Hopefully this time the additional exercise (I'm walking regularly - not really a gym person) and being more careful about eating (OK, failing that currently for the most part...) will give better results. In theory, I do know it can, but it is true that just smoking does affect metabolism, so for most it's roughly an extra 200 calories a day to burn assuming we don't eat more due to quitting. I had to be OK with the idea that I might gain a little weight as a trade off for quitting - within reason, of course. Like you, I'm small by nature and have never really had to actually "diet" and have no desire to start, certainly not now. I will keep trying to "make healthy choices," but even that, for now is not my huge focus. That's just me. I understand, though, not wanting to pack on the pounds trading one health issue for another. Against any advice of any doctor, nutritionist or mother, I, too, have kind of stopped the breakfast thing now that I've discovered I can take Chantix without nausea. I understand that this might actually backfire because experts say eating breakfast helps with maintaining a healthy weight. Still, that's another battle for another time.
I've had some thoughts myself about just taking one of the pills instead of two each day because it does seem like it might still be plenty. I'm still considering. Since I am fortunate enough to have Chantix covered by health insurance, the other part of me thinks it might be best, for once in my life, to just do as the damn instructions say for how long it says. We'll see. I am forgetting the 2nd pill until later at night sometimes, and even then, I kind of dread taking it for some weird psychological reason I cannot explain.
Anyway, there is my novel worth of comments :)
Just glad you are back!
This is great to see you're back, Lakasha! Wow, you're so awesome for having stuck to the quit once and for all!
I probably shouldn't be advocating or promoting any dosage variations, except what directly affects me, but you can always go back up to the full dosage if lower dosage doesn't work for you...I think. I also hear what Maggie is saying about sticking to the instructions, that's what I was going to do when I started Chantix. :)
Either way, please don't disappear without warning for so long again! I was really not sure what to think...
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