A Smoking Cessation Follow Up and Three MORE New Habits That Have Helped Reduce My Ciggy Intake and May Help You:

Most likely because I hadn't posted in Nucleus of my Noggin in a while, Thursday's post (Thursday, November 21, 2013 the Great American Smokeout and Three New Habits That Have Helped Me Reduce My Ciggy Intake and May Help You:)is now my most read post of the month..  I'm really happy with the traffic it's gotten in the first couple of days, but more than that I do really hope that some smoker who kind of half-fanny knows they need to quit but doesn't really want to, will happen across

it and at least be able to cut back a bit.


NOW THEN, I have some rather exciting news on this topic... 


On Sunday (11/17/2013) after the storm had moved through... Evan said he needed to go check the radio towers to make sure the lights were on. (which they were not) We had been listening on the scanner throughout the approaching storm, the tornado and then the aftermath as rescue workers arrived... as we realized how back it actually was - we also thought it might behoove us to run to Paducah and fill the jeep up with gas.  While we were there, of course - we got a carton of ciggys.  Now I had a partial pack then that I had picked up that morning... so I tossed the carton in the back seat.


I haven't really kept my "3 New Habits" this week, I've just grabbed a new pack as I needed it and sometimes had them in my case - but sometimes was smoking straight from the pack.  

Yesterday morning as I pondered the post from the day before and wanted to do a follow up, I felt a little ooky.  I did feel like I had smoked a little more this week than I had in the last few weeks and I was really uneasy about counting my packs and putting them in the cabinet, which I knew I had to do before I posted an update.  

I retrieved the carton from the jeep and dumped it on the counter to see 6 sealed packs of ciggys (and 1 nearly full pack that I had in my tote)!!  I felt almost disoriented... this couldn't be right... For those of you who have no idea - there are 10 packs of ciggys in a carton - so this evidence before me implies
that I've only smoked between 2 and 3 packs of ciggys since Sunday night!!!! 

<!--google_ad_section_start--!> As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I've been a smoker for in the vicinity of 18 years and for the most part, my average over these years has been "a carton a week".  There were times when I smoked more, but that was the across the board average.  For about the last year, I've 'tried' to make the carton last for 10 days and I've recently reached that plateau... the last carton I had before the one I'm on now lasted me 12 days, which was an all-time high. <!--google_ad_section_end--!>

I'm going to share with you today a few more NEW habits that I've adopted to help in making this as painless as possible...  Off we go... 

4.  Keep your ciggy packs in "hidden-plain-view" of yourself and (hopefully) of a non-smoker in the house, if at all possible..

After I load my ciggy cases, I put the rest of the pack/carton or whatnot in the "coffee cabinet".  I keep them stacked in plain sight.  It helps me keep an eye on the "level" far better than just reaching down until a carton until I feel the last pack and think, "Sweet Fancy Pancakes, Batman! Have I already smoked that whole carton!?!?!"  

In addition, Evan and I are BOTH see them... with THIS plan in place - I feel a little more "uncovered"... He never says anything about how much I smoke - but if I should happen to blow through two packs in a day (which now my lungs would not allow, by the way) I would know that someone would know besides me AND that it would be someone who was rooting for me and that it would possibly disappoint them and then that would create guilt ... and hey (!) who can't be operated on guilt?! :) 

5.   You've been dreading this one... Smoke outside whenever possible...

Don't let me lose you here... I know that sounds like misery and reminds you of all of these news stories where renters can't smoke in their apartments and some states are looking at banning smoking in your own car, for the love of Peter, Paul and Mary... 

Start small at first... when I "started smoking outside", I didn't always smoke outside... during the last season of Big Brother in fact, I remember smoking several ciggys near the door opened just a crack because I needed one right then and I couldn't leave the TV... So cut yourself some slack, but smoke outside when you can.  This Summer I would walk around and look at my flowers and plantings while I smoked... AND my plants did much better because I kind of weeded and 'dead headed' here and there as I meandered around...

After you do this for a bit, you'll start to notice the smoke smell and that will gently cause you to go outside or at least to a cracked window or door...

Just about a week ago I sat in the kitchen here at the House at Pooh Corner and had java with Murr.  Something that in the kitchen at the Ocho would have caused me to go through a half pack of ciggys and have an apartment that smelled like the Hilltop!  A couple of times while we chatted I got up and slipped over to "the porcho" door, opened it up just a crack and took a few drags off of a ciggy and I really was never jonesing to sit there and chain smoke because these habits I've implemented have also gently stepped my system back on it's nicotine requirement.... Which brings me to my final new habit for today....

6.    Don't smoke the whole ciggy just because it's lit....

I picked up this habit while having java with one of the brightest old guys in our town :0) a fellow by the name of John.  I noticed as we sipped our java and discussed local whatnots that he would take a few puffs off of his ciggy and then put it out... shortly, he would lite it again - take a few puffs and put it out... I asked him about it and he confirmed that it helped him to not go through so many ciggys especially if he really he just wanted that few puffs anyway...

I wasn't able to adopt that right away, though I've done it off and on for about 2 years now... However when the weather started to turn cold this year, I knew that with the new habit of smoking outside or at the very least close to a door - that the pain of being cold would outweigh the pleasure of smoking a whole ciggy - so I started this again and it has made a monumental difference!!

I want to remind you with each post on this topic... 
The main thing that's important I think is to encourage, not nag smokers.  When you nag them you only piss them off and make them want to chain smoke as that has been their knee-jerk reaction for how-ever-many years, which the exact OPPOSITE of what you want for them... 

To read the first post in this series go HERE

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