day uno

Something for you to sit and toke on:

When smokers quit -- What are the benefits over time?

20 minutes after quitting: Your heart rate and blood pressure drops.
12 hours after quitting: The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.
2 weeks to 3 months after quitting: Your circulation improves and your lung function increases.

Immediate rewards of quitting

Kicking the tobacco habit offers some benefits that you'll notice right away and some that will develop over time. These rewards can improve your day-to-day life a great deal:

• your breath smells better
• stained teeth get whiter
• bad smelling clothes and hair go away
• your yellow fingers and fingernails disappear
• food tastes better
• your sense of smell returns to normal
• everyday activities no longer leave you out of breath (such as climbing stairs or light housework)

My daily debriefing:

I always try to remind myself that I'll feel a lot worse if I smoke.  That doesn't seem to have an effect a lot of the time, like at this moment.  I don't know about any of you, but it seems like I associate certain actions with smoking.  Such as, drinking alcohol, drinking coffee, driving, being at concerts...

Anyways, I'm trying to remind myself if I go out and buy cancer shtix, not only will I be wasting $7.00, but also $3.00 in gas.  The minute I light up, my whole car and my clothes, my hair, my lips, my hands will smell like that wonderful smokey aroma.  You know, that smell you get a whiff of when the old man in the Carhart jacket stands next to you?  Lovely.

Then, I'll keep smoking, enjoying the sweet taste of failure until I remember how I'll be hacking a lung at the gym the next day.  Then, I'll decide not to go to the gym and continue to eat nothing all day and starve at work.  As I get halfway through the cigarette, I'll throw it out deciding that I'm going to quit again...  after I plan where I'm going to light up later.