... And how its going to help me with my food addiction.

I would not have been able to do this without God. The funny part is that I didn't want to quit. I liked (except for the side effects) smoking. My son begged me; I didn’t want him to become a smoker so how could I tell him not to and partake myself. I know I am his mother and that give me the right to say no but the example of hypocrite I did not want to lead. The other reason is that in my family it is apparent that smoke related lung disease is pretty likely. My grandmother was diagnosed with Lung cancer in October 1999 and passed do to the disease on January 2, 2000. My mother who suffers (just as my grand mother did) from COPD and only has 1/3 of her lung usage could likely end up with cancer as well. Not to mention the massive amounts of medication she is on. These things sent up red flags all through my mind and I realized that if I didn’t quit I may not be there for my own child or grand children.

So the Journey Begins...

Nov 1 2004. D – DAY. This was the day I decided I would quit smoking and this time I was going to be successful no matter what. I had spent a good $120 on tools for quitting smoking (I was not going to waist this money yet again). I got the Nicoderm patch (the strong one), Smoke Away and some chocolate. I probably should have left the chocolate behind but you know…
The night before I still had 4 cigarettes left and it was bed time. I didn’t really want to go to bed with cigarettes but I couldn’t smoke anymore. Just in case you were wondering. It wasn’t about waste, I knew if I had any left that I would smoke them. That was the last night I had a good nights sleep for quite some time.

I woke up on Nov 1 ready to start my journey into the land of non-smoking. I did (as I knew I would) have one cigarette before applying the Nicoderm patch and taking the first dose of my smoke away. The day went by pretty well for a new non smoker who could only think about that cigarette. I didn’t bite anyone’s head off and I had a fairly productive work day. So I was thinking it wouldn’t be quite as hard as I thought it would be. NOT! I had a drag from a co-workers cigarette and I had one from my last three. Not bad really for a pack and a half a day smoker. Let me tell you if you smoke with the patch on you can get pretty dizzy. One more cig before bed and that was my day. Not too bad.

I didn’t sleep well the next night as I didn’t read the fine print on the patch “… may cause restless sleep…” or something to that effect. Well they were right. No sleep for the weary… I had two drags from co-workers and half of the last cig at work. The last half of the cig was had before bed… The next day I had one drag and that was it… By NOV 3 I was tobacco free.
I continued to wear the patch for two weeks then I took it off. I didn’t finish the smoke away but from previous attempts to quit with it if you take this med and smoke you will become physically ill.

I have thought about a cigarette and smoking one every day and in the beginning it was every minute. I told myself that I was not fighting the monster of addiction I was fighting a weak little cigarette and I was not going to loose that battle. The mindset worked and I am still a non smoker today. 15 months and I am still a non smoker. And it is getting easier…

How is this going to help my addiction to food????

Stay Tuned to find out :)