Altering Habits



Sponsor My Ride!!

buddies
annanotbob
gr8chick
becca27
azzweepay
Pennyjar
sunpowered
Marn
Joiedv
Grouse
aliannmil
Mom-on-Roof
blueyedmom
Scotty's Place
Circe


navigation
current
archives
profile

extras
links
rings
cast
reviews
quizzes

contact
email
gbook
notes

credit
host
design

Days 1 - 5
2004-08-30, 12:58 p.m.

Day 1 8/23/04

Broke habit #1 - Rather than going through the garage to get the morning paper, went through the front door. Avoided the habit of standing in the garage with the paper having a smoke (or 2) while reading the sports section.

Toyed with the idea taking a different route work to avoid the visual/timing triggers. Decided I should just be a big boy and resist the urges as they came up. Getting through a day of work was more challenging than I thought it would be. I have a "professional" job - electrical engineering. I get to spend a large portion of my day at a desk either designing stuff or figuring out how to break stuff I designed. Concentrating, focusing on a task, not going absolutely bat shit every 30 minutes turned out to be pretty tough. Brought grapes in to munch on to combat the crave. That worked for the morning. Buzzed through 2 sandwiches for lunch at 11:15. Went to the quitting class at noon. Denny revealed to the rest of the class (4 other folks besides myself) that I had already quit. Turned out to be a nice little boost to the morale. Managed to make an orange last the rest of the afternoon.

Noticed this weird thing with my eyes - they feel kind of twitchy, and always on the verge of watering, similar to how they feel when you're tired but you're forcing yourself to stay awake. Now I haven't wore glasses in about 1.5 years - broke the hinge & never got them repaired. I have recently gone in to medical at work and ordered a new set of prescription safety glasses (bi-focals even), hopefully that will help to lessen the eyes wigging out.

Ended up leaving work a wee bit early because I was tired of wrestling with my eyes.

Day 2

Most folks I work with are aware that I am quitting, including my direct supervisor. He asked how I was feeling in the morning. I mentioned that I was a little light headed - probably OD'ing on oxygen after 36 hours of no smoke. He suggested I go check my blood pressure. We have a BP cuff & machine over by the cafeteria - so I took my BP just before lunch. OUCH - 141/98. Could it be that I'm a little tense over work? I do have a new batch of code I'm working on - have a few little things to straighten out - minor frustrations, but maybe they're contributing to my BP?

Still have that weird eye thing happening. Feels so much better if I just close my eyes for a minute or so - but then I want to sleep so bad . . .

Busted the wife at home yesterday evening. She was trying to sneak a smoke out on the Riviera (sneak a smoke in the front yard!?!?!) Said she wasn't ready yet - as she was downing her 2nd cocktail of the night. Hmpf.

Day 3 8/25/04

Last day of the work sponsored class. Still pounding down the grapes in response to craves. Got some Nutri-grain bars from the coffee area to munch on when the grapes run out. Kinda bummed, thought they were more granola-y.

Have added some sort of breakfast to the routine, at the advice of Denny. Might take the edge off the hunger in the morning, regulate blood glucose a little better. Supposed to be a link between blood glucose and cravings.

Cravings for cigarettes don't seem too bad - it's the trying to keep busy aspect that's becoming a challenge - especially at home. Still have that eye thing going on too. Trying to get to bed a little earlier, hoping a bit of extra sleep will help.

Day 4 8/26/04

No more classes. Fewer support phone calls. Wife still sneaking off to smoke. My own urges seem to be subsiding. Picked up the new glasses, amazed at what I've been missing. Still hanging in there. Starting to enjoy crossing days off the calendar. One of the big motivators lately has been not wanting to waste all the progress that I've made so far. Having just 1 cigarette resets the addiction chemistry in your head. Right now I have 3 full days of progress in eliminating that chemistry. Hate to waste it and have to start over.

Day 5 8/27/04

Last day of the work week. Actually think it will be more difficult at home this weekend than it has been at work this week. Cravings seemed a little stronger today. Had to get up and walk around some, do the deep breathing exercises to settle down. Denny made her support call in the afternoon, we discussed some strategies for the weekend - avoidance routines, rewards, anything to re-inforce the progress made so far.

Oh yeah - still fetching the morning paper via the front door. Wife has asked me if I'd mind locking it after I get back inside. Oops. Better work on that one.

Made it through another day.


If you use a pop-up blocker, hit "Ctrl" when you click to leave a comment


|

old habits - new tricks