Around 9:30 p.m. last night I got a bug to get something done so I took all the stacks and boxes and folders full of paperwork that I have accumulated over the last 5-7 years and I sat down and went through it all. I put everything organized in folders, shredded tons of stuff and threw a bunch of non-sensitive stuff away. After that I fixed the leg on the coffee table, and packed a few boxes of books. I didn't get last night's post submitted until now because I went to bed around 2 a.m. this morning, slept in till 11 a.m. and then Snackers and I left the house as soon as we got up and have been running around town ever since.
First we had some movie tickets for an 11:40 matinee but we woke up so late that we wanted to eat first so we went to the casino/movie theater to trade the tickets in for a later show. That was some considerable walking because you have to go through the whole casino to get to the movies. Then we went to breakfast, then we took the dogs to the dog park but there was LITERALLY no one there so we had to run around and entertain the dogs ourselves which was fun ... it gave us a glimpse of what it will be like to have our own yard to spend time with our dogs in. After that we dropped the doggies off and went to the smoke shop where I finally gave in and bought a smokeless cigarette. I've been wanting one for years and I kept complaining about the cost but they're only $25 now and I easily spend that much on normal cigarettes in a single month so it just didn't make sense not to get one. Plus if I can quit real smokes I'll be able to improve my lung capacity for exercising because that is holding me back BIG TIME.
Then we stopped into a book store next door to the smoke shop and browsed around in there for awhile, then came home again to print off a coupon for free popcorn for the movies later. We've had a full day already! We've got a lead on some free moving boxes from craigslist so we can start packing. The appraisal came back on the house for $2k more than we're paying for it which is awesome so now we're in the underwriting process and should be signing papers around the 27th of this month if all goes well.
Update: Stupid electronic cigarette has been charging for the recommended five hours and nothing happens when I puff on it. The light at the end lights up but no vapor comes out. Going to have to call the smoke shop tomorrow and see if they'll replace it with a functioning one or give me my money back. That blows.
Food:
7 glasses of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1/2 reuben sandwich (lunch)
>>w/ a pickle spear
>>1/2 pickled green tomato (AWSOME!)
1 "weight loss water" (odd)
1 small popcorn, no butter
1/4 reuben sandwich (dinner)
---------------------------------
Daily Caloric Intake: 976
Activity:
4 flights of stairs
Walking/Playing/Shopping: We were in and out all day today, running around, going places and just all out having a fun father's day. Spent time with our fur babies, and had fun.
I have a better (and cheaper) way to quit smoking: CIGARETTE TEA!
ReplyDeleteIt's simple... you prepare cigarette tea ahead of time by breaking open a few cigarettes and dumping their contents into hot water, steeping as you do with any other tea. Then, when the urge to smoke comes up, you pull a cigarette out and set it aside. You commit to being "allowed" to smoke that cigarette, AND ENJOY IT COMPLETELY, if you first commit to drinking 1 6-oz. glass of your new "yummy" cigarette tea. If you can drink the glass, not get sick and throw up, and still want to smoke your cigarette, it's your right -- you've earned it!
Most get at least mildly ill and don't even want the cigarette for a few hours. When the urge comes back, repeat.
I believe, provided the person has the true desire to quit (ie: enough fortitude to drink the damn tea before indulging in the cigarette), that this method works. I saw it work with Brazilians I worked with who truly wanted to quit -- also saw plenty of people it hasn't worked with, everyone of them because they didn't truly want to quit and instead would forego the tea and just have the smoke.
It works, I believe, for several psychological reasons -- and psychology is the primary long-term cause of addiction:
1) you aren't denying yourself -- total self-denial (in drugs, dieting, anything) is a recipe for disaster and often only reinforces the reason the person got addicted in the first-place (ie: the taboo of it, etc.)
2) you are associating the product with pain rather than reward -- if every time you want to smoke you have to drink the tea and get (at least slightly) sick, your body starts (over time) associating smoking with being sick; in time, the desire for smoking will diminish.
3) the strength of an addiction has been said to have about a 21-day shelf-life. Oftentimes if you can make it 21-days you can make it forever (or at least for a long-stretch; you may revert to your old ways but those longer-stretches often set you up for a more successful run the next time you try it). Drinking the tea before smoking will help you get through those first 21 days like little else. You may still smoke a few cigarettes in those 21 days, but I'm betting the amount of nicotine entering your bloodstream is *drastically* less than what will enter if you use most cessation products (gum, patches, e-cigs, etc).
And the up-side is: you'll save $$$. You continue to use cigs you already bought (rather than throw them out), and you don't buy expensive additional devices/products.
Plus, drinking a tea in private and not having to smoke a cigarette all day gives you the immediate benefits of not smoking: healthier lungs, less crap running around in your system (yes, you drink some of it, but a lot less than what you smoke and you'll pee most of it out), and an instantaneous boost to your sex-appeal... because, let's face it, cigs are *NOT* sexy, *especially* in a woman (yes, I know, sexist, sue me).
Just a thought.
But glad you're trying to quit, either way you choose to do it. Just don't move your addiction from 1 product to another.
:)
(b)
(Hehehe--does it blow? Apparently not!)
ReplyDeleteBro: You hit the nail on the head with your final comment: addiction transfer. I started smoking because Jill Winder said "I quit smoking and gained 20 lbs" and my stupid 19-year-old brain thought "If she gain 20 lbs by quitting maybe I can lose 20 by starting". I thought I would eat less if I smoked. Too many people that I know quit smoking and they eat more to curb the "fingers to mouth" addiction that is created by smoking. Even if my mental fortitude to drink tobacco tea were high enough to make me quit, the finger-to-mouth thing would still be an issue and might lead to snacking which is actually the #1 reason I've put quitting off for this long because I decided that losing weight was more important. Grrr at me.
ReplyDeleteKi: LOL nice ... very cute. ;)
Yeah, good point about the finger-mouth problem... Gpa Gresham kicked that problem by carrying hard-candies around in his pocket... but of course that's counter to your other goal. Bummer.
ReplyDeleteBut then think about it... when the finger-mouth thing kicks in, drink the tea and see what happens. I'd be surprised if soon your mind didn't start associating that behavior with being ill... and would stop doing it. Just a thought.