Repost: Week 2, Days 8-14
- From: "Kathleen" <lovebirds1201@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2006 22:34:22 -0500
DAY 8
Congratulations! Your first and worst week without cigarettes is over.
It is not, however, time to relax your vigilance. Instead, count your
blessings. You look better, you smell better, and you're welcome
wherever you go. You are probably enjoying your food more, too. Few
great cooks are smokers, as smokers generally lack both the passion
for food and the nose for it. You may, however, now be demonstrating
an obsession with food that you'd rather not have, and you should take
certain precautions.
If you crave sweets, suck on lemon drops or Life Savers. Bowls of
sunflower seeds around the house are diverting. Keep plenty of fruit,
juice, and ice water on hand, and fill the fridge with ready to eat
vegetable snacks. You can use the vitamins; as a smoker, you needed
more and absorbed less. And eat good square meals, remembering that
the US Government recommends that we all eat five to seven servings of
fruit and vegetables each day. This is no time to diet. Chew gum if
you must, but bear in mind that some people find gum chewing even more
irritating than smoking.
DAY 9
Even though he quit 16 years ago, Michael Mery vividly remembers how
difficult it was. "I loathed myself for smoking, for trashing myself,
but it still took me a long time to quit. When I finally did stop, the
first three days were just the normal physical withdrawal. Then a
light-headedness set in that was so extreme that I was borderline
dangerous. (Mery is a carpenter and works with power tools). At the
same time, I was almost euphoric not to be smoking.
"I'd also break out in a sweat from head to foot while just sitting in
a chair, and I had major joint pain. I was irritable for months. Three
months after I quit I had a drag of my then-wife's cigarette. Having
that one drag filled me with fury at myself for being so stupid. That
was the last time I smoked."
"I didn't notice much physical change until one day I was shoveling
horse manure into my truck for my mother's garden. I was in a big
hurry, and I loaded up in less than twenty minutes. As I drove away I
was amazed to notice I wasn't winded. Now, I run twenty miles a week.
I'm just grateful to be free of cigarettes.
DAY 10
Day by day, this book takes note of the milestones the ex-smoker
passes along the road to recovery. Some body parts recuperate quickly,
some slowly. For ease of reference, we collect together here some of
the highlights in the progress of an ex-smoker.
Twenty minutes after the last cigarette: Blood pressure, pulse, and
body temperature return to normal.
Eight hours later: Carbon monoxide level in the blood falls, allowing
oxygen level to rise.
Seventy-two hours later: The bronchial tubes relax, and breathing
becomes easier. The lung power increases. Coughing decreases.
Two weeks to three months: Circulation improves; stamina increases;
lung capacity increases up to 30 percent
Two Months: Chronic cough completely disappears
One to nine months: Sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath
decrease. The cilia regrow in the lungs.
One year: Risk of heart disease falls to half that of a current smoker
Five years: Risk of heat attack and stroke almost equals that of a
never smoker
Six years: Risk of bladder cancer becomes half that of a never-smoker
Ten years: Risk of lung cancer drops to half that of a never-smoker
Fifteen years: Risk of lung cancer drops to almost that of a
never-smoker
Day 11
Chances are that you still feel a berserk craving for a cigarette from
time to time. Even nonbelievers may take recourse in prayer at such
moments. Saying "God help me" (white breathing deeply) comes as
naturally to quitters as it does to drowning sailors. Both are, after
all, fighting for their lives.
Leo Tolstoy, author of War and Peace, felt that people smoke, or took
other intoxicants, to drown the conscience. He gives as an example the
cook who cut his lady's throat but could not finish her off until he
smoked a cigarette. Thieves, gamblers, and prostitutes nearly all
smoke--and so do people in lawful professions, says Tolstoy, if their
behavior requires them to quiet their consciences.
DAY 12
Most smokers cling to the odd idea that cigarettes reduce stress. In
fact, the effect of smoking is quite the opposite. On lighting a
cigarette, the pulse speeds up, blood pressure increases, and the
heart pumps faster. The smoker may enjoy a moments tranquility when
the nicotine hits the brain, but that is quickly followed by the
agitation of withdrawal. So the next cigarette quickly follows,
sending a further valley of toxins into the body and to the nervous
system. The upshot is that smoking is the world's worst way to cope
with stress.
Rx for stress: Take three deep breaths, and hold the last one as long
as you can. Have a hot bath. Run around the block. Do some stretches.
Envision snowcapped mountains. Find someone pleasant to talk to. Pour
out your soul into a notebook. Go to bed early.
Day 13
Coffee drinking and smoking go together in the minds of many smokers
like the proverbial horse and carriage -- so much so that some
cigarette quitters feel they must renounce coffee also. But adding the
stress of giving up coffee to that of giving up cigarettes can be
unduly traumatic. Most cigarette quitters would just as soon postpone
caffeine withdrawal, perhaps till the grave.
However, you might as wee be advised to cut down on the quantity of
caffeine you're taking in. Smokers metabolize caffeine faster than
nonsmokers. In one test, caffeine levels went up 46 percent after
smokers quit smoking--while still drinking the same amount of coffee.
This could account for some of the irritability and nervousness
attributed to cigarette withdrawal.
So add some decaf to your usual coffee brew, and if need be, alter
your rituals. The after-breakfast cup of coffee causes many recent
ex-smokers to grieve for their after-breakfast cigarettes. Have that
second cup of coffee (maybe decaf) but don't sit around with it.
Stroll in the garden. Strum the old guitar you've stowed in the
closet. And this is an excellent time to write in your journal--where
you can express those feelings you're no longer trying to extinguish
with smoke.
Day 14
Two weeks smoke free! You're feeling like a real nonsmoker now, not
even thinking about cigarettes for big chunks of time. You may still
have bad moments, very likely in the evenings when you're tired and
your defenses are low. It's a good idea to acquire new routines to get
your mind off sinking into an easy chair with a cigarette. One couple
who quit together now each evening take a stroll together.
You may need to find things to do with your hands: Set up a picture
puzzle, do the ironing, bake bread, groom the dog, sew, take up
needlework, make a model airplane, pull weeds, or practice your golf
swing. One ex-smoker started making a replica of the Vatican from a
cut-out book. "It's incredibly soothing," she says. "I methodically
cut, fold, and glue, and the Vatican rises before me."
Michelangelo didn't smoke. If he had, at the age of eighty he could
hardly been hanging from the Vatican's Sistine Chapel ceiling painting
the frescoes.
.
- Follow-Ups:
- Repost: Week 3, Days 15-21
- From: Kathleen
- Repost: Week 3, Days 15-21
- References:
- Repost: Week 1, Days 1-7
- From: Kathleen
- Repost: Week 1, Days 1-7
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