Day 7 - Keepin' On

Okay, I know I skipped Day 5 and 6. They were uneventfuly stable yet sprinkled with the usual anxiety and mini-cravings.

Today I reflect back on the first week in order to share my list of Do's and Don'ts - maybe it could help me/someone else in the future.

- DO drink lots of water the first week. The first few days, you will retain a lot of friggin' water, won't pee much, might not even.. you know... Number 2 much. Your body's gonna be REBELLING, trying to get your attention and convince you to smoke just one little cigarette. Which, of course you know, is a don't. Gatorade is a good alternative to water, too. And the sugars in the Gatorade will help increase your blood sugars, in return calming down your cravings. (I'll explain why below.)

- DO drink cranberry juice in the first two days. It'll help quicken the detox of your body. And it's yummy. (Feel free to water it down a little if you find it too tart.)

- DO keep a HEALTHY snack nearby for the first couple of days. The important thing to remember here is that you don't want to replace your smoking habit by an eating habit, but to keep feeding your body small amounts of sugar throughout the day. If you were like me when you smoked, you used to skip breakfast every morning, sometimes even lunch, and just make up for it at night. Well, reality check, that diet ain't gonna keep you nice and thin when you quit. Actually, you won't last.

Instead of going back to a 3-meal day, replace it by 5 SMALLER meals (like a bagel with cream cheese and juice for breaky, an apple at around 10:30 - or around the time you would go smoke normally, a nice sandwich and salad for lunch - Side note : Activia for dessert REALLY helps regulate you. I used to laugh at Jamie Lee Curtis when I smoked, but now my coffee/cigarette laxative is gone, so... yeah, you get the point. Fibre is goooooood. Trail mix in the p.m. to keep you going - y'all know I love my trail mix! - and then a nice small but healthy dinner. Yes, dessert, dessert, dessert rocks - my sweettooth is HORENDOUSLY vicious. But don't do like I did. I quit the French toast two days ago and feel so mucn better!

- DON'T use the nic-fits as an excuse to be ultra bitchy with your partner. He may or may not be quitting at the same time as you, but he also has feelings. And if he's quitting along with you, you'll just get it right back in your face. And that ain't fun.

- DO remember that a nic-fit/craving/finger-wringing-desire only lasts a few moments. The THOUGHT itself may last longer, but the actual physical craving only lasts about 10 seconds. The key that has helped me deal with it is simple. "This, too, shall pass." Accept that you're going through that feeling. Yeah, it sucks. Okay, now move on to something else. By the time you've picked your nose, or changed the TV channel, skipped from Facebook to Twitter, you'll be past the craving and won't even realize it. And remember that the cravings get fewer and far-between as the days go by. Just hang in there.

We will ALWAYS be ex-smokers. The memory of enjoying smoking will always remain; our brains are wired to not remember the pain as vividly as the good parts. So, you'll be having a glass of wine in 4 years and, poof, the thought of 'hmmmm, I would smoke a cigarette right now' will swipe through your head. But the physical craving won't. Temptation will be easier. Which is in part why I'm writing this blog. To remember the pain I went through.

NOT ANOTHER PUFF.

Nicotine releases immediate blood sugars into your body (normally food will do the same but only after digestion, so about 20 minutes later). This is why we used to be able to skip a meal by smoking a cigarette... or 3. Now, not possible. It's also KEY to not BINGE during this period - unless you REALLY want that badunkadunk. Because of the 20 minute buffer, you're going to think you're still hungry after a meal. Wait. Waiiiiit before you scarf down that entire sugar pie, honey. Digestion is key to getting your metabolism back to normal. This is also why Gatorade might help through the first week, give you a boost of sugar and help fight the incredible munchies. It'll get easier. And the bloating will go down.

Week one down! Nice!