The diary of a woman who quit smoking for good: The first day I stopped smoking cigarettes

Part 1: Quit smoking date
Part 2: Denial of a smoker
Part 3: Why I chose to live
Part 4: Day one
Part 5: Day two

I know that most of my routines involved a cigarette, so I needed to teach myself how to keep my routines without a cigarette attached to all of them. This would be difficult. Keeping my routines without attaching a cigarette to each one would would be difficult, but not impossible. I was ready to quit smoking for good.

The quit date finally arrived! It’s eight in the morning, I just woke up, and I am as ready as I can be. As soon as I got ready for the day, I reached for the nicotine patch. I placed it on my skin. A few minutes later, the area started to itch. Oh no! I was getting an itchy, burning sensation on my arm and started to panic. I quickly read the instructions again and it said this should be a temporary feeling. Luckily, after ten minutes, the symptoms went away.

I started with Step 1 of the nicotine patches because I wanted to start with the highest dose of nicotine. I smoked close to two packs a day, usually craving a cigarette within the first half hour of my day. I wanted to make sure that the nicotine patch would satisfy part of the cravings I had in the morning.

So far, the nicotine patch seemed to work. I think the nicotine levels in the patch would help me get through the day. It seems to be doing its job, but then again, it is still too early in the day to know for sure. At least the very first cigarette of the day was conquered with the help of the nicotine patch. This was definitely a big step for me.

My day is not complete without my morning cup of coffee. My big challenge was drinking my coffee without a cigarette. I made the coffee, sat down to drink it, and then started to get a strong urge to smoke a cigarette. This was not good!

I started drinking the coffee, grabbed the electronic cigarette, and surprisingly, I was able to have my coffee. I purchased the electronic cigarette earlier that week just in case I felt the need to smoke and I had it available. As I drank my coffee, I realized that I had made it through the first four hours of the day without an actual cigarette.

This made me feel pretty good because I made it through the part of the day where I smoked a lot of cigarettes. This may not seem like a big deal, but it is for a smoker who smoked a lot during the morning hours. I made it through one of the hardest parts of the day. This was a small victory.

I got past the morning hours, but now the day brings a new set of challenges. I started to grind my teeth because I felt an urge to smoke. For some reason, I could not stop thinking about smoking. Just one would not hurt….maybe just one puff and then continue quitting….how about just…….

All I could think about was smoking a cigarette. I had way too much time on my hands now that I freed up the time I used to spend smoking. So, I decided to start cleaning everything and everything that I could. I washed my clothes, I vacuumed my house, I washed dishes, and dusted everything that I could. My house was immaculate, but my cravings for a cigarette was still there.

“It’s no longer an option!” That’s what I kept telling myself. I had the electronic cigarette available, but tried to avoid it as much as possible. It did satisfy the urges, but I wanted to remove evrything from my daily routine that reminded me of smoking. I was trying to relearn my routine without items that reminded me of cigarettes.

I think my body was still craving a cigarette. I needed more distractions because I was finished cleaning, so I decided to go shopping and get my mind off of smoking a cigarette.The shopping did work for a while. It occupied the free time that I had. I was able to waste more time in the day and finally got through the majority of the day without a cigarette. How great is that? I conquered the first twelve hours of the day without a cigarette. I didn’t realize how much time was spent smoking cigarettes until today.

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Later that evening, while I was unwinding from the day, I still felt the urge to smoke a cigarette. Fortunately, the urges were not as strong as I expected them to be. The only problem that I faced that night was the pain in my lungs from quitting smoking.

That evening, I was having difficulty taking a full breath and my lungs were hurting pretty badly. I felt horrible! My entire chest and back felt sore and breathing seemed difficult. Every movement and every breath was difficult and I was not craving a cigarette at this time. I felt too horrible at this point and realized that I did way too much during the day.

After two decades of smoking, my lungs were expanding after so many years of being restricted. What did I do to myself? How could I have let myself become addicted to smoking? I was kicking myself because I caused myself to be in this situation. I felt horrible, but I knew that it would get better if I continued the process of quitting smoking.

I decided to go to bed early tonight because I was not feeling that great. With my lungs hurting so much, I decided it would be better to lay down instead of moving around. Once I did lay down, I was able to breathe better. My poor lungs were trying to expand and take in the oxygen that I prevented them from getting. I now realize that smoking is no longer an option and that I need to make sure that I treat my body better than I have in the past.

I got through the first day of my quitting smoking for good battle without a cigarette. The first day is the hardest one to overcome, and I did it. I got through the first day without smoking a cigarette. This was a great feeling and I hope that I can make it through the next day.