298 hours - almost two weeks

Happy belated holidays, everyone! Somehow, some way, I didn't smoke over Christmas, and I didn't even think about it. How can this be possible?! I have no desire to smoke at all. Yes, occasionally I'll see someone smoking and think, "well, that would be nice." but the same thing happens with booze - actually, yesterday morning I was thinking about how nice it would be to have a glass of wine. I realize that one glass would turn into two bottles pretty quick, and I would be dealing with a pretty serious hangover this morning, which would only result in more drinking. sometimes that knowledge doesn't help the craving, however, just like it doesn't help to know that eating one cookie might turn into the whole box, and then you'll have ruined your diet and have to spend an extra hour at the gym the next day. So i asked the universe for help, and I went for a run. It was the worst run I've done in a long time - it was about 3 miles, which is long for me, and it was right after a big Christmas breakfast of spinach and cheese omelette, sweet bread, fruit salad, and lots of chocolate (hey, it's Christmas, I can have chocolate for breakfast).

Anyway, I got a comment (for the first time, hooray!) from someone who quit on Sunday, and is cooking to keep him/herself busy while staying away from cigarettes. First I want to say CONGRATS, and that any step is a good step. I still don't know how long this will last for me, but all I can focus on is today. I just need to not smoke TODAY, and we'll let tomorrow happen the way it's going to. I'm sending love and encouragement your way if you're trying to smoke - if I can make it two weeks, anyone can.

Finally, after a lot of confusion, frustration, and emotion (all on my part, of course), my boyfriend has made it off the island he was on in Puerto Rico and he will be flying back to Boston on wednesday. i'm so excited to see him - and he either doesn't know that I've quit, or he hasn't said anything because he doesn't want to talk about it if i slip. which might sound unsupportive to some people, but he's quit smoking himself. it's difficult to tell people you're quitting, especially the people you really care about, because there's a pretty significant chance that you'll fail.

My advice? Tell everyone anyway. Be accountable. We can quit smoking - it's the hardest thing to quit in the world, but only the first few days really suck, and then it's OVER. And it's not impossible.