Thank you for not smoking

Today marks 3 months since I quit smoking after starting about 25 years ago, a pack a day. The time has gone by fast. Andrew quit on January 1 and I quit on January 18. I didn't want to waste a carton of smokes and I wanted to see if Andrew really was going to quit. Andrew used a couple of nicotine gums and lozenges. I did it cold turkey. After reading about quitting smoking I decided that prolonging the nicotine withdrawl was not for me. I wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. And just like they say, in 5 days the worst was over.

Some strange things to report though. For example, I have had to switch deodorants. The one I had been using for about 10 years just didn't work for me anymore. For about 6 weeks after the quit day I didn't sleep more than 4 hours per day. I had very bad insomnia and figured it was just my body getting used to the elevated oxygen levels. I am sleeping fine now. I haven't noticed much difference in taste or smell. The only physical thing that has definitely happened is my heart beats about 20 beats less per minute now - I used to be in the mid 80s and now I am in the mid 60s. This is strictly due to quitting smoking and not exercise (because I am too lazy to exercise regularily!) My blood pressure is down about 5 points on top and bottom but it was always good anyways. Other than all that, I feel pretty much the same. Instead of taking smoke breaks at work I go for a walk. I think I was smoking at work partly as an excuse to get away from my computer screen and see the outdoors. I am enjoying the walks right now since spring is here, the temperature is perfect and the campus is blooming.

Now that I am 3 months into this I can finally crack a beer without my first thought being "I wish I could have a smoke with this beer!" So things are getting better with time. I do still think about smoking at least once per day but it takes about 2-3 hours each morning before I remember about it. I am figuring that 1 year from now I might have an entire day go by without thinking about it and that would be great! I am really looking forward to my first plane trip so I only have to go through the security gate once.