Not Smoking Day 1

First day not smoking went surprisingly well. I'm wearing a nicotine patch, so of course it wasn't horrible. Truthfully, barely thought about smoking once I got to work. Kept busy all day. 

It was very hard NOT pulling out a cigarette first thing this morning though. It was the first thing I thought when I woke up, "Oh god, really? Am I really gonna quit today?" I have a few cigarettes still in the pack from yesterday, plus a whole unopened pack. I could literally feel my hand reaching for them when I was rounding up the dogs to go outside. 

At that point I wasn't wearing the patch yet. I wanted to wait until after I took a shower to put it on. It was just that instinct to grab a smoke while I've got the dogs out. It's a good timer, too. 

Once I put the patch on, the cravings went away completely. It was just the habits that kept hitching me up. Putting a piece of gum in my mouth every time I get in the car helps. 

I did grab my e-cig on the way out of the house and threw it in the car with me. I puffed on it like 2 times in the car, left it there all day. Then on the way home a little and now that I am at home. But I find I'm mostly holding it, or hanging onto it with my teeth (it is too heavy to hold it like a regular cig on your lips.)

I don't know about the e-cig overall. But at this point whatever keeps me from buying a pack of cigarettes is fine. And the e-cig really is not the same. It doesn't feel like anything in my lungs the smoke is just vapor. Doesn't make me cough. I'll probably try leaving it at home tomorrow, cut out the car stuff altogether. 

At any rate, it went really well overall. I feel like the last 2 times I quit were practice. I keep remembering the stuff that worked and didn't work before. And the side effects. The patch is 21mg but that is only about 2/3 of what is in a pack of cigarettes, so there is still withdrawal. And the e-cig too is a much lower dose of nicotine. (Which is why I couldn't quit with the e-cig alone last year.)