Stop Smoking

I’ve decided it’s time to take action. I’m going on the patch.

During the past several months since my last update, I’ve had little desire to quit. I’ve been enjoying cigarettes and not thinking of the potential health consequences, the money, the social effects. I also became involved with a girl who doesn’t nag about it. She knows that I smoke, but I don’t smoke around her, so it might be out of sight, out of mind. Most of the rest of her family smokes, so she might just be sick of nagging people. At this point in our relationship, if she asked me to quit, I probably would.

But this time is on my own. I saw some pictures of myself from a work event last week. I hate myself. I look fat, out of shape, and completely pathetic. It’s time for some changes. It’s not smoking-related, but I’ve been eating poorly, not working out, and watching way too much TV. My first step in getting back to shape is to quit smoking. I’m currently on step two with that (step one was starting this weblog). Step two for me is the patch.

A study quoted in Men’s Health magazine stated that starting on the patch for two weeks prior to quitting smoking gives the quitter a 20% greater chance of quitting the habit for good. I know once I get past the point of actual quitting, the biggest problem is fighting the urges and staying out of situations (i.e. drunkenness) when I might be tempted to smoke. But those are future steps. For now, I’ll stick with step two.