Today was an awful day.
I woke up with a sore throat, so I believe I’m catching a cold. I’ve been sluggish all day long, and didn’t lift a finger for anything.
That’s OK because it’s my day off from work, but I still didn’t have the energy to make it to the gym like I had wished for yesterday. Perhaps it’s an excuse, but I just wanted to sit around all day.
The good news, however, is that I didn’t smoke.
I found this “how much money have you spent on cigarettes” calculator online and I took the test.
It works really well and I found out I have spent nearly $16,500 on cigarettes since I was 17.
That’s a lot of money!
Just think of what I could have done with that money instead of blowing it on cigarettes.
More times than not, when I walked into a convenience store to buy cigarettes, I’d walk out with more junk than just cigarettes.
I’d maybe buy a candy bar, some chips, or some beer. It was usually something. If a pack costs $5, I’m sure most days I was spending $7.50-$10.00.
That’s potentially double of what the calculator came up with.
So realistically, I could have spent roughly $25,000 on cigarettes and impulse buying in the last 18 years of my life as a smoker.
At the time you never think about the cost, though. It’s just $5.00, right?
You might be able to notice a little bit, but it won’t be the determining factor that is helping you quit.
If you take into consideration all the impulse buying you would be potentially doing, then you’ll notice how much money you’re saving.
Right now I’m not noticing the extra money because I’m spending that $5.00 on rewarding myself for not giving in and relapsing.
I’ll buy a nice dinner, or a tasty beverage, or groceries to fill the fridge.
That stuff feels good to do, so I have no problem spending the money on myself. I’ve earned it after all.
What you DO notice, however, is how good you’ll feel each and every morning.
For me, mornings are just incredible now. Every single morning I wake up before my alarm, alert and ready to go.
Can you say you’re like that in your own life? Probably not.
Sleeping is amazing, I wake up so rested and refreshed. The first thing I notice in the morning is how much better my lungs feel. I can feel them healing, and allowing more oxygen inside.
That in itself gives me a huge boost of energy.
That’s why I love mornings so much now.
As a smoker, I slept in as much as possible, and never woke up until I absolutely had to.
Most of the time, I would shut the alarm off and go back to bed for 15 minutes or so. I’d hit the snooze button numerous times everyday.
I haven’t hit the snooze button since I’ve quit smoking.
I don’t have any need to, as I’m totally awake and ready to start my day BEFORE my alarm even goes off.
I used to hate mornings.
What I did instead was stay up as long as possible and smoke as much as I could. I’d go to bed around 3am and wake up at 8am. That’s not a healthy schedule, but I didn’t care.
5 hours of sleep meant I wasn’t fully rested, so I was sluggish all the time.
Work was affected, my energy level was affected, I never wanted to do anything, and I always stayed up late.
That’s what’s so great about quitting smoking.
People assume or think their life won’t change much when they put that last cigarette out for good. They think their life will be the same as before.
Well they couldn’t be more wrong. Everything will change and for the better!
I wish I would’ve quit years ago, because I truly feel amazing right now (despite this cold I’m getting). I wouldn’t trade this feeling for anything.
I’d be so depressed and sad if I was all the way back at square one right now.
You’ll never know how absolutely fantastic you could potentially feel as long as you are a slave to nicotine.
Break the addiction!
I learned an interesting fact today… If you make it 4 weeks strong you have two out of three odds of staying quit! Im only partially through my day 28 but im positive im getting through today. The days have only been getting easier, today has already been a great morning and tonight ill be sleeping into my next day and i cant wait to reach day 30. Im going to celebrate and treat myself with something awesome on day 30. I saved about 300 dollars this month i haven’t spent a penny out of it. I spent about 200 dollars out of the money i would have Normally spent on smoking mainly on snacking but it still amounts to less than half of what i normally spend in a month and on a habit that only makes my life much shorter and less fun. Im so proud!
I quit 28 days ago and this vlog and been so helpful. I am in my 60s and have been smoking for over 30years with times where I have quit for months at a time and then always gone back. This time I am determined this will be my last quit. Where I am cigarettes are $63 for a packet of 40 (Australia) that is just not sustainable when food and petrol and rent is so expensive too. Hubby and I both gave up and so far we have saved around $1200 Australian dollars. I rarely think about smoking now and we are saving the money to go on a trip overseas to see our daughter who we haven’t seen in years because of the pandemic.
I quit smoking and today is my day 28. I want to quit nicotine forever but hey it is an habit as well an addiction which makes it the worst and severe to get rid of. You want to smoke but you are not smoking because of a decision you made previously. I wished I had never smoked in the first place now I was not going to worry if i would be able or quit or not. Let’s see.
I have been smoking for 25 years and had tried to quit once and lasted for 3 months 5 years ago due to pneumothorax. I picked up smoking again after I have recovered. I stopped again 28 days ago because I was not feeling good inside my chest. Despite all these days of been smoke free, phlegm still accumulates in my chests and a dull pain when I tried to breathe in deep. However, I have been feeling much better since 2 days ago and I believe that my health is slowing recovering back to normal.
I do have urges to smoke every now and then, especially if I go for a drinking session or a dinner date with my peers smoking( I know what others said about staying away from peer pressure) and I think I am serious enough now to refrain myself from smoking again even if I am drinking and mixing with smokers (mind over matter).
I have smoked for over 20 years. I have quit numerous times and still went back. This website is one great tool to use while your on your non smoking journey, but there are so many other aspects of stopping smoking.
Everyone in he or she own way has to come to a point when they actually, 100%, no mercy, without a doubt want to stop smoking. Only at that point you will find the true path to take.
I have been smoking for a long time over 20 years. I have been very athletic and out performing non smokers. But I have been making changes to my life for a long time now. I stopped drinking alcohol over three years ago. I have been eating a plant base diet for 1 year now. I am turning 42 on Nov 25 and I knew that I was done with smoking for the rest of my life 28 days ago.
If you want to quit smoking and be successful at it you have to make the biggest commitment of your life. If you are drowning and could not breath and all you want is one more breath…. that’s how bad you have to want to quit.
Get busy living. Or get busy dying.
Well said
It’s day 28 and sometimes I feel like I can’t breathe it just comes up on me and I feel winded it happened just a few minutes ago when I was coming up the stairs and now it’s gone and everything is fine I just want to let you guys know that cigarettes have acetone in them benzene carbon monoxide have a chemical in them that you used to stain your furniture your deck paint stripper radon chemicals that are radioactive and the list goes on but ones are chemicals that really tripped me out was they having sperm whale feces in cigarettes song your cravings can’t do anything to you but you can do everything don’t smoke it’s poison straight and simple to the fact poison have a great 28th day I’m on my way forward I’m never going back
Day 28! I barely think about cigarettes now, i only have those moments where its like, ‘oh this many days have passed since i quit? I cant believe it’ otherwise no cravings. I totally agree with Matt in one of his posts where he says it feels like its been a year. It probably helps that everyone is under quarantine so I have been home mostly and so less triggers i guess. The only thing i could see triggering me is drinks with friends and thats not happening anytime soon and im grateful. I’m also very dedicated to my decision so i wouldn’t put myself in a compromising situation any time soon. If anyone is reading this please please exercise or start exercising when you quit! It can be a short walk everyday or something simple but it makes a world of a difference. I have been weight training for two years now. I made it up to a 60 kg on my squats last year around October and I haven’t managed to get past that since. I adjusted my diet, workout routines with no progress in site and its been about 7 months i would just decrease weights then go back up to 60kgs. When i quit 28 days ago i was at 57.5 and within 2 weeks I FINALLY HIT 70KGS! full range of motion without breaking much of a sweat. I was surprised. I didnt realize that smoking was having that much of an affect on my training. I also had started jumping rope right before starting this journey and i couldnt do a minute without having to stop and catch my breath. Now i can go 5 minutes with no problem. It’s just been amazing seeing how much I’ve already progressed in such a short period of time by getting rid of those cancerous sticks! I cant wait to see where I’ll be in 6 months time. Wishing everyone luck on their journey!
Do you only have the first 30 days blogged? Is there something else that I can read, daily, after these blogs are over? I feel like these have been helping me, and I need them to give me encouragement.
Hey! Did you find a blog in the end? Am at this stage myself. Hope you managed to stay smoke free 🙂
Day 28 doing good so far and I’m so happy!