Day 71

Day 71!!!! How the hell did that happen? Who could have predicted that 71 days after starting this blog I'd still be off the cigs?

This is a big week for Poet, Kath and Zoe. Within the next seven days each of them will attempt to go 24 hours without a cigarette. For Kath champix is making her feel sick. Although this wasn't a side effect for me it's the most common side effect of Champix and I believe it can be beaten with nothing more than something to eat prior to the pill. I believe that the act of chewing somehow stops the sickly feeling.

For Poet life might be a bit more complicated. There is some debate whether vivid dreams are a side effect of Champix or of giving up smoking. I didn't get them this time but they were the thing I was worried about. When I tried to give up with patches a few years back I had problems with dreams. I can't speak for Poet but with me it wasn't just bad dreams. We're talking day mares where it became difficult to work out where the dreams stopped and reality started. Poet, I hope everything is OK. The only plus point is that I didn't have dreams every night.

As far as Zoe goes... I'm hoping that the reason she hasn't updated her blog is because she's got a few nights out to get through this weekend. It will be interesting to read her observations on a few beer ridden smoke free nights. No pressure Zoe but Poet and Kath are on your case now so you got to get back to blogging.

From the stalker point of view I'm pretty impressed with my first weeks results. In just seven days this site has been found by: several UK locations, Ireland, Canada, Australia, finland and the US. To be fair the visitor from Finland was probably an accident as they left without vieing any pages. Pretty impressive though. Wish Jo and her friends were still here as she was somewhere with a 4 hour time difference.

For me giving up is now more about staying stopped. It's 57 days since I stopped and 30 days since the last puff of a cig I ever had. It does get so much easier to stay stopped but it's also surprising how often I get an urge to smoke. It's not a daily urge or weekly urge or anything like that. It's just an urge that creeps in when you least expect it. It's almost like a death. You think you're over someone then, in three years time, you go to do something and they are right back with you.

This week I've been working with someone that I've never worked with before. It's been good because we've hit it off and had a good gossip. Although we've never worked with each other we work with a lot of the same folk. The funny thing is that she had no idea that I had ever smoked and only discovered when I made a joke about doing my best work with an ashtray on one side and a beer on the other. It was a casual remark but it's the first time ever that I've found someone who was surprised that I smoked. Most are surprised that I dont.

2010 is fast becoming the year of giving up. I haven't really mentioned it here but another of my addictions is that I like to go for a couple of beers every night on the way home. Let's keep things in perspective. I never had more than three beers and then went home. Thing is at home there would also be cold cans in the fridge. Because money has been really tight, at the start of this year I've had to cut out the nightly visits to the pub. At first that was saving me some money but latterly has just meant that I need more beer in the fridge.

Everybody has a challenge to meet whether it be their weight or their fitness or whatever. For me the next big challenge is drink. Unlike smoking though I don't want to stop drinking. I want to moderate what I'm doing. So now I'm going to be keeping track of my drinking on here as well if no one minds. The aim is that over the next two weeks I'll cut out the weekday drinking. Only once that works out can I decide what to do about the weekends.

This blog should carry a health warning really. Following this on a regular basis could be seriously good for your health.

Zoe also mentioned setting up a chat room for restless smokers. Personally I think that would be a great idea and I'd set it up myself if I knew how. The only thing is that in the early days it might be very quiet. For what it's worth if it could be done and you could get some docs behind it, it could be one of the most successful sites on the web. If anyone has any ideas how to get something like that up and running give me a shout.

In summary folks. Kath, Poet and Zoe stop smoking this week. I'm going to cut down on the drink and you (the reader) are going to figure out how to make a chat room work. I'll probably blog again tomorrow but in the mean time.....

Stay hooked