The Big Smoke

Two and a half years ago I quit smoking.  It was one of the hardest but best things I have ever done.  Sadly, due a multitude of stressful events, six months ago I started again.  I am not proud of it but smoking defnately became my little crutch to get my through the rough patches.

I was recently contacted by Intellicig and was offered an electric e-cigarette starter kit to use to see how I got on.

At the moment, I am intermingling the e-cig with real cigarettes, using the e-cig in the day and real at night.  This isn’t ideal obviously and the fact that I was able to quit a 20 a day habit before purely on cold turkey and cannot now is severely irritating me.

The e-cig is definately helping me during the day and so from Monday next week, I have made the command decision that the real cigarettes will officially be knocked on the head.   

  

I can feel that determined streak kicking back in, finally, so hopefully it won’t be long before the only taste I crave in my mouth is a cocktail, not a cigarette!

You can buy the Intellicig Starter Kit for £18.99 and for this you receive:

1 x Starter Battery
1 x Starter Vapour Device
1 x Starter Battery Charger
5 x ECOpure Refill Capsules (Regular 10mg)

In addition, you can also receive 10 free refill capsules of your choice which you merely need to add to your basket when buying the starter kit.

I will let you know my progress!

Vicky x

* Gifted item

Socialite E-Cigarettes

I have a confession to make.  I’ve fallen off the bandwagon.

After two years of not smoking, a few weeks ago, I started again.  Not in the 20 a day way that I did before, but regularly and every day.   I know, I know, what an idiot.   I am a firm believer however that it isn’t the mistakes you make that define you; it is the way in which you rectify them.

I tried pulling on the reserve of strength that I had to quit  the first time, cold turkey but unfortunately, that strength has been a bit depleted of late and the drive this time didn’t help.  So when Katy from Socialites contacted me and asked me if I wanted to review an E-Cigarette, it felt that just the opportune moment.

I started using the Platinum Starter Kit* yesterday and so far, so good.   I haven’t had any real cigarettes and the fact that the e-cig is shaped liked a cigarette I think is really helping.  It even lights up at the end.

Here is what comes in the starter pack:

The pack comes with a rechargeable battery, a USB charger, 2 Cartomizers (80 Cigarettes) and an instruction card. 

I will let you know how I go on!

* Item has been gifted.  The review of this product will be in one week when I have had a chance to properly test.  All opinions are my own.

Emerging from a Puff of Smoke!

The thing about achievements is that when I actually have an achievement to celebrate, I suddenly come over all British and self deprecating. 

One of unspoken rules of bring British is “don’t flaunt yourself, be modest”.  Well today, Britain, my modesty is being thrown to the winds and I’m flaunting like a showgirl at the Folies Bergere.  Take that British reserve!

Today is one year to the day that I decided to quit smoking.  It has been a long and sometimes onerous process, but the benefits make it worth it. 

I am, believe it or not, a cheerier person in the morning now.  I’ll never be a “morning person” but now at least I am safe for people to be around before 10.30am.  Also, the coughing my guts up in the morning isn’t something I miss.

There are also obviously the financial gains.  I don’t even want to think about how much I spent on cigarettes previously.  Around 18 years of 20 a day.  But I’m not a believer in looking at where you have been; I like to concentrate on the road ahead.

www.Cancer.org tells me that I am now at 50% less at risk of having heart disease after this first year and the benefits will only increase from here.

If you are reading this and want to quit smoking, I would highly recommend Allen Carr’s “The Easy Way to Quit Smoking”.  It is the method that I used and for me, it worked.

I am also happy to inform you that I haven’t turned into one of those evangelical ex smokers.  You know the kind.  The kind that when I was a smoker, I wanted to poke in the eye.  In fact, I still do.  I loved smoking and yes, I still miss it. 

All the diseased lungs photographs and health warnings and cost statistics in the world could not have convinced me to quit until I was ready.  The only way you will ever quit is if you truly want to.  I reached that point, and I have.

So today I have reached my one year anniversary and it’s something I am truly proud of.  The journey isn’t over, but I think I am can safely say that I can pin on an ex smoker badge. 

I couldn’t have done it without the support of my friends and family.  You need a support system around you, and thankfully mine are absolutely fantastic.  To say thank you for the help I am taking my mum and step dad out for a lovely Italian meal and my best friends to a restaurant for lunch and wine.  Now that’s a better use of my money ;)

 



Stop Smoking, Drink Wine

My one year anniversary for quitting smoking is coming up in April.  I can’t believe how fast the time has gone, although I’ll admit that some portions dragged a lot longer than others.

I’ve had my ups and my downs, times when I could have cheerfully punched a kitten for a cigarette (I wouldn’t really) and others where my resolve has been so secure that I vowed that I was cured.  The actual state of play is that it is an ongoing affair.  I still love the smell of a burning cigarette and still miss not being able to have one after a meal and a glass of wine. 

Will I ever buy another packet again?  No.  Never.  Will I ever smoke another cigarette?  Impossible question.  The short answer is of course no, but the rest of your life is a long time, and I would be stupid to think that in all that time, I won’t be tempted to have a puff.  Never is a big word.  I prefer “try my damnest”.

I wanted to celebrate my one year in some special way.  I wanted to do something with my friends and my mum, something fun but also special.  I think what I have decided to do is make my smoking pay for me, and also the people I’m celebrating with. 

So my mum and I love to go out to see a movie and have a meal together, so my non smoking will pay for that, and my friends and I love to go out for a nice meal, have some wine and good catch up, so my non smoking will pay for that too.

In the end, spending time with my friends and my mum, acknowledging the people that have helped me on my no smoking journey, having delicious food, watching new movies and drinking nice wine, all paid for by money that used to go up in smoke, what more do you need?

I wouldn’t have gotten through my quitting journey with them, so a little thank you is more than required, along with more than a little fun.

 

 

Digging My Heels In

I always thought that the hardest time when quitting smoking would be within the first month.  In one way, that is true.  The cravings are at their worst and the lure to return back to smoking is still high.

After the first month, along with reaping the physical benefits, in my case returning to being a human being in the morning instead of a scary, groggy monster, there are also the financial benefits.  Let's face it, although when I did actually smoke you couldn't have dragged it out of me on pain of death, I was spending close to £180.00 per month on cigarettes.

Looking back now, I haven't one clue as to how I afforded that.  Well, in truth, I didn't, I just cut back on every other aspect of my life so that it was affordable.  Once the first month is over with, you get to enjoy the next few months with a lot of extra cash, and feeling better day by day.

Today though, well at weekend to be exact, it was brought home to me that although at four months, I am doing well in the fight against cigarettes, the battle has been won but not yet the war.

Over the past 4 months I have had two puffs of a cigarette, on different occasions.  Both on a night out with smokers around me.  The previous two times actually increased my resolve.  I didn't enjoy the taste and they did nothing for me.  There were dangerous experiments that didn't cause any harm.

This weekend however, the dangerous experiment backfired.  I was out with the girls and on my way to the taxi rank I started talking to a smoker.  Without really even thinking about what I was doing, I asked for a puff of his cigarette.  It wasn't a craving, it wasn't an experiment to see if it still tasted bad, it was just a..... thing.

To be honest, I was fully expecting it to be like the previous two occasions.  Well I had smelt the lure of a cigarette, tried it and found it horrible to taste.  This time, it wasn't.  That one puff of a cigarette brought back every single memory of how much I had loved smoking.  It tasted so good, I didn't feel dizzy, it felt right.  Oh crap.

The next morning, I had a lucky escape.  There were no cravings, and no temptation to wander off to the shops for a packet of cigarettes.  I had a feeling of guilt but nothing more.  It could have been so much worse.  I could have knocked myself back to the beginning.

That's when I realised, the moment that you think that you are safe, that you don't need to keep your guard up, that is one of the most vulnerable times.  I probably would have known this if I had gone down the route of smoking cessation classes and all the information that is readily out there.  It is just common sense really.

Me being me though, I like doing what you shouldn't.  99% of people will tell you that having a puff of a cigarette when you are trying to quit is a really stupid idea.  It is.  I have learnt that now.  I am not over my addiction.  Although I am no longer in the grasps of complete addiction of cigarettes, I could, if I don't keep my guard up, accidentally become a smoker again without much of an effort.

The puff of a cigarette on a night out would turn into "Oh go on then, I'll just have one".  This would move to smoking "socially" and then suddenly, I would be a smoker again.

So, resolve back in place, stupidity back in check (for smoking at least haha).  I'm back on track.  

Me if I am not careful!!