Day Two of Quitting smoking by vaping

I woke this morning with determination to make a real go of this quitting smoking plan.Here is how it went.....

The Normal Routine

My usual morning routine is to put the kettle on, put coffee and sugar in my cup and then go outside with the dog and have a cigarette whilst waiting for the kettle to boil. I would then go back inside, make my coffee, grab some treats for the dog, grab one of my Android tablets and go back outside to my "smoking area". I would then proceed to almost chain smoke for the next couple of hours whilst wasting time checking emails and watching stupid You-tube videos.

It was quite common to have 7 to 8 cigarettes per hour doing this, and sometimes I would sit there from 6:30am until 11:30am just killing time (and myself with the cigs I guess). I would only really go back inside to make more coffee and go to the toilet, the rest of the time was just waiting for my next smoke while playing with the tablet.

Today's Routine

This morning I wanted to change things up, but still be able to sit outside and enjoy the morning. If you remember I said I had half a pack of tobacco left and I am going to buy any more, so my plan is to use that tobacco to transition over the next few days and track how many I am having. My resolve is to have no more than one cigarette per hour today, hopefully even less than that, and use the vape to help with the cravings both physical and psychological.

So outside I went this morning after taking my time to actually make my coffee rather than rushing out immediately. I took my coffee, my tablet and my vape with me and decided to have my first cigarette after being up for just over half an hour. This is a vast improvement on rushing out within minutes of getting out of bed.

Revelation

You know what, that first cigarette for the day tasted horrible and I was so much more aware of how much it made me cough. By the time I was finished it I was even more determined than before. However, after having tried to give up cold turkey, with patches and a few other ways, I was very much aware that just throwing the tobacco out was not the best pathway for me. For some reason it's a mental trigger that makes me desperate to go buy more (I hate you tobacco companies!).

So I sat out there for the best part of two hours, during which time I had quite a few hits on my vape and one more cigarette (one hour and ten minutes after my first one). The second one made me cough again and tasted almost as bad as the first.

And Then....

Vaping inside is not like smoking inside

After the two hours, I went back inside and decided to do some work. I can vape inside, which is something I would never do with cigarettes, so I have been taking drags as I feel I need them for the last one and a half hours. In my head I feel I want to go have a cigarette, but I don't have any actual physical cravings so it is easier to ignore that.

My breakdown of morning cigarettes is as follows:

• 7:38am - out of bed
• 8:10am - first cigarette
• 9:22am - second cigarette
• 10:20am - went back inside
• 11:48am - finished this post

Summary

So in just over four hours, I have had two cigarettes! For those that are heavy smokers like I am, you will appreciate just how phenomenal that is. Going from what would normally be 20+ cigarettes in that morning time period to only two is so encouraging. Makes me realise that I can do this and the method I chose should work.

I am pumped and will share more later today on how I am going with this.

Ian 😊