One year after I quit smoking

It is a belated review a year after I quit smoking. I quit smoking on August 17, 2009 and had tried three times to re-start the habit in the first 6 months. Every time, it got me sick. The last time was in early January 2010 in San Francisco. I bought Swedish Snus and stuck some under my upper lip. Within 10 minutes, my stomach started to hurt. Another 10 minutes I felt totally sick and my face turned white. Richard had to drive me back quickly to my brother’s house where we were staying so I could lie down. After that incidence, I never touched again nicotine related product.

After one year, Richard asked me how I viewed cigarettes. The following summarizes what I believe at this time:

Nicotine is a drug and like any other drugs, it has benefits and side effects. Its benefits are

1. It helps to prevent constipation.
2. It is an appetite suppressant
3. It helps us to relax and focus

The side effects are:

It hurts wherever the nicotine comes into contact - gum, sinus, esophagus, stomach, lung and possibly other parts of us.

After quitting smoking the improvement I noticed in me is the health of my gum and sinus. My gum stopped bleeding when brushing my teeth and I breathe much better.

I am taking Aloe Vera drinks along with eating a lot of fiber to prevent constipation and it is working very well.

However, I kept on eating and my weight kept on going up until I hit 110 lbs (from 95-96 lbs). So I put a stop to it through eating less and exercising more. Now I have been weighing 100 to 103 lbs for the last two months. But craving for food has not stopped. I did not even know that I craved for food until I quit smoking. I believe that every time when discipline rather natural inclination is involved in controlling something, in this case, eating habit, one is confronted with stress, which brings us to nicotine’s third benefit.

I have not found a replacement for the third benefit. I did meditation on and off, and was not successful in forming a habit. Sometimes I wonder whether increased numbers of burnouts and Prozac prescriptions are related to people quitting smoking cigarettes.

Of course, if only nicotine is not addictive, we could then take a few puffs here and there just like taking a Tylenol when one has a headache. It seems that anything which will give you a sense of well being is addictive including sugar.

In conclusion, after a year of quitting smoking cigarette, I am still struggling with the deprivation of a drug that has kept my eating habit under control and kept me relaxed and focused. In another word, I have not found a new alternative to replace nicotine yet. Food actually screamed loudest wanting to be an alternative, but it was scratched off. Walking, rope skipping and meditation are being nurtured as alternatives. How successful am I? I will check back periodically.