Many of our close friends and family were/are under the impression that I have already quit. I did, sort of….for six weeks. Several months ago I did quit. I quit cold turkey and made it for six weeks, give or take a few days. I had absolutely no chew during that time and I had myself believing I was in the clear and heading towards the home stretch of being able to comfortably say “I’ll never chew again!.”
I was wrong…..super duper wrong! The cravings didn’t stop. They never stopped. However, for six weeks I was beating those cravings, with the help and support of my beautiful (out of my league) fiancé, my family, and her family. Family support, which I was very lucky to have, was a wonderful advantage. In the end, what happened was simply a failure ON MY BEHALF. I failed. I don’t know how else to say it. For any male, it’s hard to admit to himself AND publicly that he failed. I didn’t want to admit it, but I’ll say this: Admitting I failed is one hell of a first step to success.
Part of the reason for this blog is to ask ALL of you for help and support during this “Dip Quit Journey.” If I know I have my family and friends supporting me, and all of you out there in cyber space are reading this (vlogs will be coming to) and “checking up” on our daily progress, I truly believe I can quit once and for all.
Hell, maybe this journey will even motivate someone whom I have never met to quit chewing/smoking.
100 days. After extensive research, I have realized that one of the things that many advice websites have in common is the “100 day Journey.” I have finally learned I will NEVER be in the clear when it comes to cravings for chew, but they CAN be managed and defeated with self discipline and support, which again, is where all of you come in! So, are you in with us? Are you prepared to read about and see videos of our 100 Day Journey of quitting dip!? (And much, much more.)
Tonight, at 11:59pm on January 24th, 2013 our journey begins. Through blogs, vlogs, and photos we’ll take you through the ups and downs of this journey. We will NOT fabricate anything. If I’m in a bad mood, you’ll know. If I have a headache, you’ll know. If I had a great day, you’ll know! If I’m in a funk or struggling, you’ll know! And yes, if I FAIL and have some chew, YOU WILL KNOW. This IS real and by hiding stuff from you guys/gals, we’re DOING nothing positive in the end.
We will be doing several things through out the journey to make this “easier” on me- sunflower seeds, hard candy, exercise, different types of diet, etc.. BUT, in the end, it’s YOU who can and MUST hold me accountable!
We’re doing this for a few reasons. Yes, first and foremost, it’s to help me STOP chewing forever. Also, why not hope we get lucky and inspire someone to quit chewing and/or smoking as well?
Reality says, and anyone who has ever sincerely tried to beat nicotine addiction will tell you that this will not be 100 days of smiles and cart wheels. I will be annoyed and annoying, I will be achy, tired, exhausted, and sometimes down right useless for the day. I will be irritable and flat out grouchy. Stacy, I’m sorry and I love you! And again, through extensive research and experience from my last attempt to quit, I learned that I will literally dream about chewing and I will think about chewing often, VERY often. I’ll have insomnia, mouth soreness (healing process), sore throat, and many more spiffy “side effects,” as I go on this journey. But guess what? I will have all of this happening to me because I made the choice to start chewing smokeless tobacco in 1997-1998 my sophomore year in high school. Any crap my brain and body go through during these 100 days are because of MY OWN ACTIONS. I have no one to blame but myself.
You all know that nicotine is a BRUTAL addiction to beat, which is why I’m asking all of you to help me. Nicotine is the most heavily used drug in America. Not because it’s awesome, because it only takes a few “dips” or “puffs” before your brain tells your body to become tolerant and dependent on it. Here’s another “fun” fact for you. Nicotine is a drug that causes you to need more and more. Some people need more than others but if you have been addicted to nicotine for a significant amount of time, think back to the first year or two and then think about today……if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll realize that you smoke/chew more today than you did then. You do that because it takes more nicotine to give you the same feeling you used to get.
Why am I doing this now? Well, there are many reasons. According to the “experts,” The most important reason I’m supposed to be quitting is for myself. Yes, that is a HUGE reason, but I’m not sure if it’s reason #1. For the sake of this, Let’s say the biggest reason I’m quitting is for me so we can get it out of the way. Below are more reasons, VERY important reasons as to why I’m doing this.
• For my beautiful fiancé
• For the kids- Auden (7) and Beckett (5)
• I want to be around for the kids and enjoy the process of them growing into responsible young men and women
• Would I want Auden to date a boy who chews/smokes? Hell no! (ok fine, I don’t want her dating anyone….ever.)
• How can I be a role model for them if I were to one day catch them smoking/chewing if I chew!?
• Oh, did I mention that my addiction costs this family OVER $230.00 a month? Well, I mentioned it now!
• It runs my life! I actually plan things around my dipping schedule. PATHETIC!
• It’s gross! It’s that simple. It’s gross.
• There are many more and you’ll see them during this journey.
According to www.killthecan.org, here is what I will be going through on Days 1,2, and 3. IF, and I mean IF I get through these three days, I’ll only have 97 days to go! Shit….
Days 1 through 3 - Pure hell. You will walk in the fog. Nothing will seem real. You're brain is wondering where the hell its fix is and it is going to punish you until you come up with it. 72 hours, that's all you need to get the nicotine out of your system. This is the only time you will go through physical withdrawal. Drink lots of water. Don't take your anger out on your loved ones.
Alrighty, now you have a somewhat detailed description of what we are trying to accomplish here, but I’d like to tell you just a little bit more and then you can see for yourself what happens. We don’t even know what will happen!
Last paragraph, I promise! In a nut shell, we are going on a 100 day journey that will follow Stacy and me during my quest to quit chewing/smokeless tobacco/dip. Call it what you want, it’s all the same! We’ll be documenting this through blogs, vlogs and photos. There will be new things added all the time and our vlogs, blogs and photos will show a lot more than my quest to quit chewing. Our Life Gone Life page (follow us on Facebook) wasn’t made with the intention of this “Dip Quitting” Journey, we just thought it would be one of many good/interesting pieces of our lives that we thought we’d share with all of you. Like I said, maybe this will inspire someone out there to quit nicotine. If I can do it, anyone can do it! The question is…..Can I do it?
You can follow all of our vlogs, blogs and photos by liking and following our page on Facebook called “Life Gone Live”
It's so hard to quit nicotine! I smoked on and off for years. I have been smoke free for over 4 years now and it's the best I have felt in a long time. I have faith you can do the same thing! Hang in there you have a great support system around you! HUGS!
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