Day 3 - Feeling funny

I am still feeling resolved. I don't want a cigarette. I don't have any cravings, but I am aware that I have recently stopped smoking.

I learn that nicotine - the active addictive chemical in tobacco (although if you saw the list of cigarette ingredients in the last post, you'll be wondering, like me, where there is room for the 'natural' chemicals from tobacco leaves) - is water soluble. This means that the addictive chemical in cigarettes will 'wash out' of your body within a day or two.

This seems to mean that you stop being chemically addicted to cigarettes after just a few days. The reality is different due to ther 'oil based' chemicals - and more addictive ingredients. Formaldehyde (which is a known carcinogen - it has been proved that it causes cancer), for example, coats the inside of your throat and lungs.

Whatever is going on in my body, I do feel a bit funny today. I feel a bit spaced out and dreamy (remember, I've had no caffeine or alcohol too!). In the evening, I have a meeting with some friends. They offer me a beer. I have to think about it. I feel like I could probably have a beer and not want a cigarette, but I don't wish to risk it. I am on a roll. Three days and no cigarettes. I'm quietly proud of myself. I say no to the beer. As is usual in Britain, if you say no to an alcoholic drink, people look at you like you are mad! My friends give me the 'are you well?' look.

However, I tell them that I have stopped smoking and they seem to understand. The next day I get an email from one of them saying how good I was not smoking throughout the evening. This makes me feel pretty good and makes my willpower even stronger for the day.