Its Tom Hanks's fault.

[Dippy_Egg]

See in the early days of stopping I was so incredibly tired. Was falling asleep on sixpences all over the place. But then after this odd phase was over it went the opposite way. Now I dont get tired at all till much later than even pre-stopping. I sleep deeper and wake all fresh and well rested. The night before last though.......that bloomin Tom hanks was on the telly in that film Castaway. Well he sucked me right in and there I was all cocky in my new found non-tiredness watchin him till silly o'clock despite being up at 7 for work the next day. I was even on here (well i always am these days) bragging about Day 13 unlucky for some but not for me. How wrong was I? Yesterday was a nightmare. All day long there was I all nerves and tension. Breathing in and out slowly to keep a lid on things and wondering where the flip has this come from? Got quite upset to be honest. Started to think when will this ever end? Will this ever end? Completely forgot about the fact that for the several days prior to this I had been as calm and happy as a cucumber (are they calm and happy?). Anyways.....somewhere in here there is a moral to this story. I think the moral is watch out for Tom Hanks syndrome.......

You see it wasnt until much later yesterday that I came on here and stumbled on a post which referenced that H.A.L.T thing. Now I have seen this a million times on here and for some reason paid it zero attention. But yesterday I zoomed in. Hungry? No. Angry? No. Lonely? Not at all. Tired? YES........BLOODY KNACKERED!

It was a Hey presto moment. I am....I suppose we all are.....sooooooo obsessed and focused on stopping smoking that its so easy to put every single thing in life down to it. Good or bad. It hadnt occurred to me to realise i was just tired. At work and tired and feeling as shitty as I would have felt as a smoker at work and tired having sat up all night watching bloody Tom Hanks. What a relief.

Anyway....I forced myself to go to bed at 10.30 last night. Dont start work till 12 today and so am nice and normal and rested again and as cool as the proverbial cucumber. Phew.

Last day in week 2 (WOW :D:D)

Quit still going strong.

Love and luck to all, and watch out for Tom Hanks heh heh

[nsd_user663_3282]

Woohoo...2 weeks done and dusted

It took me a while to switch on to HALT but I'm loving the insight it gives. Whilst reading into it I came across a 5th letter - 'S' - standing for 'scared'.

Here's to your week 3 :cool:

[Dippy_Egg]

Thanks Cav. Yes. 2 whole weeks done and dusted. So proud of myself and overall the whole thing, unbelievably, has been a pleasure. I feel lighter. Physically lighter which is ridiculous as I must weigh about twice what I did before the early days compulsive eating.

S. Yes I'll add the S on straight away. Fear has been a definite factor in this. Fear of success and fear of failure. Because I was tired yesterday i was weaker against it. I was absolutely terrified that I would somehow give in and end up smoking again. Not yesterday, but at some point in the future. Must remember never to look too far ahead. The good thing is how abhorrent that idea was to me. But yes....i was scared.

I'm still coping REALLY well though. Honestly I am. I can't stress that enough. I smile all the time and get giggles of excitment inside me. You know that lovely giggly out of control feeling you sometimes get when you first leap into bed (well I do anyway) and have to kick your legs about for a bit and do lots of tee heeing. At work I have to do secret smiles at times in case anyone thinks I've lost my marbles. This remains the single best thing i've ever done for myself.