To recap, back in January the People's Republic of Illinois enacted a new law that banned any and all smoking inside public space such as bars, restaurants, government buildings and office buildings. There's also no smoking within fifteen feet of the entrances or windows or ventilation intakes for any of these public spaces. This ban went into effect at midnight on January first. While I'm not a big fan of the infamous New Year's Resolution, the enacting of the indoor smoking ban on January 1st seemed to nicely coincide with things so that's when I opted to quit smoking. The decision was made for a few reasons -- the steadily increasing cost of cigarettes, the indoor smoking ban (good bye designated smoking lounge at the office!) and most importantly the warning signs that my blood pressure was giving me. At the same time I decided to quit cigarettes I also gave up another old friend and longtime coworker, caffeine, which meant I was to bid farewell to my beloved Lo-Carb Monster energy drink -- though
Woah. Quitting caffeine and cigarettes at the same time? Was I crazy?
Probably! But happily enough everything seems to have worked out for the best. I wasn't sure I'd be able to give up two of my favorite vices and, more importantly, stay off them. I've had plenty of triggers set up over the years. As one example, it's tempting to smoke when I'm being social -- often even more tempting as a large number of my friends are still active smokers. When I hang out with them it can be challenging to resist the urge to bum a cig "just this once." Since drinking and smoking tend to compliment one another the temptation was also quite strong when being social with my smoking friends and having drinks. Still, I have not picked up a cigarette or cigar since I stopped in January. As an added bonus I haven't put on more than a pound or two of extra weight as a consequence of kicking the cigarette habit.
Kicking the caffeine habit has been successful as well. If we're at a restaurant I either get a soft drink with no caffeine like 7up or I stick with water. At home I'm well stocked with caffeine-free Diet Pepsi. The only time I've "slipped" on avoiding caffeine was two weeks ago when visiting
Completely unrelated to the topic behind the cut, I have new LJ icons from
And tonight? Curmudgeon and I go to see Rick Springfield perform in Milwaukee.