QUITTING SMOKING day 1

I have not used this blog since my psychology class and the whole blog assignment thing...
Well, I decided to give it one more chance by helping me quit smoking... again...
I am quitting smoking because:
1. I want to be healthy
2. I want to save money (its about $8-10 per pack in Chicago)
3. I don't want to depend on something to help me relax
4. I want to be able to run without getting too tired
5. I have been smoking for 4 years now... I should really quit
6. I don't want to leave a group of friends just so I can smoke and miss out on the conversation
7. I keep getting sore throat because of smoking (I think)
8. I don't want cancer
9. I don't want to smell like cigarettes
10. I want babies with no medical problems (if I ever have a baby)

I started smoking because:

1. It helped me relax.

2. I liked the smell.

3. I made a lot of friends while smoking.

4. It feels great to smoke when I go drinking.

5. Great excuse to get out of a bar to get some fresh air.

I don't think these were good enough reasons for me to put my health on the line, so I decided to quit.

To help me quit, I have decided to create some type of an experiment like I did before in my psychology class.

Every day, I will go to the gym and exercise for an hour or an hour and a half. If I can't work out every day, I will go to the gym at least five days a week. After working out, if I smoke, I know that my lungs will hurt like crap and the next time I go to the gym, working out would be harder.

When I feel like I need to smoke, I will tell myself, "after 5 minutes, I will smoke."

After five minutes pass and if I still have an urge to smoke, I will give myself another five minutes. If this goes on for more than an hour, I will eat cooked carrots (because I hate cooked carrots).

If I was successful at not smoking for more than an hour, I will eat an orange/cuties (because I love oranges).

I really don't know how this will work out, but I shall try...

I don't think I'm doing the whole experiment thing right... its been too long since I read anything connected to psychology...

oh wellz...

wish me luck.

OKAY!

Day 1.

I had class around 10am today in the Water Tower campus. Going there was fine, but after, when I was done with class, it was impossible to keep smoking out of my mind. I was anxious, annoyed, short tempered and upset. I kept listening to music, thinking, "I'll smoke when I get back to my dorm."

I successfully kept myself from smoking, but I AM STILL CRAVING IT REALLY BAD!!!

I hope this works out...

Week 8

Finally, this blog has come to its end.
I got hit by a car today. Very interesting huh! Well, anyway, I now usually walk 2 miles at night time.
I think this experiment has helped me become more health oriented than before. I quit smoking, and started eating healthy. Sadly due to these requirements, I sleep less. I normally come home later than 10:30pm, so if I exercise and shower, that is easily past 12am. I try my best to finish my home work before going to school, so I sleep around 3-4am. So instead of being unhealthy through lack of exercise and lack of healthy food, I am now unhealthy through lack of sleep.
I am thinking about re-organizing my schedule so I can actually have time to sleep while working out along with all my other work I must finish.
I have not played any games on my nintendo ds in a while, I miss my friend terribly, and I want to eat ice cream.
The punishments were easy to ignore, but the rewards actually helped motivate me.
I think this project would've worked better if I were to change somebody else.

Overall, this project was very interesting, and helped me figure out what I should really change about myself.

Week 7

Total failure...
Sadly, I have not exercised for a long time. Since the weather is so hot lately, my punishment of not eating ice cream but watching people eat them worked very well. I don't think this whole conditioning is working for me, because like I said before, I'm doing this on myself, and I can easily get out of any punishment I give myself. Since I could not eat ice cream, I ate shaved ice. These two ARE different, but they bring the same result. Instead of punishing myself for not working out, I think I would do better when I actually DECIDE to change my habits.
I am going to exercise tomorrow, because my friend will be off from work on Thursday. I plan to work out every night from now on, instead of three days a week. My "transfer-itis" is getting a lot better especially after my new laptop arrived.

The punishments helped me, but did not last very long. Hopefully, my decision to change will be a long term one.

Week 6

I was sick on Sunday, and couldn't return home until Tuesday... so I couldn't work out during the weekend.
My friend got a job, and he doesn't come back home until 9pm. He told me that it would be hard for us to work out together. Since I left all my things at his house, I plan to bring everything back tomorrow at 9pm.
I'll start working out by myself from now on, and I will keep the 2 mile thing.
I plan to work out on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday night. I don't know why, but I'm starting to get really lazy with everything. I think its the whole "transfer-itis" thing...

Hope I return to my whole happy-go-lucky and enthusiastic personality soon.
ah... I'm so tired

Anyway... I personally think that the operant conditioning thing is working, but I don't think it works too well because I'm the one doing it on myself.
I read this one blog post like thing http://bigcatnews.blogspot.com/2008/11/operant-conditioning-on-humans.html
and it was quite amusing... I guess this will work better if I didn't know about it... but since I'm doing this for myself, I am able to think in a different term and find another way around it.

update on week 5

failed...
couldn't work out this week... so decided to add few punishments
I normally eat ice cream or pudding right after I eat dinner, so for every day I don't exercise, I decided to not eat those treats but WATCH OTHER PEOPLE eating them.
I watched my friend and his mom eat their cake and ice cream.
I also watched my mother eat ice cream. It made me suffer horribly and I got a little annoyed.
So... No bubble bath for me today, and no ice cream or pudding for me...
I am quite depressed.

(early) Week 5

I think I pushed myself too hard yesterday, because I felt like throwing up after a while, but it was nice to walk/jog.
I concentrated on weights today.. and it was painful. I got frustrated because I couldn't feel the tension on the places I needed the tension, but my friend said I might feel it tomorrow morning, so I'm quite worried about that...
The plan is working well, I don't even really need to punish myself. I look forward to these exercises because it is quite fun to have legs that feels like jello after working out a while...
The burning sensation in the lungs are quite fun, and I love feeling all tense after working out.
It is painful, but I feel like I have pushed my limits to gain something higher.
OH! and thank you everyone for worrying about my cut. I'm fine now, I don't really feel pain anymore.
I decided to add a positive reinforcement. I shall take a bubble bath on a Sunday after I work out, but only if I exercised at least 3 days in that week. I love taking baths, especially bubble baths. I took a bubble bath today and realized that if I have something to look forward to, I will enjoy exercising even more!

I shall update more on Week 5 later~

week 4

Well its almost near the midst of this week, and I worked out often last week and not much on this week. I think its the cut that made me a little lazy.
I jogged and walked two miles at night time, and lifted weights at my friend's house.
I fail at lifting weights, and walking was annoying in the beginning, but later it got fun, I wanted to keep walking.

I couldn't work out on Friday, because of the cut, and other excuses, so I did not play any games on DS Lite, and did not visit my friend.
He also ignored my calls, texts, and aim messages, which made me really sad.
I actually left my DS Lite at my friend's house, and installed a lot of new games in it.
I love beating games, so not being able to beat any of the new games I installed is quite vexing.
I am starting to enjoy working out because of my friend's positive influence, and thanks to him, I'm eating more healthy.

I think I should makes some more positive punishment, because I learn to work my way out of negative punishments. I will somehow find a way around all my barriers from having fun, and find another way to amuse myself.

I think the most effective part of this plan is that now I actually enjoy working out.