stopsmoking365dayschallenge

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Day 21: Tobacco Absolute

Santal 33 by Le Labo is dubbed “the perfume you smell everywhere” by a New York Times article. Interestingly, MIC pointed out that it contains traces of tobacco absolute.

Prior to giving up smoking, I researched on the use of aromatherapy to help with nicotine withdrawals symptoms. I found out that tobacco absolute is supposedly a highly effective tool to help smokers quit. This claim has only been supported by anecdotal experiences of the smokers community, and not systematic research has been performed.

Given the positive feedback on the use of tobacco absolute in aiding smokers quit, this has the potential to be the next breakthrough.

Note: Tobacco absolute and tobacco essential oil are different in their method of extraction. Tobacco essential oil is extracted through the steam distillation method, whereas tobacco absolute is derived through the process of solvent extraction.

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Day 20: A conversation with Mom

“Oh mom, by the way I have quit smoking”, I nonchalantly told mom as we were having lunch. Mom 

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Day 19: Driver’s craving

It was one year into smoking before I started smoking in my car. Due to the heavy road congestion experienced on an almost daily basis, Jakarta is the perfect city for in-car smoking. It is a pretty effective way to kill boredom and stay awake during long drives.

For safe guard, I will be driving with my new family car instead. The older family car has too many memories of my smoking escapades and I fear the worse.

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Day 18: Back to where it all started

I have to admit that flying back to Indonesia gave me shivers. This is the place where I started smoking, and also where I have the highest risk of relapse. 

Indonesia has the world’s highest smoking prevalence among males, as 67.4 percent of males over 15 years old smoke. This translates to me being surrounded by smokers all the time. 

Let’s see if I can manage to keep this up.

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Day 17

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Day 16

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Day 15: Rising Confidence

As I stretched out to my hotel’s balcony on the morning of day 15, I was greeted with the most beautiful weather Phnom Penh could offer. I pan my gaze downwards and found a cigarette tray lying seductively on the patio table.

A couple of weeks ago, the temptation to nuzzle into the chair and light a cigarette would have been overwhelming. Now I look at the cigarette tray and only see a glass decor arranged on a table, no different to a glass flower vase. 

Have I won the battle? We will find out a year later. As of now, I am confident that I have officially taken my last drag 2 weeks ago. And I feel better that I have ever felt in a long time!

P.S. I haven’t updated this blog for the past 2 weeks because I wanted to concentrate fully on myself. I have, however, took notes and will gradually update them here.

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Day 14

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Day 13

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Day 12

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Day 11

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Day 10

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Day 9

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Meditate the cigarette away

I have only recently started meditating.

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Day 8

I am proud to proclaim that I have completed 1 week of being smokefree.

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Day 7

Today we gather again in a circle before we say our farewell.

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Day 6