As you can see, the first 30 days are the toughest
I made the decision to quit dipping as of Jan 1 2011. I have quit before for a period of 10 years before starting again due to "stress". I have been dipping for 2 and a half years, until I noticed thyroid levels starting to shoot through the roof.
Reasons why I want to quit
Tired of having the substance rule my life. I would go crazy looking for Copenhagen Long Cut. It became a ritual habit and I was beholden to the substance
If I am putting dip first, I am putting my faith (God), my family and my career last. I have been taught that the priorities should be faith, family and job. I made my priorities dip, faith/family/job. You can rearrange the order of faith/family/job, but not dip. It always came first.
Its a disgusting habit.
How I quit. When I quit previously, I ordered the dipstop tapes and fake chew to wean me off of the stuff. This time, I am using faith and crap tea. One thing I absolutely loved about chew was taking a dip right after a meal and being able to, uh, relieve myself (#2). I could literally feel the food move right through my stomach and make its way toward the Pacific Ocean. To recreate this feeling, for the first couple of days I would make crap tea after a big meal.
For faith, I thought of quitting as a blessing. Every time I would get a craving, I would close my eyes and think about the greatness and glory of God. I would focus on a power greater than me. This lucky reminder is a blessing as it allows me to get in touch with my higher power and align my thoughts with spirit. This works. It really works.
After day 2, I woke up groggy and caught myself falling asleep at times. I felt a nasty headache in the morning and I was very irritable as well. There was an intense craving for the morning dip, but i shut my eyes and focused on God. The craving went away. I feel with each passing hour that my body is getting cleaner and is healing, which is a good thing. I am still groggy (they say it it is the dip fog, but tomorrow will be the 72 hour mark.
In the meantime, I am going to start chewing gum. I want to be done with this ish. Its a nasty habit that doesn't do me any good. I feel like you have got to want to quit. You have got to want it.
I am now at the 7 day mark. The fog has been lifted and I feel clean and almost back to normal. However, there are times when I say, wow, a dip right now would be good. During those times (cravings) I have trained myself to immediately think about God. I then get a smile on my face because I realize that God is great.
From a practical matter, because I need something in my mouth, I find myself chewing a lot more gum. I had gotten to the point where I did not even need to spit as much anymore when I was dipping, so putting gum between my "cheek and gum" helps reduce cravings.
I really want to get to the 100 day Hall of Fame mark, but I realize that it is one day at a time to get to that milestone.
My next move is to lose between 15 and 20lbs through exercise. I find myself needing to control my portions more so I don't get so full that I need to take a dip to "make room/move stuff around" if you know what I mean.
All in all, my spirits are up. Let the dip stop continue and let me march on, ODAAT.
Day 20. Still have not had a dip, but I do get cravings every now and then, especially when boredom hits. I am chewing a lot of gum, running more and when that crave hits, I think about the man upstairs and it goes away. I know I have 80 more to hit the hall of fame, but I am feeling sooo much better. The need to structure my day around a can or sneak a dip in is gone. My brain is free. I have to remember freedom is better than bondage and I was enslaved to the nicotine.
My goal now is to continue to get into shape and get closer to God. The dip became a false god for me and was controlling my life. I thank God for the cravings as they force me to think about him instead of myself. I know that through this process I will become an inspiration to someone.
Day 23. Cravings are all but gone. Things are now psychological. For example, stupid things like when my wife is not around or when I am heading to the airport, the thought of having a dip in peace crosses my mind. Then I realize that I don't do it and I come to my senses. This is when I realize the psychological toil this habit has on me. I kept talking about getting in to shape and after three weeks, I am making progress. I just ran a hilly 5K yesterday in 40 mins. I know after a month, I can knock 10 mins off of this time. I have also been going to the gym and lifting. A week ago, I couldn't complete the course. My mind is so in to working out and improving my fitness level that I feel good just waking up.
Day 53. Cravings are completely gone. It is now totally psychological. I am beginning to romanticize about using dip and remember the pleasurable sides of it, but not the miserable parts of it. Coming back to this posting and reading about the dip fog, the headaches, the nausea has cemented my decision to quit. I also prayed as well. I am still exercising as well and improving my overall fitness. I am over halfway there and I will get to the 100 day HOF.
Day 65. No cravings. I had a dream, however, that I had a can in my coat pocket. I have shifted my focus to exercise and spirituality... If I go two days without exercising, I literally start to go crazy. What amazes me the most are the gains I am making fitness wise and I want to keep this up and see where serious exercise will take me. I was able to speak to some guys who I used to dip with and give them pointers on quitting, but they have resigned themselves to this disgusting habit. Not me. Not only do I want to get to the 100 day HOF, but I love being free and this feeling of not being trapped is the best feeling in the world.
Day 72. Man, my life has changed. Every now and then, when I have absolutely nothing to do, I think about a dip. It is all in my head. I then think twice and remind myself to think about the good Lord and the thought changes. It just feels real good to be free of that nonsense. HOF, here I come!
Day 102. I did it and I rarely think about the dip...It is only romanticized in my mind with things I never do (like go fishing or camping). I am a testament to the fact you can quit if you take it one day at a time. For me, my fitness and health have began to take center stage and for the next 100 days, I want to see how fit i can become.
Day 113- and I am still kicking. I hope my journey will help someone stay off this disgusting habit and I really do thank God for getting me through this and this site.
Cheers
Done With Chew
