Day 19… that’s almost 3 weeks since I last had a cigarette.

Here are some of the things that I have learned.

I have more money in my pocket. I know, it sounds logical when you break it down. But for a long time I’ve spent cash and used my debit card to buy cigarettes over and over and over again. It was money that was going to be used week after week. But now I have more coffee money, more candy money and more money in the bank. That’s a huge bonus.

Smoking doesn’t look as sexy as it once did. I used to notice people who had cigarettes in their hands and their mouths when I was standing outside or walking. We automatically had something in common and that was a little attractive. But now we don’t have that thing in common anymore and those people just aren’t as sexy as they used to be.

I haven’t stopped drinking coffee. A lot of people told me that I should slow down on the coffee because it would make me want cigarettes. They said it would be better for me if I didn’t have the caffeine. But there’s a reason that Klout thinks I’m influential about coffee – it’s because I love it and I drink it and I talk about it and Tweet about it. #xocoffee

I have more energy. At first it was a crazy energy rush in the middle of the afternoon. It was like a buzz that I didn’t see coming. That huge buzz has faded, but I have seen a steady increase in my energy banks. That’s an unexpected but awesome thing.

I’m more excited about turning 30. I never really fought the fact that it wasn’t going to happen. But at the same time I wasn’t really excited because I didn’t feel healthy or hopeful for the future. Now though, I’m here and feeling like I can get stronger and healthier and better. I like that feeling.

I’ve been told that science says I will be free of all addictive properties in 3 short days. I trust science. I’ve got nothing against it at all. However, I do not believe that I will stop feeling like an addict at the end of the week. I expect that I will continue to have cravings and urges and whatnot. But I know that I want to fight them off and continue this whole non-smoking business.

There are a lot of crazy successful people who have quit smoking in their lifetimes and I hope that I can be like them. Maybe not in as successful a fashion as President Obama or Ellen… but a happy life would be cool.

Here’s hoping that you’re having a great month so far and that you are excited for Pancake Tuesday next week.

Enjoy!