Yes, I Suspect You Are Right

BBC wrote that even if I stop smoking, I may always want to.  I suspect he is very accurate in that statement.  I anticipate I may always want to smoke pipe tobacco.  Here is why I suspect this will be so:

Even though I have lost 100 pounds and have kept at a normal BMI for around 8 years now, there are many times where I WOULD like to eat without thought, like I used to.  But, fortunately, my want and enjoyment at being a normal BMI is stronger most of the time than is my desire to eat a lot more than I should.  I am hoping it will be the same for pipe tobacco.  It would be great if I NEVER wanted to smoke a pipe again, but I think that notion is a real pipe dream.

PipeTobacco

Not So Much for Me

BBC commented that one ounce of pipe tobacco seemed like a lot.  I guess it is all a matter of perspective.  For me, one ounce a week is a significant reduction.  Typically, I have been smoking on average 4 ounces of pipe tobacco a week.   There have been times earlier when I have been stressed when I would even smoke 6 ounces a week, but that was several years ago.  

One ounce a week is definetly a decline, and I notice it quite a bit, but that I think is the point and purpose (I hope).  I am trying to regress successfully to being a non pipe smoking person by "unlearning" my previous patterns of consumption.  I am now picking and choosing times I really would like to smoke my pipe far more carefully, and I hope as I progress to find I have fewer and fewer "really want to smoke my pipe" times.  That is my current working theory.  I hope it is not just a pipe dream... pun intended.

PipeTobacco

1 Ounce

I am in the midst of my trial at reducing my pipe smoking to one ounce of tobacco a week.  I started on Friday.   it has been like I thought so far.  I  am feeling somewhat nervous I will run out before Friday and then fail by reaching for next week's ounce.  

But, I am also (I think) learning to do without my pipe more often.  It is a difficult challenge, but I am going to try to persevere.  My hope is that I will be able to "unlearn" the habit in this way.  

I do not feel like myself at times  though.  I am less animated, and less content.  But, hopefully I am learning.

PipeTobacco

New Effort

I have decided that it is not going to work at just 100% instantly quitting the pipe.  It has caused me a lot of rancor.  I am now thinking and have been formulating for the past two weeks or so, a way to "unlearn" pipe smoking.  My goal is to simply work in reverse how I became a pipe smoker.  In this effort, I am going to begin with restricting my pipe tobacco consumption to only 1 ounce a week.  That is a significant decline from the four ounces a week I have been smoking.  I will write more about it as I proceed.  I am thinking I will start my one ounce per week starting on Friday.

PipeTobacco