Hello my new friend (May I ask your name? lol)
No worries at all, we're all here to help each other in some way or another, well that's the way I see it at least
I'm not a drinker either; I don't like feeling drunk and even the tipsy feeling bothers me. I'm also allergic to sulphites which are used as a preservative in a few different kinds of alcohol, so I am prone to headaches if I drink.
Weed was never an "issue" for me (before I got into a relationship with an ex of mine) and I was able to just smoke it occasionally when with friends who were having a joint or whatever. Like, once every 3-6 months.
This particular ex boyfriend was an alcoholic, weed addict so I was turned off alcohol even more because of the way it would change him when he drank. Weed changed him too, but it just made him "happier" and more chilled so I could deal with that.
While I was with him, I almost kind of took on the whole "if you can't beat them, join them" mentality for a while and would smoke with him. It's not much fun being sober around high people and I didn't enjoy being around him if he was stoned and I wasn't. Plus, I enjoyed being high, so I didn't see it as much of a problem as I had always been able to take it or leave it.
Once I finally managed to get out of that very complicated relationship with the ex, I unfortunately had started using weed as my crutch to cope with the anxiety he had contributed to in my life. I didn't realise I was using it as a crutch at the time, obviously, but now - years later - I can see that's what was going on.
Great work for being four days sober! You're doing amazingly

Having to keep the habit a secret from friends and family is really tough and I definitely know how that feels. Since starting to quit I've told the majority of the people in my life, including my closest work colleagues and my goodness it feels so good that people know. And haven't judged me negatively, thankfully.
Awww, you're not a sad loner, you've got the wonderful people on here!
I know what you mean though; I've always been one to have a few close friends and not a large circle of friends. I am definitely an introvert, however, people wouldn't guess it if they met me. I keep to myself a lot and like my own company. Loneliness does creep in, but that's why I have made a little 5 year plan for myself in the past few weeks.
Hence my question about your goals.
I have found that since having figured out my "plan", I've been a lot happier and feeling less lonely, when alone.
What kind of work do you do for your folks?
What kind of "research" would you like to do? Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean by "encouraging evidence-based thinking" or in what context you mean it. Does it relate to the degrees you've studied? I think that's where I'm getting lost, trying to connect your degrees to what you'd like to do as an occupation
Awww, well, I hope you don't break in to your stash; if you manage to get to 3 weeks you will have "broken the habit" and may as well just keep going! You already
are the one in charge of this habit, you can choose to say "no" to cannabis even if your brain is telling you that it's too hard and you just want to smoke it.
Are there friends who you only see if you're smoking?
Not seeing them for a while is probably a good idea if you do. If they're real friends, they'll understand that you need to not be around weed for a bit while you try to get yourself off the stuff.
You'll begin to feel less sick in the tummy soon and you'll even find you get your appetite back! I found that the strangest thing, I used to have to smoke at least 3 cones before I'd feel hungry enough to eat dinner at night after work. (I smoked nightly as I have full time employment.)
Haha things down under are pretty good

We're about to have a 41 degree (celsius) day tomorrow, which I can't say I'm looking forward to. 25-35 degrees is beautiful, but 41 is ridiculous!

I'm feeling pretty great now that I'm 12 weeks (today) without weed and I am
soooo proud of myself for staying off it this long. There's no point turning back and ruining all my good work.
I don't find that I really have cravings for it now, however, if I smell it, I still really love the smell. Sometimes I'll get the "man, it'd be nice to just go to a friends' place and have a joint or a cone" thought pop into my head if I've had a stressful day at work or just because it was a nightly routine for so long.
I have been smoking cigarettes for the last 12 weeks, but as of today I've run out of tobacco and have decided I don't want to waste any more money on it, so am going to try not to buy any more. Fingers crossed I can get off tobacco. I've smoked tobacco daily for 12 years so it's going to be tough...
I hope you're having a great day and that sleep was okay last night

P.S: how great is it that we can have these chats from the other side of the world? I mean, I know the time difference sucks, but seriously, the internet is a fabulous thing sometimes! Lol I know I sound like an old person saying that as the internet has been around for so long, but you're in Kenya and I'm in Australia and we can chat about an addiction we both have in common thanks to the internet and I think that's pretty rad
