Okay I decided to bite the bullet......oh my God can I do it?

Still smoke free, however I have let myself use nicotine gum, and now I am concerned that I am getting addicted to the gum, and I don't want that either. I actually hate the gum, it  hurts my jaw. But I am not sure I can trust myself not to smoke, if I don't use the gum. What a dilemma.......... staying busy though, getting ready to paint a mural I have been commissioned to do, so I am busy with everyday life and hardly realize that I am not smoking. It hits me at weird times. Like after I eat. I know this is normal, but my goodness, its annoying. I often have wished in the past that I had never started smoking in the first place. Its good to be free, but there are occasions I do mourn the loss of the ciggertte you have at certian times. The big monster dosn't want to die. I am trying to hang in there, and stay smoke free, for whatever life has to throw at me. A baby or not.

Okay I decided to bite the bullet......oh my God can I do it?

I don't know if I am the only one who has written a paragraph to post and suddenly your computer freaks out and you lose it in cyber space, I don't know where it goes....some kind of cyber junk yard? I smoked part of a ciggerette yesterday, just to see if it would make me sick, and yes it made me sick, so I had to strengthen my resolve. I am okay today. Does this mean that I lose my original quit date?  I felt a lot of guilt so I did some cognitive therapy and talked myself down from mental sucide by ciggerettes, I bought some embrodiery thread, thought I would try embrodering something, I don't know what yet, maybe something for a baby,,,,,still hopeful.  I am feeling much more energetic since my quit, and I am singing in my car, which really feels good, to be able to hold a note....or hit a higher note that usually I can't acheive because I smoked. I am still having urges, but less and less, I think I am really learning how to be a nonsmoker agian, and its been forever since I can remember what that was like. I apperciate everyones encouagement on this website. its fun to be here posting.

I slipped....and fell.

I was doing good, then tonight I stole a cig from hubby and I smoked it, it was ucky..........why can't that be enough to make me never smoke again??????? I bought some bamboo toothpicks that are flavored, called JuJu stxs, they are wonderful.....I got them at quitsmoking someone invented them to help smokers. I like them, in fact I like them better than smoking now. I don't know why I wanted to test myself and see if I really hated smoking......a dumb thing to do. But it did reinforce that I do hate smoking now. I couldn't wait to put a juju stx in my mouth to get rid of the nasty taste from smoking.  Okay still working on getting pregnant......another very valid reason to not smoke I know. This isn't just an excuse......I smoked for a  long long long long long time........so its going to take a long long time to get used to the fact that I am now an EX SMOKER....but I am, I am sticking with my original quit date as Cinco De Mayo.....May 5th.....had several slips thats all.....Thats a new attitude for me, always before if I smoked after trying to quit, I just gave in and kept smoking, now I am looking at the occasional slip as just that, a slip. No big thing.....and after each slip I am more resolved to quit.  I know the saying Not One Puff Ever......NOPE.  I am there.  I will be so excited to announce my pregnancy here at this forum......if it ever happens,. But if it dosn't, I am breathing much better, singing in my car, going for walks, spending my money on fun stuff.....yay!!!! okay so we're in a recession, I still feel justified to spend my money on stuff I know I don't really need, but just want......as a reward for not smoking. I am completely commited to never spending money on cigs ever agian,,,,,,,,,I hate making the tobacco companys rich,,,,,and if one less person is buying their product,,,,,then its a poke in their eye. This whole no smoking thing can actually be exciting, and a happy thing,,,,,,,a hard thing to do, but at the same time something worth being happy and excited about.......  A baskin robbins Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I slipped....and fell.

Sparky, you misunderstood me, I meant that even though I slipped, I can still quit. Not that it wasn't a big thing, cuse it is. And No I am keeping my quit date as cinco de mayo.....you see I didn't smoke for 50 years, but 32 years, thats a long time, to do the same thing over and over.....the hand to mouth, the smoke curling up, yes its simple, once you get past the mental habits.  I mean that usually before if I was attempting to quit, and I slipped, that was it, I just went back to smoking......this is a new attitude for me now. So I am holding onto it. I think its normal to still have cravings within the first few weeks of stopping. I am proud of myself for what I have achomplished and I don't think I am lying to myself.  Of course I have room for improvement, by not ever taking another puff, I agree with you there. But keeping my quit date is a way for me to gage how far I have come. Thank you for your feedback.

Feet and ankles swelling

Deb, I think you should say whatever you want whenever you want to say it, I am like you too, when I get negative feedback makes me want to smoke.....or when I first wake up, with my morning coffee, after I finish something, when I come out of a store, when I get in my car, after I brush my teeth......I think about smoking a lot. This seems like a good place to write about your personal problems, even if it seems like your whining.....what matters is that you contiue to encourage yourself,,,,and don't give up trying to quit.  Who knows what all the side effects of quitting a habit like smoking can bring on......since I stopped smoking I chew on JuJu stxs......you can get them at quitsmoking dot com....they are bamboo toothpicks that have lasting flavor,,,,,,I think I am addicted to them now, which is much healthier than inhaling smoke,,,,,,I chew one everytime I want a cig,,,,and now my mouth is a little raw....but if you think about how many ciggerttes I was smoking a day,,,,,,a raw mouth is a much better situation than getting lung cancer.....when someone writes something negative,,,,,,ARGUE......that always makes me feel better.

Not smoking and other ramblings

Its never too late to stop smoking,,,,,,and it can only get better and better being smoke free......if you have never read the book written by Allen Carr....The easyway to stop smoking, I would strongly recommend it. The basic premise is that when you quit smoking you are not losing anything....ANYTHING..... it took a while for me to believe that....still working on it actually.......but my commonsense tells me he is right.......I am not giving up something.....I am gaining something precious.........and so are you.....the ability to walk free........free from NEEDING a cig, free from having to worry about having enough cash to buy smokes, or free from having to worry about smoking in a nonsmoking enviroment....like a plane, a bus, etc.....you get the jist.   Anyway congradualtions on your 211 days......thats a big achomplishment.  Jules

I slipped....and fell.

Another smoke free day.....chewing JuJu stxs.......thanks for the encourangment.
My Milage:

My Quit Date: 5/5/2009
Smoke-Free Days: 38
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 760
Amount Saved: $266.00
Life Gained:
Days: 3 Hrs: 16 Mins: 57 Seconds: 32

Will Go Nicotine Free This Weekend

I am still a newbie too......but I discovered a product that has been helping me......I started with the gum, but then I wasn't following the directions, so my girlfriend talked me into trying the patch....which is working pretty good with the cravings.....but I ate a lot of hard candy, as a subsitiute too, but that wasn't good for my teeth, so I discovered these things called JuJu stxs....if you google that it will show you the website you can buy them on.....they are bamboo toothpicks ( I tried regular toothpicks but they would get too soggy too quickly) that are flavored....I like them all....there is Clove, Mint and Cinnamon.......they cost 3.99 for a container and they last a long time,,,,,cheaper than ciggs. And better for you too. They satisfy my wanting something in my mouth....they were actually invented by someone to help a friend with his smoking. If I feel nervous, I can bite down on this and it relieves the tension, when I would normally light a smoke, like coming out from being inside a store, I pop one in my mouth, and its becoming a habit.....also I do hobbies like crocheting, and knitting,,,,,,I actually used to chain smoke while doing my hobbies, but now I can comfortably do them and not feel a need to chain smoke......smoking is something that you get used to doing over and over.....so its going to take a while to get used to doing something else.

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 5/5/2009
Smoke-Free Days: 38
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 760
Amount Saved: $266.00
Life Gained:
Days: 3 Hrs: 16 Mins: 58 Seconds: 30

Still staying smoke free.......


My Milage:

My Quit Date: 5/5/2009
Smoke-Free Days: 51
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 1,020
Amount Saved: $357.00
Life Gained:
Days: 4 Hrs: 23 Mins: 17 Seconds: 28

Still staying smoke free.......


My Milage:

My Quit Date: 7/2/2009
Smoke-Free Days: 5
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 100
Amount Saved: $32.50
Life Gained:
Days: 0 Hrs: 13 Mins: 52 Seconds: 24