Junkie thoughts????

Guess what, the 'junky' thoughts never go away, it's how you choose to deal with them that counts, stick with whatever works. We are all nicotine addicts for life. this puts smoking into perspective & is the only way you will understand what the habit actually is. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 391 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 9,778 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2541.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 56 [B]Hrs:[/B] 1 [B]Mins:[/B] 4 [B]Seconds:[/B] 38

Stopping Smoking - The Simple Way

[font=Arial][size=2] Hi Everyone, i smoked for over 15 years, my family & grandparents all smoke, my father gave up for 8 years and started again, my brother has tried to give up 5 times without success (twice with hypnotherapy) but my in-laws remain smokefree from quiting over 10 years ago. I Quit smoking 'Cold Turkey' on 31 December 2004. Since then i've been surfing the net and reading books in the hope to discover the magical secret to quit smoking. In the process i've learnt about my addiction to nicotine & how dependant i'd become over it. I now realise how simple it is to become a non-smoker, you just stop smoking. If you truly want to stop smoking you will succeed, it's that simple. I gave up 'cold turkey' and ended my 15 year nicotine dependancy & it feels so good. I would like to share what i have learnt & hope that it will also help you to stop smoking for good. [b]Firstly, i tink it's important to realise we smoke because:[/b] [list] [*]We are addicted to a quick acting drug called nicotine which has developed a mental / emotional hold over us. [*]We associate smoking with moments of stress, love, joy, boredom, relaxation & sadness, so we smoked best at these times. [*]Within half an hour of finishing a cigarette the nicotine levels in the blood stream fall quickly to create withdrawl pangs. [*]Smoking 'tops up' the nicotine level in our blood stream reducing withdrawl pangs [*]Without withdrawl pangs we feel better equiped to take on lifes challenges. [*]Life is full of challenges. [*]Challanges are what makes life fun. [/list] During a quit we can suffer moments of anger and attitude, it pays to remember we also had these feelings as non-smokers. Smoking either suppressed or led us to avoid a situation. I found most of these 'attitude' bouts were brought on by feeling sorry or angry with myself for allowing my addiction to get to this, so i would take it out on others. Giving up smoking because we don't want to die of cancer, heart attack, etc has shown statistically not to be strong enough to enforce carrying out a quit. I don't want to rattle anyones cage but The National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health report in the 1995 Information Please Almanac states that 30% of all cancers are caused by smoking..

HELP! Nearing one month and struggling!

[size=2] [b]Think back to that 3rd week[/b],Why was it easy ? what are you doing different from then ? perhaps this holds the key. Perhaps if the smell is triggering cravings. Avoid the source for a while, untill you can better manage it. I'm not ashamed to admit that i think the smell of cigarette smoke is lovely, but it's o.k. cos i aint smoking it. Always remember that it's our choice what we do about it, you are aloud to enjoy the smell of cigarette smoke & not be the sucker on the other end. It's all a mind game and the mind is a very powerfull thing, it will get easier. keep chewing that gum !, low-sugar preferably. enjoy[/size] ;) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 376 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 9,418 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2444 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 53 [B]Hrs:[/B] 23 [B]Mins:[/B] 29 [B]Seconds:[/B] 14

Stopping Smoking - The Simple Way

[size=2]Steady on people, i'm sorry if you think i was knocking NRT, i honestly wasn't. I am definately not promoting or infact a 'cold turkey' fan, i am simply a fan of giving up smoking. I only stopped 'cold turkey' because i was just so sick of smoking. I did not plan my quit, if i had it probably would have been via NRT. I put this post here for those who want to know the methodology behind smoking, 'the simple way' post was meant to enlighting people & explain why we smoke, to aid in our quits. I only wish i knew all these things before i quit, it would have prepared me better. Brentw1, by our own investigations into why we smoked, we were just fortunate enough to 'see the light' so to speak early on in the in the peace to work, this may not work for others. howevere it is unfortunate that we all become the target of money & Big Business, hey, thats life. Groovekitty, be positive, hang in there & be strong, you have all the support from me. Please use my post for what it is, it's just there to help as this is everything i experienced in my quit. A close work collegue of mine & his wife both took took zyban, they havn't smoked for three years so NRT really really does work, another work college used 'the patch' , this also worked for them for (2 + years). lets face it some people say giving up smoking is the hardest thing we will ever do in your life, we need all the help we can get. be positive in all your quits, Good luck to you all, i'm sorry again if i mislead some of you. [/size] :confuse: [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 376 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 9,416 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2444 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 53 [B]Hrs:[/B] 23 [B]Mins:[/B] 8 [B]Seconds:[/B] 2

Coping with being around other smokers

My advice....walk away - & avoid temptation. at least untill you can handle it. My family who all smoke offered me no support whatsoever, they flaunted it in my face... guess who's flaunting it now, Cha Ching !! Hey HardRoadAhead, you're in trouble.. literally. You won't have a 'hard road ahead' with these 'Buddy Smokers' if you're very strong in the beginning. Generally these 'Buddy Smokers' feel threatened by our 'non-smokyness', they will most likely need you to smoke or you will feel the need to smoke to 'fit in'. On the other hand if they are true friends they will support you & meet you half way, but from experience - they won't, you have beenwarned ..... be wary. :8o: [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 461 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 11,541 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2996.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 66 [B]Hrs:[/B] 3 [B]Mins:[/B] 28 [B]Seconds:[/B] 33

Stopping Smoking - The Simple Way

Hi there, The changes i've gone through 1 year on as a non-smoker is realy quite surprising & that i feel i've reverted back to my 'old self' prior to smoking, emotionally i'm experiencing things as a 16 year old again (i'm 36). A previous post by SHEVIE is quite true.... [quote] Don't expect a quick recovery. The general consenus here is you must be quit for a year to consider yourself recovered; you must experience all the seasons smoke-free. Medical research on the brain's recovery from nicotine addiction bears this out, that it takes 12 - 18 months for the brain to recover from the damage smoking did to it. But it will recover and that's the important part. [/quote] also, as i've mentioned before in another post...probably my best advice to anyone wanting to quit... [quote] "I will share a little secret with you.... When i stopped smoking i decided i was not going to smoke for 1 year, even if it killed me. I prepared to put my whole life on hold for a year for this quit. I prepared to be miserable & was even ready to accept all the destructiveness i was going to cause amongst family, friends & work collegues. Guess what... 1 year on & i'm obviously still alive, i'm still in the samejob, there are still a few people left who talk to me plus i can't believe some of the things i've accomplished this 'smokefree' year. I'm a quiet, unsociable, shy guy with no willpower who quit 'cold turkey', what does that say ! the point is..... how ready are you ??? seriously - do you really want to stop smoking ? [/quote] Remember smoking is simply an 'addiction to nicotine'. By choosing not to smoke we are living a life free of addiction, remember what that felt like ? ;) Hope this helps some of you. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 461 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 11,540 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2996.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 66 [B]Hrs:[/B] 3 [B]Mins:[/B] 21 [B]Seconds:[/B] 18

Hello!

hello. cold t but i never had the cough thing. If in doubt see a doc + it will be piece of mind. :8o: [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 454 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 11,356 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2951 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 65 [B]Hrs:[/B] 2 [B]Mins:[/B] 6 [B]Seconds:[/B] 12

Weekend Promise 03 17 06

ditto from windy Wellington, New Zealand :p [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 440 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 11,003 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2860 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 63 [B]Hrs:[/B] 1 [B]Mins:[/B] 29 [B]Seconds:[/B] 56

31000 not smoked and $4000 saved

Awe inspiring stats, if i do say so myself ;p [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 440 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 11,004 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2860 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 63 [B]Hrs:[/B] 1 [B]Mins:[/B] 36 [B]Seconds:[/B] 59

DO YOU WANT TO BE SMOKEFREE OR NOT???

yup, second that.... i chose not to smoke & it changed my life. ;) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 446 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 11,152 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $2899 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 63 [B]Hrs:[/B] 22 [B]Mins:[/B] 1 [B]Seconds:[/B] 38