Gym goers - thoughts please?

Hey serenity, thought I'd put my 2 cents in. I get seriously shaky and lightheaded if I don't eat before a workout so I always eat a banana just before. It seems to have enough energy, calories, to get me through. Then another snack like nuts straight afterward to keep the shakes off. Usually works! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 53 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,233 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �291.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 4 [B]Hrs:[/B] 12 [B]Mins:[/B] 16 [B]Seconds:[/B] 57

Think Gas is a side affect?

Considering it's Oscars time, I thought we should remake the classic 'Scent of a Woman'. HOO-aH! I can report at 53 days and lots of additional fibre intake, the malcontent persists. PS I nearly fell off my chair laughing at chicknoodle's 'I must chime in here...' LMAO :p [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 53 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,233 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �291.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 4 [B]Hrs:[/B] 12 [B]Mins:[/B] 17 [B]Seconds:[/B] 18

Deserve to feel better by now

I'm right in there with you guys. Chronic sinusitis started about 7-8 years ago and after numerous doctor visits, allergy meds, and one CAT scan I learned that I have a slightly deviated septum (born with it) and the root cause of all my sinus problems was because I smoked. The day I found that out I bought Allen Carr's book. Six months later I quit smoking. 53 days in and my sinuses feel like crap, I've got perma-headaches and what seems like a constant cold. My chest feels tickly like I went through a pack of unfiltered Camels last night but no cough. I guess we do all cycle through this thing differently. I did read on a few 'googled' links that sometimes the damage to sinuses from smoking can be permanent. Defo worth going to a doctor and monitor things the the longer you're stopped. I'll be doing that myself and will certainly check in with any news! Hope you feel better (you to KiwiKeith)! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 53 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,233 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �291.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 4 [B]Hrs:[/B] 12 [B]Mins:[/B] 18 [B]Seconds:[/B] 0

So THIS is what an emotion feels like...

Thanks Nurse! - I love to write myself, and live by the mantra 'show don't tell' so glad to see it actually works :) Helps me to see where I'm going as well, that beach sure is looking good. I flagged down the supply ship and stocked up on the red towels...will be waiting for your arrival! Hey bring some sunblock wouldja? I burn pretty easily :gasp: [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 53 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,233 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �291.5 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 4 [B]Hrs:[/B] 12 [B]Mins:[/B] 16 [B]Seconds:[/B] 38

Right on schedule - I think!

Gonna fly nowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww..... :) Nic is a sly dog, lock 'em up in the shed and throw away the key! [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 50 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,168 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �275 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 4 [B]Hrs:[/B] 6 [B]Mins:[/B] 32 [B]Seconds:[/B] 55

So THIS is what an emotion feels like...

So I'm paddling swiftly across the waves in my raft of bamboo. The beams are glued together with inner strength, bound by a twine of faith and strips I've peeled off the gelatinous glumps of seaweed-emotions that keeps piling up in my wake. Century beach is in sight. Can you see it? It's golden edge beckons. A riot of colour and laughter and joy is bouncing down the gangway of the Magic Ship to the limbo party on the water's edge. There is life here. Real life. I can see you paddling along beside me, all those who quit when I did, many who began long before, many since, others still who are beginning again. Man don't your arms hurt from the struggle against these battering waves? The salt from the water stinging your face like tears. Of joy, of pain, of sorrow, of loss. Shall we take pause and reflect on the journey together? Shall we give thanks that we are not alone in this great cosmic struggle against the tide? Shall we look to the day the tsunami turns to a brook, babbling along, 'water under the bridge'? The past. My world, my everything, to be finished with the past of nicotine. Leave me now, I've had quite enough of you. Anger still fumes, sorrow still cries, joy still sparkles WITHOUT the cigarette. It's just more technicolor, more whizz bang, more Deee Lite 'Groove is in the Heart' now. Dig? So the patch came off a week ago. The patch came off, the dial marked 'Heavy Emotional Baggage' turned full blast ON, and I'm like the tasmanian devil, whirling and whizzing through life at a pace. Who is this maniac one day, angry sardonic cow the next, brooding buffy no mates in the corner the next. Not ME. I'm not this - Am I? Oh. I see. I AM. The raft is afloat, wind in my hair, I'm surfing into all those tomorrows I was in danger of losing for 20 years. I know your struggle, like a darkened thunderhead. We are the light crashing through the cloud. We are strong. We are really living now, baby. x Todash [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 50 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,167 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �275 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 4 [B]Hrs:[/B] 6 [B]Mins:[/B] 32 [B]Seconds:[/B] 17

New Years Quitters are HALFWAY TO THE BEACH!

Holy schlamoley, is that actually a 5?!? Way to go all, glad to be half century-ing with you! I can almost feel the sand in my toes already... :) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 50 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,166 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �275 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 4 [B]Hrs:[/B] 6 [B]Mins:[/B] 26 [B]Seconds:[/B] 31

Celebrate Your Five Senses!

Couldn't agree with you more, Interesting. This is the best thing I can think of about quitting, now that I'm in the midst of it. I've had sinus trouble for twenty years that suddenly seems to be leaving me (gee wonder what the problem was, Einstein?!?!) so the joy of the renewed ability to smell has gone beyond fixation! Today was the first time since I quit that I got really annoyed at smokers out walking - as I was taking my evening walk, trying to enjoy some fresh air, I seemed to be contained in a perma cloud of smoke. When every offending smoker finally turned the corner, I'd get a gob full of car exhaust fumes. Not to mention passing a few pubs with the doors open - old beer and stale smoke. Rancid. Garph! Urgph! Brrrrapp! (Other exclamatory phrases of disgust!) It got to the point I had to keep raising the arm of my suede jacket to my nose to smell something good (OMG does suede smell AWESOME by the way) But that got me some strange looks after a while...'oy what's with you sniffing yer elbow, sunshine? Outta my way while I blow this smoke up your nose!' So it's now that I send out my much delayed but extremely heartfelt apology to anyone I ever 'smoked out' while I was walking down the street, waiting for a bus, hovering outside a department store doorway. You know, back in the day. I'm a non-smoker now. :) (But sheesh, I really feel awful about that.) Which brings me to point number 2 - smell memories! It not only seems like I'm smelling things for the first time, but some smells are transporting me back to the time 'before smoking' or BS (as it unfortunately abbreviates itself.) I keep walking by this pizza place that smells exactly like the weekly haunt we went to when I was a kid. I've smelled pizza before but whoa nelly, this is beyond paradise (especially since I moved to London from the US and they just haven't seemed to understand how to do good pizza over here. Perhaps I'm mistaken!) Then there's the two guys next to me on the train yesterday. Guy number 1's coat smelled like a dentist's waiting room. Number 2 smelled like an inflatable inner tube for floating around the swimming pool. Dentists and swimming pools. Sure beats the stuffing out of stank breath and armpit. If they ever did a game show 'name tha

Coping with the 3 month mark. Advice?

I have to disagree with the bulk of the 'don't think about it' comments here. Clearly you ARE thinking about it, and if you brush the thought under the carpet it may jump up to bite you in the caboose when you're not looking. No matter how often you post here, no matter how close you are to others here, no one knows you better than you. If you operate in other areas of your life by planning well in advance (think vacations for instance) why on earth would you operate differently on something that matters more than anything else? Your quit. Your health. Your future. The great news is, you've been there before, had some trouble and now recognise that you'll get to three months again and you really want to surpass it. You want to be ready for it this time because you're committed to your quit and are planning well ahead to see to it you stay strong. I don't see a thing wrong with that. The spa sounds like the ideal solution, and I agree here, that you should line up the rewards but NOT ONLY FOR THREE MONTHS. Reward yourself today. Tomorrow. Every single day you're proud of what you've done. Stay strong and enjoy as you breeze past three and on to four, five, years, decades... Go get 'em :) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 44 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,028 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �242 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 3 [B]Hrs:[/B] 18 [B]Mins:[/B] 19 [B]Seconds:[/B] 9

I've Gained Weight

Should clarify Danielle, this is a shift from the 2 mile, 30 minute power walks x 5 days a week that I've been doing since July. That's how I lost the 12 pounds to begin with. I quit smoking and 8 lbs came back without changing the eating/exercise regime, so now it's time to get medieval. :eg: [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B] 1/1/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 46 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,072 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] �253 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 3 [B]Hrs:[/B] 22 [B]Mins:[/B] 9 [B]Seconds:[/B] 45