JUJU, I agree with you that non smokers are the only ones who believe quitting is easy. I keep getting people saying, oh, you got it licked now. NOT! So very NOT! But I feel better and am breathing better and I can climb the stairs without being winded, which is wonderful. Mrs Nick, I love the safety plan and the support person, I shall steal the idea immediately! For me, I know I have to have an alternate plan for the sneak attacks, even [u]when[/u] I get 10 years down the line. I plan to carry sugar free gum forever. Cinnamon gum is for really bad times, but mostly I love bubble gum - it's so oral.... LOL [IMG]http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p300/DeeKaySss/gum-1.png[/IMG] Hugs, N2P [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]1/9/2008 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 69 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,380 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $345.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 9 [B]Hrs:[/B] 4 [B]Mins:[/B] 17 [B]Seconds:[/B] 20

Mrs Nick, You've underlined some very great points. Some changes are necessary in order to achieve sucess. Hang in there, you're doing great! Sylvie, Bilingual Health Educator

Hi Josie, I have stopped smoking a few times in the past, but i always ended up starting again. I think that one of the reasons I would start again is that I had no one that I was acountable to so I would jestafy with my self that I would only have one puff and it would be OK. Once I had 6 months in. I though I was all better and no longer addicted to nicotin. I started to hang out with my old smoker friends. I still did not smoke but this was the start of my lighting up the 1st one. I set the relapse 2 weeks before I started smoking again. I made the mistake of not beleaveing that smoking is an addiction. I know that once a person has an addiction they have it for life, so it means if I ever take so much as a puff of a cigerette I will be smoking again. I know that I will not smoke ever again because I am doing it differnt this time. 1. I am letting every one know that I have quit for life and do not want to ever smoke again. 2. I am educating my self about addictions and what I need to do to stay in recovery of smoking. 3. I am making life changes, I am eatting healthy and exerzising. 4. I do not put my self in situations that I would smoke in. If I have to do or go some ware that I would normaly smoke at, I bring a support person with me. I let them know that it is a triger for me and we have a safty plan in place. This seems to be working for me. I still have cravings but I now know that I could have them for the rest of my life. I just have to remember, I did not feel this good when I smoked and as long as I do not take the 1st puff I do not have to go back to going out in -50 to smoke, smelling like an ashtray, not being able to catch my breth when I climbed a set of stairs, feeling guity when my 20 year old asked me for a smoke, having my hubbie complain because he had to pull over so that I could have a smoke. Thinking about sniking out of meetings to smoke, the list goes on and on. I don't think that there is even one good reason to smoke. I only thing that I can think of is that it is an addiction. It feels so great to be free today. one day at a time, for the rest of my life. Etta (March Mellow) [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/2/2008 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 16 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 400 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $192.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 1 [B]Hrs:[/B] 16 [B]Mins:[/B] 50 [B]Seconds:[/B] 25

Josie I always thought that if I could just quit for a week or two,I'd never want a cigarette again. LOL Then I realized how much this addiction has a strangle-hold on us and plainly see it will be with me, at least a very long time. Non-smokers are the only ones that believe the myth that quitting is easy I believe. Been told a bunch of times through the years by my sister "Just quit smoking them") :gasp: now why didn't I think of that earlier!! It isn't easy nothing worth while ever is but,I am not going to smoke today. Judi [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]2/9/2008 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 38 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 1,710 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $342.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 5 [B]Hrs:[/B] 6 [B]Mins:[/B] 58 [B]Seconds:[/B] 27

Quitting smoking has been a long process for me and continues to be. I have know people who have quit for years and still want to smoke and other, such as my husband, who put them down and never looked back. I don't know if the desire to smoke will leave me or not, but for today I will not smoke. The biggest thing that keeps me from smoking today is, and it may sound silly, I do not want to smell of stale cigarette smoke. Also, I find when I think about it, there is a lot of wasted energy that goes into having a cigarette. So not worth it for now. Keep the Quit Sparky [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]4/30/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 322 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 3,220 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $966.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 45 [B]Hrs:[/B] 14 [B]Mins:[/B] 57 [B]Seconds:[/B] 2

Myth: Quitting smoking should be a short simple process. Fact: The fact is, that smoking is a learned behaviour that takes a long time to unlearn. Allow yourself, both physically and emotionally, some time to recover from your quit and ease into your new lifestyle. This actual length of the quit process varies from one individual to the next but in most, if not all cases, it last much longer than initially anticipated. Josie