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And when you come to realize this as Kelly has

16 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1985

And those too Ladycigevictor come to pass somewhere between yours and my time: "Before very long the thoughts subsided and now I only "think" about smoking when I come here or I see someone else smoking." Perfect of you thank you!
My Milage:

My Quit Date: 1/22/2006
Smoke-Free Days: 892
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 16,056
Amount Saved: $5,218.20
Life Gained:
Days: 163 Hrs: 11 Mins: 21 Seconds: 0

16 years ago 0 +0 / -0 925

Thanks for the posts Stickin, Kelly, Moss and Brenna. Great discussion going here!

I think this retraining of the brain part of quitting that's the make it or break it part for most folks. Like most people, in all my previous quit attempts I was totally uneducated about nicotine addiction, let alone the differences between the physical cravings, the mental cravings and breaking the habitual parts to quitting. I'd smoked so much and for so long that every breath I took was a trigger to light up. Not smoking at any time made me feel anxious! I never thought I'd feel one day of peace without a cigarette, let alone imagined living a life of freedom. Thank goodness I wanted to quit badly enough that I found the SSC and read the information I needed to finally set myself free.

Yes, I'm with Stickin and I'm here to say it's very possible to feel the freedom of not craving a cigarette. Some people are able to get this feeling very early on in their quits (I'd say I felt it on day 1 and by 90 days I was feeling really, really good about my freedom). I did it by educating myself about nicotine addiction, knowing what I could expect at different stages of my quit and then preparing myself physically (water, straws, hard candies, jokes) and as much as possible mentally for those unexpected triggers. When a smoking thought would hit, I embraced it by thinking "yes, in the past I would have smoked now, but since I've quit for good I don't have to anymore" and then I'd just carry on about my business. Before very long the thoughts subsided and now I only "think" about smoking when I come here or I see someone else smoking. Every person and every quit is different so the methods and length of times to acheive the "free" feeling will vary. I know for me it's not possible to be quit and not feel this freedom. Smoking made me a slave. Not smoking has set me free.

Kelly said: "I want to be the one that lets go, completely and enjoys my life in freedom".

Kelly, you will be the one who lets go completely...because you want to. You will enjoy your life in freedom. In fact, you're already free...you've done the hardest parts of getting to the freedom...maybe you just haven't taken the time to look back and see that....Smoking is behind you. Your life is ahead of you! All that's left for you to do is "face down" the last remaining triggers until thoughts of smoking are few and very far between. You're having an amazing quit. You've gained the knowledge you need to set yourself free. Be patient with yourself and one day very, very soon it'll "hit" you and you'll feel the 360 degrees of freedom you so deserve.

Pat

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 1/28/2007
Smoke-Free Days: 521
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 20,840
Amount Saved: $10,420.00
Life Gained:
Days: 63 Hrs: 15 Mins: 44 Seconds: 39

Quit Meter

$125,030.40

Amount Saved
Quit Meter

Days: 995 Hours: 22

Minutes: 10 Seconds: 55

Life Gained
Quit Meter

6512

Smoke Free Days
Quit Meter

312,576

Cigarettes Not Smoked

16 years ago 0 +0 / -0 967

Like you, I knew it had to be done, and if I didn't do it, hubby would be angry. So, I just held my breathe and did it. Some of the things I needed meds before hand to even do it, like you said, the anxiety builds as you worry about it. I remember the first time mowing the lawn, I was totally worried about it all day, I used to sit on the riding lawn mower, veg out and smoke the whole time. I was really worried about that..weird sounds stupid to say that. Now, after doing it enough, like last night, it doesn't even phase me anymore, except every once in awhile I will think, geez, I am not smoking and I wasn't even thinking about it. I really need to force myself to do the things though, as my name would let you know, I get anxious about everything!!

Kelly

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 12/6/2007
Smoke-Free Days: 209
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 6,270
Amount Saved: $783.75
Life Gained:
Days: 17 Hrs: 1 Mins: 17 Seconds: 46

16 years ago 0 +0 / -0 649

Hi Brenna

Thanks for chiming in. It would be great to here from people how they dealt with this aspect. This is a great idea for newbies and teenbies

alike. Some activities/tasks are so closely tied to smoking that I think it's hard to fathom doing the task without smoking.

One way I dealt with this was to do the task/activity (gardening is a big one) as soon as possible in the morning so I wouldn't have to dwell on it and worry about the anxiety associated with not smoking during or after it. If I put it off till later I would find myself thinking about smoking until I did it anyway. It was just, Face it down, do it, and hopefully it will be better for next time. And I think it does get easier after you face it a few times.

Kelly, you and I have talked about this in the past. Especially this spring with the outside tasks. How have you faced some of these?

Moss

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 11/19/2007
Smoke-Free Days: 226
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 3,390
Amount Saved: $762.75
Life Gained:
Days: 36 Hrs: 9 Mins: 22 Seconds: 20

16 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1153

Stickin to it,

Thanks for highlighting Anxious' great post.

Re-learning behaviour is a big challenge for many smokers, it is entirely possible though.

Members, can share how they have learned to do activities without smoking?

Brenna, Bilingual Health Educator

16 years ago 0 +0 / -0 967

Stickin, you are just to awesome for words.

Thanks,

Kelly

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 12/6/2007
Smoke-Free Days: 209
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 6,270
Amount Saved: $783.75
Life Gained:
Days: 17 Hrs: 1 Mins: 6 Seconds: 59

16 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1985

I had a person who works with me, my age and has emphysema. He told me that he was going out one way or the other and you know he is right and your guy is right as well, we’re going out one way or the other. I talked with him a bit and about his labored breathing and how would only get worse. Iif he gave it up now, perhaps it would get better or no worse. It had been several months since I last saw him however he emailed me and told me that he made his decision to give them up. Who would of thunk that! There is another good reason to quit, how about pride.

Anyhow Moss, I do believe that the right circumstances have to be in place for a person to be able to get past the first couple weeks and sheer drive and determination keeps them going just like you and Kelly have been capable, as examples, of doing.

You both are doing really well with 7 ½ and 7 months of experience. Both of you are seasoned now. You are invested and have invested heavily wait around for the pay out as you so deserved. Remember that you can have the whole enchilada there is no such thing as a half enchilada so do not bother thinking about a reoccurrence. Don’t smoke and keep yourself distracted and stay away from other smokers until you heal yourself. You’ll get there; we all do when we continue to stick to it!

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 1/22/2006
Smoke-Free Days: 892
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 16,056
Amount Saved: $5,218.20
Life Gained:
Days: 163 Hrs: 10 Mins: 8 Seconds: 10

16 years ago 0 +0 / -0 967

Your welcome Moss, and I hope you get to read this, but remember, those people aren't happy. If they were, they never would have attempted a quit, they just couldn't do it that time, so this is how they jusify it. I know, I did the same thing. (still rumbles in my head at times.) You can do this buddy, you can beat it I know you can. Hang in there.

Kelly

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 12/6/2007
Smoke-Free Days: 209
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 6,270
Amount Saved: $783.75
Life Gained:
Days: 17 Hrs: 1 Mins: 6 Seconds: 11

16 years ago 0 +0 / -0 649

Hi Stickin

I'm glad you posted this. I read that as well and it stuck out to me. I have been in need of a little attitude adjustment the last few weeks. I am still having some trouble with certain tasks and times of day. I have been around a lot of smokers (no choice) since school's been out. They are respectful of me but are not shy about reminding me that some of them quit too and the cravings never left, they were miserable, so they all gradually went back to smoking. And they claim to be satisfied with their choice. you know the junkie talk, Hey, I gotta die from something and I sure don't want to live long enough to wind up in a nursing home. I'm going out with a smile on my face. I heard that one 2 days ago.

Now, I know better and I recognize it for what it is, but being around that attitude every day has been a little trying. I crave the day when I can say I haven't thought about a cig. I haven,t been able to post much lately and am hoping to boost my attitude by getting here more. I guess I just need to hear some positive outcomes instead of the misery stories I've been hearing lately.

Thanks again Stickin for the reminder and thanks Kelly for using the right words to describe part of this journey.

Moss

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 11/19/2007
Smoke-Free Days: 226
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 3,390
Amount Saved: $762.75
Life Gained:
Days: 36 Hrs: 8 Mins: 58 Seconds: 26

16 years ago 0 +0 / -0 967

Yes, it totally does. I am so glad you stick around to help us out. I always thought that to quit smoking, you just needed to be quit long enough to get the nicotine out of your system and then all would be good. I never realized what a turbulant journey it really is. Now that I understand it better, I come this far, instead of only making it a month or a few days. It is because of the advice here and the hope that I receive from members like you that keep me going.

Thanks for Stickin to it!

Kelly

My Milage:

My Quit Date: 12/6/2007
Smoke-Free Days: 209
Cigarettes Not Smoked: 6,270
Amount Saved: $783.75
Life Gained:
Days: 17 Hrs: 1 Mins: 1 Seconds: 26

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And when you come to realize this as Kelly has