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G’day NOPE .....Not One Puff Ever. low tide

NOPE for today!

NOPE

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Never forget why you quit. NOPE!

N.O.P.E. 🙏

NOPE!!

Congratulations to my dear friend and Co-moderator @Doreensfree on 13 years smoke free! 🎉 You truly are an inspiration to us all and should be very proud of yourself today. 😃Treat yourself to something very special! Thank you for all your support that you have given me and many others on here! Onward to 14 years! Not only have you been a support to me, but a very good friend and I am so glad that we have gotten closer in the last couple years! Doreen, All the Best to you my dear friend! You are an amzing lady!!❤️ You deserve the Best my dear friend!! Love always, Sandi ❤️

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I made it to day 4! NOPE! One day at a time..

OOPS, I forgot that I had one set to go post and then made another post. You deserve 2 posts Doreen!! 😃🎉

Congrats Doreen! 13 years is an inspiration to so many people. Itmay be hard for you to appreciate just what your leading example means to others but it certainly is special! Be sure to celebrate the occasion; maybe with a little wine?

Snow in Aussi land ??? Nope!

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Congratulations!!🥳 13 years is awesome!

Congratulations! @Doreensfree🥳 13 years is a fantastic achievement! 😊 Thank you for all the support you have given and continue to give to me and others and for your sense of humour! 😁 I hope you do treat yourself as it's very well deserved! 😊

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Gday Not in Morten Bay it’s the reflection of grey sky on the water at low tide. Pretty bleak But this weekend is due to snow on the Snowy mountains in NSW. And in Victoria on the Victorian Alps. They say there is more snow in Australia than in Switzerland

Woo-hoo!!! Brava Doreen! You are an inspiration! Your presence on this forum has saved countless quits- mine included. Congrats on 13 smoke free years! -L4L

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Oof. Day 3 PM is tough!!! I'm here to pledge NOPE for the second time today. I will not give in.

What the heck is a Mini-Quit? It’s not a “practice” quit but it sure can help you begin a quit if you are having trouble launching one for yourself. It helped me. A Mini-Quit is changing up WHEN, WHERE, and WHY you normally smoke. It’s purpose is to give you a head start on breaking some of the smoking behaviors, habits and associated cues you made for yourself. As smokers we all had our rituals, patterns, and pacifier moments when we used smoking to soothe & calm ourselves. Although not the purpose of a mini-quit, a normal consequence is usually less smoking because it does not feel normal or as satisfying. Smoke as much as you want just not in the normal places and at the normal times. ********** Change the When. If you smoke right after a meal for example, or first thing when you wake up … don’t. Wait 30 mins instead. Do something else first to distract & delay smoking to change up your normal routine. Do the dishes, brush your teeth, take a shower, exercise, meditate, whatever you choose. Change the Where. Smoke in different places. If you have a specific place you smoke at home outside, don’t go there. Smoke somewhere else. Don’t get comfortable either. Don’t listen to music, read, text, or talk on the phone. In other words, don’t multi-task; just smoke. Keep your sole focus on smoking. Observe what it looks like & notice how you feel when the smoke swirls around you. (Personally, I felt an overwhelming sense of all the time I was wasting just smoking.) I’m assuming you already don’t smoke in your home or in your vehicle. With all the known health hazards nobody should be exposing their spouse, children, pets, loved ones, or friends who visit you in your home or ride in your vehicle to second & third hand smoke. If you do smoke in your home or vehicle, stop it! Make those places off limit now for smoking. Change the Why. Change your smoking patterns/behaviors. If you are used to smoking when angry or upset, to concentrate or think, while stressed or talking on the phone, etc., (and who of us as smokers didn’t) … don’t. Wait 30 mins. Do something else to distract yourself & delay smoking. Walk around & breathe to give yourself time to let the “go to” ingrained smoking behavior pass. The only way to change is to make/do the changes. Don’t focus on wanting to smoke either during the wait. Kick the thought(s) to the curb. ************ Try changing up 3 or 4 of your cues/smoking association behaviors for a few days or a week. Then add 3 or 4 more change-ups. It takes 3 weeks to change a “habit” or before we become comfortable or “normalized” with it so I don’t recommend using the Mini-Quit process for more than a week or two (but whatever, it’s your quit; do you!). The ultimate purpose is to launch your quit with fewer cues/smoking associations. It IS important & necessary to replace the old cues/smoking association behaviors with something else to fill the void. Strictly speaking, we don’t eliminate our “habits” … we change them into something else. Make sure what you choose to replace them with is positive and can be sustained for the long term regardless of mental & physical status. As far as being “ready” to quit smoking goes many of us weren’t ready or even wanted to but we chose to quit anyway and made the commitment not to smoke. It’s not about will power either. It’s WILLINGNESS, CHOICE & COMMITMENT. If you can quit for one day, you can quit for two days, and so on. One day at a time in the beginning. Again, the purpose of Mini-Quits is not smoking reduction although as you learn about yourself & change it up it is a wonderful side effect. Be aware that If you intentionally focus on just reducing the number of cigarettes “way down from normal” (especially if it is 5 or less cigs/day) you may be putting yourself into constant nicotine withdrawal or you may be treating cigarettes as a reward which is the last thing you want to do. You do not want to make a cigarette a “precious” commodity to yourself. Remember you are a nicotine addict; it’s not just a bad habit. You might want to consider doing Mini-Quits and then “just” jump off the scary cliff whether you feel ready or not & build your wings on the way down. That IS how it’s done

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Congratulations my friend! I hope you have something special planned for today. The Summer quitters of 2013 continue to rock on!

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NOPE for today!

Hi All! Day 4 check-in. Doing ok. First thing in the morning, after meals and those weird "down time" moments are the hardest. I hear that nicodemon telling me that it sure would be nice to have a smoke, that it would be satisfying.. It would, but I won't. I would sure like to, but I won't. It would be easier to give in but that's ok, I CAN DO HARD THINGS! I sure appreciate you all and having this space to vent my feelings, Thank you.

@Minnie Mouse the British and Europeans write the date differently than we do. Day/Month/Year

I'm a bit confused (not unusual 🙃). Your quit date showing is July 8th (2013). I didn't see a celebration on that date though so whether it was then or is today I hope you keep on enjoying your freedom from nicotine addiction for many years to come. Happy 13th! It's an awesome milestone! Celebrate!

Congratulations on 13 years smoke free @Doreensfree and thank you for all the work you do to continue to support others in their quits. Celebrate big today.

Congrats Doreen, you are awesome

G’day NOPE .....Not One Puff Ever. Grey cold still beautiful

I am not going to smoke today. NOPE.

Congratulations Doreen!!! Thank you for all that you do. You are an amazing inspiration to us all!

Congratulations Doreen! 13 years is an inspiration to others. I'm sure it's difficult for you to realize just how many people you've helped solidify their quits over the years but it's certainly noticable to the rest of us and that's something to be very proud of. Hope you celebrate all these accomplishments today 🎉

So happy and proud for you dear friend! In some ways, it is hard to believe we started our journey together 13 years ago, We have been through a lot together...some happy and some heartbreaking. Love you to pieces and hope you have a wonderful day! "At 13 years after quitting smoking, your risk of lung cancer drops to roughly half that of a smoker, your risk for several other cancers decreases significantly, and your body continues profound long-term healing. According to the American Cancer Society, major milestones reached around this timeframe include dramatically lower disease odds compared to those who continue to smoke"

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Congratulations to my dear friend and co-moderator @Doreensfree on 13 years!! You are such an imazing role model to ALL of us!! Not only are you a moderator, a role model, you have been a great friend to me and many other people on this forum! Doreen, CELEBRATE BIG TODAY!!! We have become very good friends getting to know each other, and telling us about our families. You are a great Lady!!! Thank you Doreen for starting as a person who helped me to start my "Stop Smoking Journey", to a really great friend, as I have gotten to really know you for the past couple years!! CELEBRATE BIG TODAY, MY DEAR FRIEND!!! ALL THE BEST TO YOU!!🎉 Love you!❤️ Sandi

@johnny5 Clearly I didn't do my homework when I was on QSMB! Or maybe it's just me again lol. Again @Doreensfree, Congrats!

Yeah, that confused me early on too. I learned the differences in date formats on a quit smoking board similar to this one (QSMB) in the early days of my quit. Learned a lot since I quit smoking. Don't regret quitting at all. Congrats again @Doreensfree

Thank you Quittrain Yes it’s the correct day 8th August 2013 We do our dates ..day/month/year Its hard to believe 13 years have passed in the beginning every minute , hour is counted, now the years are rushing past Newbies stick at it … I was where you are once … I owe my Quit to this place , it works If you want it to work Thank you again friends Hugs to All ❤️

Good for you @JoJo! Day 3 huh? The worst of the withdrawal effects are hopefully subsiding. Hang in there - you're doing something wonderful for yourself!

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Wow, your withdrawals sound horrific. Your strength and determination are getting you through it. Well done!!! I'm on day 3 of no vaping or smoking. I'm constantly triggered to want to vape because I used to puff on it practically all the time.

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