Sazerac

of course you enjoyed smoking at times, I thought I loved smoking, we all did, that was the whole point... we were addicts ! One day, one moment at a time, the junkie dies, the addiction is laid to rest. Yay You, Day 4. Thanks for checking in, we do worry, you know.

how are you doing, Tiff ?

Equal Night and Day for us all today on this beautiful blue planet and the beginning of Autumn. Still oppressively hot here in Louisiana but, the light has certainly changed. What is it like in your part of the world ? and another standard but, man ! what a groove...

-1 Hi, beautiful smoke free chicks and sticks.

-18 One of these days, we are going to get hammered by Sticks without them cheating. Yes, a day so far, far, far away...a spanking in our distant future...far, far, far, far, far away.....

Rewards are important. They re-establish pleasure pathways that were gangstered by nicotine. It's a special time that you get full permission to spoil yourself ! Spend some time daydreaming about wondrous places...beautiful things....special people. Get yourself on the good foot.

Here is a link to your other celebratory bday thread

-18

Less salt and sugar, healthier in every way ! Get ready for some great tasty changes of all kinds. The benefits will go on and on and on. :)

Here is the link to the other MQ bday celebratory thread.

N O P E

-16 another easy breezy win approaching...but, always watchful for the cheating sticks. poor things ! so starved for attention.

-14 hello awesome quitters

Anger was a useful motivator in my quit, I was angry at myself for choosing addiction which I turned around to Love for myself by quitting but, my WRATH remains about big tobacco as this Evil continues around World.

what will MQ think about the alternative uses for coffee ?

Day 6, Evelyn. Six days of Freedom ! Hold on to your resolve, tomorrow is the last of hell week.

Day Three, Tiff. Day Three. Vamoose, adios to nicotine. Gone Forever. Now, get to work changing your patterns and remind your brain what rewards are all about.

Happy Birthday !

Yay, Day 10 ! Congratulations to you. You did right yesterday, posting an SOS and i am so glad you powered through. The craves and triggers will fade, you needn't fear them. You have quit smoking ! Today, a brand new Smoke Free Day. Yum, leek/potato soup. Have Fun and don't forget to reward yourself.

Smoking leaves lasting marks on DNA, study says By Maureen Salamon | TUESDAY, Sept. 20, 2016 -- Smoking cigarettes can leave a lasting imprint on human DNA, altering more than 7,000 genes in ways that may contribute to the development of smoking-related diseases, a new study says. Reviewing results from blood samples taken from nearly 16,000 people in 16 prior studies, the researchers also found that for those who stopped smoking, most genes "recovered" within five years of quitting. "Although this emphasizes the long-term residual effects of smoking, the good news is the sooner you can stop smoking, the better off you are,"said study author Dr. Stephanie London. She is deputy chief of the epidemiology branch of the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Even so, London's team found that some genetic changes remained, even 30 years after quitting smoking. London and her colleagues zeroed in on a process called DNA methylation -- genetic changes that don't alter genes' underlying code but can change how they're expressed, or turned on. Known to contribute to an array of health problems including cancer, heart disease and stroke, cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly 6 million deaths each year, according to the study. Even decades after smokers quit, the habit confers the possibility of long-term risk of disease. DNA methylation changes have been proposed as one possible reason for this. London's team compared DNA methylation sites in current and former smokers to those who never smoked. In addition to finding that smoking-related DNA sites were linked with more than 7,000 genes -- about one-third of known human genes -- the researchers learned that some DNA methylation sites persisted even three decades after quitting. Identifying these smoking-related DNA changes may lead to diagnostic tests that can more accurately evaluate a patient's smoking history, London said. "We could use this type of data to estimate people's previous smoking," she said. "No one says they smoke when they don't, but they say they don't smoke when they do, so we could use these signals to find that out." This information could also be useful for better identifying the health effects of a person's smoking history, London said. And it offers the possibility of developing potential new treatments to repair DNA methylation sites, she said. "There's almost no time this information isn't useful," London explained. "Especially with a smoking-related condition, if you have an excellent biomarker of smoking, it allows you to pinpoint the effects of other exposures in a more rigorous way." The study was published Sept. 20 in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics. Dr. Norman Edelman is senior scientific advisor for the American Lung Association. He said the new research "raises some tantalizing issues" despite not being able to establish a clear cause-and-effect relationship between smoking-related genetic changes and resulting health problems. "Those of us who deal with smoking as a public health problem understand ... that anything you look at seems to be affected by smoking," he said. "Many cancers, bone disease, lung disease, heart disease, [gastrointestinal] problems -- smoking has such a wide array of effects, it's not especially surprising to hear its epigenetic effects. "The message here is that smoking has an enormous, widespread impact on your genes," Edelman added. "Most of it is reversible, but some is not. So if you smoke, you're going to alter your genetic makeup in a way that's not totally reversible." More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers information on the health effects of cigarette smoking. Copyright © 2016 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Here is more information from Science Daily, June 2017 Where Cigarette Smoking's Damage Is Done -- Down To Your DNA

I'd say it lends a certain élan to the daily grind. When splendiferous words come to mind, I like to speak them aloud a few times If heard on the street, I could be mistaken for an energumen, spooky that.

-13 busy day on the ponderosa :)