Still winning

As a previous chronic relapser, I understand. It's going to become all about your self speak! That is "junkie thinking" and it can easily throw us off course....the trick is to recognise the junkie thoughts and tell them you CHOOSE to not smoke this time and carry on with life. NOPE, NOPE, NOPE :) xx

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2 weeks is amazing!! massive congrats to you :) x

Hi Kathy, Welcome to the quit train. I am UK based too (buckinghamshire). Congrats on making a great choice and on being on day 1 of your new life. Are you using any quit aids or cold turkey (no right or wrong answer I'm just curious). Hope to see you posting away and sure others will pop along to welcome you soon. x

Hi Karl, So good to hear from you. Again another who never doubted you'd stay quit and I agree, whatever works and when it works is all good. Just happy you're almost a year. And welcome Kathy :)

How you doing today Morgan? Training today?

oh and wannabe new manager who's 3rd in line or some shit don't be a fukcing smart ass with me little pipsqueak, I've heard bull like yours before and you'll never own a pub cause you're a proper **** and your barnet's a fcuking state... there...I feel better already :)

This too shall pass! Powerful saying. Unlike Poop, wow really?! Warm and squishy, argh lol. Hoping for more empowered feelings and less poop! xx

Excited for you. New you and all that :) That said...Just for today, I will not smoke. The just for today starts a lot of sayings that I use for Reiki but it also works for smoking. I am excited for you and your journey. I can't remember how you're quitting, if you're not using nicotine then try and take sips of fruit juice now and then as your blood sugar levels will muck about for 3 odd days and it will help. x

Why the fcuk are people so fcuking gullible! You may look like the all singing all dancing but I remember the fcuking real you and I can say it here even if I can't say it out loud. Argh! Mothers. Wish I were strong enough to not give a shit but I wouldn't be who I am, meh, sucks donkey dick. So thank you for saying how lovely my mother is. Clearly you were never beaten senseless as a child or manipulated to within an inch of your adult life to notice, why thank you! On brighter news, I'm not her fcuking carer at all, ever again, can't control me with your mouthy bitchiness so this fake bullcrap where we all pretend is our new normal - bollocky bollocks! Although huzzah for free childcare where you can't be a twunty wankstain and insult me anymore because that would eat into your bullcrap new persona. Ahhhh the web we weave!

-9

I hope it's ok to say but these comments about free time made me smile. It's true that there is a wealth of time suddenly and it feels like nothing can fill it. May I suggest a list of things to do. Write a list of all those jobs and hobbies that you've meant to get round too and when you get restless thinking free time do the next thing or something you fancy doing off your list? I mixed up some googling of information that interested me (crystals, kings and queen lineage and so on), meditation, cleaning out under the sink, under the stairs and basically jobs I'd put off. I also had new things to try and bake and all sorts. It's really made me smile to remember finding loads of things to do and having the time to follow them through. Either way, week 3 can feel long Indigo, I don't know why. Some say there's something in the 3's, others don't buy into that "nonsense" and I just want to say - great job on trudging through this week! You're doing amazing. xx

Karen, pictures and a plan...you da man (or woman ;) ) xx

Wow Arabelle, already forcing your parents into ditching babygro's and wearing cute outfits instead. Talk em into cute shoes too, a girls gotta look her finest for the photographer :) She's so beautiful Action. How are you guys doing? That sort of sleeping will help you out as well, that's a fab effort by the lil lady. x

How young? My 6 year olds favourite is The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child - shhh but I kinda love reading these too :) My 10 year old favours Harry Potter. Going back for my older daughter.. Age 7 we did Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and loads of other Roahl Dahl books but for sure that one is the best. Age 8 she loved The Worst Witch and the Horrid Henry books, Henry books are early readers and quite funny actually. Age 9 we discovered an author called jacqueline Wilson and she's quite a girlie author. Would suggest avoiding the phonics learning to read books like the plague....watching paint dry is more enjoyable! As a child I liked Worst Witch too and all the lord of the rings books. I applaud your commitment to books :) I love them and it's never too early to pass on the passion. Nothing teaches children like reading, their vocabulary gets better both written and spoken and their imagination is encouraged. So I love this post and will be watching for anything I may have missed for my girls. xx

nope

Not one for me either. A lot of us were in the same boat. Good job on the asking hubby to counter you, sometimes a little reality check does us good all round our lives, none more so then not picking up a ciggie if you're quit. So are you quit now, or is it not tomorrow where you are yet (time differences have me confused)?

Well done! 4 months is amazing and yes, Lido deck will sneak up on you quite quickly now! Shame you're so busy and we can't follow all of your journey (vicarious celebrating lol) but delighted your quit is secure. x

Hi Morgan, Good to see you've found some support. Massive congrats on your decision to quit. I too went through the living with smokers for months on end and have a "sneaky smoker" partner, I reacted much worse then you but I can say I understand that frustration and how it can easily interlink itself to your own quit. However it seems YOU want to quit and the trick now is going to be to mentally seperate it from everything else in your life. I promise you that can be done :) Welcome. Looking forward to your posts. x

Bless you, sounds like you've ended up confused. I want to re iterate that picking a path, no matter what it is will help your quit. A lot of folks here advocate cold turkey. Statistically this has the highest rate of staying quit...however I think they only measure to a year or something. The medical profession seem to advocate Nicotine replacement. Saying you can deal with the habit with not so much of the "cravings". But for sure this can drag out the getting free of nicotine and create craves intermittently, it whether it helps more then it hinders and no one seems to be answering convincingly. Some people quit using wellbutin (sp) and chantix, because it supposedly rewired the brain to find smoking hard to tolerate and taste. Again, mixed results. I want to say all the above are useful to the right person! Only you know which support YOU need. I know Beacon quit using the patches, Jen quit using Allen Carr, I quit by Chantix and then going cold turkey whereas Nancy quit using the full dose of Chantix. This shows me that was is crucial is not your techniquer but your mental commitment - the rest is just "equipment". So I suggest you sit calmly and quietly on your own and pick your path. Some practicalities. Every step down will create a crave situation. Your body adjusts fairly quickly, some notice it a lot, some not so much. Don't make it a big thing in your head or you'll dread the next step down I think. Just counter it with cold water, fruit juice every few hours and a technique to calm your thoughts (something physical like jumping as Tracey said works well), walk it off, click your fingers etc. You are looking for a distraction as it tricks your brain to stop obsessing about smoking and soon it's passed and you can carry on with your day. The distraction thing was helpful for me during cravings, again others do a "face your fears" thing. No right or wrong. All the above are just ideas :) Pick what works for you and ignore what doesn't, none of us will mind. xx

Your stomach area is normally the first area to lose weight but I googled and it seems it's not carb thing, but calorie controlled with some extra rubbish things to eat - enjoy! Can whole grains help you lose belly fat?A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that a calorie-controlled diet rich in whole grains trimmed extra fat from the waistline of obese subjects. Study participants who ate all whole grains (in addition to five servings of fruits and vegetables, three servings of low-fat dairy, and two servings of lean meat, fish or poultry) lost more weight from the abdominal area than another group that ate the same diet, but with all refined grains. Eating refined foods such as white bread and sugary foods triggers a series of events. A rapid rise in blood sugar level is followed by an increased insulinresponse which can cause fat to be deposited more readily. However, eating a diet rich in whole grains (which also tend to be higher in fibre) helps improve insulin sensitivity. This, in turn helps the body more efficiently use blood glucose, controls blood glucose levels and reduces fat deposition.

As a suggestion, a couple of us had calming meditations (guided ones to stop the thinking) for overnight waking. Sometimes quitting can mess with your sleep patterns but it will settle for you. Smoking dreams are another thing that most, not all, seem to get. I wonder if it's the subconcious way of processing that we all no longer do that? They could seem quite real and a number of folks wake upset so hugs for that. Agree that if in doubt you should post an SOS, that shows how committed to this quit you are, great job in beating the trigger down! x

I feel like I missed out, Beth was never mean to me. I once called myself the relapse queen and she accused me of trying to steal her title and it made me laugh...from then on I trusted she had been where I was going and she simply called BS when that happened and hi five'd you when you did good. I like real people. Sending love and light to wish her well on her journey home, safe in the knowledge she will be safe and well with her sister by now. Pleased in a way that they are together. Personally, I feel really sad and can't quite believe it. Can't imagine what her family are going through so sending love to all of them. xx

I bought him a frying pan - he took me to Star Wars.... Romance! I like being mildly certain, nice term ;)

Marti here. x