notsmokinjo

Got a coupla years to go yet ...

Sticking with the age theme...

Yep thought so...but you word way better than me

I know there are a few threads already about the unexpected gains we got from quitting BUT I'm too lazy to go hunting, besides when ya do you tend to fall down a rabbit hole of rereading some bloody good posts...well I do..anywho ..was reading an old post and it got me thinking (no it did not hurt)... Did quitting change who I am? Has it opened life opportunities that weren't there previously? Yes quitting made me different I'm now a nonsmoker. But it also made me different in other ways...and I think to some extent that evolution is still happening. I mean we spend our whole existence changing and evolving but I defo reckon that quitting spun me into a completely different trajectory...and ya know wot?, It ain't half bad. I see lots of peeps post between months 3-7 of their quit...it's made me different...it's changed who I am...yep...it does...and looking back over all the characters I've met here on the train it's true for all of us...some it's softened the hard edges of, some it's toughened up...some it's allowed to grow up..and some it has allowed us let go. Noone has escaped. Ok so I'm 2+ years in and in some ways im still settling into my new skin...but I am different and I'm better for it, my life is better for it, in many, many ways...ways that had I still been smoking it certainly wouldn't be. I kinda reckon the triggers you go through in ya quit are the lessons you need to master...for me it was all the emotional stuff from growing up that when it'd touch the surface I'd chase away with a durry...that was gone so I had to deal...and it may be takingbme a fair wack of time to do so but I have learnt I am worthwhile just the way I am and if someone else doesn't think so it's no skin off my nose an it's their loss. I've quit suppressing me and all my crazy...nerdy...oddness cos let me tell you, you don't like it then keep on movin mate cos your opinion of me doesn't define me. Quitting smoking gave me that. So the point is newbies an inbetweenies...don't be scared of the changes ..embrace them...grow...because you will still be you..just different..and that is good.

You ever wonder if quitting was the key that unlocked a whole new you/life?

Yeah-nah...it's a NOPE for me.

Confession: King Boo best not be thinking of my island for the location of his exiled assholes...could suggest a few others that would be much more suitable...besides the Brits already did that down here and look how that worked out...one countries assholes became the greatest peeps on earth

I cried...I think good fresh mangos is what I miss most about living in Darwin....an NOTHIN says Christmas like fresh mango. Thanks for the grilled goats cheese suggestion. Used to make mango n strawberry jam and a spicy mango chutney when I lived up north. Peach n Basil jam was because a fluke, had a bunch of fresh basil that was sitting there from making a salad and decided to pop some in with some peach jam. I know dad used it to glaze some pork chops and has been having it with his ham sandwiches. Dads nectarine tree was not much chop this year...the smoke seems to have affected the fruit but the peach tree that sits next to it escaped any taint.

In the meat section of our supermarkets we have a plant based minced meat available. I have been using this for a while now to make all my mince dishes (meat balls, burgers, Sauvage rolls, pies, spag Bol, lasagne, pastitse, cobblers, cottage pie, savoury mince, chevaps, chowmin, San choy bow, spring rolls, larb salad). .none of the anti veggie carnivores in my house have picked the switch. Texturally it is the same so there is correction needed for your recipes. Oh...have an awesome birthday...Thai is one of my faves.

I can give or take meat...although love me lamb roasts...I couldn't give up fish and seafood though..I love me veg and fruit and legumes but it's hard when your the only one in the house. Have to say I agree with @Sazerac...black rice is sh1t hot and makes all other rices seem bland and tasteless and lacking in texture. Love salads. Tempeh is a good meat substitute, I tend to prefer it over tofu and some of the Quorn products are not too bad. Love chickpeas....love Black beans. I have a simple chickpea salad a few days a week...all I do is change the herbs and seasoning to switch it up....it's just chickpeas, cubed cucumber, cubed tomato, fresh basil or coriander leaves and then taco seasoning, or Thai spices, or Greek spices or so dukah .... And then a squeeze of lemon juice... bangin'. I have switched out the chickpeas for black beans when doing Mexican flavours.

Eating my veggies, roast pumpkin and peas...yum yum pigs bum!...wondering if my dad sent home enough peaches to make jam and chutney...so far this summer I have made peach jam, peach n raspberry jam, peach n brandy topping, peach n basil jam...and get home from work tonight to more bloody peaches, raspberries and empty jars...

Nope...yep the P was popped

So I'm a bit late to Boo's big gender reveal but all the way from Down Under here's the best daddy Daughter song ever written.

Pumpkin Soup..yummo...no pic ...but quick n easy....pumpkin soup has to be the best soup ever.

Life got real sh1t real quick on multiple fronts...and I responded to something with the kid by tossin me lappy...soz to any I worried.

Bouncing back to life on the train... Um...just realised that sounds like I'm starting over...but nope still on the road to three years. Missed yous all too much to stay away.

Nope .. still livin the dream

Nah they'll frickin love it....now they've got the big frickin Rock...cos everything's bigger in Texas

You should be proud of yourself for not taking the offer. That is a big milestone. Well done.

Hey Chook, 3 words for ya mate...it gets better.... Unfortunately there is no magic date or time because we are all bloody different. Side effects and changes of quitting are different for all of us too. I felt crap when I quit...had all these wired side effects, insomnia, hand tremors, hot flushes, cold sweats, diet issues, concentration problems....in my case nicotine had been 'medicating' (MASKING) some major thyroid issues. Quitting literally saved my life. Your body takes ages to purge the crap smokes have left behind. For me, when I stopped expecting to feel better I suddenly did.

Most of the price is made up of taxes. In the early 90s the Aussie government bought in a prohibitive pricing policy to phase out smoking... Initially this was 2% increase twice a year...in the mid naughties this was upped to a 9% a year increase per year (3x 3% Inc's per annum). Then in 2016 the annual increase was set at 12.5% per year (4.5, 4 & 4) up to and including 2020...at this stage I am not sure what the plan is come 2021...oh and the excise tax is before the 10% GST. The tobacco excise is supposed to support quit initiatives and go into the health system....not sure that happens though. So even as a smoker I was pro inhibitive pricing....yes the argument is it just punishes the poor and creates class divide but I am that poor...well more like working class....still see it as a positive step. I couldn't anymore! Would much rather spend me hard earned on other stuff.

Watching this sunset out the train window on my way home from work....5 stops to go...and then a bus....

-1

NOPE..