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Worried about going to the loo. How do you make morning stuff happen without a cigarette. I thought I'd miss my 'me time with my cig' but there are other much better ways to find me time.

Hey hesteralumni23, Smoking masks underlying issues that surface when we quit. A lot of us have had to face it and eventually we do learn to do without the crutch. Hope things work out for you. You have the right idea and I think you'll succeed. Smoking was the hardest thing for me to quit and it took me many attempts. You will likely do it in less.

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Nope! Happy Jul 4th to our neighbors!

hesteralumni23, I'd suggest reading up on triggers. There are daily triggers like coffee, lunch, going to school/ work, etc that occur daily and cause smoke cravings - if you've been successfully quit for 90 days means you have overcome 99% of the daily and infrequent triggers. What's left are the life-event triggers - you know, bad news about job, family or something that evokes some memory or strong emotions. These are so occasional that when they do hit you, you're unprepared and I suspect this may be happening in your case. If you had a routine that you used to overcome the daily trigger, I'd recommend using that routine as a means to get past the initial cravings. Find a way to invoke it. One other thing - just make a promise to yourself to post an SOS before going out to buy a pack. It has saved many quits and folks here will support you through the crave. Most people require multiple attempts to get to the final successful quit - please keep at it. You're smarter than me for having started this journey at such an early age and I'm sure you'll find a way past the 90-day crave.

Nope! Happy Canada Day!

I kind of had a plan. Took 2 weeks time off from work while the rest of the family was going to be away. Plan was to lock myself in the house and get past the initial withdrawal without hurting any of my loved ones. I had read up and I thought I was prepared. Didn't work for me. At the end of 2 weeks, I was back at work and smoking on that Mon. Angry at myself for having lost the perfect opportunity and weeks of planning, That was the day I found QSMB and at around lunch hour decided to try again. No plan this time. And it worked - the difference was the online support of folks who had been through the same journey and could connect in ways the medical sites couldn't. It's probably different for everyone but there is a right way for each of us. Sometimes it takes multiple attempts to find it. I'd say the trick is to keep trying even if there are bumps along the way.

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You're doing awesome, Jack!

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Congratulations, Jaime! 3 days already, wow! Does it help to know that we all went through the same fears, thoughts, sensations etc. Quitting is hard but ... it's also easy. Stay close to the board, post your journey and the folks here will be able to support you since we've all traveled the same road. You'll be a nicer you :).

Great post, Kate, and you're doing awesome with your quit. These incidents make you stronger and now you have a tool you can use next time.

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You did really well, Kate. These episodes will happen and you're now stronger and better prepared to fight them.

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@Martian5 Happy Birthday! Nope!

One of the tips I received when my quit was new was to 'welcome the crave'. Wish I could find those words to share with you. The idea is - every time we hit a crave, it's an opportunity to beat it and for the quit to get stronger. Once I understood that, I went out looking for the things that triggered an urge to smoke. This allowed me to tackle the crave on my terms i.e. I was prepared rather than it creeping up on me unawares. Then I would mentally play a game of beating it with a hammer and shouting 'die, crave, die'. I stood with co-workers as they smoked, sat on the bench outside the library where I normally smoked, went outside the house after dinner, etc. Doing this over and over again also helped prepare me for those occasional triggers that hit me unawares - I had a response I had practiced many times. Everyone has their own way. Lighting a cigarette will not cause the flat tire (or any situation) to improve. We just need to learn to do these things without smoking.

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The marathon training was going so well with increasingly longer long runs on the weekend - was up to 1/2 marathon distance - and then, a couple of weeks ago, couldn't complete the long run because of right knee pain. No runs since then and letting it heal and will start over again. A bit frustrating to have to sit and wait but no sense hurting it again ... wish I knew what's causing it though.

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Nope! @Cbdave - good to see you here.