Genecanuck

Vampire

Welcome @Penguin. I look forward to following you and getting to know you better. You have an amazing 13 month quit.

Hi @Penguin. I had a serious life-threatening health scare that made me really hate cigarettes. But a strange thing happened to me over time. My aversion to smoking went away and I started romancing the smokes again. And I eventually relapsed. That is the insidious part of smoking. I learned that the stinking thinking in the brain that leads a person to pine for cigarettes needs to be uprooted. If not, there is always a risk that you can return to romancing cigarettes. The stinking thinking behind pining for cigarettes has to be challenged immediately. My biggest trigger is figuring out what to do when I am experiencing pressure or stress. I just must know deep in my bones that smoking will NEVER relieve any pressure or stress in the moment. If I smoke, I know I will IMMEDIATELY feel worse off. The pressure and stress will still be there with the added stress of craving cigarettes all over again. Yes, evil does lurk beneath that mistaken thought that smoking has anything to do with making us feel better. Back to not one puff ever!:) Thanks for sharing your insights @Penguin

Hello @Mike-318... Congratulations on quitting smoking and vaping. I think I understand your experience because I have also used lozenges and eventually became addicted to patches over time. I agree that remaining smoke free is your number 1 priority and if you feel that you need to remain on the patch to do that, that's better than smoking. BUT.... you are exactly where I landed after many years, becoming addicted to nicotine in the patches. I had many many lost quits. I would stop smoking for a period, then quit, then go back on the patch and then start smoking again and then..... REPEAT. NRT did help me to disrupt the habit-forming triggers that caused me to smoke. But once those life triggers where gone, all I had left was raw nicotine addiction, which I was feeding with NRT. And I decided that my true path toward wellbeing and freedom was to step down from the patches for good. My friend @jillar reminded me that I was delaying dealing with the normal withdrawals that everyone on this site had to experience when they stepped down from nicotine (smoking, vaping, or any NRT) So, I decided to treat Day one without the 7 MG patches, like I did my Day 1 of not smoking many years ago. I did start to feel better after three days and continued to feel better after a week. After a month, not wearing the patch started to feel normal. According to Infiniterecovery You are doing awesome @Mike-318. I recommend wearing the 7 MG patch for two weeks and set a quit patch date. You can do this the same way that you quit smoking. You will find that those craves your experiencing right now, WILL GO AWAY over time. Stick around here and you will find lots of support.

Thanks for being such a good inspiration @QuittingGirl.... I nomally drink wine or coolers. I had to have a plan in my head before I started drinking to remind myself that I was not going to smoke. I stayed in my smoke free apartment and read the news on my phone while my partner went outside to smoke. Essentially, distracting myself.

Congrats @Stewbum....

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=gUXC_dhQHzY&si=NoyA6cm-xocNtzCI

Hey, its another Friday and that time again for all of you special window lickers to pat yourself on the back for another smoke free week. So who is a certified professional window licker this week?

No, but I will mention it to him Thanks @QuittingGirl We will sort it out:) Thanks @Doreensfree

Octopussy

Good morning. I have decided to start working out again. I was going to the gym pre-covid and I stopped going. I hired a personal trainer and had my first session with him on Tuesday. Not making any grandiose plans, but my modest goal is to show up for weekly personal training sessions, start to swim at least once a week and start to eat healthy snacks in the evening. One more step along the road I go!:) Gene

Do You Ever Wonder Where the Power Behind the Crave Comes From, Quitnet Repost, March 31, 2003 From melder7777 on 3/31/2003 12:01:58 PM Try looking in the mirror YOU have the ability to give it strength. Every time you tell yourself you can't take it....every time you think of quitting as some form of pain.....every time you tell yourself you are giving up something when in reality you are TAKING back something.....your freedom....your health. Oh yeah....I know....you're different....you have more problems....more reasons to justify that one cigarette.....your will power is less....etc ...etc...etc. Sorry....not buying......we've ALL been there......that's why this site exists.....because we all didn't believe that we could actually kick this habit. Well....you can. Hard to believe huh? The next time those pesky "unbearable" cravings grab a hold and start taking you down that path of destruction again.... Try facing them down......ask yourself just how bad you REALLY feel. I guarantee you ......the repercussions of NOT giving up this habit will give you a whole new perspective on what "unbearable" is all about. Right now you have this choice to make......you have it in your grasp. If you let go of that choice I guarantee you will have regrets and once that happens you can wish you had chosen differently all you wanted but you don't get a second chance. Hanging on guarantees freedom. And freedom is something I DO NOT plan on letting go of ever again......not for anything.......I've tasted it........it's WORTH the fight. HANG ON! TOOTH AND NAIL!! This is YOUR life. Don't keep playing Russian roulette with it. Maureen PS - and try to remember that you're NOT smoking because this is a choice YOU made (and a good one)

Good morning. My partner works out of town a lot so I see him at home every second week. One thing that I've found very annoying is the smell of cigarette smokes on his cloths. I notice it more acutely when he is gone for a week.I start feeling angry inside that I have to be subjected to the nasty smell of cigarette smoke on his cloths. I love him BUT......

Tiger