JustinHoot99

I'm not really worried if I get questioned. Probably they will just ask whats up. But if they ask me not to workout there at 6am, I will understand. The grade school has lots of tables, bike racks, and outdoor activity things for me to do my "old man parkour" on.

Woohoo, Start of day 4. It's 6am and time to go out and get my morning workout done. Going to add more core work this morning. If I could work only one muscle group outside of normal daily activity, it would be the core exercises. Just got back from working out. One thing I forgot to mention I started Mar 1 was a daily check list of activities I must achieve each day. These are habits I wanted to embed. Some are things to stop, some are things to start, some are things I was already doing sporadically, but wanted to make daily. What I found was that when a craving starts, I go do one of the things on my list and it distracts me. Each MUST be done daily. Log my weight 1st thing Enter the # of non-smoking day it is (yay, today is 4) Movement snacks: hanging leg lift, pullups, and pushups No nighttime junk food No chips w/ lunch Floss I've got these on spreadsheet for each day of the month and its sitting on table where I work. Just having this printed list (reminder) I have to complete each day (routine) and then getting the little attaboy of putting a check mark (reward) next to each one each day helps distract me from wanting to smoke.

I agree. A person who has never smoked can easily have one cigarette and not want another the next day. In fact, it will probably make them a little sick. But once the receptors and pathways are created, you are an addict and always will be. You can control your addition, but "just one" is no longer and option for you. Have one and your brain instantly lights up those pathways and demands another. Thats the difference between an addict and a non-addict.

Start of day 3. My previous early morning routine was to walk to the gas station to get my soda, and of course have a cigarette along the way. I would then do some of my job work for an hour or 2, then go to the woods and do my workout, of course having cigarettes before and after the work out (If I was just hiking and not doing a bunch of freebody exercises, I might have some during as well). Today, I put my check on the 1mth calendar I printed out, come straight to my desk and get on here. In about 20min, I will be going to do my workout. I have to be creative because I can't drive for 19 more days so I can't get to the woods where I work out. Have to find things to do locally and have been going to the nearby grade school where the police will eventually stop and question me. Very natural thing to do since they will not be used to seeing a 60yr old man doing rolls over tables, jumping on and off things, and climbing on the playground equipment at 6am in the dark. lol My normal workouts consist of hiking w/ some short slow jogging thrown in, lifting heavy stuff (rocks and logs), free body exercises like pushups/pullups/situps, and movnat ground exercises (which is mobility oriented). Oh yes, and I do "old man Parkour", which basically consists of an old man jumping on/off low objects, simple vaults and rolls, climbing on/over things, and balance work. The old man Parkour is what I'm sure will attract the police. (I'm perfectly fine w/ them doing that by the way and I believe they should.) I wish stopping smoking gave me the kind of dopamine high that exercise does. For me, exercise is a habit. I simply never miss a day. Quitting smoking is simply taking away something. It's kind of like the difference between dieting and exercising. Dieting is basically the elimination of crap foods that give us a "high" in one form or another. Exercising is the addition of a high. Which is why I find it much easier to exercise consistently that eat "right" consistently. Some will point out that quitting smoking is the addition of clean fresh air, removal of stink, easier breathing etc. The thing is, I don't have trouble breathing and the air doesn't taste any different. There is no immediate "buzz" associated w/ quitting smoking like there is exercising. I'm not quitting for better air, etc. I'm quitting because I want to reduce my chances of getting cancer and to save money (and so I can stop scheduling my day around finding time to sneak off an smoke). The saving money is a small buzz, but I'm in a position where I can afford the monetary price of smoking. Well, I don't know even know where I'm going w/ this. I'm just meandering which has distracted me from my major morning crave and that was the whole point of getting on here. I wish you all a smoke free day.

It comes down to semantics and how one personally defines "action", which won't be the same for everyone. When I lost my job 6yrs ago, I immediately too action. Updated resume, signed up for a couple classes at local college, contacted head hunters and friends. When my weight pass the point I am willing to tolerate (180lbs is my trip point), I take action. Replace bad food choices for good, increase activity level, etc. These are what I call "actions". Concrete steps necessary to achieve a goal. Some of the things I do to quit are actions like having my wife hide keys, getting my podcasts update on phone so I'm ready for long drives when I get my keys back, etc. But really, the main action to me is not an action. It is "not doing something" which is the opposite of my definition of action. However we get there and however we define things, the goal is the same. No more nicotene.

Thanks. I was starting to need a cigarette due to the that. lol

I hadn't given it much thought, but I did start something a bit similar this month called movement snacks. In addition to my normal daily workouts (HIIH training), I added 3 movement snacks of hanging leg lift, pushups, and pullups that must be done daily, though any time and number as long as I do each. I didn't do it as part of quitting, but simply as part of my general exercise program. I'm very focused on health, except for my lungs. lol So true, I just hate that I can't make a normal to do plan and know when completed, the job is done. I believe once an addict always an addict. It should get easier, but it is always lurking in the back ground. That is something I hate, even if I can't change that is how it is. Very similar to alcoholism and any other addiction. Once a habit has been established, you can't undo having had the habit. Your brain will always remember what you did, the purpose for doing it, and the reward you got (stimulus, relaxation, focus, whatever). The desire can be weakened, but never entirely removed. At least in my opinion. Maybe this is what some spiritualists mean by "achieved nothingness". They all quit smoking? lol

Checking something as my ticker keeps reverting back to my old one that shows 3 months. Just now, I went to Edit Profile, deleated the ticker, clicked save 5 times, then came her. Now I have the new ticker I created yesterday that shows 1 day. Now I'm going to post this and see if ticker shows up and what it shows. The ticker shows 1 day. So I'm logging out and signing in to recheck. Below is a screenshot showing that it shows 1 day. And now 3 hours later it is back to 3 days. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh

To all of the above, I would just like to add, "one can never do enough pushups". Regardless of the type. The pushup is one of the most wonderful exercises there is. Not only a great upper body exercise, but free, convenient, and can be done most anywhere. I do some form of them daily as part of my workouts. There are easily more than 15 variations of this exercise. As far as tips, the only one I can offer is to come here, type, and meander with your thoughts. Very distracting.

Just got back from my HIIH workout and ready to start day 2. Yesterday I went through the normal day 1 symptoms: tired, somewhat dizzy, difficulty concentrating. My work load was thankfully and uncharacteristically low yesterday, so that was a big help. I expect today will be similar regarding the symptoms as the nicotene leaves my system. Then I have to deal w/ the real monkey on my back which is the psychological part. Psychology and I have a strange relationship. I've been to a psychologist and fully believe in them. I believe in habits and believe people can create them using psychology. I purposely created a habit of exercising everyday 5 years ago this May. I haven't missed a day since. But I also have trouble w/ some aspects. Which isn't to say I think they are wrong or don't work, just they don't fit in my mindset. I hear things like "be mindful" and "concentrate on feeling good about yourself" and my mind acts like a deer in the headlights. If it isn't an action, I don't get it. Thats why quitting is difficult for me. Quitting smoking simply consists of not doing something. Thats not an action. Sure, I can come up w/ a list of alternative things to do like eating candy, fruits, and carrots. I can go for walks, look at my inspiration memes I put above to my computer. But it is all going to depend on my simply "not doing something". Much easier to do something like create a habit of exercising daily. That is something I simply go do. And once I complete the task, I'm good for the day. My mind doesn't keep bothering me about every few minutes the rest of the day. Psychology is something I know is there, I just don't like. Oh well, I'm meandering. And for me, one of the few things that does take my mind of wanting to smoke is typing. And so.....I type. And babble.

Varying degrees of suckiness pretty much sums it up based on how I felt after 30days on my previous quit and from what I read others talk about.

Wow, look at you w/ almost 4mths. I'd be something around that if I hadn't been a sphincter and had that 1 which led to another 1000.

Good to be back again. And congrats on coming up on 2mths.

Hi all, Last Sept I quit for around 40+ days then started again. That was my most successful quit ever. I started it by having my wife hide my car keys for 1 wk which meant I could not access cigarettes. Since then, I've tried to quit about 6 times. So I am starting again and this time I'm having my wife take away my keys again, but for 3 weeks. I realize one has to learn to be able to say no under all conditions, but this will get me through the initial 3 days of chemical dependency, and makes it easier to unlearn some of the initial daily routines. It's not impossible for me to access cigarettes as I could ride my bike the couple of miles to the store, it just makes it much, much less convenient. And obviously I need to learn to change my ticker tape below.

Day 7 of not smoking. Busy weekend volunteering at the local disc golf course. I don't even play disc golf.

100 pushups + 3 sets of 10 each of overhead rock tossing and log flipping.

Made it through the day. Thx all. The posts really help.

Very envious. 100 pushups done. + 3.5mi walk, 15 kettle bell swings, 15 horizontal lat pulls, 30 situps

When I quit last time, one thing that helped me through a craving was asking my self if that next cigarette was worth $4000 and the 7000 that would come with it over the next year. That's because I have never been able to start another quit attempt within in year. Well, I quit for 44 days, then started smoking again, and managed to start my quit again about a week later. I had my wife hide my car keys for 3 days so I would not have access to go get cigarettes. Well, it's day 4 and they are sitting on the table now. It's very easy to quit smoking when it is physically impossible to access cigarettes. There isn't much psychological withdraw because your mind simple accepts that there is no option. And I must say, although I started the quit again and got to 3 days, I'm still in a daze about it all. It's like I'm just going through the motions of quitting this time. Before I felt positive, this time, somewhere in my mind, is something saying "sure you quit, but you know it won't last". Well, I'm rambling and have to start working, so I'll talk to you later.

Day 3- 100 pushups + 3mi walk

Luddite definition: "The Luddites were a secret oath-based organisation of English textile workers in the 19th century, a radical faction which destroyed textile machinery through protest." Oh wait, it also means adverse to technology. lol Welcome to the group. I just lost a 44day quit a week ago and am on day 3 now. Not because I thought I could handle just 1 or any of the other reasons that jump into your head. I don't believe anyone honestly believes they can handle just one at some point. They simply say screw it cause they want the mind to stop bugging them to have one. And now I'm extremely depressed for having done it. Maybe the thought of the depression will wake me up the next time I think "just screw it". Cigarettes are on of the oddities in the drug world. I binge drank at parties and did a lot of other "stuff" that had no addictive affect on me. Some drugs have no addictive affect on some but others they do. Cigarettes on the other hand are pretty much always addictive. There is the occassional person you hear about who only smokes at a party or something, by far, most are a slave to nicotine after a very short period of use.

Day 2. Another 100 pushups done.

I started a Nov100 pushups a day for 30 days challenge yesterday (any combination of sets). So..., I did 100 pushups. Also went on a 3mi walk.

Thanks all. Today marks day 2. Getting through the first 3 days will be easy again. As I did before, I had my wife hide my car keys. When you physically can not get to the cigarettes, it really diminishes what you perceive as physical withdraws. The mojo is low this time though. It's like saving up a million dollars, then blowing it one night gambling, and thinking "well, I'll just start again". But time will get me over the depression of failing my previous quit. Hopefully this time I can remember how this depression feels when I get the urges to smoke. Any yes, you all can hit me in the head w/ a frying pan whenever you think I need it.

So I made it to 44 days. My work trip got extended though and the long work days away from home finally brought me to the point I gave in and smoked on 10/23. So I failed my previous quit. I have no issue w/ the term fail, I did not meet my objective which was to not smoke again, and therefore failed the objective. And pretty much instantly I was back up to full addiction resuming my previous pack a day. Any lessons learned? No. It was a long, stressful work trip, but I knew what I was doing, when I did it, and knew what the result would be. So now I get the joy of not only losing the 44 days of red X's on my calendar I worked so hard to get and was so proud of, I get to go through the 3 days of nicotine withdraw. Someone hit me in the head w/ the skillet. Anyone know how to reset the ticker start date?