intoxicated yoda

For all you addicts out there that racked up another day of going smokeless, congratulations. You have my love, respect and support. If you stumbled today you have my love, respect and support. And if you get back on the train tomorrow I bow to the strength of your resolve. Where ever you are be of good cheer, for it may be true that misery loves company, it's also true that the company can't get away from the miserable fast enough. Have a great night all. Stay strong and stay free.

the breathing exercise I do 2 parts: 1st part...take 3 long slow deep breaths and on the 3rd breath hold it for as long as you can. Ideally you want try to hold it long enough that it takes 15 or seconds to fully recover. once you recovered fully do 2nd part...place the palms of you hands together chest high so you can isometrically press them together. Again, take 3 long slow deep breaths and on the 3rd exhale, completely empty your lungs and press your palms together as hard as you can and hold your breath with the lungs empty for as long as possible. Ideally when you inhale you want to have held it long enough it makes you gasp for air. I just kind of dove into this but it might make sense to ease yourself into these and see how you react. 40% of the time it works everytime for killing cravings

I like this one for bed time. I switch between a few different ones but I think i like this one the most

I'll post some links to some videos i use to try and convince myself that I don't smoke and that it smells horrible even tho I still like the smell of a cigarette. Don't try to figure it out, I'm really screwed up in the head. Here's the first one. I use this one in the mornings and during the day when I have time.

staying late then

been somewhat bitchy

ease up missy

I know without a doubt that I have extended my life by quitting smoking. Ever since that first morning f***ing days just never end.

understand the element

bound to happen

@jillaram i official now? LOL

@RozukiSo glad to hear you have recovered from those things. It's good to have people like you around to look to for the required endurance on the trip. I really dig that smokebusters graphic in your signature. Can't wait until i ain't afraid of no smokes myself. hahaha @jillari thought i had but i guess i didn't click one of the required buttons or something since it hasn't shown up. That is a good idea for the motivation.

Check out Jason Fung vids on youtube. He has a lot of great info on fasting and health. I think it's great that you are doing something to take your healthcare into your own hands. Sometimes you just gotta go with what feels right to you!! Just saw back in the old posts you talked about JF so just ignore me.

bong hits harsh

you see now?

weird you know

set up three

Ducks also swim (I am so going to hell...i'll stick to the game now)

Joan can't swim (er...i meant natalie but that don't rhyme)

@Rozuki 40 years is about how long i smoked. had about a 4 year break in my late 20's and a few failed quit attempts in my 30's and 40's. Now i'm in my late 50's and i feel like i've dodged all the bullets and land mines humanly possible. How is that health issue now? Are you recovered or on the mend?

wired for this

@Doreensfreesorry for the loss of your husband. thank you for sharing the experience

cask of wine

Tomorrow morning at about 8 30 will be the end of day 53 and the beginning of day 54. This is just a quick log of how i got started and what I've done to stay quit this long. I'm still balancing on a razor edge and the war ain't won yet but I'm still in the fight hoping this may help someone else get started. First thing I did before I quit was to switch brands of cigarettes. I don't care what anyone says, I don't believe they are all the same and trying to quit off of anything by Philip Morris was completely impossible for me. In fact, my first quit attempts from smoking Marlboro Lights had me lighting back up within 11 hours max. Even with the NRT patches I couldn't make it past noon. I remember putting that patch on at 6 30 am and by 11 00 i would be trying to recharge that sucker with a cigarette. Then I switched to American Spirit. I went from a pack a day to half a pack a day in less than a week. I wasn't even trying to cut back just the urge wasn't there as much. Then I started listening to sleep hypnosis videos at night. After about 6 months I had to make a drive of about 18 hours and I was out of cigs so I decided to see how long I could go without smoking since driving is my worst trigger. I made it the whole way. I bought a pack during the trip but didn't smoke any of them until I got back home. Well that turned out to be the last pack I bought and when they were done so was I. In the meantime, I keep listening to the sleep hypnosis, do breathing exercises to fight cravings. I still go out for a smoke like i used to i just walk around the driveway for 10 minutes instead of lighting up. I play a lot of golf. On the downside I do eat a lot and sleep is still hard to come by. And when the craving gets really bad I do EFT tapping. Now I would never let anyone see me do that goofy looking shit but i swear it makes unbearable cravings tolerable. sometimes it works better than others...what's that saying...40 percent of the time it works everytime....but if you stick with it long enough it will either reduce the craving or wear your arm out to the point you couldn't lift a cigarette up to your lips even if you had one. Either way i call that a win. The last thing was to get some outside support for those unexpected symptoms. Whatever is happening to me has happened to somebody else. What I don't want happening to me is emphysema. I know there is a plethora of other conditions i could get but that is the one that scares the hell out of me. So there is a quick run down of how I got here. It was the Readers Digest version so if you're thinking it sounds pretty simple it was, it just wasn't easy. If you got questions or answers I'm open to either. In the meantime, if you are reading this and want to quit but can't bring yourself to it yet, at least switch brands. It could end up being the first step of many to a successful quit.