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Blackened rib eye on the grill, white rice with peas and green beans. Salted caramel gelato with hot fudge for dessert. Oh yeah....

Four! Seems like 20 plus four. Joe has kicked ASS and his reward, a new mustang, is probably the best one ever have themselves here. Fonzie cool. Way to go and congrats

It's scan day....no smoking here NOPE !!!

Thanks everyone! There are no words to really describe the gratitude I have for this forum, and the list of people I have to thank for my quit success is too long to even attempt for fear of leaving someone out. All I can offer in th way of advice for any newbie, is to stick with it! It is NEVER easy in the beginning...anyone who says it is is full of *%+{{ they came to a quit smoking forum for support in their quit, so it obviously is a struggl early on...I WILL say,my hat looking back, it wasn't near as bad as I had envisioned it to be when I made to decision to quit.... Just keep moving through the bad times, and the good time start to outweigh them real,fast.... again, Thanks everyone..everyone here is GREAT!

Top shelf quit you've got there Joe. Awesome. +20!

Yay for you, PT! Six months is major. I hope I can complete this post before going blind from looking at BKP's. I hope you have a wonderful celebration planned!

NOPE!

6 months is a huge milestone PT - congratulations! I bet you are finding things a lot easier now and a lot more enjoyable too. Be sure to reward yourself and then carry on the the back half of getting that 1st year under your belt

Congratulations, Joe!! You're the best!!

My only real concern is that Bakon's stupidity may be contagious.

Six months and the squealer posts a two..dumb ass Great job hippy. Hope you learn to count without cheating for your next feat. What's reward for today?

There's no stopping the PeaceTrain. Great job!

The little engine that could. Congratulations on six months, Peace Train!

Congratulations on 6 months of freedom PT. We're lucky to have such a kind and giving person in our ranks.

Celebrating your awesome quit. WTG, Joe!

Congrats Joe. So glad you escaped to freedom!

4 years is a great achievement. Congrats Joe

Congratulations on your 4 Year Quit, Joe. I couldn't be happier for you, and I couldn't be more grateful to have you as my quit buddy . The truth is, we all benefit from you living a longer life. You are an amazing and wonderful man. Embrace the day, make it meaningful and say a prayer of thanks that you found a way out. Big hugs to you, my friend.

Most of the time when Joe's surprised it's a baby girl. Good work Joe!

Congratulations Albert on your decision to quit . My dad would always say if you start something Abby .... stick to your guns . He was such a great guy .. he had emphysema and heart disease . A two pack a day smoker . Quit cold turkey . He stuck to his decision Albert. Never looked back . Proud of that guy . Stick to your guns about your decision Albert . You can do this . Will there be some challenges ? Likely but because of those challenges our quits get stronger and our our life gets renewed to that of a non smoker in time Keep moving forward ; don't turn back . One day you will look back and say "wow" look ?how far I've come ! QT is smooth riding and it will take you on an adventure with friends . Welcome aboard .

Congrats

Congratulations

Yes, it is very trippy indeed! Thanks, friends! You've made this business of quitting much more enjoyable. You give me information, inspiration, elation, acceptation and lots of laughs during my smoking cessation. Thanks for all! Hug to my bud Reci for always remembering and posting on my milestones!

Well done Pee Tea... 6 months along... you should be happy... It's mostly good things for you now... Smells, taste, savings...oh...and let's not forget health! congrats! Your awesome!

Joe is really enjoying himself...knock yourself out buddy !!!

Di Six months ...wow....huge congrats chicky...carnt imagine thiis place ..without you... Hugs !!!!!

NOPE!

DUH !!!!....sticks wait for me to go to bed...grrrrr

Humkns Huge congratulations Joe...so happy you have joined the 4 year quit club.... It's a been a honour ,it's been fun,and a pleasure to have travelled and met one of life,s ..true gent .... Have a great day Joe...I will be the first to go to the bar...xx

Isn't his name MrTitwank? What kind of a boob messes up that name?

Just for some info Tittydude and booger will never be cool. Joe is Fonzie cool.

Hindsight is 20/20. We started smoking when we were young and thought of ourselves as invincible. No one plans on becoming an addict. Poor decisions snowball and before you know it, you fall right into the trap. The good news is: once you stop doubting yourself and end the self-destructive thought patterns, freedom can be attained instantly. There are few guarantees in regards to how long any of us will live. Quitting smoking improves the quality of your life the minute you ash out that last one. I don't have a clue how long I'll be kicking around, but with twenty-months of freedom under my belt I've already enjoyed more benefits from quitting than I ever imagined on that fateful day I committed to NOPE.

I feel a lot like this as well. I have a LOT of reasons to stay quit. My main motivation overall is my children. However -- what is helping me stay quit... hell, that changes every day. Sometimes several times a day. If my asshole sister can quit, so can I. Money -- I can save $130.95 a month. Smoker's lips -- gross, right? I have to sometimes just sit and browse for smoking related illness pics. And YES, there are times when I'm feeling like -- no, I can't fail this. I don't need any jackass all lined up to tell me "I told ya so" -- like as if they are wishing me ill or didn't believe I could quit. Mostly I just enjoy that I'm free to complain and whine as much as I want and my husband and kids don't care. I spent at least an hour wrestling with 1,500 lights in the Christmas tree last weekend and just grumbled and bitched toward the end -- hubby was like, "Do you want me to finish those?" "NO! What I WANT is a cigarette, THAT is what I want!" So my 6 year old daughter comes on over, "Here mama, I brought you a lollipop, I think this will help. And I'm proud of you, mama." 3 year old son comes over and looks up at me. "Lollipop?" -- I take it out of my mouth and hand it to him... he walks off with it. Hubby brings a new one and a fresh coffee. *sigh* I got this.

There is no "easy way" to quit. That's my take on it. I went CT. It sucked for probably 6 weeks and then for another 3-4 months it was up and down depending on the day. In the end, I am glad I just went off it all right away. Shortest road to Rome?? Who knows. Everyone is looking for the easiest way - the least amount of difficult days while quitting. I'm not convinced that exists. In terms of the "suck factor", you can embrace it as part of the process and focus on the good things that are starting to happen or dwell on the misery you are feeling. That's a choice you can control. In the end, as far as I'm concerned, you gotta be committed fully no matter what. If you are, eventually you WILL make the transition to being comfortable as a non smoker.

I Got This, did I not mention you have a lot more willpower than me and that I would not be able to quit under the same circumstance? Not like I am telling people to go back to it or that they cannot stay quit. I see people sometimes get shamed for relapsing. I have no plans on relapse (though I suppose no one plans to). I just start to wonder why people do, especially after some months. In real life when i told my smoking and vaping co-workers I was going to quit, one of them laughed and said, "Good luck" in a manner like "you will be back." Anyways...

Getting reeeaaaaaallllll tired of the "it was easy for me" posts. If anything that alone is very damaging to someone who is new in their quit. I'm only a litte more than a month in and it is still very hard at times for me...... especially at work.

Quitting is as easy or as hard as you choose to make it. It is, indeed, a choice. Mind over matter, folks: if you don't mind, it don't matter. Embrace The Suck, don't fight it. EZPZ

All of what you're saying above, JB, boils down to one thing: ADDICTION People's judgement and intelligence get trumped by the powerful force of being drawn to a substance even though the conscious mind knows that substance is bad for them in every conceivable way. It's no different from any other drug addiction or alcoholism. I am so grateful to be free from this deadly addiction.

Thanks for bumping that great post, Bakon. I was on a plane when you posted that and totally missed it! Comforting to see what there is to look forward to by just keeping the NOPE and putting one foot in front of the other. Oh yeah, that's what you always say: "Keep marching." Good advice. It's working for me so far.

Thanks for all the well wishes gang!! I love being a part of this community and the support I have received over my time here has made the difference between success & failure for my quit. Having people who can truly relate to what you are going through really helps to keep you grounded when you have those days that you question if what you are doing is the right thing. Thanks again fellow quitters :)

Sticks Rule!