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NOPE!

Nope

NOPE!!

Who knows where they actually get their info. of course they want ex-smokers to think they are gonna fail at quitting, that way they can try to sell meds or fancy doctors or whatever. they also mention that the "good" news is if you stay off smoking for two years only THEN does it become "much easier". Ok so for someone who is still trying to quit or only has maybe a few days under their belt, this is pretty daunting a thought. It would be like telling some 22 year old kid who hates working, "Just think, in 40 years you can retire". A new quitter is not fighting craves two years from now, he is fighting it TODAY. he don't want to hear, "Oh just stick it out for two years then it gets easier". No, bullcrap. It is true that craves come and go. I got hit hardest at three months. But they want people to believe it is gonna be harder than what quitting really is. Like they say it is harder than crack or meth or heroin etc... of course we have seen people flop around and scream on TV when being deprived of hard drugs. So supposedly giving up cigarettes is gonna be worse than THAT? Not even close. They want you to have failure in mind ahead of time so you are ready to buy into some dumb crap like pills that will "help". TBH I myself did not expect to last almost four months so far because of this. But then when i wasn't acting like Spongebob on crack even during the worst of my craves, i knew I was gonna be OK. 60 to 90 percent? That is a hell of a guesstimation. That is about as spot-on as saying, "the world might end eventually". Or that the sky might fall. If you want to quit smoking, the best you can do is concentrate on your own quit.

nope

NOPE!!!

NOPE!

NOPE!!!!!!!

Being a vet and knowing vets this study doesn't reflect general public. Vets are less likely to fear health risks. It's just part of the DNA of vets. They don't fear as much and don't care as much about risk. So to start again and worry about health is lower for them. As for this group, most here that post Regularly will last. It's a fact we do better.

The good news is: after years of abusing my body, I'm becoming quite adept at playing through the pain. Shhhh....you promised not to say anything !!!!!!

Did a brief strength session last night and a full boxing workout this morning. The right shoulder is good to go and the left is at about 90%. With a bit of mobility work and foam rolling, my back feels good now. And, I haven't had any knee pain this week. The good news is: after years of abusing my body, I'm becoming quite adept at playing through the pain.

NOPE!

I agree about the foundation. It's difficult to build but once you have a foundation it can work in your favor.

Interesting read - thanks for sharing Sirius Yeah the relapse percentage stated for people still early in their quit is a pretty large net they have cast there Based on what I have seen during my year paying attention to this kind of thing it's probably closer to the 90% than the 60% relapse rate. Sad but true in terms of what I have been exposed to and most of that is when people have reached out to a support group like this one too so it may even be higher for those going it alone? The longer term relapse rate could very well be pretty accurate as I have seen a few falling off the wagon so to speak after multi year quits. I think we (newbies in particular) need to be careful how they interpret this data about longer term quitters relapsing though so they aren't put off trying to quit themselves because of this seeming to be such a daunting challenge for such a long period of time. It is not that way at all unless one gets careless or is uneducated about the addiction and just doesn't understand or doesn't take it seriously that "just one" won't hurt. The struggles that most newbies face do not last all that long - not the really tough part anyway. Smoking is an addiction so there will always be "a risk" of falling back into the addiction but, once a smoker has built that solid foundation of a quit it is pretty easy to keep it. In fact, very easy to keep it. Just know that 1 smoke will destroy what you have built so, brush any mild thought of smoking away no matter what the circumstance - easy to do when you've got a year or more under your belt! Romancing your memories of how great smoking was? - don't! Smoking was something you HAD to do not something you wanted to do every hour of every day. And, always remember WHY you quit in the first place. Doesn't matter what the reason was. It was important enough to YOU so, don't forget it or think that anything has changed to make that reason less important to you.

When I read folks who have a long quit relaspe...some have been over five years.. It starts me thinking of myself..of just how hard that would be...in terms of actually lighting that cigarette and taking that deep puff... It would be so sickening...it would make to dizzy I'll...the stench would be over powering.... And God knows what it would do to me mentally... Health wise... I agree with Bakon ,sticking around here,helping others ,having some fun,helps make my own quit more solid... Although I still take it day by day...and I never presume anything...I would like to think .I will never smoke again.... And only I can make sure this never happens....NOPE !!!!!

Window licker. Good job Now post a selfie

Truly awesome- you're 62.26% of the way home! Over the hump for sure. Your shoulder must be much better. That's great, Boo,. Just lots of walking for me the past two days. Getting in late from work and having a hard time getting up in time to get my workout in. I'm in an adjustment period. I've gone from a 6-minute walk to work to 45-60 minutes on the subway. I'll get back on track soon!

STICKS RULE!

OMG thanks Reciprocity and all you guys! I just got home from a busy day at work and I couldn't wait to check in. This 9-month mark has been a personal goal for me. It being the gestation period of human beings, it's such a significant time period. I do feel as though I've "birthed" a new way of being in the world- a world without smoking. I could barely imagine it, you see, at the beginning of this journey I couldn't imagine life without cigarettes. You all know how cigarettes were part of everything you'd do. They were my consolation, my celebration, my amusement, my enjoyment, the exclamation point after every task accomplished. Or so I believed at the time, before learning about this addiction, thanks to all of you, this board, Joel's videos, Allen Carr's book, my own enlightenment. After 9 months without them, I now wonder when in the H-E-double toothpicks I EVER had the TIME to smoke! I mean, seriously, I have zero extra time and I can recall many occasions of having to sit or stand outside whatever the real action was at the time to get my fix. Maybe I'm so much busier because I'm more active, which is a great thing too but I think the truth is, when you're an addict, you're in denial of all the negatives about the use of your substance of choice. I also wonder how much better I'm going to feel when I reach my next personal goal of one year. It can only get better as I've seen myself and heard time and time again from you successful quitters who have the generosity to stick around and help us who come along behind you. I'm so grateful for all your help and for the community of this board. Thanks for the good wishes, all! Onward and upward!

Congrats Jules on reaching the 1/4 Year smoke free milestone. You're doing great so just remember that you have to stay focused on the ultimate prize now. Your permanent quit Three, three who's got three?

Two years seems to be the point were relapse rates fall off a cliff. 2% - 4%/year fall off the train after 2 years. This falls even further to about 1%/year after ten years of not smoking. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-02/cfta-srr022702.php PUBLIC RELEASE: 27-FEB-2002 Smoking relapse rates drop off sharply after two years CENTER FOR ADVANCING HEALTH SHARE PRINT E-MAIL The bad news for ex-smokers has always been that relapse rates are extremely high, but a new study suggests that staying away from cigarettes gets much easier after two years of abstinence, with more than 80 percent of former smokers achieving long-term success. Relapse rates for smokers trying to quit have been estimated to range from 60 percent to 90 percent within the first year, but few studies have looked at the long-term relapse rates of formers smokers, according to the study published in the current issue of Nicotine & Tobacco Research. "Former cigarette smokers who remain abstinent for at least two years have a risk of relapse of 2 percent to 4 percent each year within the second through sixth years, but this risk decreases to less than 1 percent annually after 10 years of abstinence," says study author Elizabeth A. Krall, Ph.D., of Boston University School of Dental Medicine. Among the ex-smokers who stayed away from cigarettes for two or more years, 19 percent eventually resumed smoking, the researchers found. The study included 483 men enrolled in the ongoing VA Normative Aging Study, a Boston-based study begun in 1960. On average, the men started smoking at age 18, smoked about a pack and a half a day and smoked for more than three decades before trying to quit. Relapsed smokers were most likely to report that they became too nervous or tense when not smoking; they felt they were addicted and couldn't stop; they missed the sensations of smoking; and they felt peer pressure to resume smoking. The former smokers who relapsed after two or more years of abstinence were more likely to use cigars and pipes, and to drink five or more alcohol beverages a day and more than six cups of coffee a day. "The relationship with alcohol appears more dependent on the amount of alcohol consumed than on the social situations in which it is consumed," says Krall. They found that men who didn't smoke while drinking socially were just as likely to relapse as men who did smoke while drinking modest amounts of alcohol. ### The study was supported with funding from the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Nicotine & Tobacco Research is the official peer-reviewed quarterly journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. For information about the journal, contact Gary E. Swan, Ph.D., at (650) 859-5322. Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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Ha! Nice try

Hey! Careful now I'll assume you mean that in a good way?

That guy looks like a REAL window licker AND has the table manners of a pig. Probably makes the same nasty slurping sounds as my dog when he eats. Well thanks, there goes MY mood for some self-love.

I also had no change whatsoever in taste but smell is more acute. I think I'm a "super taster". Have always been. Whatever I eat, I can usually identify every ingredient in it unless it's a cuisine that uses many ingredients I'm not too familiar with, like Chinese, Thai or Korean. I love all food with the exception of peppers, especially bell peppers, guava and lychee nuts.

I would echo this exactly. My dietary leanings are somewhat less sophisticated and a tad more unhealthy?

One of my favorite movies… I like malt vinegar and catsup on my spuds, chips, fries, taters whatever you want to call them. As a matter fact, I’m making whooped taters with dinner tonight.

12 Taters are good

11 Sleep tight Doreen. I'll keep an eye on the place til you get back.

The only thing I can recon happens is maybe Bakon is exposing himself to the new people?

congrats all you fantastic quitters wtg keep it up

I sure missed you, too.

Bully

BUT ................. Stick were at +19!!! NO FAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh what a nice relaxing comfortable win for the chicks...Nancy and strolled home...ha !!!!

Now now chicks ....We know we're great but ...... you just have to stop praising us so much

Oh!