Sirius

I think part of the problem is, while a person may superficially wish to quit, such desires are sabotaged by a lack of preparation to fully embrace the concept of change that will be experienced. You literally change when you quit smoking. Your brain has to undergo some rewiring as it detoxifies from its use of nicotine. If you do not commit to the changes you will face then your commitment to quit the smoking habit can be illusory. P.S. It's worth it.

Well Done, indeed!

Terrible, deadly, and expensive addiction.

Holy S**t!, I could sell smokes out of the back of my car for....er, what I mean is, buying poison for that chunk of change is insane. Just wow!

I got to see it in the John Day area of Eastern Oregon. Piped "Thus Spake Zarathustra" out my ipod to my car speakers as the totality was reached. :P

When people say they can't do something it alleviates them from making the effort to do something.

New A1Cs report. Was 6.4 it's now 5.8! Cholesteral, Triglicerides, etc, etc show modest improvements. If I hadn't quit smoking, changed out the diet and started exercising I firmly believe I would be type 2 diabetic. Smoking, of course is always a contributor.

Lunch today was a bit of Colby Longhorn cheese, Thin Leaf Huckleberries, Assorted Nuts, and a Red Bell Pepper. Been doing a lot of hiking up in the Gifford Pinchot. BTW, This is easier when you quit smoking. Just saying. Hovering around 28 to 30 pounds down.

One other thing I REALLY don't miss about smoking... I no longer have to "want to quit smoking." It's done baby. Smoking is dead like yesterday's news. ;)

I like the part where the report states, statistically, 80 out of 100 people who remain smoke-free never smoke again. :) Even so there is 20% that will fail even after 2 years being smoke-free. :( Constant vigilance people. :angry:

I don't miss feeling like crap in the morning, coughing my guts out.

Now totaling 25 pounds trimmed. Only 50 more to go. :P I must be on the ten year plan.

Yeah...he does look a little "Road Hard." Every mile on his odometer was uphill and against the wind.

It's the promised land and there is a space reserved just for you!. :)

If you want more reasons to quit smoking check out this article. You can review the article (has some good info) but its the responses at the bottom that you need to read. Did I say read? I could "hear" the fear, regret, remorse, and anger that poured out of the responses. https://www.caring.com/questions/life-expectancy-of-copd

It's the hardest paradox to overcome. We want just one more smoke but if your wanting a smoke then your still an addict. Only when we no longer want a smoke are we no longer an addict. But if your no longer an addict you won't want another smoke. ...and so it goes.

If you can abstain for two days, abstain for another. Focus is critical. Attitude is everything. When you find yourself thinking how nice it would be to have a cigarette, substitute cigarette for lung cancer and see if it still sounds nice. When you think you can't last another minute, tell yourself you'll give it another half hour. Recognize that you are an addict and your own brain will run away with you if you give it half a chance. You not only have to resist the temptations but focus your mind away from thinking about cigarettes in terms of anything positive. Listen to Sarge when he talks about the harsh dissonance stuff. He knows what he's talking about.

We empathize with you, We feel for you, As much as we wish to help, we cannot quit smoking for you. It's something you have to do for yourself, for yourself. We will coach, educate, encourage, and congratulate but we cannot stand in your place. But we've been there. We can tell you what worked for us. You CAN do this, and when you're over the hump and past the hurdles, Life will taste better in so many ways.

Good idea to switch up the coffee for tea. You will want to stay away from associations as much as you can until you come to terms with the addiction and its triggers. Something to keep in mind being that nicotine processes caffeine. I can't remember how it all works but the upshot is that you can be much more sensitive to caffeine. Good show so far! :)

Read this article and it got me to wondering if there are addicts who just cannot quit. Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2658995/Why-people-quit-smoking-Their-brains-register-benefits-quitting-study-suggests.html Why can't some people quit smoking? Their brains can't register the benefits of quitting, study suggests Researchers can predict how effective a reward-based quitting strategy would be for someone based on studies of their brain activity Those who exhibit the weakest response to rewards are least likely to quit This applies even when they are offered money to give up the habit By Emma Innes PUBLISHED: 09:57 EDT, 16 June 2014 | UPDATED: 10:06 EDT, 16 June 2014 +2 How easy a person finds giving up smoking could be determined by the amount of activity in the reward centre of their brain There are those who can go cold turkey and others who simply can't kick the habit. Now researchers think they have discovered why some people just can't stop smoking – and it’s all to do with activity in the brain. The U.S. scientists found they could predict how effective a reward-based quitting strategy would be in an individual by studying their brain activity. The researchers observed the brains of nicotine-deprived smokers using MRI scans. They found those who exhibited the weakest response to rewards were also the least willing to stop smoking, even when offered money to do so. ‘We believe that our findings may help to explain why some smokers find it so difficult to quit smoking,’ said Dr Stephen Wilson, assistant professor of psychology, at Penn State University, in Pennsylvania. ‘Namely, potential sources of reinforcement for giving up smoking - for example, the prospect of saving money or improving health - may hold less value for some individuals and, accordingly, have less impact on their behaviour.’ The researchers recruited 44 smokers to examine brain reward centre responses to monetary reward in those expecting to smoke and in those who were not, and the subsequent willingness of the smokers to forego a cigarette in an effort to earn more money. The participants, who were between the ages of 18 and 45, all reported that they smoked at least 10 cigarettes per day for the past 12 months. They were instructed to abstain from smoking and from using any products containing nicotine for 12 hours prior to arriving for the experiment. Each participant spent time in an fMRI scanner while playing a card-guessing game with the potential to win money. The participants were informed that they would have to wait approximately two hours, until the experiment was over, to smoke a cigarette. Partway through the card-guessing task, half of the participants were informed that there had been a mistake, and they would be allowed to smoke during a 50-minute break that would occur in another 16 minutes. +2 Smokers who exhibit the weakest response to rewards are the least willing to refrain from smoking, even when offered money to do so, the researchers found However, when the time came for the cigarette break, the participant was told that for every five minutes he or she did not smoke, he or she would receive $1 - with the potential to earn up to $10. Dr Wilson and his colleagues found smokers who could not resist the temptation to smoke also showed weaker responses in their brains’ reward centres when offered monetary rewards while in the fMRI. ‘Our results suggest that it may be possible to identify individuals prospectively by measuring how their brains respond to rewards, an observation that has significant conceptual and clinical implications,’ said Dr Wilson. ‘For example, particularly at-risk smokers could potentially be identified prior to a quit attempt and be provided with special interventions designed to increase their chances for success.’

"Whole lot of shakin goin on" by Jerry Lee Lewis How is Bela Lugosi doing?

Just Fishin' (Trace Adkins) What percentage of sunlight is reflected off the earth's surface? :sarcastic_blum:

https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/no-tobacco-day/ Sponsored by the WHO http://who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/no-tobacco-day/en/ God bless. Peace out.