Abby

No thanks . I quit . Its a nope if offered for me .

I tried to like that shrimp lol , but nope didn't love it @jillar but I did have one one . Surprised ? I was too but really I was just being polite while ( Hiding tears ) I didn't want to disturb the other couple dozen on the plate or hog them all though so I stopped after one . Now ya all know I'm a kind person too . They looked so cute there hugging each other . They are tastier than squid much tastier than squid I will say that , but sorry all you shrimp lovers ... it's still a nope . @Kris my daughter likes shrimp .. and her husband and her kids . What's wrong with those kids ! Grandmas gotta talk to them two , a very serious talk about shrimp vs steak and corn on the cob and baked potatoes . Kris , my daughter did the cooking . She even spiced them up . They did look lovely on a skewer . Beautiful , delicious , elegant , mouth watering , an eaters delight for sure , except mine . I could see all you shrimp eaters here your mouths watering as you looked upon the feast . I felt pressured lol but I did it .. course I was starved ... They were a sight to behold alongside yup you got it aha aha aha aha Brussels sprouts . Who raised that child ! Edit ( a correction ) they were not brussel sprouts . What are those other long stick greeny looking things that look delicious on a plate that everyone else seems to love and I hate ?

But I had Aha aha aha aha .... @reciprocity ready for this .... ready ? I had shrimp today .

You did it @Kate18 Hard but doable right . What are you fav flowers I'm wondering . Will it be a single a sunflower or a bouquet , , a potted tropical plant or something else . Will they be yellow , or pink , or multi coloured or your favourite color. ( anything is possible these days ) Maybe you will find a simple wilted dried up plant no one wanted at the greenhouse or farmers market and you can bring it back to life with nurturing just as we can do on rough days of our quits . If you have chosen a bouquet , will it have babies breath to remind you that this crave you beat is like that of babies breath breathing in oxygen not stolen by a smoke. Will you put that beautiful candle beside it or something else . Candles smell way better than smoke . Will you tell your kids the story of how tough quitting smoking is and how hard depression can be too but you made it through . Thank you for posting , for being real . I appreciate that , and you helped me and I'm sure others . Quitting is a journey full of surprises isn't it , but not one thing can take our quit away unless we give it a way . Be proud of you Kate and if today is still rough reread all of the wonderful comments ideas and suggestions . There is tons love and support . Take what might help . ALL want to help . Maybe something has sparked a creative idea of your own to lift your spirits . I would love to hear how you take care of yourself . Many people suffer from depression , I myself at times do as well although mine is caused by a medication side effect that I have no control over along with stress and circumstances . The medication is my life line until something new or a cure comes along . One day at a time is all any of us can take or have . . The good news for me is I believe there are trials now ... believe it or not because of covid . You own your quit . I own mine and others own theirs but TOGETHER we get through .

Never one puff ever , nope . Grateful .

I am just on my way out so didn't get a chance to read through the comments and just quickly browsed at your post so I hope I'm not outta line , but want to say this ... You don't need cigarettes do you . You want them thinking it's what's you need but that's addictions lie and it's using your depression to reel you right back in . Take a breath . We are here for you . You just want some relief a break from the depression . I get that , depression , anxiety all those things can wear a person down . It hurts . It's not your fault and there are things you can do . Put the call in to your dr . At least having a plan is something to give you hope . Calling your family is a good idea too. . You don't have to tell them your depressed but if you do what's wrong with that . Nothing . It's been a hard year for everyone . Or ... A wise young man once told me to go stick my head in a bucket of ice cold water ..so I did it . It will make you come to your senses lol . Go , do it . Losing a years quit for one cig will lead to more as you know . No one stops at one and you won't be different . The consequences of that one cigarette are far greater than sticking out this rough spell . Trust me . From one whom regrets a puff . Do something different . As you know both cigs and booze cause a crash . Neither are the solution . One isnt enough Don't fall for the lie . Drink water not booze ok . Walk if you can . I'm off to walk too here in 31 degrees and then stopping at two neighbors to water their flowers .. come along for the walk . Nurture your quit.. go buy yourself flowers not cigarettes . Sorry if this post is choppy I gotta run .. no smokin ya hear ... we got ya . Hugs

Glad to hear it's not as serious as it could be @jillar. . Hoping for a quick recovery . Two weeks from now should show us if our opening was wise or not , but I'm grateful many are still keeping with the restrictions , just as I will because there has not been enough research into how much protection or how long protection will last . It's not hard to wear a mask for as much as I need to . Hope ths won't spread to other family members , I suppose they have to quarantine now ?

Hi Anne , glad you are here .

A person allowed to change their mind lol . I'm still here . What can say ... you guys and gals rock !

The nope pledge means more to me now honestly that in the beginning of my quit . I was very scared of the nope pledge . It meant having to stay committed , it actually gave me panic attacks to think I'd have to be quit forever and what if I failed ? What if I failed others too ? I think that scared me as much as failing myself ( perhaps an old childhood tape ) Failing always concerned me as well so I just didn't pledge . I took it one day at a time though , just like those pledgers who stuck to their quits and I learned from those who unfortunately did not stick to their quit . I know quitting can be hard and I know if you just keep trying the pieces of the puzzle come together . To me a pledge is a promise to myself and a promise to others and a reminder that I too can never ever have one puff . I don't pledge everyday but try to for myself and others . I also take a look at what quitting has given me what smoking again will take from me if I don't commit and honour the pledge . I can honestly say looking back I wish I had pledged from day 1 but we are all different and I needed to do for me what was best to carry this quit through without excuses without mistakes and without pressure . I learned from a previous eight year quit one puff isn't enough ever . It wasn't until I was past my first year quit that I felt confident I wouldn't give my precious quit away . That's when I started pledging . I wanted to reach out and take another members hand because there is strength in numbers and one link in the chain can't go it alone as well as hundreds linked together . Grateful @Cbdave to you for starting everyone off every morning . From the other side ... we got two days covered Thanks for sharing your story and opening this to discussion .

Mamma sàid there'd be says like this . Quitting smoking has those kinda days too . You recognize it for what it is and let it pass . It will . Good job walking anyway , even though you felt it didn't help you took action to make a change in your thoughts . Anything else you could do ?

Never one puff ever . Keep on keeping on .

Thanks everyone . I still can't believe it to be honest lol . One day at a time leads to this ? Amazing ! Grateful ! It took a village and I'm grateful for everyone ! Sites like this one where people had a vision to help themselves and an addict made this all possible .

Game on lol I just got a pop up ...saying enthusiast here @Kris

When you are researching the side effects , check how they should be used , how long they should be used ,when to wean yourself off them as well .

Never one puff , ever .

Congratulations Opah . You are a winner !

Not sure how to help , you know you best . What NRT are you using ? I never used NRT so Hard for me to answer this but I have heard some get tummy issues from Chantix . I'm guessing others could also cause nausea . Did you check the packaging for side effects ? Nerves can make you feel nauseated as well . Everyone is different . You are doing a great job Kris . If concerned talk I always recommend to talk with your doctor . Not everything is quit related .

Thinking back 10 years ago I was a ball of nerves , panic and anxiety . Also very sick . The fear of how'd I'd be able to live life without a cigarette was overwhelming and breathtaking . It seemed beyond comprehension , Impossible that this addict could be anything but an addict . I thought I'd die a happy addict .. Ya ! I see heads shakin up n down ... You know what I'm talkin about . Anyone stressed here ? If I were to rate the stress level in my life it would be a 10 . It's never been below that . ( I won't go into detail but think about yours ) Is yours a 10 as well ? Stress is the number one excuse smokers give up after three days , a week , three weeks . I was no different . It was my biggest excuse over and over and over . Did that stress level change when I quit ? I know you wanna hear yes, but this is my story lol . For me , no . No , its still a 10 . In fact honestly it's an eleven now , but I can tell you I handle stress better than I ever did in my entire life because I've learned it will always be there . Its life . Smokers have stress , ex smokers have stress and non smokers have stress . No one has to smoke because of it and we can stay quit because of it . We all can live life without a cigarette .. we absolutely can and are . I am not trying to pull your leg or make this all sound rosy so you will quit if you are a newcomer .. it's true . You will handle your stress better . My elders told me this when I was a newcomer and they were right . Ha those elders have twenty years smoke free now . How awesome is that ! So what I'm saying , is quit ok . Quit using stress as your excuse . Quit using the fighting spouse , the financial hardships , the daughter or sons pain , the death of your friend or your loved one or whatever else and quit for good . I know this sounds harsh , but it's so true what an addict will do to keep on smoking . I know it because I did it . Those those things hurt , really hurt , but smoking wont help . Come in to this quit not giving yourself an excuse to fail this time . No excuses ... none . That's how simple I kept it this time and for me it is working . I wanna hit that 15 year mark . Who knows maybe twenty . I don't know if my story will help you , because you have your own story , but I hope you take something away that might give you that burning desire to be free . Keep it simple , refuse to lose. To you newcomers , you are amazing . Taking those first step is guts , it's pride, it joy , it's hard , it's worth it . So so very proud of you .

Never One puff Ever Just one led me to smoking . One day led me to quit . One mistake led me back to this addiction One word keeps me quit . I pledge and promise nope .

Congratulations @Kris on double digits ! Now that's how ya do it . Two weeks is only four days away . You are over the nicotene withdrawal but the attachments take a while . If you think of how many years you smoked and how many times you reinforced each little ritual you may well understand that it's unrealistic to think we are over addiction in even three weeks . That's not to minimize ten days by no means . They are the toughest days and you have them now covered and in the past . Great job ! Fantastic job ! This period of time is the hardest fought and you've done it . I know I thought Everything would be over it in three weeks . I mean we are told it takes three weeks to break a habit right , but smoking is more than habit , we are talking addiction . I believe in being in honest with people about how my quit was so their are no surprises and you know what to expect . ( Remembering of course we are all different and don't wear the one size fits all shoes ) Give yourself a year . Every season we smoked for different reasons . Every season you get stronger and by the time it gets fourth season you barely notice you are still working on your quit and "not" smoking becomes normal every day life . It get so much easier with each passing day and each passing month and by the end of your last season you will barely think about smoking , if at all . No matter what , we want a forever quit , so taking it day by day is the way to whatever " forever " will be for each of us . No one knows what tomorrow will bring , so live for today and don't let smoking take today away . Toss every thought and every crave out the window and live every day like it's your last and best day of your life .

@Boo Dang you guys , now you make it hard to go . @AceWhite

Congratulations Gus . I see a winner . Sorry for the late celebration .. but happy I'm here to wish you all the best in the year ahead .. can't wait to hear . I'm going to check up in a year my friend .

Horse radish ! Oh the memories . We used to dig our own and grind our own .. I miss those days . Loved horseradish even with my potatoes lol .

I wonder why it is I hit depression slumps in the fitness aspects of my life . I'm not one of the lucky ones as others I suppose that can maintain a good exercise regiment and it shows in weight fluctuations . I get down on myself then I begin emotional eating . It a never ending cycle . I don't want to be the perfect size just not have these dips and waves of feeling good then the huge let down . It's so hard on my body and mind and spirit . I am literally envious of those who dont need to work so hard to be fit and healthy and can eat everything and anything . This to me is harder than quitting smoking . Any way out ? BTW some of this is age and medication struggle . Can't stop either of those . Any ideas or tips welcomed. The best motivation I've had is encouragement here , but I'll be leaving shortly . All suggestions welcomed .