PorkandPancakes

Dara O'Brien (he's an Irish comedian) Without using an 'S', what do you use to sweeten food?

A rare weekend day when I get to be with my children and partner instead of at work I've always thought that the blue.......

Lol, who is Namcy?? I mean Nancy of course

Thanks Namcy but I do this on my phone, not on a computer so the content I see is reduced. I'll keep clicking next. I'll get there eventually!! I thought it was quite a massive thread so it might be possible that a new thread is due to start on it but it doesn't seem to have a 'maximum number of posts' limit like other forums. It's all good.

I often head on over to games and have a look around. I often think I'd like to play 'chicks and sticks'. But, there are 1662 pages of chicks and sticks and I have to skip every single page to see the final post. I can't post a reply until I know what number went before. I've tried skipping. It u sit and click next, over and over, but I'm still only seeing October 2014. That's a lot of '-12'. '-13'. ''-12'..... So I got to wondering if perhaps <this may be controversial > you would consider starting a shiny new thread continuing the game? I know Bakon doesn't want even more chicks to play.....but he's not afraid of another girl, right???

Plus if you've ever seen the thick tar like residue that cannabis leaves in a pipe, why would you want to inhale that in your already beaten up lungs? Bake it, eat it, but never smoke it. (That's my thoughts anyway)

Me too Doreen but it doesn't take much. I don't get out much these days...

Fingers and toes crossed

Any luck Bakon? I think Cristobal would be a lovely poster over her. I've seen many of his posts in the other posts and he was well loved and respected. He would be most welcome here too

Thanks guys. It was a fun thread celebration thread...... Same time next month?? (Boo-I'm expecting something big next time) (Well, not 'big' big, just like a big gesture....... I 'll stop typing now....<backs away from keyboard>)

Is it ever too early for a dancing sausage? Doreen, you saucy minx!

Hi Lisa Wow! What a roller coaster you seem to be on. It seems that maybe you should consider getting off the nicotine altogether. Loads of good advice here. Take some time, have a read, pick a date and start quitting. You can do this.

It's that Boo! He's got me all a fluster.

Hi Uber. I don't know how long you've been quit as must have missed it but I can only speak from my experience. In the first month I definitely 'noticed' the absence of a cigarette break. Someone posted on here, very early on in my quit an analogy about our internal PA. It's an excellent post and really resonated with me. It compares your brain to a PA that's worked for you all your life. For the last <insert number of years smoked> you've been sending a memo to your PA to remind you that we smoke at certain times. For example, 'oh, I've nearly finished this job, remind me to smoke when I'm done'. When we quit, our PA Gets the memo but it goes against every other memo we ever sent. So we have to break it down. for every 'craving' or 'thought' of smoking, we send a new memo saying "Oh no sorry, did I not mention? We no longer smoke, even after the ironing". Or "no, we don't smoke after we come out of the cinéma anymore". It's only once you have encountered every single trigger and retrained the brain that this passes. I realise this doesn't help you directly with how to 'break up the day' but my thoughts are this. Breaking up the day is how us smokers survived. It's what we tell ourselves we need because we HAVE to smoke. Once you start acknowledging each trigger and retraining yourself by saying 'yes I used to smoke here but now I don't', I found that after a while, I was able to complete said task without thinking of smoking. And now, 6 months on, my day is still broken up into separate activities and segments by the nature of how our lives work. Only I don't NEED the breaks I once convinced myself was a reward. In fact, my rewards now are that I still don't smoke. And I don't try to kill myself every 2 hours. (Actually it was closer to every hour for me!) I hope this reads ok to you and maybe someone will find the post I was referring to. It really is my favourite. I guess in short I'm saying, in the short term it's great to look for alternatives to break up your day but in the long run, you won't need them because you never really did. Once you don't need nicotine, you'll wonder just how you ever got anything done when you keep having to interrupt things for a cig! Well done on your quit this far and sorry for the long post!

Careful BAT, that's a lot of words there, don't use up your quota..... :-p

Aw, kind words. Thanks Joe. I've not always been a massive contributor but I have stayed around, added to posts where I can and watched and read as much as I can. I credit my quit to the right time, right place and right attitude which I was lucky enough to find pretty quick. But this place was amazing in the first weeks where Smoking is all you can think of and people in real life quickly get sick of hearing your complaints! That's where this place comes in! If seeing our quits helps other people, even in a tiny way, then that's great with me. Easy peasy.....:)

Well Boo. Thanks for sharing your dancing sausage! It's made my 6 month celebration just a little bit better! (Ps. What do I get for 7 months?!)

Thanks guys. I have to ask though Boo.... Is that a dancing poo? It sure looks like one!

So tomorrow marks 6 months since I quit smoking. It seems so long ago yet only feels like yesterday. I don't think about smoking when I wake up anymore. Nor every five minutes at work. But it crosses my mind usually once a day at least. Only fleeting. Just a thought. Still it lingers though. Those triggers are funny things. I don't resent them though. Knowing I have rejected each and every thought or trigger only strengthens my quit. I am no longer defined by my need to smoke. I had to sit in someone's home today while they smoked continuously. It didn't bother me too much(though more than I thought but only as it was disgusting and made my chest tighten up) but it stank and so did I when I left the house. And before that I was dealing with a lady who sat outside the whole time, just so she could smoke cigarettes. One after the other. When you see it. When you really see it. Slaves. Slaves to the very thing that's killing you slowly. It's just.......unfathomable (if that's not a word, it is now!) So I'm celebrating. 6 months clear. I'm super proud of me.

So we all know that you kiss and tell them Joe! #secretsarentsafe

Late to the party but I'm still here...

I'm glad you checked in Joe. You've been sweet to me and I was worried about ya.

Karen. I don't often mention this because I don't want to 'push' a product but you appear desperate and are stood on the precipice. You can drag this back but I feel you need a push to do so. I quit using an app called 'Jason Vale, quit smoking in 2 hours'. It sounds cheesy but it is free and based on Allan CARR methods though I found it punchier and more succinct. You need 2 hours and it just resets your junkie thinking. It is the only reason I quit smoking. Yes, I've worked to keep my quit but I never would have taken the step without it. Please download the app. Try it. or any other method that has helped you. Don't go back, I urge you to stop being a slave to the nicotine. Shut down that junkie brain. I promise it gets easier when you do.

Boo - your post. It's exactly how my quit has been. I fought with myself every day for 20 years telling myself I couldn't quit. I would scream in my head that I couldn't quit. I didn't even try very hard because even the thought of quitting terrified me. The few feeble attempts I made ended very quickly. I bought patches that stayed in the cupboard, vapers that sat at the bottom of my bag, hypnosis DVDs the works. When I did quit, it was an app that did it for me but the basis of it was Allan CARR's method of retraining the brain to see smoking for what it is. It was like a light bulb. I stopped fighting. An the voice quiet end down as soon as you do that. It's still there but there's no internal screaming anymore. I wish that I had your skill with words - you express what I felt so well. 5 1/2 months quit here. It just gets better.

That's exactly what I was like. Ignoring the adverts, closing my ears but secretly hating myself every time I put a cigarette in mouth. I just spent a week away with the family and it was wonderful not feeling like I needed to go outside all the time for a cig. Not spending my evening outside of the fun or in the outskirts because I couldn't stray far from the door. Lovely. Now if I could just shift the extra lbs..... (And the extra extra ones I had before I quit!)