Chrysalis

Yes, my sleep is MUCH better now. I used to wake up every night to go to the bathroom. I thought it was my kidneys. Actually, I think I woke myself up by coughing in my sleep (at least that's what my husband says). Then, once I was semi-awake I would often decide to wake up enough to have a cigarette in the middle of the night before going back to sleep. At that point, however, I was unable to get back to sleep for quite a while. Dumb!

Wow, Gemzee, Ripped in 30 sounds challenging enough to be downright scary! Don't overdo it now, you hear? :swoon:

Congratulations, Gemzee! Your enthusiasm is great to see. You EARNED this celebration! And, hey, when you get to the Lido deck be sure to save a place for me. I'll be there by-and-by.

I've been too busy reading old posts and blogs to finish up my profile. Soon, I promise. Meanwhile, will this do for now?

30 minutes of "disco walking" today. ("Disco walking" is my term for listening to fast, bouncy, danceable music on my iPod while I walk and dance and beebop around and around the perimeter of the condo's tennis court. Looks ridiculous but it makes for a fun workout. :dance3: )

Smoking causes you to cough-- --in the middle of a theatrical performance --in the middle of a speech --while on the telephone --in church --every time you laugh --all through the night

Hi, Abigail. So nice to see you again! Congratulations on your one month milestone-- that was a biggie for me. I know you feel as though your brain is lagging behind your body but it's not. Everything is healing at once. But at this point, one month quit, you could start making a conscious effort to do some new and different things with your new and non-smoking self. After a month I decided that my lungs were probably healed enough that I could probably start exercising (I used to get too short of breath to do much). I got off to a slow start with that but things are getting better and better. Also, to help relax me as well as to get some benefit from the additional time I have each day, I started charcoal sketching in the evenings. Very relaxing and takes my mind off the smokes. I guess my point is that you have clawed your way to a very good place. The worst is over and you can try to experiment a little. Stay close to the board, protect your quit above all else, but start to enjoy your life more.

Petra, what a fabulous idea to get everybody into a happy frame of mind! I have 2 best compliments that I think of often: 1) after teaching a rigorous biology course to non-majors one of my students told me that she had been planning to become an interior decorator. But she had worked so hard and done so well in my class that she now had much more self-confidence. So she decided that she was going to become an interior designer. 2) my husband frequently gives me the (bass-ackward) compliment of telling me that marrying my was the smartest thing he ever did in his life. How sweet! -_-

Give it time. :biggrin:

Wow! Such a warm and reassuring welcome! Thank you, everyone. I am so happy to see some old friends here and I look forward to making many new ones. I already noticed two things that really impress me about QuitTrain: 1) you folks have some terrific emoticons and 2) somebody must have figured out a way to outsmart Nancy because I have yet to run out of "Likes". (Hi, Nancy! :wub: ). I am also intrigued by your blogs-- I'm going to start reading them ASAP. Thanks again for your welcome and for your offers to help me maintain my quit forever.

Jackie, you are oh so right! It doesn't seem possible, it doesn't seem fair, that after months and months one little cigarette can throw us for a loop like that. But it does. That is the nature of an addiction-- any addiction. Below is a copy of something I wrote a few weeks ago when Robin Williams died. His remarks really resonated with me. Maybe the will resonate with you, too. "Poor Robin Williams took his own life yesterday. Such a brilliant, tortured man! Naturally, the media are replaying many interviews that Mr. Williams gave over the years. I was particularly struck by one interview with Charlie Rose. During the interview, Charlie Rose asked Robin Williams what happened to make him start drinking again after 20 years of being sober. Robin Williams said that he was in a store one day and there was this tiny little bottle of Jack Daniels on the shelf. Just a tiny bottle--one good slug. Robin said to himself, "What harm could that one little slug do?" So he bought it and drank it. Robin Williams said that with the very FIRST drop-- the whiskey had barely touched his tongue-- he could feel his alcohol demon rise up inside him and say, "I'VE GOT YOU AGAIN, A**H**LE!! Ha Ha!!" (Of course, you have to imagine Robin saying that in his own inimitable funny voice.) I think that there are two important lessons here. The first, obviously, is the fact that with an addiction--any addiction-- there is no such thing as "just one". The addictive demons are still inside of us ready to spring to life and grab us again at a moment's notice. Sad but true. "

Bicycled 30 minutes yesterday.

Hey, Whackamole! Nice to see so many old friends. Don't worry about the sand traps. Here's how you handle THEM! :)

In one of your posts you wrote: "Getting back on the ride, perhaps riding until almost the end, because I still don't know when the end is..." It sounds to me like you can't imagine living the rest of your life without a cigarette. That's what you're afraid of. When will all this "quit" stuff end? I think that it is important to remember that you need to want to quit more than you want to smoke. That is VERY important. So before you finish those last few cigarettes you should make a list of the 3 or 4 most important reasons you are quitting. Try to make them specific. Not "for my health" but "I don't want to be on oxygen and in a wheel chair by the time I'm 65". Create some vivid images in your head. If you can come up with a written list of 3 or 4 really compelling reasons to quit before you smoke cigarette #6, I think it will really help you to make this your last quit. Yes, you will still have to do the NOPE and hang on through the craves, but if you want to quit more than you want to smoke, you will succeed. Forever.

Hi, Jackie- I quit smoking 5 months ago but I am brand new to this site. Please forgive my presumption. I did notice, however, that last week you posted: "Last night I lay awake and was seriously considering going to a 24 hour shop to buy cigarettes at 2 a.m." I am a firm believer that a relapse event is not a sudden or "silly" thing, particularly after someone has been quit for several months. Something has been bugging you, upsetting you, making you fantasize about cigarettes for a while now. You cracked last night, but the real reason wasn't sudden. I hope you flush any remaining cigarettes you have down the toilet right this minute and renew your quit. Then think carefully about what has been provoking you this past week and figure out another way to handle it than by smoking. Ask the folks here for suggestions. Yes, you do deserve to feel better but there are other, better ways! Keep your quit!

Yes, my experience exactly. We don't have to whine about every little crave-- that's a normal and expected part of quitting and we will get through that. But if we start to get really caught up in a series of craves or thinking obsessively about smoking, it's better to ask for help and advice than to risk a relapse. That is how we learn what we need to know to make sure our quits are permanent.

Hi, Doreen- First, write a list of the 3 main reasons you decided to quit smoking. You have probably done that before, but do it again. Look at your list. Think about each of those reasons very carefully. Imagine, clearly imagine, achieving each of those goals for yourself. You are on your way to doing that--achieving them--unless you throw your quit away. Which do you want more right now, a cigarette, or those goals? Let your rational mind take control. Distract yourself, "tough love" yourself, go get some exercise, sip ice water and suck on hard candies. But don't smoke. Just for today.

Hi, folks- I am not a newbie to quitting smoking; I've been quit for almost 5 months. But I am new to Quit Train and am excited to meet you all. Some background about me: I was smoking about a pack and a half a day for over 40 years. I seriously quit smoking 3 times in my life for periods of several months to one year. Each time I relapsed either because of weight gain or unbearable stress or both. I decided to try again because as I get older I want to remain (or should I say become) as healthy and fit as I can be so that I can be vigorous and active in my senior years. This time I used Chantix (which worked great for me) and participated in a quit smoking forum (which also worked great for me). I feel strong in my quit (most of the time), but my personal history of relapse plus the statistical probability of relapses in general makes me nervous. I've quit before for many months and relapsed so I am very worried about doing it again. I have read Alan Carr's book and found it very helpful for understanding the nature of the nicotine addiction, the way it messes with your thinking, and how to overcome it. I very much appreciate his insights and advice. However, I have come to believe that the "just don't smoke" message-- while it works for most of the people most of the time-- does not work for everyone all of the time. Sometimes we need a little more thought, depth, flexibility and creativity. I have heard that QuitTrain recommends Alan Carr and similar techniques but also embraces "out of the box" thinking about quitting smoking and staying quit. So that is what I am hoping to find here-- shared knowledge and experiences that will help me maintain my quit for the rest of my life. In turn, I hope that my knowledge and experience will help others. Let us link arms and continue on this journey together.