Reciprocity

I got distracted and have not been doing my part here lately but @Mac#23 has held the fort admirably Where are we now? 5

Nope!

Congrats Yoda!! 11 is no small feat. You're just a month away from that very significant 1 year mark when you will have faced all your seasonal triggers and beaten them. There'll be a party - that's for sure!! Best start picking out your swimsuit cuz there's an awesome pool on the Lido Deck

Some days I just bite off more than I can chew

I'm wearing my tiara again, even after therapy

There's no such thing as failure unless you give up trying!

Don't sweat it FM! You'll do fine as long as you're committed to quit no matter what the nicodemon throws at you and besides, you have a whole bunch of big-time quitters around this place who will be more than happy to give support, advice and anything other than a payday loan Check out the Games page .... you may find you need a little mindless entertainment if your sleep patterns get screwed up in the early days of your quit.

Oh boy ..... it's going to sound like we're piling on here a bit because I too went cold turkey. (trust me, it's not a plot against your choice of NRT product). A couple of things I would say though is: 1. Ask your Dr. or Pharmacist about the use of Nicotine gum, even if you're not buying it from them or - research recommended usage on the internet. The company who makes the gum you are buying may have it's own website. 2. Don't focus too much on what you are using to help you with the physical aspects of nicotine withdrawal because if you do, it will give your junkie brain (yes, we all have one of those!) ammunition to shift blame should you fail in your initial quit attempt. Take OWNERSHIP of this quit because in the end it's YOU and only you that determines the outcome - commitment is the key to quitting! Not patches, gums, lozenges or nico-sprays. Those only help reduce the physical side effects of quitting a bit for a short period of time. The real heavy lifting is restructuring your daily life so that you become completely comfortable as a non-smoker! That's where it's at and that just takes time & patience. Your anxiousness about your approaching quit date is completely normal! It will evaporate instantly once you actually quit

Hey! .............wait a minute here ...............

-5

I remember the first time I smelled that stink of stale tobacco smoke on someone who walked past me just after having a smoke. I almost fell over it was so pronounced, and my sniffer ain't that good either. I thought to myself; is that what I smelled like to others after having a smoke? I was embarrassed & humiliated at that realization Since then when I hear someone say; "I'm a secret smoker. Even my family doesn't know" , it cracks me up because clearly, that's not even possible!

-2

Nine years is amazing! I'm sure being a nonsmoker seems to be just normal now but celebrating the fact that you put in the work all those years ago and quit never gets old

Oh Boy! Blue Jays creamed Boston tonight; 28-5 Including an inside the park grand slam home run! Clearly was NOT Boston's night

Agreed! Freedom from slavery to nicotine is the absolute best. In my case, this is something that wasn't even on my radar when I first quit. It was an added bonus that I only realized after I'd been quit for awhile. Turns out it was by far and away the best benefit I experienced after I quit! I expect that's pretty common as we tend not to realize just how much control smoking has over our daily lives when we're still smoking?

-1

Oh wow! Never thought I'd see the day that the counting game died Back in the day .... it was always #1!

Nope! Not on my Anniversary. The wife would give me a slap if I did!

I really like travelling now so much more that when I smoked. Good lord, an overseas flight was sheer agony when I was a smoker! Upon arrival at destination, I would have walked over shards of broken glass & hot coals to get out to the 'smoking area'. Now -no big deal.

Nope!

You just gotta dress for the weather. That's what I do!

Yes! Long time, no see ! @Lin-quitting - glad to see you're still with us 'quitters' and it's a NOPE for me too!

OO