Reciprocity

"I really don't want to smoke again" That's great @Orion! Now that you've made that commitment to yourself, keep it uppermost in your mind, particularly when cravings come calling. Also, keeping a positive attitude throughout your quit helps a lot as well. Look for positive things you're gaining as you quit develops. There'll be great things ahead as your quit matures. Things you don't even realize early on. You could start with ... how much $$ have you saved so far? Also very important as well in the early days of your quit, make sure there are no cigs handy. Destroy all of them and get rid of lighters, ashtrays etc. You can't smoke what you don't have; right? We're all here to cheer you on and help you when & where we can. Let's get this done!!

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Welcome to Quit Train @Orion! Can't say I have any experience myself with the drug you're taking (formerly Champix). I've only hear many mixed reviews about Champix from those who've tried it. Some have said it was fabulous and made quitting fairly easy for them and others have had issues with it than caused them to abandon taking it and try other quit aids. Seems it really depends on the person. The one thing I can tell you is that quitting is hard, no matter how you approach it and in the end, whatever mathod you choose to quit by it will always boil down to desire & commitment. I found that those are the two things that I had to rely on during heavy cravings in the early part of my own quit. Basically just had to grit my teeth and ride out the storm. It doesn't last forever and ya know what? It didn't kill me either! Right or wrong, I firmly believe that ultimately those two mental qualities (desire & commitment) are what will get you through. And, no matter how you do it, yes things will get better and yes, you'll get back to normal and even better that you're old normal Life is too precious to snuff it out by smoking.

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Love to see this ... Newbies helping newbies

Good to hear from you @FinalAttempt and great to know you've got some activities on the go that will kelp keep your mind off smoking. You're almost at the 1 month mark too so ... Keep up the grate work!!

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Happy 9th @despair not! Go celebrate ...

If you're replying to something said in this thread @Nellie then this thread is the appropriate one to respond in

I never tried either of those but from stories I've been exposed to it seems like it's a godsend to some and a nightmare for others. You do whatever you feel you have to do in order to get started on your quit and what works is different for all but in my mind when you strip away all the hype and all the marketing magic, quitting eventually boils down to how badly you want to be quit and that desire (commitment) must last for days, weeks & months in order to solidify your long term quit. The moment you get over confident or just plain lazy in your quit process is the moment your junkie brain will successfully whisper sweet smoking lies to you and before you know it you're right back to the start again. Our addiction is crafty and smart. It lays low and rises up to strike us at our weakest monments. We must ALWAYS remain on guard! It becomes second nature the longer one remains quit.

It's a good thing you are recognizing your somking triggers @Nellie, as you mentioned above when making a recipe. By realizing when you habitually smoked, you can prepare yourself for when these triggers may come up throughout your day. Once you realize a trigger may be coming along, you can pay special attention to changing up that routine in some minor way so you don't follow your old smoker's way. I realized after I'd quit that the real job in not only quitting but more importantly staying quit is to become comfortable with little changes to your daily routine so you can overcome those triggers to smoke. It really is just rinse & repeat. Learning to live life again the way it was meant to be lived ... without cigarettes! You'll find that once you overcome each different trigger to smoke once, it's never really a challenge again because you'll know what to do instead of smoking. This is why it really takes a full year of living to really and truly completely quit. You have to face not only daily smoking triggers at least once but also seasonal triggers as well. Social gatherings, special holidays, change of seasons; all those thingsthat your mind will associate with smoking. It's certainly doable if you take things one day at a time. Don't look to far ahead and overwhelm yourself just small steps will get you to your desired goal

Nope! Not today.

@Nellie There's also a Games section on the site if you find yourself overwhelmed buy cravings and need something to focus your mind on for a bit. Also, we have a daily NOPE pledge section; The Daily Nope Pledge, where some of us like to pledge our daily promise to ourselves not to smoke just for today. In case you haven't heard of NOPE it stands for Not One Puff Ever! There's also an SOS section where you can go and ask for help if you feel you're losing control of your commitment not to smoke. Other members can come to your assistance to "talk you down".

Welcome to the Quit Train Nellie! My Grandmother on my mother's side was also a Nellie. In any case, I understand you situation. It's not unusual because it's difficult to keep focused on quitting long term. There's no magic bullet in overcoming that issue other than remaining absolutely committed to quitting long term. Every time you feel yourself becoming unfocused on a long term quit or becoming too over confident in the status of your quit, you must recognize that and stop yourself, giving yourself a talking to on what's important to you. You KNOW that just one will send you right back to the start again so why torture yourself by going through the early days of quitting again & again? Makes no sense does it? Try to stay focused on all the benefits of being a non-smoker. Better health, more $$ in your pockets and no longer hiding away several times a day only to satisfy your addiction to nicotine. It's crazy when you think about it in those terms. You have come to the right place to surround yourself with other quitters how've shared your struggle. It does help! Please take advantage of all the information available on this forum. Watch some of the videos that deal with this addiction and expose just how much of it makes no sense when you look at things practically. Hope to see you around!

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Saw that on the local news last night. Guess all the cat's prey is on the US side of the road

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What a great milestone @Gus! I hope you celebrated somehow or at least did something nice for yourself to mark the occasion.