Still winning

Argh, only just fixed the wire for the outside lights and Batman has already chewed it again this morning while I was doing Bella's hair...why does my crazy dog eat electrical wiring?

Really happy to read this. Massive congrats on 4 weeks of freedom. x

nope

I think this is a good point. I have recently dropped my new morning habit, which was wiping the work surfaces. It just dropped off eventually (I do still clean lol). I found I did crave and it sucked me in when their were situations where I would usually smoke, ie first thing, get in the car, walk out a shop etc. So I put "new habits" in all those places, wipe a surface, car was eat a cough sweet, shop was plan a treat to buy and it lessened the effect for me.

That's the part that's hard to explain to others who want to quit. That it becomes a series of thoughts that you counter with a new thought. And gradually, they just diminish and then stop. Great Job!! x

nope

I know you don't want sympathy but I'm going to say that I'm sorry you are living with this. Yes, disability and smoking are extremely interlinked in what I see too and it hurts your heart to watch addiction in action. I'm sorry for you and everyone who lives day in and out with these awful illnesses created. The only choices we can make are for ourselves, I heard it from a wise women here travelling the same journey my friend. I know your mum will be over joyed every day that you escaped, so cherish your ability to get out. xx

I gave it a go, transpires it's probably not my thing but I do so hate to miss out so worth a shot :) That said I do have a girlfriend who I have a thing about, but I think it's more a soul mate bond then a sexual one.... Anyway, a lady doesn't fight...I mean she may stick out a stiletto'd toe accidently to make a biatch trip a little ...but fighting is uncouth haha.

nope.

You will be fine for your birthday! you are already celebrating being you and smoke free, it's simply an extention :) Your plans sound very entertaining :) Maybe you should add a setting of new goals for your next birth year, I love doing that on my birthday...one new self development thing to work on. Anyway, off to repeat the words "dude" and "sweet", I love that film too!!

The strangest sensation isn't it! Un-nerves you every time but it's just your subconcious way of catching up I think. x

Oh this is great! I think of you often and wonder how you're doing, pleased it's smoke free (although never doubted) and pleased to hear the shoe/dress industry continues to thrive in Bristol! :)

Olly Murs is my shameful admission. It's so not cool but I know all the words of all his songs lol. Other than that I am a fan of Talking with interesting people. Learning new healing techniques Spiritual learning/discussion Dancing Phil Collins Muse Metallica Cooking (not chef style, more throw it in a pot and "ta da" style) Reading Vampires/werewolf/Unicorns/Witches/Paranormal NOT ZOMBIES, they scare the shiz outta me Connecting people Feminism Helping people because it's the right thing to do Sarcasm

Where in the world are you - England, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire When and how did you quit - Which time lol? Winning formula for me was Champix but I only took it for a week after I quit then switched to cold turkey and some mega dance moves (nope shuffle!). 19 months ish now? Did smoking affect your health. Yes, It's not even why I quit though which is shameful in a way, I'd recovered. Has smoking significantly improved things. Yes absolutely! The biggest wins are self esteem and setting a good example to my lil ladies who trust me more! Last album - Ed Sheeran I think Parent - yes two girls, Milly is 10 and Bella is 5 An interesting fact about me:~ I am incredibly interesting lol, but I can play London's Burning on the recorder :) Job now: Holistic healer. last job, carer to toxic mother, before that pub landlady x

Sweet!! I'm lovin this post! It's as easy as wake, don't put anything in your mouth and set it on fire, go to sleep and repeat. Isn't that self esteem thing a real shocker and an epic win! That was a very welcome surprise for loads of us. Now about kicking yourself for not doing it sooner...well I'm going to leave you with that because guilt was a very strong reason for me putting down the cigs and for not picking them up again - it's actually been a part of my quit and keeps me vigilant. As does the thought of any additional damage I would do if I smoked again. So yeah, the kicking yourself is normal. It will calm and you will find a new normal - for now it's simply one part of your journey, the rest sounds really wonderful. x

nope

Shhh but Bakon is a proper softy underneath and genuinely cares. He's just pretty straightforward but you learn to take terms like window licker as his gentle way of showing support - that's not even sarcasm although reading back sounds like it should be! Anyway! Rewards, yes!! Reward every milestone. Finding a tough day, buy yourself a little treat( magazine, candle, sweets for the kids), cause you can with the money you're saving. Write a list of all the lovely things you could buy with the money!

nope. Happy Halloween/Samhain :)

A weekend with nothing planned. Means I can do whatever I want or nothing at all.

nope. x

xx Mammy. Lie - I need it to manage the stress truth I used it to repress my emotions and gut instincts that I now use for life and working to help others. Lie - Some people have an addictive nature Truth - Some people are addicted to nicotine and need to kick that to the kerb.

Aww Good to see you post Iam, short and sweet but in my thoughts! x

That is absolutely it isn't it. just learning new ways to do the things we must without building smoking into it. We've weaved it into every part and soon enough we weave a new life without it. x

It's been a while since I did a post as I don't ever want to take away from newer quits but I see a lot of triggers going around and some jumping off's. My way of speaking (writing) is to explain my experience and hopefully people can relate, or not and that's good if they can share their experience instead. Makes it much broader. I also have no intention of saying in one paragraph what can be said in 20, I ramble :D . So a trigger is simply your brain remembering "hey, we used to smoke now". I recently bumped a post called the Executive assistant, it's a great read! That's such a powerful realization to know that it is simply a thought and in reality, we have many thoughts within a day, some good some not. So the fact that I and others ran scared of quitting or staying quit (relapse queens take a bow!) was mainly due to the fear that I would always feel that I was missing something - once I found this support I quickly realized the thoughts would fade and it was worth holding on for the peace of mind later. So yes, at times it was uncomfortable mentally, but I never physically hurt, on the contrary, I actually physically started healing, we all do. I still love the stats about recovery times. Only 72 hours to get nicotine out is so fabulous really when you think of it, simply years of stuffing it in there and all gone in 3 days! I digress though. It often took me by surprise when a smoking thought would take a hold of my brain, what we refer to as romancing the smoke. I did quickly learn that I could distract my brain quite easily though. if the trigger was simply a thought, another thought could replace it. If the trigger was simply remembering we would smoke here, then a new and healthier habit would soon get rid of the trigger or I could simply answer the thought with "we don't do that anymore". I heard it described as a tool box and I like that analogy. A toolbox of ways to outwit our own thoughts. In any other scenario this might sound like we have a screw loose (Jury's out on some of us!) but actually it's quite sane. Get a plan of what you will do when you have your triggers and moving past it becomes easier. We berate ourselves when we're past the initial couple of weeks for still getting triggers. I wonder why we anticipate we should be over it so quickly? I've read powerful lines like quitting is a journey not an event, that makes sense. A change of season trigger is not nearly the same as week 1 unless you give it lots of head space, so don't do that. If you're finding yourself romancing, talk/post/pm someone, smoking is a lie and it never was the answer to any of life's problems. Reading up and educating yourself on how addiction works means you start to realize it's all a choice. That's where the answer is on triggers for me. If I "choose" to throw myself off the quit train, I will only have to start again, today or years later with more damage, may as well "get er done" today. I see others who continue to smoke and kid themselves. I've seen that journey on family ahead of me and trust me, it doesn't bear thinking about and I choose not to dwell on others who can't get real about this. So if ever a smoking thought flits through my mind now, it's easy to bat it away, like swatting a fly out of your face really. No it's nothing like the early thoughts. Actually I'll say that used to really worry me when 5 year veteran quitters said they still thought about smoking! Those people are abstaining, not quitting, there is a strong difference! The reason I think is I embraced every trigger (holiday/seasonal/milestones) and faced it down. It wasn't always an elegant face down. I still feel like I missed a trick not buying shares in a tissue company! But the triggers do all get faced if you want to be free and it's perfectly reasonable to feel mentally on edge sometimes, non smokers get that! Non smokers have stress without smoking. They go drinking without smoking too, if they choose too. "Choice"...isn't life all about choices. Quitting smoking is a good choice. Talking about struggling is another great choice, use the support here. We're here by choice, to help those who want it. So probably this whole post could have just been - Triggers are just thoughts of we could smoke here. but we don't smoke, so nope. However my inane drivel is far more fun and has filled your day with love and light I'm sure :wub: :D .

Hello my beautiful friend. I am pleased you have healed although sorry to hear that was such a long road for you. Many congratulations on 2 years of freedom :) xx