Kate18

10,677 that I haven't smoked. Holy Toledo, That's more than 5,300 packs. I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around what that would look like, all stacked up.

NOPE

Thank you, Kris, that is nice of you. Yesterday I had an email from her surgeon after I sent a photo of her incision area. The surgeon said that in another week, Sofia may return to normal living, except on the gastrointestinally appropriate, low fat diet. Such a relief.

That is a great idea, Kris. And I'd rather be focused for a while on getting some back up supplies rather than watching the data. I keep things like canned beans and corn, plus water, but I have to remember to rotate them out and replace with new ones before expiration dates.

Wow! Last week I looked at the cases in King County, State of Washington, where I live. The week before last we had between 44 and about 100 new cases each day of Covid. The week I was in, on the day I looked, we had 200 new cases. Now, a week later, we had 1,269 new cases--that was just one day, yesterday. HUGE uptick in Covid cases. Apparently, 99% of the people did not have vaccines. I understand some of the reasons to not get the vaccine, but that is a scary statistic. I know a young woman who is holding off getting the vaccine because she and her husband want to have another baby. There is no data on pregnancy. I asked her about it, and she reminded me that years before she was born, doctors were giving pregnant women thalidomide for morning sickness, with disastrous consequences. I don't think the vaccine is like that, but I didn't get into an argument about it. What do I know?

NOPE Wow, I just looked at the number of cigarettes I didn't smoke and the amount of money I saved. Incredible. And that's with less than a year and a half of being quit.

You know, Doreen, I may have just made a friend. It's a coworker, very quiet. She asked me whether I'd like to hang out some evening and drink beer (beer, again). She saw me buying a can after work and said that it was her favorite. OK, we can ditch the beer. But she has asked me over to hang out on Friday. I'm hoping she wants to go hiking. Power walking sounds great, too.

Yeh, I'm going to get back to my plant-based diet. I watch the videos of a physician-turned-nutritionist named Michael Greger. He has a site called Nutrition Facts. I also watch Youtubes on plant-based diets. I'm not fond of vegetables, so it'll take discipline to get back to eating properly. It was great, though. Before Covid, I'd lost about 20 lb. Part of that crept back up with eating comfort foods when we were in lock-down. You're right, getting back to studying nutrition and strength training is a great idea. Thanks!

OK, I'm interested in the home treadmill idea. I live in a small apartment, so I'll have to measure for one to see if I can shove stuff out of the way. What brand did you get? You said you were setting it up...is it like a kit? Can you hire someone to set it up? What happens if it malfunctions? Is there a warrantee or something? I'm afraid I'll get one in my apartment, it'll go on the fritz, and I'll be stuck with it. I'm very interested in this one. It rains a lot here in Seattle; we're famous for it. I really need exercise. That is seriously awesome!!! I'd love to do that. As a matter of fact, I have acrylic paints and some brushes. I can't paint here in my apartment because of poor lighting and no space, but I just couldn't get rid of my canvasses and paints. Ha! Great idea!

Jillar, I like the fishing idea. I used to go fishing in Puget Sound on a boat. Usually caught flounder. I love dogs, but I have a medically challenged dog who is occupying my time and thoughts a lot just now. She just had an expensive abdominal surgery to remove a "foreign object" from her small intestines. It turned out to be a wad of string about the size of an apricot. I have no idea where she could have picked that up. She rarely chews on anything, let alone string. Oh well, so I'm having my fill of dogginess. She'll be convalescing for the next six months. Thanks for bringing up fishing. I like that. LOL! The images those two suggestions conjure up are so funny! I like the idea of classes. I'll look into it.

One more thing... I've been thinking about learning to skateboard. I won't do jumps or anything wild, but it does seem kinda cool. But... I'm 70 years old. Sigh. Why didn't I think of this 50 years ago. Well, to be fair, I don't remember there being any skateboards then. I emailed my doctor about it. She didn't recommend against it, she just said that my bones won't heal if I fall and break something. So that's a "no." And it seemed like such a good idea.

After quitting smoking in February of year-Covid (2019), about four or five months later I began having a beer in the evening. I am still having a beer or two in the evenings. I'm thinking I've exchanged one addiction for another. Hmmm. I Googled for something else to be "addicted" or deeply involved with. All I got when I Googled was a long list of Help Lines. Any thoughts about what happens when people exchange addictions and what could be better substitutes? No chewing on carrots. No chewing on straws. An "addicting" hobby. Substitution. Sigh

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Hi, @Abby, Thank you, I'm well. Sorry for the long time to reply--my dog had a medical/surgical emergency and the past two weeks have been about nothing but her. While she was so fragile and still in the hospital, and when it looked as though she would die, I thought about smoking a couple of times. The thoughts passed. Nothing would have been gained, and I'd have lost a year and a half quit. There's never a good reason to resume smoking.

NOPE

I was having a real down time with bipolar depression and so close to buying cigarettes for comfort, just looking for any comfort. You all helped me through it. I went online and searched for a forum for bipolar. I found a really good one. Such a relief. I have lost all of my friends, and even family has turned against me because of the yo-yo moods--they never know who I will be today. They fault me for "thinking negative," and tell me to "just think positive thoughts." The success I've found with this forum (and Doreen) encouraged me to keep looking for a group of like-minded people with whom to connect. This Quittrain support group has not only helped me quit smoking and stay quit, but think about other areas of my life where an online group might be helpful. Ripples across the water. Thank you all

The days fly by, then weeks and months and years. One thing has been constant for almost a year and a half: NOPE

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NOPE Relieved, hopeful, and ready to continue on through to 2nd year anniversary in 8 or so months.

NOPE. Didn't smoke, even though it was the worst temptation since I quit.

Hey, I like that. I'm sure someone, somewhere in the forum has suggested buying or said they bought themselves flowers, but it didn't occur to me at the moment. Thanks