JustinHoot99

Being in the car is not really a problem. It's having access to the car when my wife is away that is the problem. For instance, if my wife was going to my daughters for the weekend (4hrs away), I would have her hide the keys. When she is home, I do not worry because I know she will smell me when I get home. My mind is a mess. I kept my car keys over the weekend. I used it 5 times, but everything in my little town is only 5-10min away, so no long drives. I drove to the park 3 times and hiked, also to a movie. Then I turned my keys in for her to hide Sun nite. Next Friday, I get them back for the weekend. Going to do that for about 4 wks. Or the rest of my life. Whatever it takes.

All the support I get really helps

Day 22. What can I say.

Yep, that describes it.

Dang, I've already switched to Mt Dew Code Red after I started my quit. I don't want to OD on Rockstars. lol

Awesome job on the 9 months of being smoke free. And thank you for your help on my journey.

Today is day 21 for me which is the start of week 4. @DenaliBlues gave me the following definitions which I love: 1. Hell Week (White hot raging withdrawal.) 2. Wailing Week (Shock wore off. A deep sense of loss and longing set in.) 3. WTF Week (What now? Will this ever get easier? What has gone wrong with my brain? Why has my IQ dribbled out the bottom of my shoes? How long have I been staring vacantly into space? Will I ever poop normally again?) 4. So-Bored-With-My-Coping-Mechanisms Week (I'm so sick of drinking water, chewing gum, eating hard candy, and taking walks.) My plan for getting through this week: 1. Changing from never having access to my keys w/o asking wife to get them, to having her hid them only M-F. I keep them Fri nite to Sun nite. But I still will be having her give me the smell test if I drive somewhere on weekends. 2. Continuing my daily check list 3. Obviously I'll still be coming here. Things to work on: 1. Since I've quit smoking, I've had a tough time getting my self started working in the mornings. I work from home since Covid. Pre-quit, I would always drive to the gas station to get a fountain drink, and of course smoke 1 on the way there and 1 on the way back (Its literally a 2min drive so you can imagine how far out of the way I would drive). Now, I get up, come to my computer and check FB, read CNN and FOX hilites, then come here. The nicotine was my kick in the butt to get started and now I waste a lot of time because my brain just does not want to do work w/o that nicotine. I need to cut back to just a quick check in here, then get started on work.

1 against a thousand is how I feel sometimes against all the triggers out there. Yesterday I went hiking on the trail I use for workouts. Spotted a butt on the trail and knew it was from me. Then there was the spot on the trail where I always lit up because it was the spot where the cigarette would last me right up to the point where I got back to my car. Then of course once I got into the car, that was a trigger to light up for the drive home. And on and on through out the day, thousands of reminders to face and defeat. Fortunately, they are getting weaker though.

It's my Andrew Jackson quit day.

Start of Day 19. I'm thinking of taking back my keys weekends, like Fri evening to Sun evening. Then during the week, wife keeps them hidden. And of course, whenever I am gone on weekends, still have wife smell check me when I get home. Current plan is to do this for at least 4 more weeks.

Start of day 18. Every morning I feel good writing the day of my quit on my the little calendar I printed off. Such a nice way to start the day.

Welcome @JudiMD Sounds like you are doing great and right on track. I'm back on day 17 but feeling positive.

Spend my money?

Start of day 17. Wow, coming up on 3 wks. Only driven about 4 times this month. Normally I drive somewhere 6-7 times a day, mostly just to go smoke. Original plan was to get my keys back after 21 days. This weekend I will need to drive a couple times. May go to movie Friday and I need some yard stuff. Might also go hike at the woods. But I will have my wife smell check me each time I return. Enjoy a smoke free day.

Start of day 16. At the start of this quit, 16 days out looked like an eternity. Now it looks like a drop in the bucket. I realize this is a day at time battle, but I'm sure a lot of people think "I wish I was at the 3 month mark" or something like that when they are early in their quit. Of course, then it will change to wanting the 1 yr mark. Oh well, today I will not smoke. I don't really have strong cravings. I do have a lot of "romanticizings". I try to brush them off quickly and/or go do an exercise snack.

Start of day 15 of WTF week. lol I think there is a lot of emotional shell shock that comes from quitting smoking. You've separated yourself from smoking which was a huge part of your life. And this part you removed is something you used to moderate your emotions. Now that the excitement, struggle, and focus of the 1st 2 weeks is over, you start having to deal w/ your emotions without using the nicotine drug to destress, stimulate, or whatever else you need at the time. I think that brings about a lot of introspection. If a person is not happy w/ their life, suddenly being w/o the drug that helped manage their emotions can be very difficult. Just my theory, but I think this is why a lot of people give up their quits during WTF week and the weeks ahead.

LMBO, these are hilarious. Seriously though, I think the whole "what now" you mentioned is a big reason for so many failed quits the first few months. It's like losing wt. People lose a bunch of wt then often gain it back because they find out losing wt did not change who they were. It's healthy, good in the long term, etc. But if they weren't happy when they were overweight, losing wt is not going to change their world. Same w/ smoking. OK, now I have more free time and a small amount of additional money. If I don't find something to do w/ that extra time that makes me happy, then the thrill of quitting smoking will turn into a depressing boredom.

Sorry to hear about all these health issues and hopefully it is a simple virus. Great for you for having the fortitude to not give in to the craving.

lmbo Hadn't heard that one.

Start of day 14. Around 6pm tonight I will have gotten through 14 days of not smoking. In a way that feels like such a long time, as it is tiring having to keep reminding myself I am no longer a smoker. It's also annoying to have to impose restrictions on my driving and losing the freedom to come and go as I please (even though most of my coming and going driving before I quit was because I was a slave to the nicotine). On the other hand, 14 days seems like a short time as I look ahead. I know I still have a LOT of growing and relearning to do. I think of the next 2 weeks as the toddler stage. Yes, I'm standing now, but my legs are wobbly and my balance if poor. I can walk now, but I need to keep leaning hard on the tools I'm using which include my daily check list, lots of exercise, restricting access to my car, and support from the team here at EX. I'm having my wife continue keeping my keys hidden, but I'm going to add in a couple short drives to the park and probably another movie this week as I relearn how to drive w/o smoking. I'm not even close to wanting to have full access yet. The fun continues.

A great victory. Spartan blood must run in your veins.

Not something everyone can do, but it really reduces the cravings. It's like the subconscious knows there is no access so it says "why bother now" and is mostly content to just sit back and wait till I have access. This time I'm going to take my time and slowly introduce access to my car.

Actually eating raw spinach is pretty easy at the same time being healthy. I use it on sandwiches. In its raw form, its almost tasteless. So you can add something healthy and not even notice it. I wouldn't touch it though if it was cooked. It's day 13. Yippee.

Finishing up day 12. I was kind of bored being around the house. So despite being only around 12degF out, I rode my bike about a 1/2mi to the store just to get a bag of spinach. Quitting smoking is saving me a ton of money on gas right now. I've been thinking that when my 21days is over, I'm going to allow myself access to my car is steps. May have wife keep keys hidden during the day while she is at work, then give them to me when she gets home. I work from home and my work can get pretty stressful sometimes, but other times it can get really slow and boring. Both of those cause cravings. Eventually I will have to learn to handle that w/ access to a car, but I wouldn't mind waiting another month before I have access while I am working.