cpk

Okay, so maybe you were already a great runner even while smoking. I had a gal pal when in my 20's and she was a running coach and smoked! But surely this can't be good for the body. Reminds me I need to get an oil change or my truck is going to get REAL sluggish. Maybe not smoking is like a big oil change for a runner. When I called you "old scoucer" I thought you were, like, 30 or 31 years old. True, it was just a joke. You look like you are in your early 30's. I bet you are exhausted from your efforts. This part so sucks. Write a detailed description of this nightmare (no, not in your own blood!) - but get really graphic. I promise you, it will be a great read later on, and you'll want this account so in the future you can read it. You don't want to forget this demonic pain. You don't want to pass this way again. My competence in ALL OTHER AREAS of my life fell to scary and dismally below par levels the first 8 days of my quit. But I wrote a stellar account of the pain. It convinced me that I want this to be the final quit, done and dusted. Be kind to yourself. Once it's done it's done. I'm five weeks and feeling great, and am very happy. That's you five weeks from now. GTQ. Guard The Quit.

I would rather have someone quickly shoot me in the head than go back to the slow suicide of smoking. I hate everything about smoking. So, then, what are cravings??? I think cravings are about love. The tobacco industry appropriates love cravings. Everyone gets lonely and scared and anxious without love. Everyone wants love. "Here," the tobacco industry says, "Here's love in a box." All you need is some cash and love is yours. No matter where you are in the world, at any time,day or night, you can get cigarettes. Who or what is THAT available? The tobacco industry takes the natural desire for love and twists it and demonizes it. After quitting, we try to find other loves in a box...candy, gum, pills, booze, videos etc. Maybe it's best to just admit, "I need love. I crave love. I am human." This purifies and blesses what the tobacco industry appropriated and warped. Quitting smoking is a shamanistic transformation. Cravings are reduced because they are transformed back into the natural desire to be loved. We all want authentic love. Not love in a box. If tiny cravings remain and pop back up even years later...they serve to remind us that we can't repair all the damage that's been done, but that we will never again be as wholly dehumanized as we once allowed.

I've eaten more pasta since quitting than I care to think about. I'm going back to the binky!

Joel said somewhere (this video?) if someone keeps offering you a smoke you should take it and break it. I don't agree. I think walking away would be better. Or, if you need to get tough just inform the person that they are harassing you and they need to stop. In another instance someone threw a pitcher of water on someone who kept offering a smoke. Well, this is actually assault. It's just crazy. Quitting smoking doesn't give someone license to act in any manner they wish. These are not good ways to guard the quit.

Before: "My allergies are really acting up..." while hacking away with obvious smoker's cough... Now: "Gee, I guess my allergies are gone..." duh, yeah, because you removed 7,000 chemicals...

N.O.P.E.

VERY WELL DONE YOU! CONGRATS, WITH JOY!!! XXX

what's a flaming turd anyways? can that be used in public? Thanks for the laughs.

Thanks for this. I would rather have someone shoot me in the head then go back to smoking. I'd choose a fast death over a long suicide. I am just saying that not EVERYTHING in my life is about quitting smoking.

Late afternoon walk at moderate pace - 40 minutes Evening walk at moderate to brisk pace - 2 hours Total: 2 hours 40 minutes walking at moderate to moderate/brisk pace Comment: I feel great! During evening walk completely forgot I was supposed to be in recovery and with lung pain at 5 weeks quit. My conclusion...is that my issues are either greatly related to anxiety and/or the walking/breathing greatly reduced chest pain. Some pain during afternoon walk but none during evening walk. No pain afterwards. I feel great. That's all! :D

Spring Clean! Loving that idea...so exciting to put new goals in place. Thanks.

Thanks! Golfing this week? If so, enjoy the links. (Links? I think that's right. I golfed when a kid.)

Nice. Thanks. Confidence is the reward for exercising competence.

:angel:

You really look like a happy quitter in your pix!

The poor Quit...it has to bear the weight of everything that isn't quite right in my life. Today...five weeks Quit...I realize I need to sort things out. Maybe I've been tired because I need more oxygen and fresh air exercise. Maybe I'm tense because new career goals are challenging. And so on. The Quit is rolling along just fine, thank you, and it's navigating all the bumps in the road. I can just follow the Quit's good example.

Well done you! :wub:

N.O.P.E....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

:girl_witch: :girl_witch:

Okay. This video was good. Made me laugh. I might actually be just adjusting to a new normal.

Really? Do I have to embrace it? Can I just give it a gentle pat? Naaaah, you're right, if I don't embrace it, it will keep wailing and wetting its diaper.

I don't remember so much fatigue after quitting before, and I keep researching about how long this will last. I have to keep stretching my patience. I've read it can take up to a year. I think I came into this quit with unrealistic expectations -- thinking I'd be feeling great in a few weeks time. I guess this isn't so much fear of relapse...as just being impatient with the healing process. I am definitely trying to tame a wild horse named impatience...I'm trying to stroke him down and calm him down. He's a bit headstrong...

Can you please delete the album I have in the Gallery? (The whole thing.) Thanks.

Patience rocks, oh it really does! ; )

All family members who tortured me, at times just by their existence (sorry), are dead and gone. Mostly. The rest I now keep at a distance. You know, it sucks. It does. They have a way of spoiling everything. Some situations can't be controlled. We want to protect our children, but even that is sometimes hard. I know that. But your children are watching you to see how you handle this. And you are watching you, too. Whine, complain, and feel sad you've been dealt some really raw stuff. It sucks, Marti. It really does. It's not fair. But you know that there are many stories you are weaving together, like threads that come together to form the tapestry of your life. Pay attention to all the colors. This week there is a Marti thread...that you want to weave into the tapestry. It's new, and bright, and it's your present...and your future. I think against all the darker colors, it really stands out. Char