Cristóbal

Congratulations Armed !!! I remember when you started your quit, that was a long time ago. I am so happy to see you arrive at this important date - 5 years, wonderful !!! Cristóbal

I am late arriving to your party too Bakon, but I did not forget !!! Do you really think that I would not save forever our .gif ??? ¡ Feliz Sexto Aniversario, Amigo ! ¿ Que pasó con nuestro amigo perdido ? Cristóbal

Happy 5 year Anniversary MQ !!! I am sorry I am late to your party, but I am so glad to see you reach this important date. Thank you very much for everything you do here !!! ??? Cristóbal

Once a person has reached their first year anniversary, they have experienced most of their triggers. That is why the first year anniversary is so important - this amount of time covers most situations in which the triggers can occur. The longer you stay quit, the more time you have to experience these triggers, and just say no to them. Eventually, almost all of them will disappear forever. When you do experience a trigger, always keep this in mind: "A TRIGGER (or any CRAVE) IS NEVER A COMMAND". Recognize a trigger for what it is - the weak ghost of a sleeping drug addiction - and just ignore it. It will disappear, and then probably never return again, and that means you just gained some more freedom. Cristóbal

Hi C9Jane29, You figure your quit "Days %" like this: Quit Days ÷ Smoke Days = "Quit Days %". So, for you it is 515 days quit ÷ 7300 smoke days = 7.05%. This is your Quit Days %. Always remember to compare: how long you have quit ÷ how long you smoked. You will need to have a quit for 20 years, for your "Quit Days %" = 100%. Cristóbal

Thank you so much Reciprocity and Sazerac for remembering my anniversary, and everybody else for your great comments !!! I have been traveling for the past week, so I have not had much chance to come here until today. It takes about 10 years to repair physically much of the damage that smoking caused to our bodies, so I like to think of anniversaries in this manner. At 6 years, I am making good progress against the damage that years of smoking did to my body. Of course, we can never repair all of the damage, no matter how long we stay quit. But the point to always remember, is that with each new day between now and our last cigarette, we are increasing the chance of living a normal life in good health, and decreasing the chance of dying from a smoking related disease. That is one of the great gifts of our quits. Add to this better health the tremendous freedom that comes from not smoking, and you then have the best possible gift anybody can give to themselves. Anniversaries are good reminders for the person who remembers to celebrate them, but the real value of anniversaries is that they show the person who is just starting a quit now, that permanent, complete freedom from smoking is never impossible for anybody. Whenever I post to my anniversary threads, the theme of my post is always more for those who are thinking of quitting, or just starting a quit. Sharing the story of my quit, and my journey to where I am today, is really for them. I started smoking cigarettes regularly as a young teenager, my first cigarettes when I was about 12 years old. I smoked for about 30 years, 2 packs a day for most of those years, so I did some serious damage to my body. Still, it is important to remember that we are all physically addicted to nicotine, which is the real reason why we smoked. None of us are "more" addicted, or "less" addicted. Some of us just smoked longer than others, and more frequently than others. I was one of those persons. I never really thought about quitting until the morning of 14 October 2012. I woke up that day, looked at the cigarettes on the table next to my bed, and thought: "Bleah. I´m not sure why, but I really do not want to smoke today. Let´s see if I can not smoke for one day". So I got out of bed without smoking, made some coffee, and did not smoke for the entire day. At the end of the first day I thought: "Hmmm, I kind of like the idea of not smoking, this was not hard to do. Let´s see how long I can last without smoking". Day # 2 was easy too.....and so was Day # 3, and also the next day.....and the next day......and the next day. When I had reached 1 week, I started to notice some amazing things: I could breathe better; I could smell better; my mouth felt cleaner; I had more energy; I could taste food better; I was sleeping better. When I was at 1 week in my quit, my wife noticed that I was not smoking anymore. So she decided to quit too, 8 days after I had quit. I had an easy quit; her quit was the quit from hell. For about 2 months, she was screaming, crying, throwing things, she was a total mess. I decided to look for help for her, and that is how I found the old forum QSMB, when I was at day 36 of my quit, and she was at about 1 month and still having problems with her quit. That is how I became involved with the forum at QSMB, with helping myself, others, and most importantly, became educated about nicotine addiction and the process of quitting smoking. Now, 6 years later, I do not participate as much on internet forums as I did in the past, but I still come here several times a month and help when I can. In real life, I continue to help a lot of people with their quits. Most of the time people ask for my help because of recommendations from other people I have helped in the past. My wife also helps people with quitting smoking. We have thought of opening a quit smoking clinic here focused on cold turkey, but the reality of doing this is that we just do not have the time. I travel a lot for work, and my wife is always very busy. Perhaps we can do this in the future, when we have more time available. My messages for those who are planning to quit, or who are just starting a quit, are very simple: 1. Everybody can quit. It is never impossible for anybody. Only you can complicate your quit, and make it impossible for yourself. 2. Any discomfort you may experience, is never permanent. It always goes away, and you find yourself in a much better life with time. 3. Realize that you are dealing with drug addiction. It affects you profoundly physically; mentally; emotionally; and spiritually. You are in total slavery, and the addiction creates lies in your head that keep you in that slavery. Education exposes those lies, and will set you free. You will grow tremendously as a person, in this new freedom. 4. Educate yourself about nicotine addiction. This information is available at www.whyquit.com and everywhere on the internet. 5. The number 1 rule of quitting smoking, and staying quit, is to make a commitment to yourself to "NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF" (NTAP or sometimes called NOPE "NOT ONE PUFF EVER"). You cannot quit smoking permanently, without this commitment. At this point in my quit, I thank all the people who educated me and inspired me over the years. Some are on this forum, others have moved on in life. Others, unfortunately died awful deaths because of smoking. In some of these instances, their dying and eventual deaths from smoking diseases were posted live every day, in these forums. Still, I am very grateful for all of these people, for they have given me wonderful new perspectives about this horrible addiction, and about our journeys in life. My participation in these forums have greatly increased the quality of my life, and strengthened my quit, over the years. Cristóbal

In your first year, you will be eliminating many triggers. It is critical that you understand that completing the first year, will consist of facing these triggers. Some you may recognize, others you may not. Some of them can be as subtle as changes of the season (length of day/night, weather, etc.), or others may simply be because of events that happen at certain times of the year. These may be related to holidays, or other events that we experience in our lives. Other triggers, you may never recognize exactly why they are happening, but the way to handle all of them is the same: 1. Acknowledge them. 2. Recognize that they are not serious threats to your quit, that they are to be expected. At times they make look 5 meters tall, but in reality they are just a few millimeters tall. 3. Then, give yourself time to wait for them to disappear. If you wait long enough, triggers will disappear. *ALWAYS*. This is a promise. If they never disappeared, nobody would ever quit smoking successfully. 4. Finally - A crave is *NEVER* a command. Use your intelligence, and remember that triggers are simply reminders of a dying addiction that has no intelligence. Nicotine addiction is primitive. Triggers are primitive. As long as you continue to say "no" to them, they will eventually disappear from your life. It takes time. Be patient, and just keep moving foward. As long as you do this, you will be on the road to permanent freedom from this garbage. Just look ahead, recognize the garbage for what it is, and do not ever look back. A better life waits for you - this is guaranteed. I have never met a ex-smoker, who has regretted quitting smoking. Cristóbal

Hello Parsley, Watch what he does every minute as a smoker, and remember that not a very long time ago, this was you. You will see then, in a more clear light, how absurd the addiction really is, when you are outside of the addiction and looking inside. At the same time, this will reforce your quit and it will become stronger. You may find that you may be inspiration for him, as every smoker secretly wants to quit. Of this, I am convinced 100%. My wife joined me in my quit after seeing that I had arrived at 8 days. Once she saw I could do it, she did it also. Now, almost 6 years later, we both continue happily with our quits, almost as if we never had smoked in our lives. The addiction goes to sleep in every way you can imagine. Only time will convince you, of this. Your quit is still quite young, but you must trust me, and others who have quit before you. With time, you will live your life in peace. Not only with yourself, but with the world around you. The memories of being a smoker will become old, and you will be born again in every way you can imagine, once you put time between your last cigarette and your present. Keep going forward, and do not ever look back. There is nothing for you behind you, except complete slavery of everything that you are, and awful and painful diseases and death that may have your name if you ever decide to smoke again. Finally - remember that you came into this life alone, and you will leave this life alone. What your husband does is his decision, but do not ever let his decision become yours. Keep your quit, and protect it as if your life depends with it. Because it does, and your life is only yours to keep and to protect. Cristóbal

Hello Parsley, You most likely are in a situation that has triggered you to smoke. It may or may not be identifiable, but wait 15 minutes and it should pass. Also, eat something sweet! That always helps a lot, you may be having low blood sugar at this moment. And stay on the board, I will stay here until the craves passes.

The worst days of a never smoker and former smoker, are always better than the best days of a current smoker. Never smokers and former smokers normally and in general, live each day of their their lives in the bright light of a high probability for a good, free, and healthy life. Current smokers *ALWAYS* live each day of their lives in the dark shadows with a constant threat of awful smoking-related diseases, mental/physical/spiritual slavery, and a high probability of early, horrible death. Cristóbal

I am adding about 83,000 (???) cigarettes that I have not smoked since I quit on 14 October 2012. About $188,000 Mexican Pesos/$10,000 US Dollars. Cristóbal

Hi Linda, welcome to QuitTrain !!! The only thing you really need to quit, is to make a commitment to Never.Take.Another.Puff. We call this NTAP, or NOPE (Not.One.Puff.Ever.). You cannot quit smoking, without this commitment that you make with yourself. Again....it is so important that you make this commitment !!! Internalize this idea, and your quit will go so much more easier. Frequently, anxiety/panic attacks/depression are symptoms that are associated with nicotine addiction. After all, you are addicted to a drug (nicotine), and this addiction affects your entire life in every way you can imagine....and in many ways you cannot imagine at this moment. I suggest that you go to WhyQuit and read about nicotine addiction. The more education you have about about nicotine addiction, the easier it will be for you to understand the process of putting the addiction to sleep. I also recommend watching Joel Spitzer´s videos, they are located in a special section in the alfabet order of QuitTrain here: https://www.quittrain.com/forum/15-joel-spitzers-quit-smoking-video-library/ The videos are also available on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCag4hg_fX_NnOb1N4yXA97Q Cristóbal

Well, Quitting is a single event, but after you quit what follows is a process of separation and recovery from the addiction. In your first year, you will experience many triggers and stressful situations where you may be reminded to smoke. Each time you confront these triggers and do not smoke, you win. That is how we eliminate triggers, and handle stress as non-smokers. Each time you do that, you find more and more freedom as you stay quit longer. Be grateful you have quit, because smoking always made stressful situations even more stressful. I am sure you will be fine with your move. Just remember that smoking would not in any way help your move, or decrease the stress. It offers to you no benefit at all. Recognize these lies the addiction created in the reptile part of your brain, and keep going with your move, and your life. Never forget, in any situation that you believe may challenge your quit, that as long as you keep your quit, tomorrow will always be better than today. The farther you move in time from your last cigarette, the more beautiful life becomes in terms of freedom, mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health. Cristóbal

Hello CanDoCouldBe, How are you doing with your quit ??? Cristóbal

Hi Farmgirl, What is key to getting your permanent quit, is the realization that whatever benefit you used to think smoking would give you, was in reality nothing but a lie the addiction created in your brain. Internalize this truth, and keep it in mind whenever you may have a trigger in the future. Your reaction to seeing your brand of cigarettes in a stressful situation, shows that your quit is healthy and strong. Good for you, keep going !!! Once you arrive at your 1 year anniversary, you will have confronted most of your triggers, and your sense of freedom will be terrific !!! Cristóbal

At this point in time, the laws need to be issued to handle not only cigarettes and other forms of smoking tobacco, but also electronic cigarettes (especially products like JUUL). We need to seriously look ahead to the future. In the future, because of advances of technologies, you will see more growth of the electronic cigarettes industry and similar products than regular tobacco. The future of companies profiting from nicotine addiction is not that of regular tobacco, but that of these electronic cigarette devices. The corporate goal, of course, is always to convert the consumer in a nicotine addict. This is the same goal that the cigarette companies had 50 years ago. This is not changed, in spite of advances and changes of technologies. This future is complicated because those who support electronic cigarettes say they are less dangerous. The problem with the general public accepting this thought, is that nicotine is nicotine is nicotine.....it does not matter what the delivery method is. If a teen ager starts to smoke electronic cigarettes instead of regular tobacco, most parents and officials in the schools think this is a good thing because it is supposed that they are "safer". The problem, is that nicotine addiction is still established at a early age (such as with myself, I started to smoke when I was 12 years old), and then becomes a problem for life. Later in life, this teen age nicotine addict will not care if the nicotine comes from electronic cigarettes, or from regular tobacco. The crave is the same. Both products, need to be treated the same by the laws, as nicotine delivery devices that are equally capable to establish permanent nicotine addiction in the consumer. Cristóbal

Hi Rory, welcome to QuitTrain. Unfortunately, there is not that much that the forum can do for a person who is not ready to quit. You can take her story and repeat it millions of times, it is not unique in any way. People endure multiple amputations, heart attacks and heart surgery, strokes, surgerys cancer of various parts of their bodies, and the most awful sufferings that a person can imagine......be told by their doctors they must quit smoking *NOW*........and still not get it. Smoking is just awful. It kills millions of people every year, and disables many millions more. It is the most awful epidemic that humans on this earth have suffered ever in history. And the sad truth, is that this enormous damage is preventable. I am so sorry that you are having to endure this. I can understand that your friend has 1000 fears at this point, but try to keep the communcation open with her, and let her know this forum is here for her, when she is ready to accept help. That is all you can do. Congratulations on your 8 years quit !!! Cristóbal

CanDoCouldBe, QuitTrain is a great forum to get support for your quit from others who have quit before you. This support can be critical, especially in the first days and weeks. I would also like to recommend, for more education about quitting smoking, Joel Spitzer´s videos which are available in a special section here on QuitTrain https://www.quittrain.com/forum/15-joel-spitzers-quit-smoking-video-library/ Also, please check out the website https://whyquit.com/ where Joel is the education director. His videos are also available on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCag4hg_fX_NnOb1N4yXA97Q Joel is focused on cold turkey quits, which is how you have quit. (I also quit cold turkey). Combine your support available here on QuitTrain with this education about nicotine addiction and quitting smoking, and you have two very powerful weapons available as you move forward in time with your quit. The more education you have about quitting smoking, the better you will understand nicotine addction, and understand what is happening to you. You will get your permanent quit not completely by being "stronger", but by being "smarter" and committed to your quit. Nicotine addiction has no intelligence. It is a very primitive, completely understandable and predictable phenomena. You have intelligence. Cristóbal

Hi Jillar, Thank you for bumping this, I had forgotten about this post. I would like to update my original post, now that 2 years have passed. Now I cannot remember the last time I expelled any brown/gray garbage from my lungs. This has stopped completely, and I did not even realize this until right how. Also, I rarely get sick now as I did when I was a smoker, and when I do it is much less severe. If I compare how I breathe now with how I breathed 6 years ago when I quit smoking, there is a enormous difference !!! When we smoke, we are constantly putting our fingers on things and then touching our lips and putting into our mouths the wet cigarette in our fingers. This is a big reason why smokers get sick so often, we continued to put virus in our mouths with each cigarette and we did not even realize it. Cristóbal

Just keep going. The first few days are the most difficult, but they will not last forever. If they did, nobody would ever quit smoking. Any discomfort you may have, is just temporary. After 72 hours, almost all the nicotine is gone from your body, and you will start to feel some relief. After Day 4, the improvements in how you feel will be noticeable, and it will just keep on gettint better. For the next month, keep sweets close to you, and if you feel like having a cigarette eat some sugar and then wait 15 minutes. The desire to smoke will then go away. When you were a smoker, nicotine regulated your blood sugar by increasing it with each cigarette. Now that you have quit, your body needs to learn again how to do this without nicotine, This can take a few weeks to happen. At the same time, your mind has to realize that when your blood sugar is low, it causes a trigger for you to smoke. Ignore this mental trigger and it will go away, and probably never come back. Do whatever you need to do, but do not put any nicotine in your body, in any way. Even just one puff, and YOU LOSE. Realize that what you are experiencing is drug withdrawl. We are nicotine addicts, we have a physical addiction to nicotine, and the way you feel right now is BECAUSE of this addiction. The reality is that cigarettes did this to you, and nicotine withdrawl symptoms are really signs that you are starting to recover from this addiction. Again, the discomfort is only temporary. You must believe us, and continue your quit with this in mind. The rainbow farting unicorns are very real, but they will not appear in your life until your quit matures. Eventually you will arrive at a place in your quit where you will stop thinking about smoking, and will feel so much better physically, mentally, and spiritually, that you will ask yourself why you ever continued to smoke. Let us know how you are doing. Stay close to this forum.....and post a SOS message here if you think you are going to smoke. You are not alone in this, all of us are with you in your quit. Cristóbal

Hello TocevoD, How are you doing ??? Cristóbal

Ok....let´s stop right here CanDoCouldBe..... I started smoking when I was 12. I smoked for more than 30 years in most years 2 packs a day, so I am not impressed how long you have smoked, or how much you smoked. And most people who are here, will say the same thing. The thing that we all have in common, is that we are nicotine addicts. We fed this addiction by smoking cigarettes. And in the process, we did much damage for many years to our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. What you are not realizing, is that you have been living the past 47 years with "physical, emotional, and mental distress", because nicotine addiction made you 47 years ago an emotional, mental, physical, and (must add this - spiritual) slave to smoking tobacco. You are stuck in the addiction as a slave, and are comfortable with all the garbage that it has brought into your life. That is what the addiction does to you, however you are on the inside of the addiction looking to the outside....and those of us who have quit and have a long time living as ex-smokers, we are on the outside looking back to where you are right now on the inside. We already know the road that it is ahead of you. If you decide to quit, you will never regret it, and we can be with you every day as you start your journey. I quit cold turkey, and it was really easy to do once I made the decision to end the slavery. That is what you are as a smoker.......*A SLAVE*, and *IN PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, AND PHYSICAL DISTRESS* 24 hours a day, as you said in your first post. Put a date in the close future as your quit date, and join us. We say often "jump, and we will catch you". It is never too late to quit smoking, and there are so many long-term benefits that quitting smoking brings to you that you cannot even imagine at this point in life. Life is so wonderful as a non-smoker, that the only regret I have in life, is that I did not quit many years earlier. I am so in love with my freedom, and with my life! Every new day as a non-smoker, is a beautiful gift that I have given to myself. And the only reason why I am here, typing these words to you, spending my own personal time to do this, is to try to bring this same beauty and meaning, to you. Here, on the other side, unicorns really sh*t rainbows.....life is that good as a non-smoker. Cristóbal

I have more JWG posts that I will re-post next weekend. Cristóbal

Posted on QSMB 22 Jan 2013 by JWG  Those were the words written across the back of the mans T-shirt "really" I though, what and odd thing to have printed on to a shirt but to each there own , I suppose I did my best just to blow it off and go about morning,reading the news paper while having a cup of coffee . I dont stop in the cafe every morning , but for all intensive purposes I am a "regular" as the term goes. I am quite sure I have never seen this man here before. I certainly have never seen such a shirt. Trying to forget about his shirt I could see just was not going to happen , in fact I was getting quite worked up over it . How dare someone wear such a shirt. Granted I am one of thous re formed smokers that the world hates so.. Well I dont go around telling everyone they should quit smoking , But to say " thank goodness for cigarettes" why thats just wrong. Kids could read that and really think there missing out on something ,,, uuugh ,, I was getting really upset. My eyes went up and down this man and I studied each inch of him . My first thought he must be some bum / wino that could not live with out his precious cigarettes , the vile things they are. But after closer examination the fellow was in pretty good shape appently he was no staranger to the gym. His arms and back I could see were very muscular, in fact I would not want to mess with this guy at all. But dont take this as he looked to be a hooligan or crook , In fact I could see althou in jeans and boots he was a very well kept and neat . Minus the bit of dirt I noticed up along his triceps and on to one shoulder. His hair short sliver balding hair was very neat and trimmed standing out against the dark tan of his scalp and neck. hmm.... he certainly was no bum "oh dam" I thought to myself. I just knew I was going to have to say something to this man. Normally I stay to myself . a real "live and let live" sort. But this for some reason I could not let go. As I walked over to the his table I thought off all the possible thing to say. Not wanting to start off on the wrong foot and start a scene. when I got up to the table I eased around a bit so to be in front of him and said " good-morning , I noticed your t -shirt . I just have to ask why thank goodness for cigarettes ?" To my relief the man gave me a broad smile and said , "I love cigarettes . they put food on my table , money in my pockets. I drive a nice car and have two daughters in collage''. Oh - I looked quiziclaky You must work for one of those large tobacco companies , that explains it . I said Lord No the man chuckled ,, " Im a grave digger" In Memory of JWG - Reposted by Cristóbal JWG Died of Lung Cancer shortly before his 4 Year Anniversary, 6 weeks after his diagnosis. 

Posted on QSMB Jul 25 2010 by JWG. She was 17 and thought it was cool She was 18 knew she was in control She was 19 living in the fast lane She was 20 and would quit before hitting 21 She was 21 and thought new years eve was better She was 22 the new job was to much stress right now She was 23 and her fiancée smoked anyways She was 24 the baby would be fine, what’s a little nicotine She was 25 what else is there for a stay at home mom to do She was 26 job interviews are just to demanding She was 27 in this job you have to be social She was 28 her uncle just died but she would be alright She was 29 thinking this time Im ready and 30 is my number She was 30 maybe just one more year She was 31 who can handle a divorce all alone She was 32 working two jobs and life’s to hard She was 33 and the new boy friend doesn’t mind anyhow She was 34 wedding plans are all she could do She was 35 his kids are so wild , just need the break time to time She was 36 a quit would have to wait , to much on her plate She was 37 forty wont be to late She was 38 a daughter and two steps sons a mini van and career She was 39 one more year and so done She was 40 are you crazy and gain weight She was 41 and probably couldn’t anyways She was 42 and enjoy smoking She was 43 but I should try, just for a month She was 44 her little girl smoking, and wonders what went wrong She was 45 The Doctor said it wasn’t good She was never 46 In Memory of JWG - Reposted by Cristóbal JWG Died of Lung Cancer shortly before his 4 Year Anniversary, 6 weeks after his diagnosis.