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[Doreensfree]

Nicotine is a highly addictive drug ...like any other drug ....

The Tabacco companies keep adding ingredients that make it stay that way ...

Try chewing regular gum to keep you occupied ....it worked for me ...

If you haven't read Allen Carr the easy way to stop smoking ...I would strongly recommend this fabulous book 

It has helped millions ...he makes you see smoking in a different way ...

Keep strong Jeff....

[Mona]

You are doing great JH!  Congratulations on almost 3 weeks!!!  

[JH63]

@Mona  Thanks for asking!

       If I get through tomorrow I will have three weeks quit. That's exactly how long my last quit lasted. I aim to make this one last longer. The cravings and urges are not so bad now, but I am having a rough time keeping my mind on track. I still spend a large part of my day concentrating on staying quit.

     Junkie Thinking or Romancing the Cigarette, I have to catch myself doing it. If I realize I'm doing it, I can easily Nip it in the Bud.  My quit is not real solid right now. I'm on shaky ground and need to keep my guard up.

  Take Care! Jeff

[Mona]

@JH63, from what I have read, most of the nicotine leaves your body within 3 days and virtually all of it is gone by 3 weeks.  So, after 3 weeks, it is pretty much a mental game.  Just remember that you are in charge.  Don't let your junkie brain wrestle control from your rational brain.  When they want to debate, shut that stuff down immediately!  Being a non-smoker is so much nicer than being a smoker and eventually, you will rarely even think about it!  Just keep taking it one day at a time and be patient with the process.  You can do it Jeff!!

Edited June 7, 2020 by Mona

[Mona]

@JH63  Also, don't hesitate to reach out if you think you are at risk of losing your quit.  Create a post in the The S.O.S. Board section and people will help you get through your difficulty.

Edited June 7, 2020 by Mona

[Mac#23]

 

1 hour ago, JH63 said:

. The cravings and urges are not so bad now, but I am having a rough time keeping my mind on track. I still spend a large part of my day concentrating on staying quit.

     Junkie Thinking or Romancing the Cigarette,

Hey Jeff,

 Stay strong and take it one day at a time. Remember to make smart choices everyday. I know you want to stay quit. I have a feeling that you are over thinking this and putting more stress on your quit that you need to be. Deal with the cravings, urges and triggers as they arise. Enjoy your life and don' t stress over them if they're not there. Remember that quitting is just as much or more mental than physical withdrawal. Hence, the junkie attitude. So, stay safe, make smart choices and remember to NOPE.

[Doreensfree]

Your still very early in your quit Jeff...of course you will still be thinking of cigerettes.....

It's how you think of them that matters ...

Your not missing anything ....they are a powerful poison that has killed millions ....

Think positive thoughts....your free....smoking won't kill you ...yipeeeee

[jillar]

You're doing great jeff, everything you're experiencing is normal for where you are in your quit. I think for me it took a couple few months for the constant thoughts of smoking to FINALLY start going away. I say this often but I still remember the first morning I woke up in the best mood I've been in in years and didn't think of cigarettes first thing. It was a great feeling and one you'll get to soon enough

 

P.S. Love to see you newbies all supporting each other like you are. This too will help you all stay on track for your forever quit

[JH63]

@Mona I've taken your advice and I have posted my own response to my SOS. I did it in the third person, and I plan to go back and edit it from time to time, as I think of other reasons to not give my quit up. I didn't do this before because I didn't think it would help me if I had it in my mind to smoke again. Maybe it will be the thing that saves me one day! Thanks, Jeff

[johnny5]

You are doing great, Jeff.  Congratulations on a great start to your quit.

[Boo]

16 hours ago, JH63 said:

 

  Junkie Thinking or Romancing the Cigarette, I have to catch myself doing it. If I realize I'm doing it, I can easily Nip it in the Bud. 

 

Jeff, I don't like to tell other folks how to run their business.

 

However, I will from time-to-time submit a thought for consideration.

 

Thinking about smoking is not really anything to fear.  In fact, it is to be expected.  We're addicts who conditioned ourselves for years with cigarettes...the thoughts are going to be there for a while.

 

How you respond to the thought is where the rubber meets the road.  You are no longer a slave to those thoughts.  The voice of addiction will tell you it wants a cigarette.  You will say no and dismiss the thought.  That's what successful quitters do.  There is no need to banish certain thoughts.  The thoughts will come and go...you will stay the course.

 

Just keep an eye on the map, keep marching in the right direction, and you will get there.

[JH63]

@Boo That's what I'm here for, to get information from other quitters. The fear I feel is because of all my past failed quits. My mind was never committed. I know that! The video that says you are doomed to failure if your 99.9 % committed to your quit best describes my situation. Because I know that I'm not 100% commented. I may make sounds like I am, but I know the truth. Thanks for your input!

 

19 hours ago, Mac#23 said:

I have a feeling that you are over thinking this and putting more stress on your quit that you need to be. 

  I am sure that you are correct! I wish I knew how to lighten up. I wear my own self out! Thanks! Jeff

[jillar]

18 hours ago, JH63 said:

The video that says you are doomed to failure if your 99.9 % committed to your quit best describes my situation. Because I know that I'm not 100% commented

 

I didn't have the patience to watch videos or read long posts when I first quit so I don't know about the video that said that but I can tell you from my own experience that you can still succeed. I did. 

I succeeded because I knew my breathing was so bad I had to quit whether I wanted to or not. I think if anything it made quitting harder because I would have days where I would think why can other people smoke and I can't? But the farther along I got the better I started feeling and the more benefits started coming from staying quit. And now I'm four years later

 

[Reciprocity]

17 minutes ago, JH63 said:

The video that says you are doomed to failure if your 99.9 % committed to your quit best describes my situation. Because I know that I'm not 100% commented. I may make sounds like I am, but I know the truth. Thanks for your input!

 

  I am sure that you are correct! I wish I knew how to lighten up. I wear my own self out! Thanks! Jeff

Hey Jeff! I'll take the liberty of stating what I think the intention of that statement about anything less than 100% commitment was:

It was meant to make you think about where your true allegiances are: continuing to smoke or truly wanting to be quit. I was never 100 % sure until sometime into my 7th month if I was truly committed enough to quit. I just hung onto the belief that I could and sometimes against all odds. Then one day, for reasons unknown to me still, I just knew I had the addiction beat! That was an important day for me. After that, unless I do something really dumb, I know I will never smoke again.

 

Don't ever give up on yourself because of what someone else says or writes! Give it your best effort and always remember the reasons you quit in the first place. Those reasons don't change - ever!

 

 

[JH63]

@reciprocity Thanks, I understand what you are saying! It's good to know that you have been successful without being totally commented from the very start. That's worried me all along. Maybe there are others here that were or are the same. I was given this link to read sometime back https://whyquit.com/joels-videos/a-99-9-commitment-to-quit-smoking-will-fail/. Maybe I just misunderstood it.

On the lighter side I now have three weeks quit. I feel good about that! It's one day longer than my last quit, but not as long as the longest quit I've had. I've had harder quits. This one has only had a few really hard days. I'm still going to take it one day at a time until I feel more confident. I'd like not to think about it all the time, but I have to keep my guard up. Most days are pretty much routine now. If I ever get to feeling better about quitting,  you know that light bulb coming on moment,  I'll tell everyone here.

 

@jillar I am sorry to hear about your breathing problems. But I am happy to hear that you took the warning to heart and was able to quit. Four years is a long time! It is really nice of you to come here and help others. This quit smoking thing is a real struggle for most people, and I have always thought that the best people to help are the people who have done it. They know!

 

I do read a lot and watch a lot of videos. I was told somewhere along the way that I needed to gain all the knowledge I could about the process of quitting. Putting that knowledge into my, so called, toolbox. I will agree that some of the information is conflicting in it's very nature. But when it comes right done to it we are the ones who have to quit. I know that nobody can do that for me. When I quit drinking it was the same way. I had a sponsor, read all the books, and worked the twelve step program, but in the end all that mattered was me wanting to quit. Everything in AA helped me, but I had to do the actual work myself.

Well it's on to week four!

Thanks! Jeff

[Mac#23]

Hey Jeff,

I'm so glad to hear that you have now got 3 weeks quit under your belt. Congratulations, I know it hasn't been easy and you are working diligently to remain smoke free. I'm like a few of the others. When it comes to the videos and articles I really haven't used the all that much. For that reason, I will mention that they are available but won't comment on them due to not having enough knowledge regarding them. Others here swear by them and they have helped a lot of people like yourself. I had but thinking about quitting for quite awhile before I actually did so I guess I was somewhat prepared for it subconsciously. Then that day finally came where something finally clicked and I decided it was time. The pandemic played it's part at pushing me over the edge towards quitting. It has helped me make my quit a little easier . They say that everyone's quit is different and unique. So, I guess you need to find that certain motivational tool that finally just puts your mind at ease so you can progress with a lot more confidence. I know it's going to happen for you just be patient and diligent with your quit. Stay safe, make smart choices and always remember the NOPE.

[Sazerac]

Take heart, Jeff.

You quit smoking !

Amass power from this, realize you actually quit smoking.

Don't Be A Doubter.  Don't assume you will fail.  You won't fail unless you choose to fail.

 

[JohnQ]

9 hours ago, JH63 said:

...

Well it's on to week four!

...

Congrats on your 3 weeks of freedom Jeff,  you got this!

[Reciprocity]

1 minute ago, JohnQ said:

Congrats on your 3 weeks of freedom Jeff,  you got this!

Look at YOU JohnQ! A week in already. That's huge!! Hell week Done!

[JohnQ]

23 minutes ago, reciprocity said:

Look at YOU JohnQ! A week in already. That's huge!! Hell week Done!

Thanks, it was great feeling to wake up this morning and realized that I've been smoke free for a week!

[Mona]

I knew you could do it @JH63!  Big congratulations to you!!  

[Boo]

16 hours ago, JH63 said:

@Boo That's what I'm here for, to get information from other quitters. The fear I feel is because of all my past failed quits. My mind was never committed. I know that! The video that says you are doomed to failure if your 99.9 % committed to your quit best describes my situation. Because I know that I'm not 100% commented. I may make sounds like I am, but I know the truth. Thanks for your input!

 

I'm not sure if I was 100% committed or 99.9% committed for the first few months of my quit.  These things are hard to quantify.

 

I knew I had come to hate smoking and didn't want to do it anymore.  However, there was that little lingering voice of doubt in the back of my head.  You're gonna start smoking again.  You are a smoker, it is who you are...and various other lines of bullstuff similar to that.  Long after the quit had become easier and the cravings and obsessive thoughts had mostly passed, there was still a tinge of doubt.  It took months before I was able to fully flip the switch and have complete confidence that I was a full fledged non-smoker.

 

Ashing out the last cigarette is a momentous event.  Quitting smoking is a process.  A successful quit is something that you build.  As with any project, self-doubt and second guessing can creep in and leave you wondering if you're doing it right.  You stick to the plan and keep building.  In time, the pieces all come together.

 

Good news, the plan for quitting is dead simple: DON'T SMOKE!  How do you build a quit?  You refrain from smoking.  So long as you're not smoking, you are building a solid quit.  Stray thoughts and shaky knees do not diminish the quality of the quit so long as you don't smoke.  

 

This process is graded on a pass/fail basis and only has one question: Did you smoke today?  If you didn't smoke today, you're good to go.  If you did smoke today, you screwed it up and need to start over.

 

Keep it simple and focus on the big question.

[jillar]

Congratulations on three weeks today Jeff, that's awesome! I just watched the video you posted and I wasn't thinking of a 100% commitment in that regard. Of course if you take one puff a day you are still smoking. 

My idea of commitment and not being 100% was that some days early in my quit I felt like I wasn't quitting forever. That I wasn't sure how long my quit would last. That to me was not being 100% committed to my quit. 

 I'm glad I watched it so I could reply appropriately.

[Boo]

56 minutes ago, jillar said:

My idea of commitment and not being 100% was that some days early in my quit I felt like I wasn't quitting forever. That I wasn't sure how long my quit would last. That to me was not being 100% committed to my quit. 

 

Same here.

 

I stayed the course and didn't smoke, but there were plenty of moments when I questioned whether my quit was built for the long haul.

 

I don't know if that means I was in the 99% club.  The 2/3 club or the half-ass club.  I'm not even sure what variables to use in an effort to quantify any of this.

 

In spite of the doubts and questions I had, I just kept plugging along and not smoking.  That led to a 100% successful quit.

[Sazerac]

On 6/7/2020 at 8:27 PM, JH63 said:

 

The fear I feel is because of all my past failed quits. My mind was never committed. I know that!

The video that says you are doomed to failure if your 99.9 % committed to your quit best describes my situation.

Because I know that I'm not 100% commented. I may make sounds like I am, but I know the truth. 

 

  

 

One of the gifts of quitting is knowing you are capable of telling yourself the truth, of cutting though your denial and the lies of addiction.

Acting on the decision to quit smoking enhances your resolve.

Actions speak Louder Than Words

 

Joel addresses some of your other issues here