PorkandPancakes

I love this Tammie. It’s actually enlightening listening to our minds trying to tell us something we always deadened it with cigs buts it’s actually something to be heard. Every day is a learning day

Oh Linda that made me chuckle. I’m afraid I may be forced to drink the flower water in case it tasted sweet and delicious!! jo and boo, you’re both spot on. I’ve been drinking from a 2litre bottle (4pints for those American lovelies) slowly through the working day so it’s not thirst either. I also (and this is not like me at all) and been getting up early for a short bounce on the trampoline and a fruit and yoghurt breakfast. Linda, 5lbs sounds excellent. Weigh in on April 30th?

Doreen, I too am sorry you and your husband are suffering such awful disease. I hope you manage to get some respite if even a little? Having made a healthy start and some pledges in this thread I’m going to keep adding to it so I’m recording it somewhere and can see my progress. It’s been really interesting reconnecting with the board and the philosophies at the same time as I had planned a ‘healthy eating and fitness’ attempt. I pretty much fall immediately back off the wagon in every previous attempt but this week my thinking is different. I’ve been getting some strong cravings for sweet stuff. Chocolate, cake, actually anything insanely bad for me and crammed with sugar or salt. I’m not dieting yet, I have just stuck with 3 meals a day with plenty of fresh fruit and veg so I won’t be losing weight. I just wanted to ‘monitor my intake’ and try to keep it on an even keel so I know it’s not hunger making me crave. It’s something else. I read somewhere it’s a ‘go to’ for emotions or rewards. You come home from work, cook, clean, kids to bed, finally sit and ‘reward’ with food and/or wine. Which is fine if you don’t have excess weight but I do. So this week I’ve been responding to craves by asking ‘what do I really want or need?’ And then telling myself I don’t need to eat because it isn’t hunger. I can’t say the want passes as quick as the cig cravings used to but it has changed my thought process. In in the meantime I’ve bought a mini trampoline because I hate exercise so I wanted to add some fun to it and I’m building up my minutes on it each day. @Linda Thomas, are you ready to join me?

Fo sure you don’t wanna see my big butt but I can’t post pics in this place anyway. I don’t know how! In answer to your question though, about 240lbs. That’s way too big for my 5ft5 frame. So I’m starting small like you all said. Little bit of exercise. No snacking on junk and no self sabotage. I don’t really eat processed crap anyway, I am a home cook kind of gal but I do graze or lose track if I’m not constantly aware. Evenings are the worst. Goals for this month * no midweek drinking alcohol *no snacking/cakes/crap * regular exercise at least 4 times a week building up slowly * 4 ‘cheat days’ by April 30.

Aw Linda it’s rubbish isn’t it? I have started thinking that maybe I do the same with eating that I did with smoking. There’s the bargaining, the arguing with oneself, the ‘spoilt child’ (why shouldn’t I have one?!)..... so maybe I need to apply some of our tried and tested quit techniques to overeating too? See right now I’ve been good all day, I’ve started an exercise regime (very very low key at the minute because there’s far too much of me to be bouncing around hard) and I start thinking I want something sweet. I feel this as the start of me either cracking open wine or cracking open the fridge. It’s the same ‘hunger’ I used to get for cigs. Did I replace one with the other? I find myself looking around thinking ‘I WANT....’ and if it isn’t cigs and it isn’t food, what do you do to either satisfy or banish that feeling? Answers on a postcard please peeps!!

So whilst I have dipped in and out of the forums over the last three years and spend time hanging out all over, I have never really spent any time in this section. That’s because I am neither fit nor particularly healthy. In the beginning I was focussed on quitting smoked and had THE perfect excuse to ignore the rest of my lifestyle. So so now I’m 38, the heaviest I’ve ever been and SUPER unfit. I tend to overeat either by portion size or evening grazing and I have a very sedentary lifestyle. I have tried every diet and I always fail or (usually) self sabotage. I am required to do an annual fitness test for work around November so each spring I start some kind of fitness which just about let’s me struggle through but I am yet to achieve a result I’m proud of or to sustain anything. I have very low self esteem for this stuff and essentially give in to the negative talk. I just don’t know how to make it stick. this forum gave me the tools to keep my quit but also, right from the start, ‘something clicked’. I finally understood the secrets of smoking. I understood I didn’t need it, I chose to do it and all the other stuff. I know there’s no magical answer for weight loss and fitness but I have to believe that for those who are successful, something clicks. So guys, help me out here. Have you been successful in this? Did something click? What can I do to achieve something I have consistently failed at? Any advice gratefully received. (I’m even braced for Sarge’s forthright yet possibly abrasive comment)

Wow Ankush. Slowly reducing daily intake is one of the hardest things to do because you are essentially drawing out the addiction and keeping yourself in withdrawal so actually well done for cutting down. Honestly taking that jump and quitting cold turkey is easier than the fear of it. So cut them up or throw them away and ride out that first day. Spend it here on the boards, read and read some more, reach out to those that have gone before and scream and shout if you need to and remember you don’t need to smoke, you chose to. And now instead choose life.

Hi Ankush, you have lots of great answers already and as you can see, this forum means you don’t have to do this alone. Quitting smoking in the real world, you are faced with lots of people that want to sabotage your quit. Sadly smokers hate to see other smokers go and will offer cigarettes, push cigarettes and sometimes actively encourage you to break your quit. I assure you we’ve all heard “Oh go smoke a cigarette, you’re grumpy when you quit” ”one won’t hurt, you’ve done so well” ”you’re not a quitter mate, have a cig” “Nobody would blame you if you smoked, it’s harder to quit than heroin” It’s rarely done with malice but more because subconsciously we don’t want to be the only one doing the bad thing. But come here and you will find a virtual family that support you completely. You might not always agree with everything and you might not always be ready to hear the hard truth that is sometimes served but that is what family is all about. And if you need help, people here will rally for you. So climb aboard and quit those smokes. Good luck on your journey

Oh go on then, just while I’m here I’ll throw in a NOPE

Oh Doreen! I just reloaded the site on my phone and got FULL SIGHT of those jiggly porky butt cheeks! I can’t unsee that now, my poor eyes!!

This ^ you guys made my freakin’ day with this!! I’m almost bouncing in my seat...I can’t even remember why Boo brought him out in the first place now but I do so love to see him. Too funny

Oh Doreen, I know it’s the sausage because my phone let me glimpse it but damned if it will load it properly?’! But I did so love the dancing sausage. Thanks for finding him for me!

This ^ I remember tears flowing in my early quit. I grieved the loss of cigarettes but more so I grieved for all the years I wasted believing I needed them. Believing I was ‘choosing’ to smoke when the reality was that I am an addict and the addiction was in charge. Right now, you’re running low on dopamine because nicotine did the same job so you were not having to produce so much of your own. Your body will catch up and you will feel real joy without the crutch of cigarettes and IT IS WORTH IT. But that is a little further down the line. Don’t avoid the board while you’re sad. That is the best time to be here. Play the games, start a conversation, vent about the smoking or other life stuff that interferes. This place is perfect in these first months to distract you and reinforce your quit. It’s the place where you’re not alone and these people have walked your walk. You got this!

Welcome Solo. Joining this forum may just save your life. I hopped on the train 3 years ago and was welcomed with open arms. Best advice? Read, read, read. There are SO many amazing stories, information, heartwarming and heartbreaking tales and hints to help you. You will find your own gems, things that help it ‘click’ for you and one day you will realise you took back control. The misery? That isn’t you, it’s your addiction. Embrace that misery because it means you’re winning. You are crushing that addiction and taking back your life. There are some fascinating articles here about the physical effects nicotine has on your dopamine receptors that explains more about your feelings. It is physically changing your brain and you are emotionally grieving for your main coping mechanism for your entire adult life. I promise you though that one day you will see how insignificant nicotine is. You don’t need it and soon you won’t ‘want’ it. For now, small steps, one at a time. You’ve got this.

3 years Boo?! That’s just freaking awesome. I’m so pleased for you! You always seemed to have a beautiful strong quit and you took to it like a duck to water. Proud of all you achieved! X