Quitters Check In Here!!! (Quitter Wannabes ... Get Inspired Here!)

[arwalden]

I am now smoke-free for one year, two months, one week, one day, 16 hours, 17 minutes and 1 second.

13,040 cigarettes not smoked, saving $3,097.08. Life saved: 6 weeks, 3 days, 6 hours, 40 minutes.

In the first six months, I gained 20 pounds because I was substituting fatty and high-calorie snacks for the cigarettes I was "missing". Even though the "step-down" nicotine patches were VERY helpful with helping to control the physical nicotine cravings... they did very little to replace the psychological addiction and my need to be doing SOMETHING with my hands and mouth while watching TV or sitting at the computer. (Now be nice. You know what I mean.)

However... in the last 8 months, I lost THIRTY pounds by simply reading labels and watching the fat content as well as limiting the portion sizes. NO EXERCISE... NO PAIN... just 10-15 grams of fat per day.

If I cheated one day, then I'd try to do less the following days so that at the end of the week it all evened out.

I never thought I'd quit. I never wanted to quit. I liked smoking.

It was the price that made me decide to quit. But now that it's been over a year, I can tell you that I no longer cough in the mornings. I am not easily winded when doing things like raking or mowing or going up two flights of stairs.

My computer screen stays clean longer. My walls stay white. The white shirts hanging in my closet will REMAIN white all year long. My breath smells better. My house smells better. My car doesn't stink anymore and I'm no longer embarrassed to give a ride to a friend or to have people drop by and visit my home.

And most of all... my Shi Tzu, Mitzi, is no longer sneezing all the time and the reddish stains and gooey-goo under her eyes has completely disappeared!!! (Ya think the two are related?)

Oh! The money?

Well... that's a good incentive... but sadly, I don't have a jar with $3000+ in it. I didn't put my daily savings into a piggy bank. Somehow it eased its way back into the weekly/monthly budget. Oh well.

Are you thinking of quitting? All you need are reasons that are meaningful to YOU!! You won't quit for anyone except YOURSELF.

For all the years and years of nagging that I got from my family about my smoking... it just made me angry and resentful. It made me even more determined NOT to even TRY to quit because I didn't want them to get the impression that their nagging was working.

Anywho... that's it. Thanks for listening.

-- Allen

http://www.silkquit.org/

[denverbill]

1. Here's my stats:

Your Quit Date is: 5/1/2003 6:30:00 AM

Time Smoke-Free: 110 days, 8 hours, 13 minutes and 49 seconds

Cigarettes NOT smoked: 3310

Lifetime Saved: 25 days, 6 hours

Money Saved: $544.50

[Liberal Veteran]

2. I quit 20 months and 18 days ago.....

And I don't miss it at all.

[Caution]

3. wow we quit at nearly identical times

1 year, 3 months to the day for me. Feel great. Still want a cigarette :) I quit cold turkey.

[Braden]

4. thanks for reminding me

5 years tomorrow!

36,500 or so cigarettes not smoked.

$5018.75 not wasted.

[LynneSin]

5. Congratulations To both of you and all those that quit

It's a damn nasty habit to quit but for those of you trying please tuff it out. we wan't your liberal asses around for a long long time!

[ET Awful]

6. Let's see . . .

It'll be 15 months on Saturday since I last smoked.

WoooHoooo (thank you Zyban) :).

[Mr. McD]

7. 10 years come January

[AmandaRuth]

8. quit jan 6, 2003

Have never never never felt better. Before, I was going to the doc all the time with this -n- that, it seemed my problems were chronic and I always felt lousy. I cannot believe the difference in my all around day to day health. Congratulations to one and all who kicked the habit.

wannabes and soontobes --- for me, I noticed a HUGE decrease in the mental cravings at about the 6 month mark. It doesn't bother me (ok, as much) to be around beer and loud live music and not smoke.

[arwalden]

9. Same here... the physical cravings were over after 6 weeks...

... In fact I never even finished my last box of nicotine patches.

The psychological cravings took longer.

Up until the 6 month mark, I'd turn the ignition on my car and reach for my shirt pocket for the pack of cigarettes I usually kept there.

I avoided bars and restaurants for nearly a year... now I can do either one with no problem.

It's definitely a "process" that takes work. It's MUCH MUCH easier when you know what to expect and when you know what your triggers are. That way you can avoid them, or at least UNDERSTAND what caused the urge and deal with it better.

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO QUIT!!! DO IT!!!

-- Allen

[blackcat77]

10. I quit back in 1988 after smoking for 24 years

This was long before nicotine patches and gum and the only thing I had to get me through was willpower and TicTacs. But I stopped right in the middle of a cigarette and never smoked again...

Not to say that there isn't still temptation. Just last night, a friend was over helping us pour some concrete and she was smoking and it smelled SO good. But I shook the idea off immediately -- the idea of paying $2 for a pack of cigarettes is insane -- there are too many other things I'd rather waste my money on... :)

[arwalden]

11. $2 A Pack?? What A Bargain!! In Maryland It's $4.75 A Pack...

Pretty amazing that when I started smoking 25 years ago, it cost me a mere 60 cents a pack. (Or 45 cents a pack if I purched them at the BX.)

-- Allen

[Rick Myers]

12. I JUST had that conversation with my doctor TODAY

Now I've just gotta do it. Has anyone ever gone thru the VA Quitting program??? It sounds good, and I'm gonna do it!!!

[Skittles]

13. OCTOBER 25, 2001

still going strong. I'm disappointed that after 30 YEARS of smoking the ONLY benefit I have seen has been financial - although that is a GREAT benefit. I never ever coughed or got winded until AFTER I quit (probably my lungs cleaning up).

You are right about quitting for yourself - it cannot be done for someone else.