EX Community

I quit 9 years ago, on May 23, 2009, and recently started smoking again in April of 2018 due to being in a really bad spot mentally from an abusive relationship. I never in a million years thought I would ever smoke again. I never craved cigarettes anymore. I had taken up running, ran marathons and ultramarathons, and overall, enjoyed leading a healthy lifestyle. But I was in such a bad spot, that I decided to take the risk of smoking because I was desperate and thought maybe it would help change my brain chemistry somehow. I thought I could just smoke one or a few day but within just a few days, that quickly turned into a pack most days (more than I ever used to smoke before I quit in 2009!). When I was not smoking, I enjoyed hiking, running, playing with my cat, cooking, baking, and reading. I just got into backpacking last summer and want to do longer trips. It's hard to be very active or take overnight trips with non-smokers while being a smoker! I want to have better lung capacity and endurance again.