Happy Birthday! I was just thinking the other day that it would be fun to have a "place" where people can shout out their birthdays as they have them. This way they might be a little easier to find (helps others see birthday's on a given day and in recent past) and also it's another great way to celebrate the benefits of quitting. If you've quit, chances are you'll have more birthdays! And that's worth a celebration in itself.
Happy 52nd birthday and a super congrats on your precious quit journey YAY for 2.5 glorious Smokefree years and counting WTG YAY for Smokefree living and YAY for each and every Day WON.
Wow. You quit at 49 years of age. Wish I had. Kudos on the 2.5 AND the 52. They're kind of reverses of each other aren't they. Looking forward to your 5.2 Gail.
Top box you can see the recent Birthday Celebrations that were posted. New ones will be displayed in the box as new Birthday Posts are made using the Click to Celebrate button. If you create a post in any other way it will not automatically appear in the widget in the upper right. Anyone interested in subscribing to Birthday posts can reach out to me and I can help you get it set up or you can do so via the directions here and follow Birthday_Celebration tag.
You can stop over in Celebrating Milestones to see who's got a birthday or watch on the home page to see if there are any posts appearing in the Recent Content widget on the right side that mention birthday.
Absolutely fabulous. I'm still smoking. Joined about a month ago. I know I need to quit. Working on some of the assignments here. Hoping to join the ranks soon.
It would be a good idea if you write a blog and introduce yourself to the community. You might include your smoking history, why you want to quit, if you have decided on a quit aid, and anything else about yourself you care to share. Good that you are reading, planning and preparing. It makes a world of difference in whether or not you succeed.
The important thing you can do right now is to educate yourself on what nicotine does to your body and mind. To that end, I highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This easy and entertaining read provided a world of good information about nicotine addiction, most of which I was not aware. I credit it in large part with my success at quitting. You can search for it online or at your local library.
You should also read the posts here and perhaps go to the pages of folks who you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com, quitsmoking.com and livewell.com for the good information contained there. @https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex has lots of blogs written by members of this site with their experiences and guidance. Here is a video to inform you further about nicotine addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWMgPHn0Lo&feature=youtu.be.
After you have completed the recommended reading, it will be time to make an informed choice of the quit aid, if any, you will use. If you go that route, I personally recommend the aids that don't let the addict control the dose such as the available prescription drugs or the patch. If used properly, gum, lozenges and inhalers are fine, but they need to be used only as a last resort after you have tried to delay and distract. I have seen folks become addicted to them if they substitute them for every cigarette they used to smoke - just trading one addiction for another. You need to start out with a plan to reduce use of them over time - which the patch does by decreasing the dose contained in them.. For the gum, you can start by cutting each piece in half, then in quarters, then sub regular gum of the same flavor in between, adding more and more regular gum. For the lozenge, you need to start subbing a mint in between to begin, increasing the number of them over time. I do not recommend the e-cigarette for four reasons: 1) the vapor has been compared to the polluted air in Bejing on a bad day, 2) they just provide another nicotine delivery system while continuing the hand to mouth smoking motion, 3) the batteries can spontaneously catch on fire and 4) you can become addicted to that and it has not yet been proven safe .
It will be informative if you do the tracking and separation exercises recommended here on the site. As you track each cigarette smoked, note its importance, and what you might do instead. Put each one off just a little to prove that you don't NEED a cigarette just because you think you do.
The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced. Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand in a place different from when you smoked. Maybe switch to tea for a bit. If you always had that first smoke with your coffee, try putting your tennies on right out of bed, going for a quick walk, then taking your shower and THEN your coffee! Rearrange the furniture in the areas you used to smoke so the view is different. Buy your gas at a different station. Take a different route to work. Take a quick walk at break time where the smokers AREN'T.
You need to distract yourself through any craves. You can take a bite out of a lemon (yup - rind and all), put your head in the freezer and take a deep breath of cold air, do a few jumping jacks, go for a brisk walk or march in place, play a computer game. Keep a cold bottle of water with you from which to sip. Don't let that smoking thought rattle around in your brain unchallenged. Sometimes you need to quit a minute or an hour at a time. You will need to be disciplined in the early days to distract yourself when a crave hits. Get busy! Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of smoke if you need some fresh ideas: https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instea...
The conversation in your head in response to the "I want a cigarette" thought needs to be, "Well, since I have decided not to do that anymore, what shall I do instead for the three minutes this crave will last?" Then DO it. You will need to put some effort into this in the early days, but it gets easier and easier to do.
Stay close to us here and ask questions when you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way!
I'm 51 years old. I started smoking at 16. I smoked 33 years. I Quit with prayer and patches. I'm married 29 years to my best friend. We have 4 children between us. 4Grandchildren 1 girl 9 2boys 3,8 months, A new Grandson he's 15 monthsThey are my life.