Give and get support around quitting
I woke up today an hour "later" than I normally do...thanks to Daylight Savings. For the past week I've been doing 10-30 minutes of Yoga per day but today I am running behind so no Yoga. I've noticed over the past week that I am short of breath 5 minutes into any given session. After noticing this, I also noticed that I am short of breath going up the stairs, bringing in the groceries and various daily activities...so I've decided to quit smoking.
I don't like the thought of using patches, lozenges, or any other nicotine aid because in my opinion I'd rather rip it off like a band-aid. BUT, I've tried to quit before and I know I need to be prepared this time. So here I am, I've set my quit date for May 1st of this year and I've just started to track my cigarettes.
I cannot wait to be able to move and breathe better.
I wasted so much time clinging to this last addiction...2 1/2 years ago I quit caffiene, 2 years ago I quit alcohol and now I've got my sights set on nicotine...I am strong, I can do this.
I had my first cigarette 20 years ago, with some friends behind our school. I started smoking daily 4 years later. When I got pregnant with my daughter 2 years later I quit because it made me sick and I had no choice, if you had a cigarette within the last 2 days and came anywhere near me I thew up! Anyway, as soon as the sickness went away I picked it right back up.
I loved smoking, at one point it made me "cool" or so I thought and now....well now it just makes me smell, I feel like an outcast, running outside in some gawdawful weather to have a smoke and having panic attacks if I don't time my drive right so I can have a smoke and "air out" before an appointment.
The time has come to say goodbye to my cigarettes, we've been together off and on for a total of 20 years now and I'm ready to move on. I look forward to breathing easy, smelling and tasting more and just a general better quality to my life without worrying about when I can have my next butt.
And so I begin my journey with Day 1 of tracking my cigarettes...
WELCOME!!! You found the perfect place to get the support you need to quit smoking! Just one thing - we (the community at large) hang out in the BLOGS! So click that BLOG button at the top and look for the little red X and the words ADD A BLOG! Click and repeat your intro!!! You'll instantly meet lots of great folks who'll help you with your quit! Best Wishes! If I can quit then you can too! My name is Thomas and I quit 358 Days ago!!!
Thank you Thomas!
Just remember that there is a community of quitters here and you are now committing yourself to becoming one too. Congratulations on your steps on initiating your quit, I have personally found this site very supportive, and just know you are not alone on your journey. You can totally do this. My name is Tatum....90 days and counting!!!
Thank you Tatum, congratulations on your quit!
I just stopped on Mar. 12 at my Mom's, because she quit 6 years ago & there is no smoke in her house & I was spending a week vacation there. I didn't want her to see me sneaking out for cigarettes. When I got back to Utah, I told & committed to people not to smoke anymore. I don' know if I will keep this promise. I am afraid. This is my 5th quit. But I am going to stay away from the first puff until I go to bed tonight.
I know this battle will be harder than it's ever been. I want to win it.
You look a pretty young, middle class lady with nice smooth skin & hopefully decent lungs. That's pretty good for 20 years of smoking. It won't get better with another 15 years of tobacco on top of that. I still have a fairly good health, too, but the likelihood of some permanent damage is there, due to having started in 1976.
Do go ahead and quit on May 1. Since I wrote you, I have a reason to stay quit. If I do this, I'll have some news about it somewhere on this web site.
Best of luck to you. This can be done. It's very hard, but other smokers have done it. Cheerio!