Checking In

[rrrich7]

Hi, i'm doing rather well.  I have continued to keep my cutting back to one pack a day.  This may seem a lot to some people, but previous to this I was smoking 30 cigarettes a day.

I need to remember to keep breathing deep.  I actually used to practice yoga and learned a lot about breathing and deep breathing.  If only I could remember to keep breathing deep.

My next step is to smoke LESS than a pack a day.  Not sure how I am going to achieve this.

Today while I was smoking I recalled some things people have told me, that cigarettes are poison and smoking is gradually killing yourself.  I also thought about all the horrible things I am putting in my body when I smoke.  I thought "do I really want to do this anymore?"  And the answer was no.

[crazymama_Lori]

just go through the steps outlined under my quit plan.  Start tracking those cigarettes, figure out when you smoke the most.  When you start tracking them, you don't realize how much you really do smoke or why until you have to stop and think about it for a second.  Tracking them makes you take a second and look at the why

[elvan]

I agree with Lori that the "My Quit Plan" is really helpful.  I know that JonesCarpeDiem‌ just kept putting off his cravings and not having a cigarette for another 15 minutes or half an hour and when he got down to five, he knew that he was really just feeding the addiction and keeping it alive.  I had tracked my cigarettes and written down my triggers and how strong they were and what I could do INSTEAD of smoking.  I ended up using that information when I quit because it was helpful in my recovery but I never consciously cut down.  I got really, really sick and the decision was made FOR me...I could not smoke then and I could not bear to see the faces of my family as they asked how I was and wondered if I was going to survive another day.

[Jeep]

I had cut back to 1 pack a day for several years. I still developed COPD and it progressed making it difficult to do some activities like walking to the back of a big box store without waiting to get breathing back. I finally avoided these stores. Last fall I chose to use my VA instead of the doctors I rarely seen anyhow. Had an interview with my new VA doc. She spent about an hour and a half asking questions and details about my lifestyle for my new chart. I realized I’ve been gifted with excellent health but was destroying my life with bad choices. Later I realized how embarrassing it would be to see her again or event look myself in the mirror. After cutting back to 10 a day for a while I found this site and was forced to set a quit day. 60 days and I’m walking more than a mile a day. My God given good health will never return, but I stopped the destructive downward slide. Your path will kill you slowly and cost a lot doing it. Your choice?

[JonesCarpeDiem]

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/message/70402-where-does-it-come-from?sr=search&searchId=f228713e... 

[ElizabethRachel]

I wanted to find a way of checking in periodically and this is as good a way as any, (I think).  2 months and 1 week smoke free.  I've found an apartment, packed and moved and unpacked.  Cravings were wicked!  Changes make you want to stop, sit, think and smoke.  Financial, mental, emotional and physical hurdles call for the victory cigarettes and kicking way back with a big cup of black coffee.  I have been lucky to have navigated these past few weeks without one bit of smoking.  Did I miss it?  You bet.  It so early in my quit and I am glad for every day I don't mess it up.  Some of my friends and family smoke and I have surprised them.  Well I have to say, I have surprised myself.  Their smoking has not tempted me.  I actually think it may be helping because I have finally been able to walk away from that pack of cigarettes and watching them makes me appreciate the freedom.  Well that is my story for now. Tomorrow I will again act like a non-smoker.

[elvan]

ElizabethRachel‌ This is wonderful, I think you should post it as a free standing blog...just click on the little pencil and select blog and copy and paste this.  You will get more responses because more people will see it, I think.  In any event, I am really proud of you, you are showing the "No Matter What" that we talk about every day on the Daily Pledge.  What an amazing example you are to others, already and according to my calculations, you are in No Man's Land which is from Day 30 until around Day 130...it is a time when many quitters feel very challenged.  That reward cigarette that you refer to is a tough one to get past but it really does happen.  I am so glad that being around friends and family who smoke does not tempt you.

Good job and congratulations on your move as well as your quit.

Ellen