How many times

[MelodyEve]

How many times did people have to set a quit date before they were able to stay quit for long periods of time?......How long did people come here on this particular website and still smoking but trying to quit and stay quit?

[JonesCarpeDiem]

I didn't set a quit date until after I proved to myself that I didn't have to smoke just because I thought of smoking.

I set my quit date on Friday and quit the following Tuesday.

I never smoked a cigarette again.

[Barbscloud]

On this site, once.  I set my quit date one week prior to quitting.

159 DOF

[Giulia]

With this last quit I set my quit date a month ahead then joined a quit site (before this site was created)  spent that month reading everything I could and communicated daily with people on the site.  That was over 12 years ago.  With my previous quits I set a quit date not very far in advance, did no research and had no on-line support.  Two of those quits lasted about three months each.  Prior to that I had a one-year quit but again had no education nor support.

[TW517]

I lost track of all the 1-10 day quits I had.  Easily 25 or more.  This is my 7th quit lasting more than a couple months, and my longest (a year and 3 months).  On all my previous quits, I pretty much knew I would eventually relapse.  It is dangerous to get too over confident in your quit, but I really feel like this one is permanent.  This is the first time I've had any kind of support community like EX, which made all the difference in the world.  I'm so glad I found it before it was too late.  I was on day 21, and thinking of buying a pack.  Found this site instead, and never looked back.

[maryfreecig]

     In my 50s I'd given up on the idea of quitting. Even included cigarettes in my budget. I figured I would smoke til the day I died. I saw no way to get serious about quitting because I believed that I could not quit smoking. Fortunately, I did a crazy u turn on that thinking and quit in 2013. Have not smoked since, have smobered up and intend to keep it that way. I came to Ex long after I'd quit. 

    You already have reasons to quit or you would not be here. But you hold the golden key to taking action and saying yes I can quit. Every smoker is capable of quitting. You, too. 

[SaraCorinne]

This is probably my 30th quit attempt.  They lasted anywhere from a day to a year.  I had that year long quit in 2008.  I used Chantix and this site.  I recognize a couple people from back then, I think that's neat!  Now, I'm on my 3rd week of Chantix and remembered this site on my quit day, which was yesterday.  Like someone already said, I could have had a 10yr quit going on right now, if I would have just stayed strong....  I'm closing in on 2 days smoke free and just trying to stay strong.  It's hard, so hard.  Good luck to you!  

[AnnetteMM]

You're in good company here no matter how many times you've quit or in what way.

I've never set a quit date. It never made sense to me.

I only quit once before (about 30 years ago), and that time plus this time I stopped when I ran out of cigarettes.

[stAn3]

I can’t count how many quit dates I’ve had. I’ve had several quits that lasted for months. I had a quit that lasted almost three years.

The last time I quit, I came to the site the day of and I kept visiting it everyday. I had to change my quit date a few times because I did not take the time to prepare. Then I set my quit date like a week out, used the time to read and re-do my quit plan. I had my quit plan together the day before my quit date and quit a day early.

I don’t think there’s a magic answer to your question about number of quit attempts or visiting the site while still smoking. I know it has been helpful for me to keep coming back to the site, even if I have relapsed or was still smoking. I begin the road to relapse when I decide I don’t need support anymore and stop visiting the site.

[Giulia]

"I begin the road to relapse when I decide I don’t need support anymore and stop visiting the site."  That's a really  important point to make note of.  Thanks for it, stAn3‌  Staying connected to a quit site helps to reinforce our commitment.  It keeps our quits active.  It's when we stop paying attention to our quits, we fail to maintain them, and then we head for another day one instead of another Day Won.