Hang tuff Habibi, it'll get better & better as time passes.

Fess up to the wife and she will be so sympathetic to your plight that she will probably express her support in an amorous manner.

 

Good luck.! I'm sure you've already figured that $9 a day is a truck payment with a decent trade.

I think success is spelled 2004f150!

 

i am going through the same 'withdrawls' also.

i had an idea reading this.

i wonder if it would be extra motivation if you physically put the money you are saving daily in a 'kitty' somewhere.

a nice fat wad-o-cash would make for a good amount of added motivation.

if you dont want to keep the K laying around the house, you could mail it to me and i'll watch it for you.

honest. for a small fee i could even take pictures of it and post it here for you.

i'll hide it in the pages of the new summit catalog they just mailed me.

good luck. i chew plastic coffee stirrers to tiny little pieces to help satisfy the physical addiction part. that and david's sunflower seeds.

 

I was thinking about putting my cigarette money into a jar on my desk, and watching it grow. I thought about this on day 2, but when I openned my wallet, all that was in there was a receipt from home depot, a 14 month old winning lottery ticket ($10) that's expired now, and a coupon for Subway (buy one / get one free)

Where is the money I'm saving?
I noticed this last time I quit for 2 years! I didn't seem to have any extra money.

This is a riddle of the trickiest proportions. If I were smoking, I woulda come up with the money from somewhere, but now that I'm not, I'm just as broke as I ever was, LOL
Another one of life's mysteries.

So today is the start of day number 4, and soon I shall have a week under my belt.
As I said, the hardest times to be a non-smoker are in the evenings, and after dinner, the rest of the time is pretty easy.

Last night I wanted one real bad, and when I looked through this thread, I thought "Hmm, a lot of people behind me on this, I sure will look like a **** if I blow it now"

So instead I turned to my bag of "strawberries & cream" hard candies, and kept my mouth busy that way.

You know what feels real good about all this?
Lately the government have been getting stupid again with their cigarette taxes, and now in Ontario they are $63 a carton, in other provinces they are $10 per pack.
This feels like I'm giving the government a huge "middle finger" and saying "FU" from the top of my lungs. It feels great not being a hostage anymore, and not being bent over a barrel.

It looks like the stupid government will have to raise the taxes again, to make up on the lost revenue from me.

Oh yeah, I feel better every day!

Habibi

 

4 days!!!! That is great news! Hang in there.


Now is this cold turkey or are you doing the patch? If not, dont be afraid to consider the gum or something if the cravings get too strong.


As far as cig taxes... can you say "smuggling" just like the early '90's?

 

Good luck , with your savings you can now afford half of a new truck payment.

ooops..... sorry I meant

 

Yes, cold turkey is the only way I know how to quit.
Anything else is just a creative plan on how to separate the money from your pocket.

I'm sure patches and gums help some people succeed, but for me, it has to be all or nothing.

Yes J, I remember early 90's when the gov't got all stupid (just like they are getting now) and people were buying the bootleg smokes from the Indians for $20 a carton, when the store price was $70

I even slept with my CPAP machine last night (which I'm supposed to use but has been buried in the closet), and I feel awesome!

Habibi

 

how's it going Habibi?

I haven't seen any updates for a few days

 

Hi 36fan,

At the end of today, will be my one week anniversary as a non-smoker.
As ive said, evenings are hardest for me, but I can deal with it.
The last couple days I played backgammon with a guy who 'chainsmokes", and this was a very good test.

I have to admit, I wanted one of his cigs sooo bad, but my determination is stronger than my weakness (for the moment) heh

I really feel great mentally about quitting, and once I get some lung capacity back, I plan on a regular fitness program to take advantage of my new found energy.

Habibi

 

I'm happy for you. You're doing great!

This is probably the toughest thing you've encountered in your life... and so far so good.


Aside from the money savings, the health and blah blah blah you can make the claim that you kicked a habit more addictive than heroin!

 

Congrats on your one week success. Your chain smoking backgammon partner was certainly a good test. Stay strong bro you're almost there. The better breathing and more energy is getting closer each day, you're probably feeling better already.

How's the food taste?

 

Congratulations on your anniversary! Today happens to be one for me, also. I smoked my last cigarette 11 years ago today.

I agree with the others here who have said that motivation is the key ingredient - if you aren't quitting for a reason that is important to *you*, success is going to be much harder to achieve.

I decided that I wanted to attend my (then 1 year old) daughter's graduation. I used hypnosis to get me through the first few days, but I had to develop my own "maintenance system". Essentially, I created a mind game where I would have to execute a nearly infinte number of steps before I could smoke another cigarette -

First, I would have to decide that I actually wanted one.
since I don't have a cigarette, I will have to go to the store - which means finding car keys, going out to the car, starting, driving to the store.....gotta buy a lighter, too....open the pack, take one out.....crap, gotta find an ashtray - more steps....

At each step, I would acknowledge that I had completed that step, figure out what the next one was, decide to do it....I knew that I would be able to stop myself at one of those steps.

In 11 years, I have never gone as far as actually starting the car.

I still get the urge a couple of times a year, but it passes as soon as it comes, and it makes me laugh now.

Sorry for going on so long, I haven't thought about this subject in quite some time.

I won't wish you luck - I'd prefer to wish you success.

Allen

 

You can do it Habibi! My sisters had a hard time quitting their habit too. For them quitting was a religious experience.

You'll get stronger & stronger every day.

 

Good Luck, I just quit myself. I was doing good for a week or two, Slipped and had a smoke 2 days ago. Have gone the two days since.

 

You guys are awesome! Nice photo of your sisters LE PEW, LOL, I clicked on it thinking "hmm, hopefully LE PEW has some hot sisters, and seeing them first thing in the morning will be a nice way to start my day, LOL LOL

For all you filthy, dirty rotten smokers who say they also want to quit, I have to be honest with y'all about something.
In August I got real sick with pneumonia, and it lingered for a long time, when I had my last smoke on Sept 10th, it wasn't because I had more willpower than you guys, or because I have the determination of a Buddha sitting on the mountain top.
I quit because my coughing spasms were so bad, my smooth muscle at the base of my lung hurt so bad, the doc had to give me morphine to help stop the pain.

So to be perfectly honest, if I didn't get so sick where I had all this trouble breathing, I would still be smoking today.
I just don't want to sound like a smug guy who gives a pretentious look like I invented the sunrise or something.

Getting sick gave me the head start I needed to quit, and if I didn't, I would still be smoking my brains out. I'm still not back to 100% yet, but at least the coughing has stopped, and it feels so good to breath.
I'm not going back to smoking again because I just lived without em for a week, and that told me everything I needed to know.

An old friend used to say this to me (RIP JAKE)
"If you look after today, tomorrow will look after itself"

It's real nice not having ashes all over my desk, and the room doesn't stink anymore.
I don't mean to preach, but all the benefits of quitting overwhelm me so much, I feel like an idiot for not getting sicker sooner. Yes Nick, the food tastes much better!

Habibi