Stop smoking 2009

[lindaokc]

Originally Posted by SugarPop

Hi peeps,

Smoking like a chimney..........but I know I will quit soon-Just trying to get through some stuff.

I'm thinking 9/9/09 sounds like a good day......Gonna shoot for that.

B

C'mon, SugarPop, I KNOW you can do this. Tomorrow will be the day We're all pulling for you, girl.

Originally Posted by tempted_by_food

Just over a week now and so far so good, have cravings now and then throughout the day but nothing I cant handle! not over eating either which helps!

sugarpop...I feel you, thats the 1st thing I wanted during stressful times, you just got to replace it with something else, I need to find a replacement too, cause thats my downfall!

Congrats, Tempted, for your first week behind you. Nothing but blue skies up ahead. It will get easier a lot faster now.

[tempted_by_food]

Linda...your such a great cheer leader thanx

I just realised earlier that as off today I have 40lbs gone, what makes this even sweeter is those were the 40lbs I gained last time I quit smoking! I lost 2lbs last week and wasnt even smoking!! wohooo there is hope!

[Doug K]

Just over a week now

Excellent! One thing that might help is to get a stress ball, so you'll have something to do with your hands.

Another is to spend as much time as you can in places where smoking's not allowed.

I think someone else mentioned meditation and deep breathing. A voice teacher once told me that a lot of people, when they quit smoking, unconsciously quit taking deep breaths, because it was something they only did when they were smoking. But breathing deeply is a stress reliever on its own.

[lindaokc]

Congrats tempted, on the weight loss. That is always a rush!!

Doug is right, of course. I always found that when a craving came on, if I'd breath really deep, like when I was inhaling, that it would immediately calm me down and I could do it anywhere, anytime. Deep breathing is so good for us anyway.

[SugarPop]

Okay.........struggling.........BF went into the hospital yesterday....was so worried but managed to go all morning without smoking.......Went to the pharmacy got patches - put one on- then ripped it off around 2PM cuz there was a pack of cigarettes in front of me and I was weak........So, I've had 3 cigarettes today........I stole 3 from the pack before I left.....I don't wanna buy any. Hoping I can taper off a bit and then quit before the day is through.

B

[lindaokc]

Wishing you the best of luck, SugarPop. I know you can do it. Best wishes for BF also. Keep trying, that's what it takes.

[SugarPop]

Thanks linda........Quit 9/9/9 at 9:09..........hahaah...

So far so good.........I tapered yesterday. I think that was a good idea. Having coffee right now with no cravings.....weird.

B

[lindaokc]

When the cravings do come, SugarPop, just remember to breath deeply and blow out slowly. It will pass quickly whether you smoke or not. Remember??
Also, when the nicodemon starts throwing his fit, remember that he is dying.
Congratulations on quitting

[tempted_by_food]

Doug & linda...great tips thankyou guys, I will try some of them and see what helps!!

Sugarpop...welldone, hehe your quit date has a nice ring to it

Day 10...still hanging in there but am getting bad cravings am glad I have no cigs around here otherwise I would have give in lastnight, tried to take my mind of it then I craved chocolate, had me some nuts and cheese that eventually did the trick! Damn them cravings are the work of the devil lol

[SugarPop]

Okay, still tapering.........3-4 per day, which is better than the pack a day, but still.

B

[BarbDe]

Come on Sugar, you can do it!!

[lindaokc]

just got back from a camping trip, sorry I haven't replied sooner. We will be leaving in a little over a week on another one.

SugarPop, I've read that tapering off is the hardest way to quit. Much easier to walk away and suffer a bit than to string it out over a long period of time. Of course, we each have to do what we feel is right and if that is what you think will do it for you, then go for it. Whatever works is what we need. Just do whatever you have to do to get away from them. They are the debil!!!!

[NurseMonkee]

Tempted by Food - You're doing great! KUTGW!

[NurseMonkee]

Originally Posted by lindaokc

SugarPop, I've read that tapering off is the hardest way to quit. Much easier to walk away and suffer a bit than to string it out over a long period of time. Of course, we each have to do what we feel is right and if that is what you think will do it for you, then go for it. Whatever works is what we need. Just do whatever you have to do to get away from them. They are the debil!!!!

I totally agree. I tried doing some quit smoking plans online that had me choose a quit day and then had me reduce the number of cigarettes I was smoking each week. It didn't work for me. I must have done it at least 5 times. In the end what worked was just going cold turkey. It was soooo hard and I slipped up, but I just kept going.

You can do this Sugarpop. You've done it before, and you'll do it again.

[tempted_by_food]

nursemonkee...Thanx for the support.

Linda...enjoy your vacation.

15 days smoke free so far so good, cravings arent as bad the last few days hope it stays that way! Trying to control my eating, before I quit I didnt snack and only had 2 meals a day I find am snacking more now but on low carb food which makes a huge difference to what I did last time I quit.

Have a great day everyone!

[BarbDe]

Great job tempted! Keep it up!

[RyanS]

Uh... smoke-free since September 15. As it's officially September 16 where I am, this means a little something. It's only been 8 hours, but that's the longest I've been awake without any form of nicotine in a few years.

[tempted_by_food]

Ryan...Welldone it does get easier, just over 2 weeks here, hang in there and fight the cravings!

Barbde..thanx

[lindaokc]

Congratulations, Ryan. WTG!! Keep it up today and you'll soon have 2 days under your belt.

Tempted, the worst is behind you, for sure. Congratulations on having 16 days in now. Just don't ever turn your back on the nicodemon. He will jump on you when you least expect it.

[RyanS]

Thank you. My biggest fear is that this is going to put back the weight I lost - and I'm still over my goal weight. I would have waited but my blood test results came back, the nurse was absolutely freaking out about how awful they were, so I quit about an hour after the phone call. So I've cut my diet by another 300 calories, and slashed carbs from 25g to 15g to make up for the sugarless gum I'm chewing.

I'd love to keep losing steadily, but if I stall (not gain, just stall), I can put up with that.

[lindaokc]

Ryan, you will be able to maintain your weight while quitting the cigarettes. It's hard to focus right at first, but after a couple of weeks under your belt it's so much easier. I guess I don't understand what blood tests your nurse would be freaking out over and why?

The quit is the most important thing in your life. It will go the furthest in helping your health/keeping your health. Just remember to keep the quit as your number one priority. It has to be your main focus. Hang in there, buddy.

[RyanS]

I had extremely high cholesterol, extremely low HDL and high LDL, and somehow my hormone levels had gotten out of whack too. Basically I'm a heart attack waiting to happen and if it's not normal in 6 weeks, I have a choice: my hormone replacement medication (which I require for health) being terminated, or statins. Both would be a disaster since without medication I have severe testosterone deficiency, and statins are dangerous.

So I trimmed back my dose a little bit, am eating less cholesterol even though that probably makes little difference, am eating less overall, and quit the cigs to help my ratios. I'd like to be at goal weight or below by the next doctor visit, since lower weight might help. Hopefully even if I can't get my levels to "normal" which are probably unnecessarily low anyway, I can get them close enough that they'll extend how long I have to control it before having to choose between statins or suffering.

[sndral]

RyanS, wow, sounds like you have a lot on your plate, I'm pulling for you. The cravings hit, but they seem to get further apart as time goes on.
Tempted, great w/ the 40 lbs gone, good luck w/ keeping it off! Maybe we can all figure out a way to quit smoking w/out gaining, write a book and make oodlles of $ - hehehe.
Sugarpop - you can do it.
Hope everyone else is doing well & that cheerleader Linda is having a blast smoke free camping.
I'm sailing along @ 5 mo.s+. I am 5 lbs heavier and NOT happy about that - all my clothes are tight, and I've been pretty good about low carbing, I've reached the point of trying to figure out a way of fitting exercise into my schedule, not that that helped a decade ago when I gained 20 lbs (I was low fatting then - disaster for me.) I started heavier this time and I'm w/in 5 lbs. of my heaviest from my quit 10 yrs. ago. Of course I gave myself the promise of liposuction if I was unhappy about my weight after 6 mo.s of no smoking. Maybe I'll try 3 months of exercise before I think about the lipo option.

[tempted_by_food]

Sndral...it is a known fact that people gain weight when they stop smoking...but I am going to prove them wrong and turn that fact on its head on no circumstances am I going to regain that weight I worked so hard getting off lol

Ryan...how is it going with you?

19 days smoke free not many cravings this last few days, hope it stays that way.

[sndral]

I was exploring the web and ran across the following in Science Daily about brain scan research on smokers -
3/22/07 - "Brain scans of smokers studied by the researchers revealed three seperate regions deep within the brain appear to control dependence on nicotine and craving for cigarettes."
- thalamus, the key relay point for sensory information flowing into the brain. This region shows the most dramatic changes in people who smoke to calm down under stress.
-striatum, the pleasure system. This region changes most in those who smoke to satisfy cravings and for pleasurable relaxation.
-anterior cingulate cortex, this region is vital to cognitive functions such as conflict, self regulation, decision making and emotion. Changes most in those who smoke to manage weight.
Mmm, my brain must have lit up like a christmas tree since I smoked for all of the above. The sample size was only 15, but still, fascinating.
And this from Feb.16, 2009, "...changes in brain activity, triggered by physical exercise, may help reduce cigarette cravings...after no exercise the smokers showed heightened [brain] activity in response to the images [which triggered cravings] in areas of the brain associated with reward-processing and visual attention. After [15 min.s of] exercise the same areas of activation were not observed."
Funny, when I first quit, whenever an urge would hit I'd get up and take a walk around the office, now it makes sense as to why that helped.

[RyanS]

4 1/2 full days! I can hardly believe it, since I never really thought there would be a time when I didn't have to carry my smokes with me, and now I don't need them. I do carry sugarless gum at all times, with plans to drop that eventually, but since I'm concerned about hunger increases, I think gum is a far lesser evil than either smoking or snacking.

Still losing weight, too. I think quitting the cigs put me into panic mode and I've been undereating to compensate. It worked, but this close to goal is not a good time to be doing that. I should try to bring things back up to my pre-cessation diet level. If I was losing 1.5 lb/week on that then quitting smoking shouldn't make me gain anything, right? It should just slow my loss down to 0.5-1 lb/week?

I'm really shocked at how mild and infrequent the cigarette cravings are. If I went >2 hours without smoking a week ago I'd feel like I needed some nicotine right then and there, but now it's more like "I could really use a cig... nah, I'll wait a minute and chew some gum."

[tempted_by_food]

way to go ryan your doing great, I havent cut anything in my diet and am still losing like before so I guess if you eat what you always ate it should be the same losses, certainly no gains if your watching what you put in your mouth.

[aim in Fla*working]

guys...I am so glad you are quitting!
I quit in 07 and had 7 smokes until FEB of this year when my mom was in the hospital. I was a asmoker for over 27 years. 2 packs a day since my 20's. Now, at 41...I know I wont smoke. My mom has COPD and I saw her almost die. She STILL wanted to smoke. You know we ALL know what smoking does...still we did/do it ...what helped me was induction BIG TIME...I did a meat and egg and the thought of smoking made me want be sick...you know, induction nausea...the key in my opnion is not to get sucked up into..."I am quitting therefore I can take a few weeks off Low carb and just deal with the smoking..." I find addicts are addicts and you will supplement cigs for sugar and flour...instead...why not say, this is going to suck BAD but I am sticking to LC and and I am not smoking. Not an option. I am going to do this for 3 weeks (21 days is habit) and then review my results. What i did the first time was...'AW...I am doing this for me ..time to be selfish..I want cake'...then gain and think...crap...if I start smoking again..I will get skinny. No what? You don't ..you end up a fat smoker...
at least...most people I know who smoked did as well as myself.
We play serious games in our head to maintain an addiction. Blow its cover...don't ease up on yourself. You can take it...we are always alot tougher than what we think.
Hugs and I pray you have a smoke free life.
Aim

[tempted_by_food]

aims...thanx for the support and welldone to you for staying of them!

quite pissed off at someone right now, am just lucky I am in my pj's and have no cigs at hand, if I had them now I think id chain smoke the whole pack grrrr give me strength, just ranting never mind me

[RyanS]

I slipped, but I'm not sure it was a bad thing. Long story short, the undereating is out of control and without the cigarettes I'm not calm enough to eat more than a small bite or two of anything, and today and yesterday I've felt like crap. Blacked out once today and missed work. As I have a history of starvation I don't want to go down that road again, and was finally able to have a (very tiny) meal after a cigarette.

I'll have to explore other anti-anxiety methods once I've reached and maintained goal for awhile so I can quit. For now I'm planning on only smoking at mealtime so I don't end up eating less than 1/3 of my BMR again.