Thanks for the post. I copied it and saved it to my smoking file :) Hope things are going well for you. Been thinking about you and your quit. You can do this. ((HUGS)) Keep the Quit Sparky [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]4/30/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 90 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 900 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $270.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 12 [B]Hrs:[/B] 3 [B]Mins:[/B] 34 [B]Seconds:[/B] 7

Thanks Ladybugg. Darkmyer That's Right. Will try and do that. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]7/13/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 16 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 320 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $184.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 1 [B]Hrs:[/B] 15 [B]Mins:[/B] 19 [B]Seconds:[/B] 22

Penquin....That would be Darkmyers post [url=http://sg.stopsmokingcenter.net/support/viewmessages.aspx?topic=15471&forum=1&forumname=Forum+for+New+Users+&+General+Discussion&topictitle=How+a+man+got+it+all+Wrong.://]How a man got it all Wrong[/url] I'm glad you copied it, because alot of it is missing on his orginal post! You should go post it back in. :) Congrats on your awesome stats! Two weeks is great! [color=Purple]~lbugg~[/color] [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/17/2005 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 863 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 48,328 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $6,041.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 84 [B]Hrs:[/B] 1 [B]Mins:[/B] 11 [B]Seconds:[/B] 53

Yeppers - That could have been my journal too...Thanks for sharing it Penquin. Windy [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]9/11/2006 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 319 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 6,380 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $1,595.00 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 31 [B]Hrs:[/B] 3 [B]Mins:[/B] 37 [B]Seconds:[/B] 54

Of course, what I meant to say... It's hard to lose your way when you KNOW exactly where you've been and where you want to go.

One thing you have aside from a great plan is perspective. It's hard to lose your way when you exactly where you've been and where you want to go.

Wow, Pen That is fantastic. Thanks for posting it. Made me laugh and nod my head in agreement. I wish I'd kept a journal. And that I'd prepared ahead as well. -aloha [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]3/22/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 127 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 5,080 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $863.60 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 17 [B]Hrs:[/B] 18 [B]Mins:[/B] 59 [B]Seconds:[/B] 15

Pen, Journaling is a great tool to help guide you along! It can pinpoint triggers and areas of avoidance. It also helps you look back and see your progress :) Great post, thanks, Josie, Support Specialist

When I first started copying posts to make a quit journal, I didn't copy the names. MISTAKE. So this is one I don't have a name for. If anyone remembers and can give the credit, I would be grateful. Long, but a good read. The History. I started at 15 and was always going to give up by the time I was 30 and then it was 40, now in my early forties it is obvious that if I continue I will not be seeing retirement or the pension I have saved. I have always thought that smoking has helped me to concentrate and wake me up when I get a work related call in the middle of the night. Some of my best work ideas have occured in those few minutes whilst smoking a cigarrette and my intelligence and concentration is just slightly boosted. I came to the conclusion that if my best efforts without cigarrettes are not good enough then I need another job as I will no longer be paid to kill myself. In my thirties I once gave up for 5 weeks but a feeling of emptiness and my partner still smoking drew me back. My partner also decided that it would a good idea to give up smoking because it was costing a lot of money and it would be nice not to have my mother nag us and not always be concerned about when and where you can and can not smoke. The Plan. My partner set the date which I grudgingly agreed to. On occasions I could refrain from smoking for up to five hours and it was just a matter of will power for a man, so after 25 years of smoking up to 30 cigarettes a day I was going to go cold turkey. My partner decided she would probably kill someone without nicotine so she opted for a course of patches to gradually reduce down. We arranged it so that the first day we would be busy decorating a room in a friends house. I would keep an unopened packet of twenty in my pocket at all times so that if I really became desperate I could have one. There were no written pledges and no recorded reasons for giving up. Day one (Into the Inferno). Surprisingly it was not as bad as I expected it to be well apart from an unpleasant feeling that my veins were on fire and my guts felt twisted. That incessant need for a cigarette occured every few minutes CiggieCiggieCiggieCiggieCiggieCiggieCiggieCiggieCiggieCiggieCiggieCiggieCiggieCiggieCiggieCiggieCiggieCiggie. Mainly I just felt numb almost in shock. My partner complained she was not ready but I guess being busy and not having the triggers helped. Most of all because each minute is hell and it will pass. First Week (A test of Will). I have felt light headed, unable to concentrate ,tingly all over, aching muscles, Sore Mouth, tired , unable to sleep, Insatiably hungry and bloated. I have wrestled with the craving a couple of times and have won and I think I�m starting to work out what works for me to get me through it. I find the thing that works for me is to try and relax into it, reminding myself that I�m doing OK, I can cope and that in a minute or two this will pass. Fresh air and walking seem to help. The enemy in both situations is fear. I can barely believe what smoking has done to my self-respect in the past with picking up old tab ends breaking them up to role a new cigarettes, always carrying at least two lighters. Day four and my partner has 2 cigarettes but managed to not have any more. I can smell flowers, freshly mown grass and unfortunately dog pee again. Most of all I am Determined. Second Week (A Test of Stubbornness). I can't really concentrate at work , I can not sleep, have sore dry eyes, my digestion is not working, ate a box of 48 packets of crisps one evening, I am remembering things I thought I had forgotten but cannot remember things 5 seconds ago. I feel disorientated and lost but I must continue. Decided as a reward I would learn to ride a motorbike. My partner laughed at me because I had to go outside to have the largest fart ever. Most of all because I said I would. Third Week (A Test of Habit). I do actually feel slightly better. To be truthful I feel worse but I no longer crave a cigarette every 5 minutes it is more like every hour or so. I am prepared with sugar free polos but I miss that first cigarette of the day which wakes me up, I miss that cigarette after a meal , I miss that cigarette I take to break up my day, I miss the few minutes of calm between the storms and no f*$%^�& polo can replace it. Read a bit on the internet that helped me which roughly said : We can all paint a picture in our minds of the most wonderful cigarette ever perhaps in a foreign country with a glass of champagne watching the sun set but we forget the desperation to leave a non smoking restaurant, to leave a cinema before the end of the film, to dash out of the shop, to leave your colleagues chatting while you dash out into the snow. I am having occasional anxiety attacks about very mundane things which has surprised me because I have not had any since I was a young lad. Most of all because I can learn to beat the habit. Fourth Week (A test of Commitment). The cravings have pretty much gone and I no longer feel like I need a cigarette. I need an extra 12 hours in very day to sleep, I still have heartburn, indigestion, embarrassing farting and eating half a cow each day. More importantly I feel flat, like all the joy and pleasure has gone out of life. I never really wanted to give up, it was just my mom nagging me, my partner stopping and my self respect to do what I set out to that forced me to stop. At this point I was fairly desperate and found this web site. I began to learn that I really did not understand what I had set out to do, I did not have a proper plan, I had no list of reasons to give up, no pledge but I did understand that others were having the same problems as me. It took some very hard thinking, some pictures in my mind of dirty smelly clothes, my mother at my funeral, having my leg amputated or wandering around with a drip or iron lung and also seeing myself having to deal with my partner in such a state kept me from having a cigarette. Took the motorbike training course and realized that riding takes a lot more concentration than driving a car and that car drivers have a blind spot for bikes and seem to try to knock bikers over at every opportunity. Riding a bike is too dangerous to be pleasurable so not a suitable reward. Most of all because I think I want to quit. Fifth Week (A test of Sanity). I have no wish to smoke but there again I have no wish to do anything. I spent an hour locked in the toilet at work crying, I have no idea why because I never cry (men don't cry, well I don't in public). Two hours later I pulled myself together and called myself freakie deakie dutch for being so stupid which sent me off giggling. I am starting to get some funny looks from people at work. Came on to this web site again and saw all the suffering and heartbreak going on and broke down in tears and went home from work early. In desperation came on to this web site again to check whether my withdrawal symptoms are consistent with others and how long before I feel better. Found out the worst part of giving up could be weeks 12-16, reading others suffering really made me depressed. Took the dog for a long walk don't think he bargained on walking 40 miles. I think I just want to curl up and die. Gave my mum a very hard time on the phone. Most of all because I am mad to have ever started smoking. Sixth Week (A test of support). I decided coming onto this web site was just upsetting me, all the hugs seem too much like a woman�s way of dealing with things and what blokes needed was facts and a set of instructions to follow at particular points. Came back to the website anyway to see if I could find out why I was depressed and unable to control my emotions. I found out that while smoking my brain had adapted to stimulus to the acetylcholine receptors by reducing the number of them, these receptors are used in the fine control of all the other receptors which control the emotions/memory/thinking by the chemical balance in the brain. I know now why I have no control of emotions, why I can not concentrate, why my balance and muscle control is off, why my memory plays tricks, why I have nightmares and time seems to have altered. I actually feel a bit better this week but the same can not be said of my partner whose comments have included. My dad died when he was 1 year older than me so there is no point giving up because I will die next year. (To her granddaughter) I don�t care about anyone and I don't care whether I see my future grandchildren or not. (To her son) Cigarettes helped me through my divorce, your brothers death, my mothers death and that is just in the last 5 years, how dare you suggest I should be feeling better, I may never feel OK again, I am only here now because I smoked. (To her eldest son) I am making you miserable why don't you leave me. (To me) I feel raw and buffetted myself but trying to deal with and support someone else through their hard times is just about the hardest thing I have ever done. She really did not appreciate me telling her she did not smoke any more. Most of all because I care and want to see her succeed. Seventh Week (A Test of Time). I set myself a new reward of a new car in a month or to which has brightened my out look a bit, although my partner has said 'What about me'. I have mentioned holidays, a new house but she does not want them I think at the moment she just wants me to die. Gave away the packet of cigarettes I was saving for an emergency situation, even the mad dash to a hospital for the passing of a relative will not warrant a cigarette. I never thought I would say that and to be quite honest believed I was one of those destined to never give up. I thought I would always need one just to keep my mind alert and sharp and to push it for harder and longer. Time seems to have slowed down and there is no longer this frenzied activity between cigarettes but a calm plod through the day. Boring and Difficult tasks seem particularly hard to bear when they seem to take longer. Floating poo can take a lot of flushing and people start to wonder what you are up to. Most of all because being calmer and time not rushing by has got to be good for you. Eigth Week (Curiosity). I am now in the eighth week, I don't feel like smoking, I still have withdrawal symptoms (Sleep disturbance, indigestion, periods of emotional instability, memory and concentration problems). I do sort of feel I can cope now. I don't know whether I am over the worst or whether I have to look forward to the 3 month blahs or 80 day dips, I think it is different for everybody and depends how old you are, how long you smoked, how much you smoked and how ingrained the habit is. Starting to feel sorry for friends who still smoke and are sometimes desperate to light up. I can also see that I will have to make some changes in my life because where I would put up with something by living a step at a time between cigarettes I must now try to deal with issues. Ironically it could be that those who most wanted us to give up who could face the consequences of this new attitude and I am not sure they realize that it could involve changes in their lives. The jury is still out and maybe I have a long way to go but I have taken the first steps and hopefully I will succeed. Most of all because I am curious to see what comes next. Lessons learned. a) It is a good idea to understand properly why you want to give up before you start. b) Have a plan to deal with difficult times and think about rewards. c) It probably is not a good idea for both in a partnership to give up at the same time. d) Even if you are a Man with strong willpower you will find it difficult at some point. e) Week 1 is horrible but others weeks are equally as bad in different ways, f) Knowing what lies ahead is not always good but knowing the facts of why if not the time line helps. g) Writing a pledge is useless, you have to give up for yourself, however silent promises to those you know would like to see you succeed are good. h) You cannot take the burden for giving up from someone even though you would like to. I) It will take willpower, stubbornness and when you have run out of those perhaps plain old curiosity. j) Go easy with the coffee. k) You have to address your habits and be prepared for emotional turmoil as well as beating the cravings. l) Alcohol may not have quite the same effect while you are giving up. [B]My Milage:[/B] [B]My Quit Date: [/B]7/13/2007 [B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 13 [B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 260 [B]Amount Saved:[/B] $149.50 [B]Life Gained:[/B] [B]Days:[/B] 1 [B]Hrs:[/B] 8 [B]Mins:[/B] 41 [B]Seconds:[/B] 38