My reasons...let me count the ways...

[nsd_user663_18143]

Have been reading everyones reasons for quitting and thought i'd join the clan and get mine down on virtual paper...

1. HEALTH

I am about 3 stone overweight and have been trying to shift it for the last few months. I've joined a Mixed Martial Arts gym, which i love, and have started running, but have really struggled as my lungs would feel like they were about to collapse, my mouth would go very very dry. I am 27 and too young to be out of breath after a minute on the treadmill.

The other side of that is my future health - all the horrid diseases that we were putting ourselves at risk from, yuk.

2. SMELL

I've spent years stood next to my non-smoking dad on the football terraces (a proud Macclesfield Town fan, for any fellow league 2 sufferers out there!) and got annoyed at him commenting on the smell of smoke and wrinkling his nose up. My car stank, my clothes and hair stank, my hands stank....I've only realised just how bad the smell is now i've quit....one word...rank!!

3. SKIN

I've always suffered with bad skin, acne and spots since my early teens, horrible sore red patches on the backs of my arms. I've been to the doctors countless times and nothing has changed. I got sick of having sallow, yellowy-grey dry skin and looking like a corpse after a heavy night out (drink obv contributes to this, hence why i have also cut back drastically on the booze)

4. KIDS

I don't have kids, but i do have a two-year-old goddaughter and a best friend with a brand new baby. The mother of the 2 yr old smoked throughout her pregnancy and now in front of the child, and the child has chronic asthma...go figure. I never want to put my children (if they are any in my future) in that situation, and i want my goddaughter to want to sit on my knee and not ask why i 'reek of the ashtray' - she shouldn't even know what an ashtray is.

5. ENERGY

I often joke that i am lazy and a procrastinator...maybe i am, but i would often spend whole days when i'm not working doing nothing, and feeling worn out and extremely lethargic. I did some research before my quit and found out that smoking can eat into our energy and cause the feelings i was having. Since my quit i feel more energetic and willing to do things without complaint.

6. MY MIND

Might seem like an odd one but let me explain. About 5 years ago i quit smoking weed, after 5/6 years of being a very heavy user and getting to the stage where it was seriously affecting my mental wellbeing (hallucinations, panic attacks, extreme paranoia, the works...). I quit weed and never looked back, but by carrying on with the fags i sometimes noticed some of these things happening on occasions, albeit in much milder doses. A few years before i quit weed a very close friend was sectioned and diagnosed with drug-induced psychosis, and he has had relapses even though he hasn't touched any drug (bar fags and booze) since...he puts this down to remembering 'the old days' and this gets worse when he's smoking and drinking heavily. This might be a bit random but hope it makes some sort of sense!!

7. FREEDOM

My life has been ruled by nicotene since i was 11. ELEVEN. that's not old enough to have sex, drink or vote, but yet i 'chose' to start taking a highly addictive substance that could kill me. WTF!! I got to the point after 16 years of making decisions based on smoking where i wanted to be free of the addiction. free to make my own mind up and do things without worrying where my next'fix' would come from. To quote the great Primal Scream..."i want to be free, to do what i wanna do...!"

So there you have it....7 reasons. And 19 days in this has really really helped me get things straight again in this messed up little mind of mine. Why i quit in the first place and why i'm going to stay quit.

Hope this has helped some of you, or at least distracted you for 2 minutes, enough to get you through a craving. Or maybe just made you laugh and think "god, she's a bit odd isn't she?!!" He he!!

Xxx

[nsd_user663_18145]

hi jenni

well done on reaching day 19 and reading your reasons i came to the same conclusions your odd but then again so am i and to alot of people who dont understand what we are going through think we are odd too but who cares at least we dont smell anymore and you def have the right attitude as well :cool:

regards carol

[nsd_user663_15147]

Hi Jenni,

I love your reasons list A non-smoker who would read it wouldn't quite understand it... but I guess like a lot of the list of reasons on here it's a very personal thing and it's always great to share so that others quitting can see your motivations and maybe it'll get them through a hard time

I'm 10 days away from hitting 3 months and although I read my reasons every now and then I think I've forgotten how to 'connect' to them. I can't remember just how desprate I was to stop smoking and how excited I was that I could do it so easily (just don't smoke - it seems so simple!). Now when I have bad days and the thought of a cig crosses my mind it's posts like these that remind me of how I used to feel and I really appreciate that, thanks!

x

[nsd_user663_18695]

Wow.

Thank you so much for this. It seems so rawand honest. You WILL get all the benefits you ask for- my skin looks great after a month, and the mind thing is unbelievable- my attention span has raised from 2 minutes to 2 hours in a month. And I feel calmer and less stressy- so good because I work in an open plan office and think I used to distract people all the time.

Maybe you are odd, maybe we all are and that's why we joined the smoking club- it's the only club I have ever been welcome in- until this one any way:cool:.

So well done and keep at it.

Sandy xx

[nsd_user663_16887]

Congrats to you and what an awesome list! I especially like your last point about freedom. I don't think that non-smokers (or even many smokers) realize how valid this point is. You are constantly having to keep check on if you have enough until whatever, if there are enough opportunities to sneak out and smoke, to make sure you don't reek like crazy, its like a whole huge scheduling plan that repeats itself over and over again. I think some weight gain after quitting may be just from loosing all that stress LOL...

I do feel amazingly free in that respect!

And the smell, yes..... awful! I mean seriously ashtray LOL...

[nsd_user663_18143]

Thanks for all the nice comments (and agreeing that i'm odd Carol! :p).

It really did help me to get all this down and would defo advice anyone to do the same, either on here or on paper. The main reason i did it on here was that i would have to explain things for others reading the list, so it would be much clearer when i come back further down the line to reread.

I'm on day 25, 3 days off 4 whole weeks and these reasons are still fairly fresh in my head. I do worry about SLB says though, about forgetting how to connect to your reasons after a while off the fags - at the moment it is still very raw but i wonder if a few months on i'll be thinking "i'm totally in control, i just don't smoke, and i can surely handle one fag..." Dangerous. This site has been a godsend so far so hopefully that'll be enough!

Xxxx

[nsd_user663_17697]

Hi Jennifox - I think you are right, am going to get right down to doing mine. Well done on your quit, I wish I could have been as wise as you and not smoked for all these years. Better late than never for me though Take care and stay strong

[nsd_user663_18143]

Hi Angela, nothing to do with being wise, something just clicked in my head to say that now was the right time to get rid. DEFINITELY better late than never, i think its amazing that you are quitting after such a long time.

My father in law quit after 40 years of smoking, literally stopped overnight. That was about 2.5 yrs ago and he still says its the best thing he ever ever did. His health has improved so much and as a result he drinks less, eats better and generally takes much better care of himself. I hope this means that he'll be around to meet his Grandchildren when me and the OH eventually get round to having kids, as the OH is an only child so will be his only chance. It makes me so happy to know that my kids will know him.

:D:D Happy happy!!