50 Days Done

[nsd_user663_27121]

Well, I never thought I would manage it, but i have 50 days of non smoking behind me! I still get some tricky moments but all in all, I feel happy and confident that smoking is now a thing of the past.

I am reading on the boards that lots of people are struggling or relapsing and i really do feel for you all because no one likes to fail anything but it can take over your mind when all you are thinking about is i want to smoke/ i can't smoke/ but i want to. You sometimes wonder why you are putting yourself through it and sometimes it just doesn't seem worth it when all you need to relieve the nightmare is to have a drag. But you don't, because you know you will just end up right back at the start, and feel like poo.

I thought i was one of those people who knew she shoudl give up but really didn't want to. My husband would nag me every day that he wanted to quit but couldn't, until I did. Now he is still smoking and i am smoke free. I don't know how i have managed it and he hasn't, but i firmly believe that it is all about the mind. You need to have your mind set firmly on it. If that means reading everything, taking advice, seeing a counsellor, being hypnotised, shocking yourself with pictures of what could happen - do it. But you have to want to do it. It's not something you can do half heartedly.

I know the journey continues for me and while I am quite certain i won't, i may find life throws me a curve ball and i have a blip. However, I really feel I have achieved something massive and, if I may, i would like to run through how i approached it, in case it helps anyone else.

My quit wasn't planned. One morning, my husband suggested that I got a pack of 10 instead of 20. I don't know why, but instead of ignoring him as i usually would (bless him), i thought, why not? I dug out one of my nicotine patches that we had bought to endure the long flight to our honeymoon and popped it on. I then went about my day and perhaps smoked a few less. At the end of that day i thought, well, it didn't hurt too much, so the next day i cut down a bit more. Then a bit more. I started to understand the big difference between addiction and habit. I waited longer and longer each day before i lit the first cigarette... in the evening, i would have my last one earlier and earlier. It was like i was challenging myself to do a bit better every day.

I then read, read, read, everything i could find about quitting. Success stories, failures, the health risks and then the benefits of quitting. I joined this forum and immersed myself in other people's experiences. I contacted the NHS and met with a lovely counsellor who gave me armfuls of NRT and support. Then i chose a day and stuck to it. By that point, i was so ready, i didn't smoke my 'last' cigarette.

I don't want to sound smug - i am as shocked as the next person that i am sticking with this and i know it is not easy, and much harder for some - i just want to share my experience so far and hope that my method may be of some use to someone.

Now to lose the weight!

[nsd_user663_20558]

Cindy, fifty days is brilliant. It's a downhill coast from now on, after that uphill climb.

A real milestone. Congratulations!!

H x

[nsd_user663_20978]

absolutely well done to you especially with the OH still smoking you must be on cloud nine

its lovely to read your post

we are all so brillaint aint we lol

[nsd_user663_20591]

Congrats on your 50 days!!! so great

your post is right on girl....if you want it enough you will find a way to do it..keep fighting the good fight luv and you will win!!

[nsd_user663_28299]

Congratulations!!

Well done x 50!!!

I'm just two days ahead of you: 52 days and counting!

All the best for the continuation

just keep on keeping on

[nsd_user663_27121]

Thanks all! Feeling good and positive PLUS after a week's dieting I have lost 3lb so I am a very happy bunny!

onwards and upwards!

[nsd_user663_24039]

Well done on 50 days!! I'm on 43 now so only another week to go until the big 50!!

I've lost 11 pounds since I quit by doing the diet where you count points. I decided to do both at the same time to give me somthing else to keep me occupied and the good thing with that diet is that I don't ever feel deprived which is good when I feel deprived already of the cigarettes.

I know that everyone is different but I just wanted to post to say that you don't have to quit smoking and put on weight