New Here/Advice and Support

[tryingagain]

Hi Everyone!
I am a newbie to these boards, and a 2nd time Atkins dieter.


I have been reading through these posts and some of them are so old, my 2 cents would probably be worthless so I am posting a new thread.

I quit smoking, at 1.5 packs a day on Jan. 14, 2007.
YAY!
I am 27 years old and smoked since I was 12. Thats is what 15 years? OMG! I know that I still have every chance of developing smoking related diseases and cancer, but every day I fight to reduce those chances. I fight for the right and ability to get pregnant and be a mother, and a good one. I fight for the right to breathe and be able to run or walk up stairs without a struggle. I fight for my life and my quality of life. I know that if my parents did not smoke I would not have taken that first puff, because I do remember thinking, "well, mom and dad do it, so I can to"

Because I am still new at being a non-smoker, and am still struggling with it each day, I wanted to share some tips that helped me. Maybe they will help others, and maybe they won't, but I am such a Ciggarette hater, that I have to share what I can.

1st: set a plan ahead of time. Decide on what you will do to get through each craving. BTW, each one only lasts about 5 minutes in the beginning and then 3 minutes and then less and less. My strategy was each craving I had, I would do 10 pushups, or situps, or something that would distract me, but I made it exercise so that I only gained 6 lbs with quitting vs. 20!

2nd: Go to this website and OFTEN: www.whyquit.com
It was a life saver for me. Take the time and read all the articles, they are educational, and inspiring, and knowing the technicalities of what happens when you smoke, such as, it pumps sugar through your veins (ICK), helped me to HATE smoking. I also cried through the sad stories of non-survivors.

I still go here often when I am having a craving and I read what got me through in the beginning, and the cravings go away, and I say to myself "what was I thinking wanting to suck that poison back into my body that I have worked so hard to cleanse?"

3rd: download Quitkeeper. if you google it, you will find it, and it is a constant desktop ticker that continuously counts your quit time down to the second, how much money you have saved based on your personal smoking habbits, how much life you have saved, etc. It also has milestones to keep you going! Mine just hit 3 months! My next one is 100 days smoke free.

These tools helped, especially the first 72 hrs, I was able to count down with Quitkeeper, and get through it.

Last and FINAL bit of advice:

TAKE IT ONE DAY AT A TIME!! Quoting from www.whyquit.com :

"Wake up each day and commit to just that day. Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. for today commit to not smoking just for today and tell yourself you will deal with tomorrow when it comes. If you look too far ahead you can become so overwhelmed that you turn back to smoking"
I think this is also great advise for those battling Narcotics and alcohol as well.

Good luck all and though I am new, I am here if anyone needs support, advice or to just vent through a craving!

I am pulling for you success because I know how much it means to succeed and beat this demon that runs our lives. I am running my life now.