Spent Some Money I've Saved

Thought it was about time to spend some of the money I've saved from not smoking. Well, to be honest, I really haven't saved all that money I would have spent if I continued to smoke - current stats - (I have been smoke free for 8 Months, 4 Days, 14 hours and 13 minutes (249 days). I have saved $4,492.66 by not smoking 12,479 cigarettes), but I figured I could treat myself with something.

I have wanted to get a tattoo all my life. Now that I'm almost 40, I figured what the hell. Why not go ahead and finally do it. The picture you see is of the tattoo I got done yesterday. It's on my right arm. Freaky huh?

No, I didn't join a gang or anything. I just wanted something that looked kind of cool and maybe a little dangerous. Mid life crisis I guess. HA!

It took 2 1/2 hours to do. Didn't hurt like I thought it might. It was annoying more than anything, but it wasn't extremely painful or anything like that.

Just thought those that are checking the blog from time to time might be interested in seeing this.

That's it for now...We'll talk again soon.

8 Months - WOW!

Thought since I mentioned the I am a Quitter! coffee mug last time, I would post a pic of it. It looks great and I enjoy using it with my coffee, as it always reminds me of what I have accomplished. Not to mention that drinking coffee is a trigger for many people, so having this mug right in front of you certainly helps keep your resolve :-)

Want one of these mugs for yourself? Click the link below to check out the I am a Quitter! online store:

https://www.spreadshirt.com/shop.php?sid=55472

Now onto the important stuff of updating you as to where I am currently with my stats and how it feels to date.

My current stats:

I have been smoke free for 8 Months, 1 Day, 13 hours and 1 minute (246 days). I have saved $4,437.76 by not smoking 12,327 cigarettes.

Yep...that's 8 whole months. Won't be long before a year is upon me. It really does start to go quite fast and you do not think about it much as you go along, especially when you start to get up into numerous months quit. Look at that number of cigarettes not smoked...over 12,000! Is that not incredible? I can't imagine smoking that many cigarettes. I've almost saved $4500 as well. Well, I didn't put it aside and save it, but I've been able to purchase other things along the way and not worry about wasting all that money on something that would be killing me.

So my advice today would be to keep in mind that while at the start and early stages of stopping smoking it may seem very hard and almost impossible to do, it isn't and it gets so much easier as you go along. Imagine looking forward to being 8 months quit...how about that magic ONE WHOLE YEAR. Can you imagine being one year quit? If you recently quit, then no, I'm sure you cannot, but have faith. It gets so much easier and you will be so proud of yourself, as I am right now. You have that to look forward to. Be strong and stay the course because it is so worth it. I am living proof of that and I am laying it right on the line now...do it. You will not regret stopping smoking, nor will it be as hard as it may seem right now, for very long.

If you have recently quit or you have some stats you would like to share, leave a comment or better yet, visit the forum on the right hand side links and post your milestone. I would love to hear from you either way. Talk to you soon!

More than 6 Months & 10,000 Cigs!

Yep, it's been more than 6 months now and over 10,000 cigs since I quit. Here are my up to the minute stats:

I have been smoke free for 6 Months, 2 Weeks, 4 Days, 12 hours and 54 minutes (201 days). I have saved $3,627.67 by not smoking 10,076 cigarettes.

It's not so much the time that has gone by but the number of cigarettes and the money saved. Of course, I haven't really saved that money (I've spent it already on other things), but still, I would have spent more than $3600 on cigarettes in the past 6 months if I hadn't quit. Simply amazing. That and think about laying out the more than 10,000 cigarettes I haven't smoked, end to end. I wonder how far that would go? A LOT of cigarettes to be sure.

Got my I am a Quitter! coffee mug the other day. Looks great! I've already had a couple of people ask me about it. I'm going to get the t-shirt as well I think. When I got the logo created, I wasn't sure how it would look really...well, not until I saw it on something, but I am really happy with the way it turned out. I'm proud to be a quitter and proud to use the mug. If you are interested, you'll find the link to the I am a Quitter! Rewards Store on the right hand side of the Blog here, under links. Grab something for yourself.

Now, if you are just starting out quitting smoking or you've been working through it for a little bit, 6 months most likely seems like an eternity away, but believe me, it went by really fast. I looked up and boom...it had been 6 months. Amazing quite frankly.

Do you want to get to the point where I'm at? Want to celebrate 6 months and thousands of cigarettes not smoked? Then remember one thing...N.O.P.E. Not One Puff Ever. That's the only thing you need to remember. As long as you never take a puff, you'll be fine. You can't have just one puff or just one cigarette. You just can't. Funny thing is, once you get into a month or so quitting, you'll wonder why you ever wanted that puff in the first place. It's just silly.

Now at 6 months, I hardly ever think about it. I remember in the start of all this, thinking about smoking ALL THE TIME. Now, maybe once a day and even those days don't happen very often. You just need to put in the time and you'll wonder why you ever smoked in the first place. Trust me. It gets so much better.

You want to be happy with yourself? You want to get to 6 months with no smoking? Then stop now, if you haven't already, and don't look back. It can be tough at times, I'm not going to lie, but be strong and be proud of doing this for yourself. I am a Quitter! and I'm damn proud of it. You should be to!

Talk again soon...

I am a Quitter! - Quit Smoking Rewards are Here

What better way to celebrate quitting smoking than to have something to shout out you've done it?

That's why I created 'I am a Quitter!" Soon you'll be able to log onto the 'I am a Quitter!' web site. Initially this web site will simply be a portal to the 'I am a Quitter!" online store, but in the coming weeks, I'll be adding new features to the site, so stay tuned to the blog for more details as they become available.

For now, please visit the 'I am a Quitter!' online Rewards Store and treat yourself to an 'I am a Quitter!' t-shirt, coffee mug or even an 'I am a Quitter!' mousepad.

Click this link to visit the I am a Quitter! online Rewards Store and view some of the available items now!

5 Months & Excuses

Well, it's been more than 5 months for this kid now:

I have been smoke free for 5 Months, 3 Days, 13 hours and 22 minutes (156 days). I have saved $2,818.02 by not smoking 7,827 cigarettes.

Not bad huh? I feel so much better over the last few months than I have since the start. I think getting past that third month is the biggest hurdle.

PERSEVERANCE - That's all it really takes folks. Regardless of what is going on in your life or what is going on in your head, you just have to say NO to smoking ever again if you want to remain quit. That's it. There is no magic pill or amazing new way to do it. You can waste your money on gum or patches or pills, but in the end, sooner or later, you have to make the decision to NEVER SMOKE AGAIN and stick to it. That's it. That is the way to STOP SMOKING EASILY. If you've told yourself that no matter what, you will never smoke again, then you can be done with it and move on with the rest of your life.

I'm going to use this quote again:

"All you ever enjoy in a cigarette is the ending of the craving for it...Cigarettes themselves are filth and poison. This is why you only suffer the illusion of enjoying them after a period of abstinence." ~ Allen Carr

It's really that simple and it is so true.

I visit several smoking cessation forums on the Internet (including my own - which is kind of slow right now - hopefully it will pick up) and I see people making excuse after excuse as to why they broke down and had a cigarette again while quitting. If you look hard enough, there are many, many excuses you can use:

• I had a bad day.
• I had a fight with my spouse.
• My best friend stubbed his/her toe.
• My favourtite TV show got cancelled.
• My pet bird has a cough and I'm really worried about him.

Yes, the last few are really silly, but you get the idea. If you look for excuses to smoke, they are REALLY easy to find. I keep reading about these people who used whatever excuse they could find to start smoking again or at least have 'just one'.

Do yourself and everyone around you a favour and STOP MAKING EXCUSES. There is no reason to smoke. If you have quit...stay quit and stop making excuses. If you've already quit, you've already won. Move on with your life. Nothing to see here...

More soon on the blog. Bye for now folks...

Emotional Loss Experienced When Quitting Smoking

My thanks to Grace who posted this artcile on another forum online. This is a great article and very, very true:

Understanding the Emotional Loss Experienced When Quitting Smoking

In her 1969 book, On Death and Dying, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross identified five distinct phases which a dying person encounters. These stages are "denial," "anger," "bargaining," "depression," and finally, "acceptance." These are the exact same stages that are felt by those mourning the loss of a loved one as well.

What does all this have to do with why people don't quit smoking? People who attempt to give up smoking go through these five stages. They must successfully overcome each specific phase to deal with the next. Some people have particular difficulty conquering a specific phase, causing them to relapse back to smoking. Let's analyze these specific phases as encountered by the abstaining smoker.

The first question asked of the group during the smoking clinic was, "How many of you feel that you will never smoke again?" Do you remember the underwhelming response to that question? It is remarkable for even one or two people to raise their hands. For the most part the entire group is in a state of denial - they will not quit smoking. Other prevalent manifestations of denial are: "I don't want to quit smoking," or "I am perfectly healthy while smoking, so why should I stop," or "I am different, I can control my smoking at one or two a day." These people, through their denial, set up obstacles to even attempt quitting and hence have very little chance of success.

Those who successfully overcome denial progress to anger. We hear so many stories of how difficult it is to live with a recovering smoker. Your friends avoid you, your employer sends you home, sometimes permanently, and you are generally no fun to be with. Most smokers do successfully beat this stage.

Bargaining is probably the most dangerous stage in the effort to stop smoking. "Oh boy, I could sneak this one and nobody will ever know it." "Things are really tough today, I will just have one to help me over this problem, no more after that." "Maybe I'll just smoke today, and quit again tomorrow." It may be months before these people even attempt to quit again.

Depression usually follows once you successfully overcome bargaining without taking that first drag. For the first time you start to believe you may actually quit smoking. But instead of being overjoyed, you start to feel like you are giving up your best friend. You remember the good times with cigarettes and disregard the detrimental effects of this dangerous and dirty addiction. At this point more than ever "one day at a time" becomes a life saver. Because tomorrow may bring acceptance.

Once you reach the stage of acceptance, you get a true perspective of what smoking was doing to you and what not smoking can do for you. Within two weeks the addiction is broken and, hopefully, the stages are successfully overcome and, finally, life goes on.

Life becomes much simpler, happier and more manageable as an ex-smoker. Your self esteem is greatly boosted. Your physical state is much better than it would ever have been if you continued to smoke. It is a marvelous state of freedom. Anyone can break the addiction and beat the stages. Then all you must do to maintain this freedom is simply remember - NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF!

Bump in the Road...But I'm OK.

Well, I had a bit of a bump in the road a few days ago, but I'm OK now. I didn't smoke. I was just sitting in front of the computer, listening to some music and reading several forums that I like to frequent (sports forums).

In deciding to change my life around after my 39th birthday, I ousted things like cigarettes (3 months before my birthday), as well as some bad eating habits and I took up a whole new excercise program. The other thing I did was cut some loose ends with some 'supposed' friends I have had in my life for a number of years. Without getting into too many details, I told these friends that if they couldn't be better friends, then maybe they should step back and not be my friend at all. They decided to do the latter. Very frustrating for me, considering one of these friends was someone I considered to be my best friend and someone I have been 'friends' with for more than 16 years.

So anyway...to make a long story short, I was feeling a little depressed that night I spoke of and simply thought what it might be like to have a cigarette to go along with that drink I was having as well. Well, to be fair, at that time, it was about my sixth drink at that time.

I posted on a support forum and I got up from the computer and took a walk around the house. I had a good look at the bracelet I bought myself with my quit date on it and when I got back to my computer chair, I was fine. Just a very small bump in the road. I knew I had decided to NEVER smoke again and I knew in the back of my mind I would NOT smoke, but I had to go through that bump just the same.

Advice here? Try to find some support if you can. There are some great smoking cessation support forums on the Internet. They will help a lot as you go along. Nothing better than being surrounded by others going through exactly the same thing. That and tell youself "I will NOT smoke ever again!" No matter what happens...no one can make you smoke, except you.

My current stats:

I have been smoke free for 4 Months, 2 Weeks, 5 Days, 12 hours and 39 minutes (141 days). I have saved $2,547.48 by not smoking 7,076 cigarettes.

More to come on the blog soon...including some exciting news for you folks out there who have decided to stop smoking. Something I hope many will like...