No More Smoking (Day 653)

It has been a while since I have posted here, but since quitting, it is best to leave the smoking habit behind you.  This will be my last post for a while.  I will update my progress of remaining a non-smoker over the next few years.  One thing I have learned through this whole process is you need to remain strong and take every advantage to enjoy what life has to offer.  I do biking now, I play basketball with my sons, and I do more work around the home.  You just feel better being a non-smoker, healthier and easier to breath.  Good luck to all on your journey if you chose to quit smoking.

Life without the patch (Day 393)

Day 393 - I missed my one year mark posting on here, but better late than never.  Life is good when you can breath easier and save money while doing it.  I am very thankful I chose to quit smoking.  I am thankful for all of the support I have received and hope to continue on this path of being a non smoker.  I won't say the days are easier now then they were when I first started quitting, but you take each day at a time and get through each of them.  I see everyday the commercials on the TV about quitting smoking and I want to make sure I continue to not be a statistic of a smoker dying of some awful disease.  Good luck again to anyone trying to quit.  As long as you have people to support you and your are committed, you will quit.

Life without the patch (Day 292)

Day 292-  Anyone who tells you that quitting smoking is not that hard, has never been a smoker.  I will not sugar coat it, quitting the habit of smoking is extremely hard and sometimes frustrating.  What you really need to know to making quitting a little easier is that you really want to quit, you are done, for whatever reason, you just don't want to smoke anymore.  This is the single most important thing to becoming a successful quitter, you really have to want to quit.  I am much happier now that I can breath easier and do more things without running out of breathe.  One of the biggest benefits of not smoking is the fact that I finally had enough money for my wife and I to purchase our first home.

Life without the patch (Day 189)

Day 189 - I have made it past the 6 month mark and I am feeling great.  I have had a lot of congestion lately and I am not sure if I am getting a cold or if this is caused by my lungs clearing.  Either way I still feel great.  I believe once you get to this level, it takes less will power to stay not smoking because you have changed your routine by know and you just don't have the thoughts of cigarettes.  I have more of my smell senses back and I know when someone has smoked because I can smell it and it smells bad.  I can't believe I smelled like that, but I know I did when I was a smoker.  When you are a smoker, it is a way of life, it consumes your time and make you feel less energized.  One thing to keep in mind when you quite smoking is that weight gain is going to be a part of quitting.  Be prepared, but as long as you have a plan to exercise, you will be fine.  My wife and I quite 6 months ago as a part of becoming more healthier and we knew coming into this that we were going to have some weight gain.  Part two of us becoming healthier is to begin exercising and eating healthier.  This will begin in about 3 more months.  I myself would not try to quit smoking and eating healthier at the same time this will make you fail one or the other.  If you already eat healthy, then this will not be an issue for you.  Just realize that your system will want to compensate something in place of not smoking and usually this is food.  Weight gain is acceptable as long as you don't let it get to far and you have it on your personal road map to step two of being healthier like my wife and I and you make a goal to exercise and begin within a time frame.  I will keep recording our progress in this blog so all with know what steps we took to lose the weight and continue to be non-smokers.

Life without the patch (Day 153)

Day 153 - So it has been a bit since my last post but that is how it has to be.  The more you want to quit smoking, the more you need to distance yourself from the thought of smoking.  I have seen lately more and more ads for e-cigarettes and I want to tell everyone wanting to quit smoking, don't use an e-cigarette.  An e-cigarette is just an alternative to smoking a real cigarette.  The only difference is one is lit and one is not.  They both feed your system with nicotine, which is the drug that you are trying to get away from when you quit smoking.  I will tell you that I quit smoking using the patch and it was the best thing ever, the patch for me really worked and now a little over 5 months I still have not touched a cigarette.  I feel so much healthier.  I just got over pneumonia and I could not imagine how bad it would have been if I was still  smoker.  Trust in me, a 25 year smoker, it is never to late or to early to quit smoking, your health will improve, you will smell better, people will enjoy hanging out with you.

I would wish anyone quitting the best of luck, I know how hard it is but you can do it.

Life without the patch (Day 120)

Day 120 - Life is great, another milestone, 4 months without smoking.  I feel great, like nothing will ever get me to start smoking again.  Yes, I do still have daily urges to smoke, but they are controllable.  Anyone trying to quit, prepare yourself for the urges after you have quit for a while.  I am not sure if the urges ever go away, but after 4 months of not smoking, they are more manageable and pass by faster then in previous months.  The only way you will truly quit forever is to have it set in you mind that you are done and smoking is something you do not want to continue doing.  Just think about how healthy you will be and the years you will be adding to your life by quitting.

Good lick to all those who are just beginning to quit.  It is a long road, but one worth taking.

Life without the patch (Day 87)

Day 87 - Life has been good without cigarettes and the patch.  Now I am not spending money on either one and it feels good to be able to start saving all the money I was wasting on smoking.  Summer is almost over where I am and Fall will soon begin.  It gets cold here in the Midwest and this year it is going to be nice not to have to spend time outside smoking.  This will be the first year in 25 years that I will not be going outside to have a smoke.  I never smoked in my house, so I would go outside to smoke, at work, I would have to go outside to smoke.  This year is going to be nice, maybe less of a chance of getting sick.  Now is a great time to quit.