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DPChallenge Forums >> General Discussion >> I am going to Quit Smoking - PERMANENTLY
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05/20/2009 05:14:16 AM · #51
Aw, Ameed, did you call me a princess?

I've gone all soft and mushy now :-)

05/20/2009 09:35:33 AM · #52
4 In the house,
bump for the morning croud, who wanna join?
05/20/2009 09:47:12 AM · #53
Oh I am so in. My goal is to remain smoke free without gaining weight. Saving money is also very nice.

05/20/2009 11:09:19 AM · #54
Originally posted by BAMartin:

Oh I am so in. My goal is to remain smoke free without gaining weight. Saving money is also very nice.


Yay Barbara, looking forward to joining you in the DPC health plan :-)
05/20/2009 01:17:21 PM · #55
When I quit smoking, I always kept a pack of smokes around, because I didn't want to deprive myself of the opportunity to smoke, because I knew that I'd sometimes be surrounded by smokers who would be all to willing to let me bum a smoke. What I did was to put a picture of my grandfather who died from smoking related diseases on that pack of cigarettes. That way, if I wanted a smoke, I'd have to look him in the eye to do it.

I never opened that pack. After a year, I threw it away.
05/20/2009 01:35:18 PM · #56
OK, I'll give it a go. I actually belong to a pretty awesome gym but never go.

Goals: quit smoking, go to gym, eat healthy. I've been already eating healthy for the past 3 months. Very little fat and a lot less sugar. Lots of fish and chicken on the grill, steamed veggies, NOTHING fried, very little cheese (that's the hardest part). I lost 10 pounds pretty quick and feel a lot better, but that tapered off and now I figure it's time to start exercising.

I'll take a before pic sometime this week and hopefully will be able to proudly post it next to the new me in 6 months.

It's going to be hard...
05/20/2009 01:43:38 PM · #57
Originally posted by BAMartin:

Oh I am so in. My goal is to remain smoke free without gaining weight. Saving money is also very nice.


That was my downside when I quit smoking. I gained 40 pounds in the first 6 months, that was over 10 years ago and I still can't lose it!

Matt
05/20/2009 04:05:17 PM · #58
Heh. I've been waiting to chime in on this thread until I could say this. . . . .

1 year smoke-free today!

I know it's hard, but you've already made it past the worst part, Ameed. Keep it up!
05/20/2009 11:51:26 PM · #59
Originally posted by MattO:

Originally posted by BAMartin:

Oh I am so in. My goal is to remain smoke free without gaining weight. Saving money is also very nice.


That was my downside when I quit smoking. I gained 40 pounds in the first 6 months, that was over 10 years ago and I still can't lose it!

Matt


Matt, 40 Pound is about what I need to lose, I believe you can do it.
Common .. Join us.

Guys, Honestly, I believe everyone can do it,
If you compare your self to others, you'll find you are blessed in many ways, nothing can stop you.
Talking about my self. Yeah I have to work my A$$ so hard to make a living and take care of my family, I have a back problem that up till now don't know how is it going to affect me joining the gym, but I'll do it. My wife is going through high risk pregnancy. The list doesn't end. My point is .. if you are going to weight till all your problems and the stress are gone to start working on your health, well this day might not come .. soon. But you can bring it faster by starting.

I really hope many friends in here to find the well to join us, and improve their lives,
You don't have to have drastic objectives. You are not going to lose 700 pound, quit smoking, win the marathon in 6 months, but as I said before, any loss in here is a gain.


05/20/2009 11:52:48 PM · #60
Originally posted by EBJones:

Heh. I've been waiting to chime in on this thread until I could say this. . . . .

1 year smoke-free today!

I know it's hard, but you've already made it past the worst part, Ameed. Keep it up!


Eric, 1 year, looks like a dream :)
Congratulation buddy, you did it, you are smoke free :) all what you have to do is to keep your guards up and maintain :)
Very well done,
05/20/2009 11:55:32 PM · #61
Ladies and Gentsssss

We are proud to announce out planned 6 months side challenge,
(Quit Smoking 창�� Weight Loss) 6months Side Challeng

Kindly all the champions joining, to update their info.
We are still preparing till the first of June,
11 days to start.
05/22/2009 06:53:21 PM · #62
Day 11:

The best thing about posting in here that everyone knows what I am talking about, if I talked about photography, well who would understand it better than DPC, talk about quitting smoking weight loss, everything .. this is the best place to do it.

I hope this update will not be as long as the previous one.

How I feel:
1. Pissed off, seriously, I feel pissed off, almost angry, anything would trigger my anger. This is because of quitting smoking for sure. It happened couple of times to wake up at 3 or 4AM simply angry and set in bed!! Knowing I woke up angry, while I am suppose to be resting, makes me more angry. Up till now I am able to control my anger, soon to channel it to the right direction.
2. The K9 sense is increasing, whenever I think that should be the end of it, it keeps growing more, now perfumes smell differently, I don창�셳 have to shower in perfume to smell it, actually couple of sprays or three are more than enough now, in a nutshell, my smell sense is 10 times stronger.
3. I started grinding my teeth while I am sleeping, this is because of stress for sure. I had this problem couple of years ago and I ended up breaking two of my teeth, now the problem started to happen again, and I would hate to have to wear the teeth protection thingi.
4. Taste sense didn창�셳 improve that much YET, but I enjoy food more, this is one of the reasons quitters tend to eat more, as they enjoy it more, and it is a wrong way to face stress.
5. I tend to sleep less, and feel almost fully awake as soon as I open my eyes?!! This is very weird, I used to feel very sleepy till after my second espresso? sometimes the sleepy mood lasts with me till noon. Now I am almost fully functional as soon as I wake up. More energetic 창�샖�� take this by the full sense of the world 창�샖��, and sleep less!!

I창�셶e decided to start a weight loss program? Which program? I don창�셳 know yet. But I will start, once I start, I창�셪l worry about what program and how.

The best thing I wont be doing it alone this time like quitting cigarettes, other DPCiers will be joining, and this time we창�셪l do it as a team.
You can read about (Quit Smoking 창�� Weight Loss) 6months Side Challenge,
I창�셪l be renewing my gym subscription very soon.

I am going out now to try to come up with something for the Automobile Ad challenge,
Take care all and wishing you a wonderful weekend.

05/22/2009 07:10:13 PM · #63
Originally posted by AmeedEl-Ghoul:

Day 11:


!

I창�셶e decided to start a weight loss program? Which program? I don창�셳 know yet. But I will start, once I start, I창�셪l worry about what program and how.



DANGER! As one who has been on the weight see-saw ever since I stopped smoking, I'll say one thing about weight loss. LESS is MORE. The smaller the perturbations to your normal life the better off you're gonna be. Is your life active now?
If not, just add walking a mile a day, 4 days a week to start with. And maybe eliminate one nutrition-empty serving from your diet 3 or 4 days a week. Start small and go for long term. Good luck!
05/22/2009 07:45:49 PM · #64
Originally posted by AmeedEl-Ghoul:

Ladies and Gentsssss

We are proud to announce out planned 6 months side challenge,
(Quit Smoking 창�� Weight Loss) 6months Side Challeng

Kindly all the champions joining, to update their info.
We are still preparing till the first of June,
11 days to start.


Count me in to quit smoking.
05/22/2009 07:57:50 PM · #65
[quote=AmeedEl-Ghoul] Day 11:

How I feel:
1. Pissed off, seriously, I feel pissed off, almost angry, anything would trigger my anger. This is because of quitting smoking for sure. It happened couple of times to wake up at 3 or 4AM simply angry and set in bed!! Knowing I woke up angry, while I am suppose to be resting, makes me more angry. Up till now I am able to control my anger, soon to channel it to the right direction.

This is what I'm really afraid of. Its not the actual smoking, I'm happy not doing that, and used to not being able to in so many places nowadays. Its the anger. I'm not an angry person, but when I have tried to quit in the last two years (and I only took it up again 2 years ago...) I have become very emotional. I become angry, take it out on my kids or anyone around me, then end up crying. I'm a single mum, so if I become angry with them, their whole world falls apart. Not good. So I'm going to make it slightly easier on myself and use patches this time, in the hope that at least I can quit one thing at a time. I am a believer in cold turkey, but I really can't inflict myself on anyone if I try it that way. I don't know if patches will work, but I figure if I convince myself that the anger won't come while using them, I should be ok. Very scared!!!
lol, I thought I came on this site to be involved with photographers around the world......its becoming far more life changing than that. Thanks Ameed :-)
05/22/2009 08:17:27 PM · #66
Originally posted by jettyimages:

[
This is what I'm really afraid of. Its not the actual smoking, I'm happy not doing that, and used to not being able to in so many places nowadays. Its the anger. I'm not an angry person, but when I have tried to quit in the last two years (and I only took it up again 2 years ago...) I have become very emotional. I become angry, take it out on my kids or anyone around me, then end up crying. I'm a single mum, so if I become angry with them, their whole world falls apart. Not good. So I'm going to make it slightly easier on myself and use patches this time, in the hope that at least I can quit one thing at a time. I am a believer in cold turkey, but I really can't inflict myself on anyone if I try it that way. I don't know if patches will work, but I figure if I convince myself that the anger won't come while using them, I should be ok. Very scared!!!
lol, I thought I came on this site to be involved with photographers around the world......its becoming far more life changing than that. Thanks Ameed :-)


I used patches for the first 4 weeks. I was able to maintain my sanity, and it was an easy transition to no patches. I really miss the wonderful dreams though.
05/22/2009 08:42:51 PM · #67
Think of smoking as training wheels on your kids bike. You're scared to take them off and when you do, you may fall a few times. But once you get used to riding with out the training wheels and how much faster you can go, you will never put them back on again.

Happy "biking"

Frank
05/22/2009 08:59:02 PM · #68
Originally posted by jettyimages:


How I feel:
1. Pissed off, seriously, I feel pissed off, almost angry, anything would trigger my anger. This is because of quitting smoking for sure. It happened couple of times to wake up at 3 or 4AM simply angry and set in bed!! Knowing I woke up angry, while I am suppose to be resting, makes me more angry. Up till now I am able to control my anger, soon to channel it to the right direction.



The anger WILL go away. It will. It can be part of the withdrawal process (a rare person or two doesn't get the anger thing) but if you give in to it, you will just have to go through it again next time. So, exercise, deep breath, yeah, even eat, but don't give in to anger. You can get past it. It doesn't last.
05/22/2009 09:00:33 PM · #69
Originally posted by jettyimages:



This is what I'm really afraid of. Its not the actual smoking, I'm happy not doing that, and used to not being able to in so many places nowadays. Its the anger. I'm not an angry person, but when I have tried to quit in the last two years (and I only took it up again 2 years ago...) I have become very emotional. I become angry, take it out on my kids or anyone around me, then end up crying. I'm a single mum, so if I become angry with them, their whole world falls apart. Not good. So I'm going to make it slightly easier on myself and use patches this time, in the hope that at least I can quit one thing at a time. I am a believer in cold turkey, but I really can't inflict myself on anyone if I try it that way. I don't know if patches will work, but I figure if I convince myself that the anger won't come while using them, I should be ok. Very scared!!!
lol, I thought I came on this site to be involved with photographers around the world......its becoming far more life changing than that. Thanks Ameed :-)


my wife also becomes angry quite easily with my daughter. (last one or two weeks she has not shouted on her, due to a big reason though).

kids are tricky they do things innocently but might end up annoying parents.
following my simple philosophy that if i do not want anything to happen i would not do it even once. i never shout or get angry with my daughter. Never happened.

But my wife case is little different, she started it because of her freinds comments as how my kid might be spoiled and all.
When she started it i warned her that this might get out of hand. And yes after few months my wife do get angry very easily and shouts a lot at my daughter. Even at smallest of things.

anyway you got to start anew and think you are not gonna get angry with them no matter what they do. Be resolute and you will see the difference in few days. Best wishes.
05/22/2009 09:55:17 PM · #70
Originally posted by zxaar:

Originally posted by jettyimages:



This is what I'm really afraid of. Its not the actual smoking, I'm happy not doing that, and used to not being able to in so many places nowadays. Its the anger. I'm not an angry person, but when I have tried to quit in the last two years (and I only took it up again 2 years ago...) I have become very emotional. I become angry, take it out on my kids or anyone around me, then end up crying. I'm a single mum, so if I become angry with them, their whole world falls apart. Not good. So I'm going to make it slightly easier on myself and use patches this time, in the hope that at least I can quit one thing at a time. I am a believer in cold turkey, but I really can't inflict myself on anyone if I try it that way. I don't know if patches will work, but I figure if I convince myself that the anger won't come while using them, I should be ok. Very scared!!!
lol, I thought I came on this site to be involved with photographers around the world......its becoming far more life changing than that. Thanks Ameed :-)


my wife also becomes angry quite easily with my daughter. (last one or two weeks she has not shouted on her, due to a big reason though).

kids are tricky they do things innocently but might end up annoying parents.
following my simple philosophy that if i do not want anything to happen i would not do it even once. i never shout or get angry with my daughter. Never happened.

But my wife case is little different, she started it because of her freinds comments as how my kid might be spoiled and all.
When she started it i warned her that this might get out of hand. And yes after few months my wife do get angry very easily and shouts a lot at my daughter. Even at smallest of things.

anyway you got to start anew and think you are not gonna get angry with them no matter what they do. Be resolute and you will see the difference in few days. Best wishes.


Thats sad for your daughter, and your wife, but it sounds as though you will be able to help her with that. The one thing that I have learnt is never to be influenced by what other people think of your children. Our loyalty needs to remain with our family, no matter how they are, and friends don't take any responsibility for their comments, or for the feelings of the people they comment about.
I love my children with everything I have, thats why i'm afraid of something stupid like nicotine withdrawal affecting how I am with them - it isn't about how they are, its my problem, and it doesn't usually happen. Only when trying to quit, and for that I feel ashamed and scared. But it seems that patches will help me do it more gradually, so I am happy to use them to save the love in this house.

05/22/2009 11:17:36 PM · #71
Ameed - there is a free, on-line group you may like to check out: quitsmokingjournals.com

It is a loose association of people going through the various stages of exactly the same struggle- quitting a long time addiction to nicotine. I have spent several years there, giving and receiving a lot of support. It may be helpful to you.

Focus that anger right square on the source of the problem - addiction, and channel that power to its defeat. You can do it.
05/25/2009 04:09:05 PM · #72
Week 2:

Wowww, I never thought I창�셝 make it this far. 2 weeks seemed so far away when I first started.

How I feel:

1- I kind of started to get used to the idea of being smoke free. Stopped reaching for imaginary places where I used to have my cigarettes.
2- Craving is on and off. When it is off, things are going smooth and I am actually started to have fun. When I am watching a movie or reading a book, or working, I kind of totally forget about smoking.
3- When Craving is on, I try to remind myself of the reason I창�셶e quite smoking, remind myself why I decided to get unhooked, drink lots of water, and breath.
4- My breathing is better, anger is less frequent, life started to look good.

I have to keep away from areas that have smokers, I am still at my weakest, smell smoke trigger sirens and alarms in my brain, and all of sudden I can창�셳 breathe, and no breathing is enough to bring oxygen to my lungs. Just have to stay away these days. Which is not a big deal.
Yesterday, I called all my friend who has kids, suggested if we all can go to one of the parks close by so we can have all the kids play together and have fun. Spend a day in the open. Having fun doesn창�셳 have to be expensive or planned. Needless to say we had a blast, all the parents started to talk about making it weekly or bi weekly, we창�셪l see about that. Did I mention that Sarah and I were the show stars :)

At this stage. My feelings are mixed up, a feeling of accomplishment with confident, which might lead to let my guards down, I don창�셳 hid feeling the tempt to have a smoke, what the heck .. I did it and I proved it bla bla bla, when I reach this stage I automatically switch my defences ON, NO .. No more smokes, drink water, go for a wake, bang your head against the wall but no smoke. At I point I screamed at myself in the washroom while looking in the mirror 창�샖�� are you f*&(ng stupid? You want to reward yourself for quitting smoking .. by having a smoke? 창�샖�� just thinking about it this way made it look really stupid.
I am trying to keep my guards up all the time. Drink water, more water .. and breath.

The real problem that I am having these days, is sleeping, I sleep on an average of 5 hours a day, sometimes less. I wake up angry, change position and try to sleep, keep rolling in bed for hours, I feel asleep to wake up to feel asleep till the morning and just wake up because I can창�셳 take the torture of not having a regular sleep any more.
This is a huge big problem, But I know the solution .. The Gym, soon will be joining, by the 1st of July will start going regularly.

FireBird I used to be very active before I injured my back, I창�셪l take it nice and easy, it is hard to have many objectives and work them all in the same time. One step at the time. Thanks for your concern, appreciate it.

Intelli You are in for the challenge and welcome aboard, not mentioning anything about weigh loss makes me think you are only in to quit smoking 창�샖�� Only in quit smoking .. like if this wasn창�셳 hard enough : ) 창�샖�셪 welcome aboard.

sfalice Thank you for all the advices, will implement them all, no need to mention eating .. I am eating like a pig these days :) thanks again.

farfel53thanks for the community site, I창�셪l check it for sure. Really appreciate your time and advices, thank you.

jettyimages Trish, Its been 2 weeks, yes it is tough, yes I still get angry, but I am on the way to resolve this problem once and for good. You want something that is every expensive, you want health, you want to watch your kids growing up and you want to watch them getting married and carry their kids, this doesn창�셳 come for free, we 창�샖�� we 창�샖�� have to earn it. Quitting smoking is one of the payments we have to do. You might think it is hard to understand how hard it is to be a single mom, my mom used to be a single mom and she raised 2 kids, my brother and I, which wasn창�셳 easy at all, she had to work 2 jobs for years to get us to universities. It is not easy, but you know what, it pays of .. and it pays off big time. My mom is retiring this year. She will be moving in with me by August to enjoy being with her grandchildren, she will be either living with me or with my brother, thats how we love her and how we appreciate everything she창�셶 done to us. Not braging here about how good my mom is, what I am saying is, your kids will appreciate what you are doing, they will love you more when they get older knowing you창�셶e done this because of them and to them.
Involve them with you. Say it frankly to them, I am smoking, smoking is bad, and makes people sick, and because I love you, want to be with you forever, want to be healthy to play with you forever, I am going to quite, it is really hard to quit smoking so I will be taking some medication to help me get over it 창�샖�� Patches 창�샖�� but this medication, is very strong that sometimes it might make me angry, so if ever I yelled or raised my voice, it is not because I don창�셳 love you, it is because the medication is strong and makes me act this way ..
Trust me Trish, if they are 5 years and above, they will understand what you are saying, they will understand it very well .. and to your surprise, they might even help. Involve them, it is a team work and family work as well. How old are thy btw? My anger and mode swings still happen, but only once or twice I screamed at Sarah, she doesnt창�� remember that by now, all what she remembers is dad means fun, dad plays with me all the time, and about my wife, she totally understand what I am going through .. sometimes I get sharp over very silly stuff, she doesn창�셳 push it, calm things down, give me this lovely loving smile 창�샖�� which means sooner or latter you will be done with that .. then your ass is mine ; ) 창�샖��
While you are looking at it from far, is scary .. very scary .. but honestly .. standing in my place now passing week 2 .. honestly saying, it is not that hard, and I wish I창�셶e done it 18 years ago ..
It is easy .. but require work, it is tough .. but nothing is impossible .. we owe it to our kids and YES .. you can do it.


Message edited by author 2009-05-25 16:48:47.
05/29/2009 01:21:12 PM · #73
Bump for whoever wants to take some positive steps to Quite Smoking and Lose weight.

Comon guys, whoever wants to lose weight and quite smoking can join the: (Quit Smoking 창�� Weight Loss) 6months Side Challeng. You will have the encouragement of another 11 tortured soul :) people cheering for you from all over the world. You will look in front of your beloved once that you had the courage to do it by your self '' unless they know about DPC ''. Last but not least, you will enjoy the team work. I always loved team work, it gives you the ability to blame others :) .. and no one will notice if you screwed up :)
06/02/2009 03:10:56 PM · #74
Week 3:

I can say that I am almost there, the craving is there but can honestly say it doesn창�셳 bother me anymore, I only get craving attacks when I smell smoke, but even though, they are not that severe. Most of the day I am not thinking about it at all, unless when I am reading or updating this thread : )
I think by reaching 1 month, the critical period of time will be over, after that it is matter of maintenance, keep smoke free, not submitting to even a single buff, and keep my guards up and this would be it.

One more thing, Yesterday my wife and I got invited to Dinner at friends. The food was amazing, but what really caught my attention was my ability to taste has increased incredibly, we창�셶e been served a wonderful salad that is a mix of vegetables and fruits, I was able to differentiate the ingredients, never tasted fruits that sweet, it창�셲 like having sugar sticks dipped in honey!! When I commented that it is very sweet, everyone looked at me surprisingly saying it is just fruits no sauce or sweeteners added, so I was eating plane fruits and it tasted like heaven. I used to have sugar craving specially at night, sometimes they are very strong that it wakes me up from sleep. I had one sugar craving attacks yesterday, It woke me up at 4AM, this time I tried 1 peach, needless to say it tasted so sweet that it was super enough for me.

We are doing a wondeful Jam at the (Quit Smoking 창�� Weight Loss) 6 months Side Challenge With 14 champion participating and determine to change their life.

Thats all for this week, I'll see ya in Month 1.
06/02/2009 03:19:53 PM · #75
You're doing awesome mate well done, I told you about the rush you would get once your taste buds recovered didn't I LOL! It's not something that is easy to explain but to go through it is such a buzz :)
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