Hello Ex's,
We are coming into the new year and I know there will be a lot of resolutions this year to stop smoking. I happened to quit on Jan. 4th 2016 and used this site to see what others were going through and it helped quite a bit. I never really posted but I would always check other blogs and it helped quite a bit. The Elders were always awesome and offered great advice as well - thank you all for that.
Here are a few key things that helped me with my quit and maybe it will help someone else as well:
1) I read and understood my addiction before my quit. Here is a great link: http://whyquit.com/whyquit/A_Symptoms.html. I spent a lot of time going through the links on whyquit.com to learn about this addiction.
2) The worst part of the quit is the first 2 weeks. Everyone on here can attest that the first 2 weeks are not fun, but after that it gets better every day. After smoking for 15 years being uncomfortable for only 2 weeks to rid myself of those nasty cigs forever didn't seem so long when you put it in perspective. ITS ONLY 2 Weeks to get through the worst of it!!!!! When you put it in that perspective it doesn't seem so bad.
3) A month after I quit I decided to start running to get my lungs back in shape and signed up for a marathon. That was a little aggressive and don't recommend that, but maybe finding a 5K or 10K to train for and get your lungs back in shape even if you have to walk most of it. There are some great couch to 5K apps out there to start running. Once I started running I knew I was done smoking forever and I haven't looked back.
I feel SOOOOOOO much better and healthier now since I have stopped and I am upset it took me so long to finally decide NOPE. I hope everyone stays quit throuhg the holidays and for the resolutions coming - IT IS POSSIBLE. Get through the first 10-14 days and it gets better every day from there. That is such a small amount of time when you put it in perspective!
