Quit Motivators

[suzanne-bridgeland]

My reasons to quit smoking:
  Smoking contradicts the reason I pay $80 a month for my inhalers TO BREATH!!!
  Smoking causes skin to show aging earlier and I use Mary Kay to slow that process down!
  Smoking causes teeth to become stain and I use EVERY whitener to keep them looking good
  Smoking causes me to smell bad, and I have the greatest smelling shampoo and body wash sprays and lotions!
  Smoking costs me $120 or more a month and I am always whining about being broke!
  Smoking causes me to have a hard time working out, and I LOVE to stay in shape!!!
  Smoking is causing my granddaughter to imitate me! YUCK!!
  Smoking is slowly killing me-and I am not ready to die!!
  Smoking is going to be the reason I become one of those people who have an O2 tank every where they go-and I DO NOT want to be one of those people!!!

[Yaya2.6.10]

I joined EX cuz I saw a story on CNN.  I didn't come back for a year until I was diagnosed with a blocked carotid.  The vascular doc wouldn't even see me if I was still smoking.  I Quit Feb. 6, 2010.  I didn't need the surgery for more than a year.  

[candylance]

Thanks for sharing, Yaya!!!!

[I_am_free]

I got tired of and scared with what cigarettes were doing to me.  Friends are falling all around me with COPD and lung cancer.  Hope I'm not too late.  42 years smoking, quit date 8-19-12

[SarahP]

I joined Ex because I saw their commercials in December 2010 and liked their approach -- "relearn how to do things without cigarettes." It wasn't the typical scare-tactic approach and I appreciated that. 

Why did I actually quit? Thankfully not because I had COPD or any other serious medical issues. It was the sum of a million little things, really. My husband doesn't smoke and I always felt ashamed and guilty. Worried how I smelled, worried that he thought less of me. Same with my coworkers. Everywhere I went, there were fewer and fewer smokers. I started feeling more and more like an outcast. Then we signed up for life insurance, and my rates were 4x his. Then my OB-GYN refused to renew my birth control prescription, told me to quit smoking or find another method of birth control. Boy did that make me mad! 

But in the end, I couldn't continue ignoring it all, and I decided to "try" to quit. Thankfully I found this community, who taught me so much, showed me the faulty ways I was thinking, and not only have I quit but I have quit FOREVER. 

Thanks for starting this group Candy! 

[Connie55]

I joined because freinds and family around me were dropping like flies of various smoking related illnesses. I also had a close call when my doctor thought I might have bladder cancer. Luckily, it was just a stone but I learned from the Urologist that smoking is the #1 cause of bladder cancer! Who knew?

So I started paying attention to my body and noticed when I got up in the morning there was an elephant on my chest. I noticed wheezing, I couldn't make it up 2 flights of stairs. I couldn't walk up the hill on my sisters farm. This was ridiculous for a 49 year old! My 72 year old father could run up the hill!

I had quit and failed in the past so I was not confident I could do this, but once I found this site and the terrific people on here who helped to educate me, I won the battle!

[jka03]

I quit smoking when I started waking up with feelings of an elephant sitting on my chest.  I no longer enjoy the taste.  For me it was becoming a pain to get in the car and go to the store and buy them.  I never bought a carton at a time, it was always 3 packs cuz I didn't want my husband to see the carton.  He doesn't smoke.  I truely started feeling like it was a ball and chain on me.

[John48]

Why did I quit smoking?  I'm not sure of the exact reason, if there is one definitive reason that made me quit. 

At the time of my quit, 20 days ago, I was smoking right before I went to bed because I felt I needed to.  I wasn't supposed to be smoking in the house and I started to get lazy so instead of stepping out front I just smoked in my room with the window open.  I began to wake up every morning coughing like crazy.  I was wheezy and so I would take an over the counter inhaler, Primatine Mist kind of thing, to clear myself up in anticipation of having that first smoke in the morning.  Crazy.  So once the wheeziness went away I would begin my day of dependence and smoking. 

Another reason was everytime I left the gym I would move my motorcycle to the side of the building just so I could sneak a smoke.  That was after working out.  It was not only embarassing but the thought of how it was self defeating to work out so hard only to smoke afterwards and constrict my blood flow and subsequent restriction of oxygen to my muscles.  It was ridiculous.  Also the thought that I entered the gym smelling like smokes was embarassing enough. 

Then there was the stigma of smoking everywhere and feeling like people are looking at you funny.  People making those fake coughing sounds to show their disapproval.  

There was the issue of inconvenience of riding out on my motorcycle at all hours to  buy cigarettes, sometimes at $7 or more a pop when I don't have much money coming in.  Just the expense alone used to drive me nuts not to mention the fear of waking up in the morning and not having enough cigs to get by until I could go out.  Nuts. 

And there was always the reoccuring thought of just pushing my luck.  I've been pretty lucky over the years in that my body is resilient.  That it bounces back pretty easily every time after I have abused it through poor diet, etc.  My body responds pretty well to diet changes and exercise.  But smoking since I was 11 for almost 30 years is really pushing it.  I made that decision if that I don't already have some kind of negative health issue related to smoking already now is the time to quit before it pops up. 

[Nyima_1.6.13]

I am quitting because,this time, I feel I am truly ready to use a different means of coping. I have been getting ready for a year. Yes, a year! It took me ten months to loose 40 pounds, learn healthy eating habits and develop a consistent exersize routine, so I don't care if I gain a few! It took another two months of practicing 'mindfulness & acceptance' (also the name of my group) and finally I feel I have the 'skillpower' to beat both the addiction and the habitual behaviors. The final piece of the puzzle was finding EX. I think this is a fantastic site and I plan to use it daily to maintain my quit!

Please, feel free to join my group! While collecting badges is not a goal, it is quite satisfying when you get one!!

[kimadina]

I want to quit smoking it so I can be healthier. My health has been suffering for many years. They have been a smoker for about 35 years and I'm tired of feeling terrible. I think I could accomplish more if I had more energy.

[crystalabner]

I quit for 3 months 2 years ago until my grandmother passed away.  She was the person I loved the most in the world and I couldn't deal with losing her and fighting smoking at the same time.

I decided to quit this time because I got sick and woke up one night barely able to breathe.  I knew in 5-10 years I would have that feeling all the time if I didn't quit, so that is the main reason I am quitting now.

EX was a great help to me the last time I quit and the first thing I thought of when I decided to quit this time.  It's a great site with great support.