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Family Matters:  Anybody else trying to stop smoking?......  |
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lisamarie508
True Blue Farmgirl
2648 Posts
Lisa
Idaho City
ID
USA
2648 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 04 2009 : 07:00:10 AM
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Jamie, I hope you made it through the day ok. That would be so hard to smell it all day and not give in to it. If it were me, cranky would be putting it nicely!
Yes, Alee, I do kind of feel that way. I guess that's why I decided to stop this nonsense now. I'm improving myself and my life in every way I can think of. I want to be better, do better and feel better.
I chose Jan. 10 as it's a nice even number. I'm hoping my sense of smell comes back. I can smell some things, but it's very faint and many times I can't tell just what it is I am smelling.
Farmgirl Sister #35
"If you can not do great things, do small things in a great way." Napoleon Hill (1883-1970)
my blog:
http://lisamariesbasketry.blogspot.com/
[size=1]My apron website:
http://lisamariesaprons.bravehost.com [size=1] |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts |
Posted - Jan 04 2009 : 09:13:49 AM
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Note from your Guide to About.com Smoking Cessation, Terry Martin: Dr. Randy Gilchrist is Doctor of Psychology with a specialty in Clinical Hypnosis. Recently, I reviewed his 7-cd program called "Non-Smoker's Edge". Dr. Gilchrest has generously offered to share some of his tips for a successful smoking cessation program with us here.
From Dr. Gilchrist: I strongly recommend that you visit your primary care physician for a full physical at the beginning of your stop smoking effort. He or she can identify what physical health problems may have already begun within you, along with personalized changes needed to begin correcting them. These changes may include proper diet, exercise, medication, and other lifestyle changes for your particular situation. Your primary care physician should also let you know which, if any, food, activity, or medications you should avoid taking or engage in moderation.
Strategy #1: Exercise Regularly
Under the direction of your medical doctor, I recommend meeting with a personal trainer and getting set up with a regular exercise program to help improve your heart rate, pulse rate, blood pressure, and overall cardiovascular health-some of the main casualties from smoking that will probably require improvement. Other benefits of regular exercise include managing your weight and dealing better with difficult feelings, such as depression, anxiety, stress, and boredom.
Strategy #2: Change Your Diet
It makes sense to eat more of the healthy foods that will lessen your smoking cravings. It also make sense to avoid those foods and substances that will only increase your cravings. Foods that have been shown to both increase your health and help to lessen cravings include:
* fruits (especially apples)
* vegetables (especially carrot and celery sticks)
* unbuttered popcorn
* lean meats
* fish
* drinking large amounts of water, tomato juice or tea.
It is also recommended that you eat moderate portions spread out through the day across 3 or more meals for the best digestion. Also, choose foods that take a long time to chew to keep your mouth occupied. Finally, commit to only eating when you are hungry, not when you are bored, upset, or want a reward (known as "emotional eating").
Unhealthy substances that will aggravate your cravings and will need to be minimized include foods or drinks high in sugar or fat, alcoholic beverages, and all illicit drugs-especially drugs that involve smoking like marijuana.
Strategy #3: Keep Your Mouth and Hands Busy
In the past, smoking cigarettes kept your hands and mouth very busy a lot of the time. Now, as you are stopping smoking, it may be helpful to keep your hands and mouth busy in other ways-at least for the first 6 months or so until your cravings lessen considerably.
Ideas for keeping your mouth busy include:
* eating foods that take a long time to chew (like apples, celery, carrots, etc.)
* drinking water (or another low calorie beverage)
* chewing gum
* brushing
* flossing
* whitening your teeth
* gargling with mouthwash
* whistling
* singing
* experimenting with different styles of lipstick or lip gloss, or anything else that will keep your mouth busy.
Note: do not use chewing tobacco. It is just another form of nicotine addiction.
Ideas for keeping your hands busy include:
* holding a pen or pencil
* writing letters or notes
* drawing or painting
* playing a piano (or other musical instrument)
* squeezing a wrist exerciser or stress ball
* sewing or knitting
* working on a puzzle
* trimming your finger nails
* washing your hands or face
* playing with a yo-yo
* playing cards (like solitaire)
* learning sign language
* doing push-ups or pull-ups
* putting on hand weights
* carrying a cane, or engaging in anything else that will keep your hands busy.
Strategy #4: Dealing with Family and Friends that Smoke
For many people, smoking served as a way to socialize and bond with other family members or friends who also smoked. Now that you are quitting, they may feel awkward around you or even betrayed. Some light friendships and associations will be easy to end. Do it. Your health requires it. With your more important relationships, you may need to reassure them that you still care about them and want to keep the relationship, but that you'd like them to please refrain from smoking around you because of your changes. If they forget and "light up", politely remove yourself until they are finished. Then, reengage with them. They should "get the hint" soon enough to stop smoking around you.
Most people should respect this approach. However, if, by chance, they are negative or even hostile about your quitting smoking and even try to sabotage your efforts, you may need to confront them respectfully and ask them to change their behavior. If they still refuse, you may need to limit your contact around them until they can respect and support your needs to be smoke free. A true friend or close family member should respect and support your efforts to change.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our blog: www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts |
Posted - Jan 04 2009 : 09:16:21 AM
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Another great Article:
Quit-Smoking Diet: Veggies, Milk
Some Foods Make Cigarettes Taste Terrible; Others Boost Tobacco Taste
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
April 5, 2007 -- Getting ready to quit smoking? Try eating more vegetables and less meat -- and swap that coffee for a glass of milk.
A Duke University study shows that fruits, vegetables, and dairy foods make cigarettes taste terrible. But meat, coffee, and alcoholic beverages make smoking much tastier, find Duke University psychologist F. Joseph McClernon, PhD, and colleagues.
"The conventional wisdom is that cigarette addiction is all about the nicotine," McClernon tells WebMD. "But we are learning more and more it is also about sensory effects like the taste and the smell and the visual experience and the habitual routines of smoking. The taste effects are important."
McClernon, a researcher at the Duke center for nicotine and smoking research, kept hearing smokers say that certain foods and beverages made their cigarettes taste much better. He began to wonder exactly which foods these were -- and whether any foods made smoking a worse experience.
To study the issue, he asked 209 smokers to list foods that worsened or enhanced the smoking experience. The smokers averaged a little better than a pack of cigarettes a day for an average 21 years. About half were women, a fourth were black, two-thirds were white, and nearly all of them were high-school or college graduates.
Nearly 70% of the smokers said some foods made their cigarettes taste better. These foods tended to be caffeinated beverages, alcoholic beverages, and meat.
Surprisingly, just under half of the smokers -- 45% -- said some foods made their cigarettes taste worse. These foods tended to be fruits and vegetables, noncaffeinated beverages such as water and juice, dairy beverages, and dairy foods.
"We were surprised that smokers would say anything would make their cigarettes taste worse," McClernon says.
Black Smokers at Greater Risk
Another surprise: Menthol-cigarette smokers were very likely to say that their cigarettes tasted the same no matter what kind of foods and beverages they consumed. Nearly 90% of the black study participants smoked menthol cigarettes.
This means that black smokers may have a particularly hard time quitting cigarettes, suggests Scott McIntosh, PhD, associate professor of medicine at the University of Rochester in New York and director of the greater Rochester area tobacco cessation center.
McIntosh says most experts think the reason why black Americans are more likely to smoke menthol cigarettes is because they were targeted to do so by tobacco-company ads, McIntosh tells WebMD. "But this study suggests that menthol lessens the effect of taste deadening or enhancing. And you are more likely to be addicted if you are not affected by variations in taste and pleasure."
McClernon and McIntosh note that counselors tell people who quit smoking to drink lots of water and to eat carrots and celery sticks.
"The idea is to get the smoker to do something with the hands and mouth that is not smoking -- but it might actually be good to engage in some of these behaviors before quitting, to alter the taste," McClernon says. "We might ask clinicians to ask patients getting ready to quit to start consuming healthy dairy products also to see if they can alter their smoking behavior that way."
McIntosh says this is an exciting idea that will add to the repertoire of quit-smoking counselors. He looks forward to suggesting the technique to the counselors he trains.
"And this emboldens me for a strategy we use called habit breaking," he says. "The idea is to switch to a different brand of cigarettes -- and smokers say brand has a dramatic effect on taste. So if taste is such a predictor of enjoyment, this is a good reason to tell people to switch brands as a quitting strategy. It might be even more powerful than we are thinking."
McClernon says he doesn't know why some foods make cigarettes taste worse but he plans to find out.
"We are going to do research to try to understand why drinking water and eating fruits and vegetables worsens the taste of cigarettes," he says. "We don't have a lot of super good ideas about that right now. But if we understood the mechanisms, we could maybe use them to develop new treatments."
Smokers, particularly teen smokers, tend to have a poorer diet than nonsmokers do. So while quitting smoking may be the best thing you can do for your health, it isn't the only thing, suggests Avery M. Lutz, a Duke research technician who worked on the McClernon study.
"It can't hurt to eat more fruits and vegetables even before people quit smoking. It will help them have a healthier life," she tells WebMD.
The McClernon study appears in the April issue of the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our blog: www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
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lisamarie508
True Blue Farmgirl
2648 Posts
Lisa
Idaho City
ID
USA
2648 Posts |
Posted - Jan 04 2009 : 10:00:21 AM
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Interesting...I'm a menthol smoker. I switched brands several months ago to save money. I found a brand that was really cigarette-sized cigars - in menthol- for a $1 a pack. They were stronger and obviously a different taste as it was cigar tobacco. But I made myself adjust to them to save money. At first, I didn't smoke as many of them but, over time, I eventually got back up to the number I was smoking before. Of course, my motivation in switching brands was to save money - not to stop smoking.
One thing specifically about holding a pen to keep your hands busy...take the ink cartridge out. Smokers have a tendency to put things that are cigarette sized in their mouth. Yes, I learned this one the hard way, as I inadvertently bit the end cap off the pen and somehow sucked the ink out of it. It's kind of sweet tasting, but it was pretty embarrassing since I was at an amusement park at the time!
Farmgirl Sister #35
"If you can not do great things, do small things in a great way." Napoleon Hill (1883-1970)
my blog:
http://lisamariesbasketry.blogspot.com/
[size=1]My apron website:
http://lisamariesaprons.bravehost.com [size=1] |
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simplyflowers
True Blue Farmgirl
489 Posts
Jamie
Locust Grove
Virginia
USA
489 Posts |
Posted - Jan 04 2009 : 12:44:39 PM
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I MADE IT THROUGH THE DAY!!!!! I can not begin to tell you how thankful I am for all off the support I've gotten here at MJs! I told myself today that I WOULDN'T even be tempted b/c I had to go back home and tell my farmgals how I did! I wouldn't want to let you down! :) As well, I DIDN'T WANT TO LET MYSELF DOWN!!! And to tell you the truth......the smell made me a little sick to the tummy.....and the thought of putting one to my lips....ugh....it made me feel worse!! I DON'T WANT THEM!!!! Sometimes my 'addictive self' says it wants one....BUT I DON'T.....And I know right away who I should listen to.
I'm so happy about me today! The DH is very proud as well!!! Well....gotta go take a shower...I STINK like a dirty ashtray and 20 cheeseburger!...seriously!
:) ~Jamie~
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." -- Thomas Edison
Check out my blog!! http://bestcoupleintown.blogspot.com/ |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts |
Posted - Jan 04 2009 : 3:06:20 PM
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WOOOO HOOO! Jamie that is AWESOME!!! You hit a huge milestone today! It is awesome that the smell made you sick (I know...weird to say, right?)! That means your body is relearning what is good for it and it is rejecting the bad! Awesome!!!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our blog: www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
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simplyflowers
True Blue Farmgirl
489 Posts
Jamie
Locust Grove
Virginia
USA
489 Posts |
Posted - Jan 05 2009 : 02:24:58 AM
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Alee I have really enjoyed/learned from your posts... Thanks... I've been brushing my teeth a lot and I don't go anywhere without my pack of sugarfree gum!! And it is so true....when I've eaten a meal that was not so nutritious...It made me want a smoke even more. Eating a healthier meal with more veggies and friuts makes the thought kinda yucky. I think I'm over the "want" and now I'm just finding other things to do. The cravings aren't totally all there anymore. Thank goodness.
I'm on morning #5! I FEEL FREEEEEE! I don't have to sit out in the garage with a cig when its 27 degrees out there anymore!
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." -- Thomas Edison
Check out my blog!! http://bestcoupleintown.blogspot.com/ |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts |
Posted - Jan 05 2009 : 04:34:14 AM
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Jamie that is sooo awesome! You are doing sooo great! And you know what is so fantastic? You have beat this thing and I bet it makes you feel like a stronger woman for it! If you can change this habit out of your life- then you can change anything in your life!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our blog: www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
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simplyflowers
True Blue Farmgirl
489 Posts
Jamie
Locust Grove
Virginia
USA
489 Posts |
Posted - Jan 05 2009 : 6:53:15 PM
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Evening #5 and I tell you what.....I rock at this "no smoking" stuff!! Haven't really even had an urge this evening... What a relief to be free!!! Thank you everyone for all the help and support!!! :)
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." -- Thomas Edison
Check out my blog!! http://bestcoupleintown.blogspot.com/ |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts |
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lisamarie508
True Blue Farmgirl
2648 Posts
Lisa
Idaho City
ID
USA
2648 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2009 : 05:13:35 AM
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Good deal, Jamie! I'm so proud of you - and inspired, too! My end date is fast approaching on the 10th. I think I'll be ready for it.
Farmgirl Sister #35
"If you can not do great things, do small things in a great way." Napoleon Hill (1883-1970)
my blog:
http://lisamariesbasketry.blogspot.com/
[size=1]My apron website:
http://lisamariesaprons.bravehost.com [size=1] |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts |
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simplyflowers
True Blue Farmgirl
489 Posts
Jamie
Locust Grove
Virginia
USA
489 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2009 : 07:54:47 AM
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Lisa, please post here too all the progress you make after the 10th!! It's good to know that we are not alone.
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." -- Thomas Edison
Check out my blog!! http://bestcoupleintown.blogspot.com/ |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2009 : 09:49:24 AM
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This is so neat to see ya'll's progress here. This is one time it's good to be a quitter!! I love to see each day's good news. And before long it will a week, then a month then you'll look back and think what was all the fuss about?
So this is good for anyone trying to quit anything. It can be done with a lot of help and encouragement. It so helps to be accountable to others.
Keep it up, Jamie. And Lisa Marie, the day is fast approaching!
Kris
Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. Maori proverb |
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lisamarie508
True Blue Farmgirl
2648 Posts
Lisa
Idaho City
ID
USA
2648 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2009 : 8:06:42 PM
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I will, Jamie. We can egg each other on! Hey, that should be a farmgirl catch-phrase - "egg" each other on. Get it? Ok, I know it's corny. I just kinda spit it out there.
I'm using another tactic as far as what I call this non-smoking thing. Since I hate the thought of quitting anything, I've decided to tell folks that I'm choosing to live better by not smoking. I know it takes longer to say than "I quit", but I it's kind of a psychological trick I need to play on myself. The more I say it out loud, the more I want to do this and the better I feel about it.
Farmgirl Sister #35
"If you can not do great things, do small things in a great way." Napoleon Hill (1883-1970)
my blog:
http://lisamariesbasketry.blogspot.com/
[size=1]My apron website:
http://lisamariesaprons.bravehost.com [size=1] |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts |
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simplyflowers
True Blue Farmgirl
489 Posts
Jamie
Locust Grove
Virginia
USA
489 Posts |
Posted - Jan 07 2009 : 02:35:02 AM
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Hey Lisa!! HAHA We should EGG on each other!!! :P
I have TOLD EVERYONE!!!! I even told the lady behind the coffee counter at a convience store!!!! I told the cashier at the grocery store yesterday too! When I told he lady at the convience store, that was my first trip there since not smoking [just a few days ago]...and I was scared to be there. That is where I ALWAYS BOUGHT MY CIGARETTES before I became a non-smoker. Before I'd go to work...lots of mornings, I would go there and get coffee, pack of smokes and a newspaper. THAT MORNING I only purchased coffee and a newspaper [by the way only spending $2...not $5+!!!!] The nice lady asked me how I was that morning. [it was morning #4] And I told her I felt a bit stressed; that I had stopped smoking and it felt a bit odd and uncomfortable being there b/c of the whole "DO NOT BUY CIGARETTES" deal I've made with myself, but I'd be fine and it was just another day!!! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT LADY DID?! SHE CAME FROM AROUND THE COUNTER, GAVE ME A BIG HUG AND SAID "IT'S HARD, YOU CAN DO IT, DON'T GIVE UP!" I immediately felt really strong, paid for my coffee and paper....and off to work I went! It felt good!
So, the more I say it out loud to more people....the better I feel about it too.
Cheers to us Lisa [with a glass of organic milk]...and anyone else trying to quit. IT IS FABULOUS AND LIBERATING!! And I never thought I'd be able to say that before!
{{{{Big Supportive Hugs}}}} ~Jamie
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." -- Thomas Edison
Check out my blog!! http://bestcoupleintown.blogspot.com/ |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts |
Posted - Jan 07 2009 : 06:10:06 AM
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Jamie! That is so great! You did wonderful! You faced up to a really hard test and did great! And wow! Look at the money you have saved! You should save up that smoking money and do something special for yourself!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our blog: www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
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simplyflowers
True Blue Farmgirl
489 Posts
Jamie
Locust Grove
Virginia
USA
489 Posts |
Posted - Jan 07 2009 : 06:26:42 AM
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Alee, I did the math...and you know what? The brand I used to smoke now cost $3.29 a pack. In 7 days I would have smoked about 5-6 packs! I know, WOW! That is between $16.45 and $19.74!!!! Holy Crap! [for lack of a better phrase] That is a lot of money wasted over the years!!!
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." -- Thomas Edison
Check out my blog!! http://bestcoupleintown.blogspot.com/ |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts |
Posted - Jan 07 2009 : 08:04:41 AM
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Wow! And now you can do something better with that money- like a manicure or paying off debts or something! $20 bucks a week becomes $80 a month. You could even put that a side for a vacation or something!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our blog: www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
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simplyflowers
True Blue Farmgirl
489 Posts
Jamie
Locust Grove
Virginia
USA
489 Posts |
Posted - Jan 08 2009 : 06:34:16 AM
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So the next few weeks will be a true test of will!!! This is a very stressful time at work and I am fighting the 'addictive me'....but I will win!!! I need to re-track my thoughts and constantly remind myself why I quit. I am going to continue this....there is no other option!!!
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." -- Thomas Edison
Check out my blog!! http://bestcoupleintown.blogspot.com/ |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts |
Posted - Jan 08 2009 : 07:24:11 AM
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Jamie- just remember that smoking didn't cure the stress! In fact it probably made it worse because then you could then stress about your health, your family's health, money spent, possibly feeling bad knowing it is a bad habit...
I know that you will beat this stressful time. And think about it this way- each time you beat a craving- it is like you are adding to your stockpile of will power. Each time you do- it makes you stronger and stronger! *hugs*
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our blog: www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22937 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22937 Posts |
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Betty J.
True Blue Farmgirl
1403 Posts
Betty
Pasco
WA
USA
1403 Posts |
Posted - Jan 09 2009 : 8:45:02 PM
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What you need is a pair of teenagers that are out to get you to quit. I can remember mine would break my cigarettes in half, smash the pack, hide my lighter, and burn my matches. They have so many funny stories to tell about getting Mom to quit that I laugh when they tell them. Of course, in 1985 cigarettes were only $1.30 a pack. I dread to think what they cost now. When I buy a lottery ticket ($3) I tell them I am using my cigarette money! TeeHee
Betty in Pasco |
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Family Matters: Anybody else trying to stop smoking?...... |
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Anybody else trying to stop smoking?......
