Seven Months Quit… Yay!

April 9, 2011 by Lissa 4 Comments 2,455 views

So....first of all, I am 7 months smoke free....wooohoo me lol

I am a member of a quit smoking forum and I went there to read this morning after some time away, and the forum for 6 months onwards had a few posts where ppl were craving really badly and one even went back to smoking....after 8 and a half months! Maybe it's just me but I find this really confusing....or maybe I have just been exceedingly lucky that I went through the hard days early on and haven't really looked back. I got hit with a trigger around Christmas time (doing the Christmas socialising bit for the first time since I quit lol) but really, when I do think about cigarettes... and that is more often than I thought it would be LOL ...it's not thinking about them as in craving them, they are just thoughts... kinda like "gee in this situation I used to..." and stuff like that lol

Sometimes it makes me feel guilty to see that what appears to be the vast majority on that forum are still really struggling... and then I think how scary that must appear to smokers contemplating giving up! If I had read posts like that or thought I might still be craving so badly as to go out and start smoking again, I'm not sure if I could have done it to be honest.

I've always know I was very...and I mean VERY LOL... strong-willed, it used to frustrate me no end that cigarettes controlled me and not the other way around, maybe once I did successfully quit, my strong will helped keep me in the mindset of being a NON smoker and NOT missing it at all.

The other day as I came out of the shopping center with my husband it was teaming with rain, so we sprinted for the car. Before I quit I would have been huffing and puffing even with such a short distance, but now I feel exhilarated... I can't wait for my ankle to heal up properly as I want to take up running to help get me fit and lose weight. I gained 10 kilos when I quit...ate everything in sight LMAO

So back on topic...ex-smokers how long did it take for you before the really bad craves went away? Did you have a really hard time of it? Or a relatively easy time of it?

Not that quitting is the easiest thing in the world to do, but beating the psychological addiction it seems is far harder for some than beating the actual physical addiction. We are heading towards winter here and I recognise there will probably be a few triggers I have yet to pass through....but I am confident like I never have been before, and actually quite looking forward to making it past.

We are taking the kids on a trip to meet some of my relatives and it will be the first time I have holidayed since I quit smoking... really looking forward to it lol being able to relax on the car trip, in the motel, without feeling the constant need to stop or go outside for a smoke