It's officially a success

[Rickajho]

See that little signature box at the bottom? Yeah, I decided it was time to add that.

I wanted to wait because I had failed so many times in the past with gum and cessation programs. This time the cravings are so tiny and so infrequent that I don't ever see myself going back to smoking.

And that date down there? That's the official date I had my last cigarette. Prior to that I actually started this journey on April 30th when my kit arrived. Between April 30th and July 31st I just went through a "wing it" phase. I was still smoking, but drastically cut down in the first week. After that a bad day was 3 butts. Some days I didn't have any at all.

On July 31st there was one cigarette left. I smoked it. I didn't enjoy it. It's over! And that deserves a little happy dance:

​

One last thing: When I look at that counter and those numbers! It's not just about the money. I can't believe I was sticking a cigarette in my mouth that often. But I know my numbers - and my counter figures are correct. Kinda mind boggling when you see it in black -and red - and white like that.

Rick

 

[Momster]

Congratulations, Rickajho! It's a great feeling to not be controlled by the analogs, isn't it?

 

[MegaBee]

Awesome!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[intime]

Congrats, that is really amazing. I can certainly relate to not wanting to shout from the rooftops. I smoked for more than 30 years and quitting became something I quit doing. I now tell people I stopped because I am not a quitter anymore, I just simply choose to not smoke any longer. Like the happy dance

 

[WyattDerp]

You can haz an awesome.

 

[hairball]

Congratulations. Quitting smoking never tasted this good. I'm glad to hear you gave up the stinkies and decided to live a healthier lifestyle.

 

[Rickajho]

Congratulations. Quitting smoking never tasted this good. I'm glad to hear you gave up the stinkies and decided to live a healthier lifestyle.

But, but, but... this isn't supposed to taste good! That's bad!

Well at least if you talk to health care cessation people that's what they don't like here. They will tell you that conventional cessation products are intentionally designed to not be too appealing. Ok, the gum might be slightly better than chewing on a patch. But not by much. Seriously, they intentionally sabotage the appeal of cessation products due to the belief that it would be bad for someone to get "hooked" on the gum or whatnot.

And just how well does that work out when you look at the quitting success rates for conventional methods? (No comment...)

At the same time, both my MD and my allergist have no problem with vaping. They do have a big problem with smoking.

And HB you are so right: One of the first things I noticed was "Hey! This tastes pretty good!" (Just love my Boge Pal-Mal.) And in my transition phase the vaping just kept tasting good, while the cigarette experience was getting nastier and nastier. Me too - 30-ish year habit. And after a week of vaping my cigarettes were tasting - and feeling - like my very first cigarette all over again. Remember that? Getting woozy, feeling light headed and nauseous when you were first convincing yourself that smoking was cool? Deja vu all over again. Smoking cigarettes in that early phase of vaping was actually turning into it's own best deterrent. Didn't see that one coming.

Anyone else experience that?

 

[Rickajho]

You can haz an awesome.

Awww puppy! Tanks! You can haz cheezburga - if I can ram it through that teeny tiny fiber optic cable...

You, me - dueling eGo's in the back alley, right now!

 

[Fudgey]

Congrats....it feels awesome to quit!!