Beat down addiction!

[Late_Bloomer]

Can say with confidence that after 20+ years of smoking I have successfully beat this addiction. And this accomplishment is wholeheartedly attributed to the changes I've made since finding MMM. This was the biggest hurdle to overcome after getting my finances straight and making life adjustments that benefit my future. I used the nicotine patch to regulate my nicotine intake and draw it down over a 2 month period.

Like anyone intelligent enough to understand how ridiculous smoking is, and wants to quit, but submits to addiction, I could never commit to a reasoning that allowed me to overcome. Near the end it was so bad that I even justified the negative health implications by telling myself it wasn't a big deal if I got cancer or any number of health ailments because I going to die of something anyway so what's the point? Believe it or not, but  the sole reason I was able to quit was because of the long term costs associated with it. And this is something I never would have realized or considered before finding MMM.

[SubL stache]

Congratulations

[Kl285528]

HUGE kudos to you!!! I quit smoking 10 years ago. Truly one of the hardest things I've done. Must of quit 8 or so times previously until I finally quit for good. Has given me a ton of empathy for people with a drug addiction. Bravo to you! I too looked at the money, and the fact that I had a two year old at the time who I did not want to ever see daddy smoking.

[nouveauRiche]

That is excellent!  So many benefits to quitting.  Congrats!

[FamilyGuy]

This is very inspiring. I'm struggling with the habit of over-eating and your dimension of thinking like costs involved is new to me.

[Skills Barterer]

Congratulations!  Yea, you're going to be way better off! 

If I could offer one thing is to be careful what you replace the patch with.  I had a friend replace smoking with hard candies and ended up transferring all of the costs to the dentist.  Then he moved to sugar free candy.  Addition can be a disease and should be treated as such.  My grandfather quit smoking but says that even 50 years later he still catches himself every now and then subconsciously reaching in his shirt pocket looking for a smoke.

[2Birds1Stone]

Congratulations! I was a pack a day smoker for many years. Now cigarettes don't even phase me.


Are you exercising more?

[Frankies Girl]

Hooray!

I was a 25+ year smoker, quit almost 3 years ago using a combo of an app, patches and gum. Miss it sometimes still (hard to explain why tho), but no real desire to go back at all.

[Late_Bloomer]

My replacement therapy is exercise. This too I always put off because when you smoke, you negate any real purpose to do it and that made it too easy to simply not do it. And now the smoke free me has a much easier time overcoming those days you feel tired or worn out. The days when it's easy to say screw it, I'll exercise tomorrow. Although I'm not interested in going all out P90X style, I'm running several miles a day on the park trail across from my home, and slowly building from there.

[smedleyb]

My replacement therapy is exercise. This too I always put off because when you smoke, you negate any real purpose to do it and that made it too easy to simply not do it. And now the smoke free me has a much easier time overcoming those days you feel tired or worn out. The days when it's easy to say screw it, I'll exercise tomorrow. Although I'm not interested in going all out P90X style, I'm running several miles a day on the park trail across from my home, and slowly building from there.

You're fucking crushing it.  As a lifelong nicotine addict who followed a similar recovery path, I wish you the best. 

p90x by next year. 

[fuzzy math]

This is very inspiring. I'm struggling with the habit of over-eating and your dimension of thinking like costs involved is new to me.

I think I finally beat this beast. After dieting my whole life, and feeling deprived, waiting to fall off the wagon and repeat the cycle over and over...

I finally cut gluten out of my diet. I've done this in the past, somehow fallen prey to eating it again. It seems to be the biggest trigger of my brain's reward center. However, I feel so even tempered now. No food related mood or energy swings. No cravings. No urge to overeat. No "extreme" fake hunger leading to bingeing. No "SUPER OMG DELICIOUS" meals leading to 5 servings and overeating. I highly recommend reading Wheat Belly.
Or you could try full on paleo - I have done this too in the past but found the lack of all grains to be too demoralizing. By mere fact of avoiding wheat, I have cut down severely on my overall grain consumption though.

Good luck. Once you figure out your triggers and modify your life around them, you'll be set.

[HAPPYINAZ]

CONGRATULATIONS!  this is awesome!

[brooklynmoney]

Congrats!! I quit too and it's the thing I'm most proud of in my life as it was the most difficult challenge to overcome. I've heard it can be harder to quit than heroin.

[FireHiker]

Congratulations!!! I lost my dad (who was a heavy smoker) to COPD ten years ago. It brings me great joy whenever I hear of someone who has given it up!

[Vegasgirl]

Wow - Congratulations !!!!

[tarheeldan]

Congratulations!! Haha, this makes me remember I wanted to murder people for about a month after quitting lol and then the fog went away. Exercise FTW!