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Post by judyb on Jan 1, 2012 21:18:08 GMT -5
please don't be shy. This is a board created by people that don't like the hard-ass treatment. We are extremely supportive and we all have been through what you are going to go through.
No question is "dumb". If you don't know about something, let us know. Combined we have probably over 50 years quit.
Please post, let us know how we can help you, because quitting isn't about doing it alone.
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Post by judyb on Jan 1, 2012 19:23:01 GMT -5
Hi, Vanessa. Go for it, being smokefree!! Come by soon, as it's the new year and we may have some new quitters.
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Post by judyb on Jan 1, 2012 19:20:14 GMT -5
I'm so sorry for your loss, Dorothy. Saying prayers for your strength.
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Post by judyb on Jan 1, 2012 19:19:12 GMT -5
Checking in. Still quit since 1997 and loving it. WHO DAT!!!
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Post by judyb on Sept 12, 2011 18:25:55 GMT -5
I'll miss you, Sag.
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Post by judyb on Sept 12, 2011 18:25:23 GMT -5
From former smoker Sagitelle, who we just found out has passed away
Cigarettes are deceptive. The whole smoking aura is a farce. Yeah, they keep you slim. They totally screw up your metabolism so that when you quit, your body is thrown for a loop. It doesn't know how to handle the calories it's being fed without help from its old allies: cigarette chemicals which would burn these calories at an abnormally fast rate. Must have burned my brain cells too for me to think for even a fleeting moment that this was an "advantage". I have to relearn how to balance caloric input and output all over again, because the old numbers don't work anymore and I don't know my own body anymore. It doesn't respond like it used too. It doesn't function like it used too. And all this "thanks" to cigarettes.
It's a woman thing indeed. The cigarette manufacturers know very well a lot of women are terrified of being fat. The "weight control" aspect of smoking is perhaps the biggest appeal of cigarettes. That's why today more girls than boys take up smoking.
If I had to decide again I would never light that first cigarette. Even the weight control "power" of cigarettes is more a curse than a benefit in the end. Most of us have quit in our forties. At a time when our metabolisms are already slowing down, we also have to contend with the quit effect. No wonder most of us are struggling to control our weight. It just makes me angrier to know that cigarette manufacturers have the audacity to use the weight control trump card in their ad (in a devious manner of course). I guess you could say my anger is also a "woman thing" - and my name ain't Virginia Slims baby.
Sagitelle
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hello
Sept 12, 2011 18:17:07 GMT -5
Post by judyb on Sept 12, 2011 18:17:07 GMT -5
Nice meter you have there, countryblocks!
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Post by judyb on Sept 12, 2011 18:05:59 GMT -5
Some of you who were here over 10 years ago may remember Sagitelle, one of my quit buddies. I found out today from JP (another old friend) that Sag passed away two years ago from cancer. Here is her obit, thanks to JP Jocelyne Brunet died peacefully at the Maison Mathieu Froment-Savoie 31 August 2009 at the age of 54 after a courageous battle than two years against cancer. At the time of her departure, she was surrounded by her husband, her son, his mother and his family and close friends. She is survived by her husband, Gregory White, who was able to sustain throughout his struggle, his son Thierry (Sophie Leblanc), his mother Georgette (late Roger Brunet), his five brothers and sisters, Jean (Nicole Martel) Diane, Louise (Robert Way), Andrew (Sandra Knight) and Peter, his godson Roderic (Deng Ye), her nieces and nephew Raymond, Nathalie (Bruno Louis-Seize), Roxanne (Mathieu Blais), and the daughter of Gregory White, Erica (Kevin Berard). Jocelyne loved nature, the arts and especially writing. She finished her career in public service as a reviewer in the Office of the Governor General. , she loved taking care of her flowers and her garden, she also loved to draw and paint pictures. The family invites relatives and friends at the Funeral Co of Ottawa, 95, boulevard de la Cité-des-Jeunes, Gatineau, Quebec, Thursday, Sept. 3, 19 am to 22 pm and Friday, September 4 from 9 am to 30 11 h 30. Une cérémonie de prières aura lieu le vendredi 4 septembre à 11 h 30 au même endroit. A prayer ceremony will be held Friday, September 4 at 11 am in the same place 30. Donations to the Maison Mathieu Froment-Savoie would be appreciated as a thank you for the incredible understanding and support we received in these difficult times.
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Post by judyb on Sept 12, 2011 18:04:07 GMT -5
Hey, Flo! I'm still here, still smokefree
Thirteen years, one month, three weeks, two days, 1 minute and 55 seconds. 240100 cigarettes not smoked, saving $21,008.75. Life saved: 2 years, 14 weeks, 16 hours, 20 minutes.
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Post by judyb on Jul 26, 2011 7:57:19 GMT -5
I don't care if there are only four of us checking in!!! I'm still proud to show my meter every week. Thanks to the support I got on this board, I've been free from the beast for:
13 years, 5 days, 13 hours, 54 minutes and 54 seconds. 237,678 cigarettes not smoked, saving $20,796.91. Life saved: 2 years, 13 weeks, 6 days, 6 hours, 30 minutes.
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Post by judyb on Jul 20, 2011 19:04:00 GMT -5
Thirteen years, 59 minutes and 57 seconds. 237402 cigarettes not smoked, saving $20,772.68. Life saved: 2 years, 13 weeks, 5 days, 7 hours, 30 minutes.
I was a 2 plus pack-a-day smoker for over 20 years. I reached the point where I was disgusted with myself and finally quit.
I'm sad to see the board this slow, but I guess people are finding support elsewhere.
To the 5 or so lurkers out there, someday please feel free to post. No question is stupid, no concern unfounded. We're here to help.
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Post by judyb on Jul 19, 2011 18:05:56 GMT -5
Hey y'all!!!! Hot here after a deluge over the weekend.
Check out my stats: 12 years, 11 months, 4 weeks, 1 day, 3 minutes and 12 seconds. 237,350 cigarettes not smoked, saving $20,768.13. Life saved: 2 years, 13 weeks, 5 days, 3 hours, 10 minutes.
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Post by judyb on Jul 17, 2011 8:00:00 GMT -5
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Post by judyb on Jul 16, 2011 7:38:48 GMT -5
If the fact that smoking increases your risk of lung cancer isn't enough to make you kick the habit, maybe this will: Tobacco in cigarettes is contaminated with a variety of molds.
In a study of 98 cigarettes with and without filters, 63 were found to be contaminated with a number of different types of mold, researchers reported at the Interscience Conference on Antimictobial Agents and Chemotherays, sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology.
The investigators from the Netherlands tested cigarettes from 14 different commercial brands as well as 7 samples of marijuana. They also analyzed the smoke from burning cigarettes and marijuana.
The most commom species of mold detected was Aspergillus fumigatus, a common cause of infections, according to Dr. Paul Verweij of the University Medical Center in Nijmegen.
If you look at all infections caused by molds, 90% are caused by Aspergillus, he noted. Such molds could be hazardous to health, particularly those with weakened immune systems.
"Tobacco itself is a source of fungal spores and it should be recognized that this is a source of potential infection, especially in patients with compromised immune systems like those on chemotherapy, or who have received organ transplants, or people with AIDS, he said. "
Marijuana contained higher levels of mold than cigarettes, but none of the samples contained Aspergillus. Instead, the marijuana was "Highly contaminated with Penicillium," Verweij said, which is not considered harmful. "Much to our surprise, we found that none of the smoke samples contained any of the mold."
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Post by judyb on Jul 16, 2011 7:36:34 GMT -5
Even though we hang out here and many times bare our souls to the world, quitting smoking is really a personal thing. We tell our stories and spill our guts to cyber pals because we know there is an understanding of our troubles. We speak of our dilemmas because we know we'll receive support from fellow quitters. We’re also able to compare notes and take advantage of ideas and methods used to keep the beast at bay. We're able to ask questions about the process of withdrawal and the changes our body experiences during detox. The positive aspects of support groups are endless. Though it's a personal thing, we log on and talk about it.
We express our personal thoughts and emotions by telling one another ‘it will get better’. We encourage one another by reinforcing the benefits of being smokeless. We remind ourselves continuously that we’ll feel better, look better, smell better by tossing the cigarettes aside. Of course all these things are true, common sense tells us that. We don’t really learn these things on the internet, it isn’t as though this is all news. Many of us enjoy successful quits because of the support and morale boosting conversation we receive here.
Though there are never enough, we have a number of quitters at Just4U. Many of us watch our meters click into some rather impressive stats. We watch the days and weeks pile up and the amount of cigarettes not smoked turn into 4 and 5 digit numbers. ‘Many’ of us are successful and ‘most’ of us are able to maintain our quits. However, we still aren’t able to say ‘all’ of us are successful and we don’t talk about how 100 per cent of us continue with our quits. What about the ‘few’ who don’t make it or the ‘some’ who stumble and fall. There must be a way to scoop them up and help them, carry them, do whatever it takes to get them over the hump. If only there was a way to do it. But there isn’t. We coax, we prod, we encourage, we urge, we post and do what we can. But.....You have to do this on your own. You have to somehow gain control.
We all know that taking control of our actions isn’t always as easy as it sounds. Sometimes the brain just doesn’t connect with the motor. The hands and feet work independent of the mind. We somehow lose the connection. It’s as if another force commands us to buy cigarettes. We are nothing more than robots maneuvered by some remote control. Does all this sound farfetched? Not at all. Ask anyone how they wound up at the store to buy cigarettes. They didn’t want to be there. They really didn’t want to reestablish an addiction. They didn’t really want to commit themselves to slavery. We call this ‘operator’ the nico-beast, the nico demon because he is a beast and he is a demon. He’s in all of us. Like it our not, he resides in our minds, in our spirit and in our soul. He’s capable of causing us to do all kinds of terrible things; including killing ourselves one puff at a time. How do we rid ourselves of this monster? If I knew, I’d package it and sell it and make the world a better place. Of course there is no such remedy. All we can do is try our best to help ourselves and one another. To all the folks who continue to struggle with their quits and to those who are finding it difficult to find a life without smoking, please don’t give up. Don’t quit quitting. If you do stumble a bit, reach out. We’ll catch you and help dust you off and give you a push to get you started again. That’s why we are here.
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