Good ladies, please keep encouraging each other to quit. You know you can and if it doesn't work this time just keep trying until it does.

Chick, i wouldn't have thought you smoked. And TV, you also? It is not good news, but, on the other hand it makes me feel less isolated .

Ladybug you said..'the people who love you will be very happy if you can quit'. If i honestly look at that, i have to admit, i dont trust the love of others. But,(and i know this is ridiculous) i trust a cigerette. It will always be there, it wont argue, wont make demands, wont cause trouble - other then slowly taking my life of course. NOw that is crazy thinking but i have to admit to it. So, guess i have to deal with that issue, somehow first.

Norma, this is a place to be able to speak the truth and not get blasted for it. Your reasons for liking a cigarette are valid. I think when you are truly ready you'll quit and if you never do I'm certainly not going to judge you. I told my children this about smoking: Smokers are not bad people and smoking doesn't make you a bad person but just don't do it because it really is bad for your health. My son works in a shop that sells mostly alcohol and tabacco products as well as lottery tickets. He's come away with an entirely different opinion of people who smoke and you know what??? He likes these folks a lot and respects them. He feels they are unfairly dealt with in many cases. I don't like second hand smoke in a restaurant either but darn it don't place a "sin" tax on cigarettes to build Jacobs Field then tell these same people who helped pay for it that they cannot smoke there! That is just ludicrous!

Encouraging one another to quit smoking. Great use of forum space. Go fot it. It reminds me of the diet forum.

Chick,
I was afraid of the same thing! LOL
Okay, I'll admit that I blew it already today but plan to keep trying everyday until it sticks!
It was just a bad morning, alot of crazy stuff and the worst of it was that my refridgerator went on the blink, Yes one week before Thanksgiving and I only have one of those mini fridges to use. Get this, it still is under warranty but they can't get anyone here until the 25th! Got that, a day AFTER Thanksgiving!
I know this is not an excuse to smoke but on top of everything else......

I just keep humming the music to that song... Tomorrow, Tomorrow!

Ladybug... you made me burst out in happiness with your reply... although we dont wear bells around our necks ringing 'leper' it's how i feel so often about this addiction. I'm lucky in that our daughters dont smoke, and only the grandson who lived long periods with me took it up. (although he is almost off them)

TV..i dont blame you for being ticked, that would certainly make me smoke while i cooled my heels.

TVC it's not an excuse but it would work for me too. Norma, how are you doing?
I smoked today but my plan is this. I am not going to smoke in my car anymore. When I am over that one, I am going to stop smoking at my computer. When I have accomplished that, I am going to keep my cigarettes in the car and have to go outside to get one when I need it. My hardest is the one with coffee in the morning and that gets the ball rolling.
My addiction to cigarettes is real. I have been smoking for 30+ years. I don't want to be cranky and irritable so I want to withdraw gradually. I don't want to gain weight so I need to compensate my cravings with something good...like bottled water, maybe?
A cigarette is my friend. It is my comfort in all situations. I love a cigarette...
BUT it's time for me to quit. I think if we post here daily, we may just accomplish it...just not today.
Good luck to all who are trying and thank you for the encouragement from non smokers.
chick
chick

Chickadee, your plan sounds like one that will work and I wish you success with it.

My elderly neighbor said back in "the old days" her doctor even encouraged her to smoke to lose weight. She finally quit when her husband had to out of necessity.

All of you can do it. Keep posting here and encouraging each other, you are super ladies!

Chick I think your idea is a good, no make that a great one!!!!!
You are right about the coffee thing. And then once I've blown it, I feel like I can't do it the rest of the day but by getting rid of certain cigarettes during the day, it is a step in the right direction and can be started even after failing with the coffee!
I'm going to start with the car today!

To all of you,
I think you are all terrific, brave to let it all out with your thoughts, and I am soooo on your side! I want you to read what I'm about to say out of love, and even more importantly, out of understanding, k?

I smoked for about 20 years and then it seemed that more and more of my friends had quit. I was threatened by this, and didn't like it one bit. None of my family smoked, but they NEVER asked me NOT to in their homes or their cars. Then, as time rolled along, it became more and more PI to smoke. Smokers became the "lepers" as you put it (I liked that analogy and I totally understood it)and companies began teling their employees that the facilities were now smoke-free.

We smokers found a way around that. Back of the buildings, run out to our cars, lunchtime (where our cars would be a pillow of smoke going down the road) and then the comfort of home once the workday was over.

Finally, I told Daddy one day that I was ready to quit. He had simply laid them down after 30+ years and said that's it. No bad temper, no cravings, no weight gain. He was a smoker one day, a nonsmoker the next. When I told him I wanted to quit, he said, "you will... when you are ready." I said, you don't understand, I've tried, I've done yada...yada..--" He interrupted me and said, "what did I just say, honey?" I repeated it... I will quit when I'm ready to quit. He said, "that's the answer."

I wanted to hit him. Didn't he know how hard it was? Didn't he know how hard I had tried over and over? I was furious at him for being so flippant about it, or so I thought. But, you know what? He was right.

When I got ready to quit, I laid them down, said a prayer asking for help and vowing never to smoke again, and that was that. No angst, no sleepless night, nada. Now... I DID gain 50 lbs. Sorry, wish I could say this story has a fairy tale ending, but it doesn't.

I haven't been able to get the weight off yet. Course, I can just hear Daddy up in heaven right now saying, "You could if you were ready to loose it."

JJ