Excuse me while I pat myself on the back...

[TheKnifeCollector]

CONGRATULATIONS!! I know how hard it is to quit smoking!! I myself recently have celebrated 4 years on July 6th, at 6pm.

[spydutch]

Way to go Deacon. I can't get myself stopping and I admire the ones who can. Keep on....

[pjrocco]

Great job Deacon.... You have more will power than I do.

Keep it up!

One year with no cig = New knife!!!!!

[ghostrider]

Congratulations Deacon. One year is quite the accomplishment. My personal nicotine habit was Kodiak. Had it quite for about three years, and then started up again. Now, I’ve been two years without. You did it a lot longer than I, so that habit must have given you fits. You’ve certainly earned the right to be proud.

[smcfalls13]

Congratulations Deacon. I would point out all the benefits of quitting, but at this point, you've already figured it out, and all the benefits have already been mentioned, so it will be a simple "congratulations" then.

Keep it going.

[WORKER#9]

good job!! I am coming up on a year without chewing skoal, I was physically sick when I quit, 20 years of chewing will do that to a man. i still struggle but not one slip up in 10 months. thanks for the inspiration. keep up the good work. worker

[Vincent]

tabbaco is bad

[pjrocco]

good job!! I am coming up on a year without chewing skoal, I was physically sick when I quit, 20 years of chewing will do that to a man. i still struggle but not one slip up in 10 months. thanks for the inspiration. keep up the good work. worker

Worker,

Did you cause damage to your lips or mouth?

20 years!?!? :eek:

Good job on quiting....Keep it up! :)

[WORKER#9]

No my teeth and gums are fine, I have all my original teeth, including wisdom. at 37 years old the dentist said my teeth and gums are just fine, weird but true. I have heard the horror storys but I chewed a tin a week, some guys I know chewed a tin in a day. So although I chewed for a long time it was not in as much volume as some, I think this helped. I started chewing in high school when I was 16, and just kept it up for twenty years! I do feel much better now that I have quit. worker

[Vincent]

some tabbaco products just dont affect people.

My mother has smoked for 30+ years and she has 100+ lung and body compacity.

her dr. was amazed,

same with my Grandma,

But 2 of my grandfather both have had cancer due to smoking.

[ghostrider]

No my teeth and gums are fine, I have all my original teeth, including wisdom. at 37 years old the dentist said my teeth and gums are just fine, weird but true. I have heard the horror storys but I chewed a tin a week, some guys I know chewed a tin in a day. So although I chewed for a long time it was not in as much volume as some, I think this helped. I started chewing in high school when I was 16, and just kept it up for twenty years! I do feel much better now that I have quit. worker

Right before I quit, I was going through a tin in about a day and a half. Big huge dips that would last for about an hour. I certianly don't miss it... anymore.

[WORKER#9]

Right before I quit, I was going through a tin in about a day and a half. Big huge dips that would last for about an hour. I certianly don't miss it... anymore.

Yes my good friend, who also quit had that style, very hard style of chewing. I was a little more moderate, but if he ran out of chew he would kill my can in one dip! LOL WORKER

[224477]

...for making it through six months without a cigarette. :)

Paul, I somehow missed this one :o

CONGRATULATIONS ! ! !

I myself am too weak for that, have switched to low nicottine/low tar cigarettes (Reemtsma R1), smoke about 10 pieces a day, but cant quit finally.
I used to smoke red marlboro´s, there were times I did 30 a day, so this story with the R1 is my little win. :o

I admire your strong will to quit.

J.

[The Deacon]

Thanks to all. Truth is, like a mule, it took a couple sledgehammer blows to my head to get the message across that I really had only two choices. You would think coughing blood would convince anybody to stop then and there, but nooooooooooo, only took a few days to talk myself into the notion that it was just a fluke. Second time around did make me realize I was wrong about that.

[dialex]

I think I know how it is Paul. I don't smoke, but my father does. Here in Romania they say "he smokes like a snake" :confused: although I've never seen a snake smoking (at least so far) .
And it shows: coughing, difficuties in swallowing, you got the big picture About a year ago, he started coughing blood and reduced his ratio from 20 - 30 cigarettes a day to 4 - 6. This untill he felt better, of course, now he's back :mad:
Good luck, Paul, and remeber what Mark Twain used to say: "To quit smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I quit smoking myself at least a hundred times so far"
OTOH, I read somewhere that smoking is bad for the lungs and throat but good for the brain. According to statistics, smokers seldom develop Alzheimer, Parkinson or sclerosis. (Perhaps that's why I munch a cigar now and then, my brain cells need preservatives)

[HoB]

Good for you! Congrats!

[The Deacon]

Time for me to resurrect this thread once again, since today marks three years since I quit smoking.



For those interested:

Has not always been easy, has not always been fun, but coughing blood seems to have provided a strong enough incentive to keep me from lighting up again. Must admit I've been sorely tempted a few times in moments of stress. But I know that I've been very lucky, the past three years may very well have have been my least stressful since puberty.

Don't think I've become "much" less tolerant than I was before I quit, then again I've always been a highly opinionated and fairly intolerant SOB, so that's not really saying much. Do find it's much easier to avoid second hand smoke and residual tobacco odors now than it was the last time I quit, thirty years ago. Between living alone and changes in the laws that limit exposure in public places, building entrances are about the only "hot zones" left. Am sure that's been a help. :D

Gained lots of weight the first eighteen months. As many who quit smoking do, I substituted "munchies" for cigarettes. Went from 245-250 to almost 310. Reached the point where both walking and breathing were becoming difficult. The quarter mile walk from my office to the parking garage required at least one, sometimes two, stops to catch my breath. Realized that had to change, so started dieting. Took all of that, plus more, off over the last eighteen, down to 205 now and intend to get down to 185 eventually, although am in less of a rush to do that than I was to drop the first 85 pounds. Have gotten back to where a two mile walk is enjoyable, and a three mile one tolerable.

Have experienced some interesting changes in my senses of taste and smell. Some food taste much better, some much worse. Never was much for "fishy" fish, but cannot bring myself to eat fish of any kind anymore. Steak, on the other hand, has become an almost religious experience. :D So have local tomatoes at this time of year. Using a wider variety of spices now, but less of any one of them.

Will see what the next couple years brings.

[zenheretic]

Rock On and congrats!

[hanswurst]

Congratulations, Paul. Not only for quitting smoking but also loosing the weight. Takes a lot of willpower to accomplish either. Keep it up.

[AUXCOM]

Awesome Paul,

Congratulations on both the smoking and weight - KEEP IT UP!!