Hi! I just joined this Quit Smoking group today. I smoked my last cigarette 10 days ago. I have wanted to quit for a while but first wanted to get my weight under control...so I joined MFP last year and lost 30 pounds. I then put off quitting by saying "Let me make sure I can maintain my weight before quitting smoking." Here I am, 5 months into maintenance and the excuses are running out. I quit because I don't want to be a smoker and I want to be healthy. I was smoking about 1/2 pack a day.

I started by reading the Allen Carr book "Easyway to Stop Smoking." That book helped me tremendously, as it cuts through all of the B.S. excuses that every smoker has used to avoid quitting and showed me what a slave I was to nicotine. I quit within a couple days of finishing the book. Days 1-3 sucked and quite frankly, Day 3 was THE WORST. Cravings kept hitting and I had insomnia for a few nights (which is apparently normal for quitters). And, hello TMI alert, I had gas like nobody's business the first 2 days I was cigarette free. It got a lot easier after Day 7...like a switch was flipped and suddenly I truly felt like the non-smoker that I am!

I just had a big weekend where we traveled to a friend's wedding with a big group of friends, lots of drinking and partying, and I didn't really even think of cigarettes, even with a smoker hanging out with us. I was so proud of myself! I don't want to get too ahead of myself but I really believe I have got this under control this time!