I quit smoking last year for 6 months and it took only smoke to get me hooked back in big time. So when I came back to LC this January, quitting smoking was back on the table but...I kept playing the little mind games with myself like .."oh I'll quit next week because I have <enter anything here> going on.." or "next month things will be less hectic so I'll quit then"...etc.

Well, I've had a roller coaster February including a biopsy cancer scare. I'm cancer free fortunately but geeezzz... what a wake up call! I had already started on Chantix but had been on it more than a week and was still smoking.

So beginning Monday, 2/20, I have been 100% smoke free! I'm extremely proud of myself for ditching cigarettes again. Along with weight loss, quitting smoking is one of the hardest things I've ever done for myself because I've been a hard core smoker for 35 years and had a hard time envisioning my life without smoking.

I have to say though...having quit for 6 months last year and then starting up again, when I was smoking again, I realized I actually liked being a non-smoker better! That totally surprised me.

I love not feeling enslaved to a pack of cigarettes... I don't have to plan where I can go or what I can do based on a need to smoke. I don't stink like stale cigs anymore...when I put perfume on in the morning...it isn't replaced with cigarette smoke. I don't have to hunt for my cigarettes and lighter all the time so I can take them with me when I leave the house and best of all...I don't have to get in my car and make a special trip to the smoke shop to get them!

The key for me is focusing on, and embracing the positives and not dwelling on the little voice that creeps into my head that says "I want a cigarette". I squash it immediately and replace it with "No you don't because you don't need cigarettes anymore". Seems to be working and in just 4 days I'm having very few moments of strong cravings.

Of course I credit the Chantix for making this much easier for me to do...not sure I could do it cold turkey.

Doesn't matter though, the important thing here for me is that I've done it. That I got over that initial step of smoking my last cigarette and saying "no more".