6 Months Quit Smoking and Beyond

I've had a really busy Summer and missed my 6 month quit update, with holidays, my birthday and getting sick with 'flu I have just not found the time to update. I'm back now and just as focussed as always on remaining a non-smoker. I have actually reached 7 months quit today. I very rarely think about smoking anymore, the situations that I used to associate with smoking are becoming less and less significant and the thought of ever smoking again is getting less and less appealing.

I do remember what it is like to smoke and I still can understand why smokers smoke. I can still relate to that feeling of defiance, that feeling of making up excuses to justify my disgusting habit. It just makes me more determined to stay quit.

Staying quit is a subject that I am going to try to focus on for the next few posts. I have done lots of research as you will know if you have read any of my previous posts. If you search the vastness of the internet on the subject of quitting smoking you will find lots of methods on how to quit. Some of these are featured on my other site "Quit Smoking With Nick" and are very popular and successful methods of quitting. What I have not found much of is material on the subject of staying quit.

We all know that quitting smoking can be difficult, it can also be very easy. We all know that it usually takes several attempts to quit for good, why is this? If the quit smoking methods are so good why do we at some time start to smoke again? Is it because there is a lack of support and motivation for those who have quit? Every resource, course, method etc. is aimed at the smoker, what about the recent smoker? What about that person who quits and maybe two years later starts again, what support is there for the relapsing smoker to prevent the relapse? After much searching I can say not a lot. If you think that you might find some help with staying quit useful or would just like to throw in some ideas then please mail me at nick@quitsmokingwithnick.com

One quick idea is to find another hobby or interest to throw your energy into and the number one that I came up with after talking to ex-smokers is losing or keeping off the weight after quitting smoking. You don't have to put weight on when you quit but some people do and it is a major reason why some people start smoking again. If you are having a weight after quitting problem check this out, Fat Burning Furnace, it looks pretty good.