Made it to 2 months!!
I quit adderall (prescribed usage!), smoking, almost all drinking, and shifted careers to start my own business all at the same time (ish) over the last 6 months. Smoking was the last to go because I knew I needed to be “done” psychologically more than anything else.
I’ve been smoking daily since I was about 18, so ~20 years now, and this is the longest I’ve gone without smoking and it feels AMAZING. I restarted my own counter anytime I had even HALF a cigarette, so this has been my longest stretch to date and I fully feel like a nonsmoker, mentally. Like, my brain does not identify with that habit anymore or something? Hard to explain, but y’all get it.
I’m a writer who spent years in the hospitality world, so it’s been a major life shift to just up and quit, but I need to brag about it somewhere to keep my momentum, haha. (None of the folks currently in my life smoke / have smoked, so I don’t think they really get what a feat this is for me?)
If anyone needs some inspo, here’s how I quit without a patch / gum / tapering off/ whatever- maybe it works for you?
Walking, walking, walking. Whenever I had a craving, I’d move my body immediately (if I could walk, awesome, if not - a quick set of jumping jacks tbh) I now do about 13-20k steps a day and am finally starting to shed the weight that cropped up when I stopped taking adderall + quit smoking.
Wintergreen altoids: yep, I cronch those guys all day long
THC gummies: ~2-5mg totally silences any cravings whatsoever and it’s seriously been amazing. I can even hang at bars now, shows, anywhere where folks are smoking around me, and have a drink or two & still not want to smoke. It’s been a total game changer for me because the isolation (avoiding those places while initially quitting) started to get pretty rough.
Sounds cheesy, but I really dig binaural beats. I’ve been putting on alpha / gamma waves during the day while I work and it really centers my brain in a way I never could master while smoking - no “stepping outside” every 20 minutes, no heavy research to figure out which coffee shop I could work at + chain smoke, etc. I get SO much more done now, my days wrap up literally hours earlier than they used to and my stress level is basically 0. I can’t believe I lived with how I felt while smoking for so long, if that makes sense. It feels like a completely different person - past me was practically humming with anxiety all the time, constantly seeking isolation and alone time, digestive issues, you name it.
I would love to hear about anyone’s experience quitting if they want to share, here!! It’s such helpful motivation to read 💛 sending lots of gusto to everyone in this sub - it’s soooooo much nicer on the other side of quitting!! You got this!
