My Quit Smoking Anniversary!!!

IT IS TIME FOR A MAJOR CELEBRATION PEOPLE!! 

TODAY I HAVE BEEN OFFICIALLY 
CIGARETTE FREE FOR 1 YEAR!!! 

On this date last year I woke up, put on my first patch and haven't had a single cigarette since. This is the longest I have ever been without a cigarette since I was about 12-13 years old. Yeah, I started smoking that young people. #DontJudgeMe.... I am truly proud of myself tho. I honestly didn't think I could go this long without having some kind of setback, but when I put on that patch 1 year ago I haven't looked back.

The 2014 Poties Family Motto

So it's almost time to "ring" in the new year. Time for everyone to anticipate making changes once 2014 kicks in. Most people have written down their New Year's Resolutions. Have you ever wondered just how many have written the same exact resolutions that they had last year? Or how many have written the same ones every year that they just don't throw away the paper or don't delete the online note?

Normally I don't make new year resolutions. For some odd reason I always believe making resolutions are simply a setup for failure. However, hubby came up with something for our 8 year old Ernest one day to help motivate him with school and football practice. Somehow, the two of decided that his idea was a prefect motto for the family. I mean...why not have a family motto instead of a resolution?  Why not have something the boys, hubby and myself will do our best to apply to in EVERYTHING we do...not just specific individual goals. 

So what is our family motto?  Well, people....the Poties Family Motto for 2014 is EMBS.

Tomorrow is My Quit Smoking Day

Today is my last day as a "smoker". They say that the first three weeks are usually the hardest so I know this won't be an easy task at all for me come tomorrow morning. However, I have very good news. I have spent this weekend thinking and acquiring all the things I believe will help me through within budget. Each of these items should help me when I get an urge to smoke or help me not think about having an urge at all. 

I have...

Making progress in my quit smoking journey with 3 days to go

The good news is that I am mentally preparing myself for my soon to be quit day. It's suppose to be Monday, but my patches still haven't arrived yet. I am also really trying to handle my stress reactions better. I did say "trying" right? Over the past three days I have had an episode or two where my stress level was extremely high and I didn't do a great job in handling them. However, I am honestly proud to say that other than on Wednesday I didn't smoke my usual amount of cigarettes. According to my Quit Smoking app (which I am doing by habit now and I swear I am not cheating...LOL..seriously!!) my maximum amount of cigarettes per day right now should be 11. Only one of the past four days in my stats did I smoke that amount and that was on day one. I have been on an average smoking of 8-9 per day. Not a big deal to some, but to me that is a very good accomplishment. My goal is to be down to 7-8 by Monday. That is hard as hell for me, but we will see how things go Saturday and Sunday.

Starting Step 2 in my journey begins

So after completing all those Step 1 exercises for this online program I am a part of I received an email at work that I am officially on to Step 2. Again, more exercises for me to complete before going on to the next level which is suppose to be my official quit date. There are 8 Step 2 exercises instead of the 4 I had in Step 1 and they all require even more thinking and a quit smoking contract for myself. Hmmm...interesting! I haven't answered a single question yet, but I will. Like I said I do plan to do this the right way. Making this successful is important to me even if I still feel like my ass is back in school.