"My smell and taste is a lot better but I'm not sleeping very well probably due to the [heart] medication I'm on. I did have a lot more energy with my work but that fell away over the last three weeks again due to the medication."
The sales manager says he still wears nicotine patches and uses a nicotine mist spray that helps weaken the severity of cravings, which he says come about five times a day.
He says another three-month option of staying with an Auckland DHB quitting service is on the table. He says the support is invaluable.
"I still have triggers that bring the cravings on like when you have a glass of wine on a Friday night, the first cup of tea in the morning or after eating ... it's still a war."
Deb Fox
Is kicking herself for "falling off the waka" and having the occasional cigarette after nearly six weeks of being smokefree.
"Last year when I did this I didn't have a puff so I don't understand why it is so awkward or so different and difficult this time."
Ms Fox says her smoking habit varies from day to day - from three the other day to just one for the entire day when the Herald calls her - but she needs to be reminded that it's still a big improvement from the pack-a-day habit she had just a couple of months ago.
"You notice the difference with your health and the money in your pocket - $100 a week may not seem significant but at the end of the month it can help pay a mortgage."
Ms Fox says she's reset her quitting goals and is trying again. She says there were suggestions she and other members of her support group should establish their own meetings together but she thinks an official group run by an organisation would be better.
"It's the accountability you get with the group - it's better because there are people you can talk to about things."
Laurie Holmes
Has put on 3kg since going cold turkey and giving up smoking and fears a bakery in Albany may have to give him a loyalty card. He had a "minor glitch" a couple of weeks back with his no-smoking when he went fishing in Kaitaia with two of his brothers and had "about five or six cigarettes".
"But now I'm back on track."
Mr Holmes is working near Albany and says with his improved sense of taste he's visiting a local bakery quite often: "They do the best chicken I've probably ever had."
He's looking forward to his group's first meeting since their seven-week programme finished a month ago but fears some may have fallen by the wayside.
"I'd say about 25 per cent of our group have probably relapsed in one way or the other.
"I had a heart attack in the past and a stroke and I didn't fully quit smoking, but with Stoptober it was something I hadn't tried before and I think that's all it took - the realisation that I was ready to do it and quit."
John Corbett
Recently cut his right arm while at work and required hospitalisation for 10 days that saw him go completely smokefree as he recovered.
Mr Corbett, 64, says because of complications surgeons looked at the possibility of amputating his arm but thankfully didn't. "I didn't even think about smoking, probably because there were more important things to think about than having a cigarette."
He says he still has the "occasional" cigarette and despite not being entirely smokefree is happy with how things are going.
"I'm still on the patches and the lozenges ... I've had three cigarettes so far this week, so I am quite positive about that.
"My bank balance is pretty happy too."
The festive season with its traps for smokers trying to quit doesn't daunt him and he plans to ditch his habit for good on Christmas Day.
His advice to smokers? "Get the patches and lozenges and stuff and go with a group and get help - you won't be able to do it on your own."
5 tips to quit
from Karen Stevens, Auckland District Health Board's manager of smokefree services
Get motivated
People will go straight to quitting aids like Champix thinking that will help them quit but you have to have the motivation. You have to know why you want to quit.
Get help
You need to have some help to quit like nicotine gum, lozenges or patches. They all help.
Don't go it alone
Your chances of quitting if you go it alone are 3 in 100. You need support, it could be a co-worker, a family member or you could join a group.
Avoid triggers
It could be a coffee in the morning, a glass of wine or beer and a lot of people say it is stress. Whatever it is, you need to identify them and avoid them.
Reward yourself
Some people might say "well I could take the kids to the cinema". If you stop smoking for a week then you could take them to the movies. You're doing it for your kids as well as yourself.
Where can you get help to quit?
Visit, www.quit.org.nz, call Quitline on 0800 778 778 for free advice and support to quit smoking. A Quitline adviser will help to create a quit smoking plan. The adviser will help you understand the smoking addiction - you will identify the reasons why you smoke. And you'll get tips and suggestions on how to beat cravings.
