When I was quitting smoking, I had an issue of heading to the refrigerator every time I craved a cigarette... so I had to get into the conscious practice of NOT doing that, and instead opted to clean something every time I had a craving. It kept me from putting on weight, and the house had never been cleaner! xP But it worked.
Anyone want to commit to stop smoking with me?
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Thanks Meg. The supermarkets here just now have the most wonderful juicy mandarins in stock. I've bought loads of them and look forward to tucking in. Fruit doesn't put a lot of weight on unless you eat loads.
D-
please see my posts on the subject...hope it helps!
These are my techniques/story...i have not had a cigarette in nearly 8.5 years, with nothing other than willpower
http://www.lpsg.org/1159815-post21.html
http://www.lpsg.org/1160224-post27.html
please see my posts on the subject...hope it helps!
These are my techniques/story...i have not had a cigarette in nearly 8.5 years, with nothing other than willpower
http://www.lpsg.org/1159815-post21.html
http://www.lpsg.org/1160224-post27.html
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Not too bad. The cravings pass really quickly.
It's really warm and sunny here today so we've been for a good brisk walk. We've loads of low fat healthy snacky stuff in to pick on too.
that's good...for me, similarly, the first day was a bit easier. i was so upset over finding out my grandmother had lung cancer, that it almost did not register with me that i had quit.
i went to bed early, and when i woke up the next morning, i understood how a heroin addict in withdrawl feels.
interestingly, as the nicotine starts to leave your system slowly overtime, your body is literally screaming at you to give it more...which of course adds to the stress of the mental craving.
the physical part is the most brutal and once you get through the first week, and your nicotine levels start going lower, the edge comes off more and more, though it will take a long time before you are physically over it.
I would like to tell you that i don't get cravings, 8 and a half years later, but i still do, though they are not the physical kind...they are more like the desire to have one at a party, to just be part of the social aspect of smoking you used to be part of.
since some people love to smoke, like i did, in terms of the enjoyment of it, but not the effects, the love never fully goes away, but fortunately, the impulse and the cravings do, so when the desire to do so comes, it is mostly a wistful memory of good times when you smoked...it is sort of a mirage in a way.
anyway, as i said, the tricks were sort of my own personal development over time, and worked really well for me, and i definitely was a two pack a day addict, first thing in the morning, last thing at night, smoke while shaving, driving, everything smoker.
my friends always could have only 1 or 2 during the day, then nothing else, then social smoke at night...and that worked for them for years...but now, they are full on, while i have quit...so it is strange.
as said, it can be utterly brutal, but once the physical urge dissipates, it becomes you against your brain, which makes it easier since you are no longer fighting your body, (though fighting your mind can be hard too)
i also felt repeating a mantra helped a bit too when i wanted to smoke...i would simply say to myself "I am not a smoker" or "I don't smoke" a few times. it really is simply an affirmation, but i felt it buttressed the mental aspect.
i went to bed early, and when i woke up the next morning, i understood how a heroin addict in withdrawl feels.
interestingly, as the nicotine starts to leave your system slowly overtime, your body is literally screaming at you to give it more...which of course adds to the stress of the mental craving.
the physical part is the most brutal and once you get through the first week, and your nicotine levels start going lower, the edge comes off more and more, though it will take a long time before you are physically over it.
I would like to tell you that i don't get cravings, 8 and a half years later, but i still do, though they are not the physical kind...they are more like the desire to have one at a party, to just be part of the social aspect of smoking you used to be part of.
since some people love to smoke, like i did, in terms of the enjoyment of it, but not the effects, the love never fully goes away, but fortunately, the impulse and the cravings do, so when the desire to do so comes, it is mostly a wistful memory of good times when you smoked...it is sort of a mirage in a way.
anyway, as i said, the tricks were sort of my own personal development over time, and worked really well for me, and i definitely was a two pack a day addict, first thing in the morning, last thing at night, smoke while shaving, driving, everything smoker.
my friends always could have only 1 or 2 during the day, then nothing else, then social smoke at night...and that worked for them for years...but now, they are full on, while i have quit...so it is strange.
as said, it can be utterly brutal, but once the physical urge dissipates, it becomes you against your brain, which makes it easier since you are no longer fighting your body, (though fighting your mind can be hard too)
i also felt repeating a mantra helped a bit too when i wanted to smoke...i would simply say to myself "I am not a smoker" or "I don't smoke" a few times. it really is simply an affirmation, but i felt it buttressed the mental aspect.
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Some great tips there Flashy. :smile:
I have stopped twice before for 6 months and 3 months. It only took one cigarette to be fully hooked again so I know this time I can never smoke again.
I've smoked for 31 years and have reached 40 a day sometimes more when I have a night out. Over the last week I have limited myself to 20 a day.
My Mother stopped around the time I started and my Father a few years before that. Both say they get the odd craving occasionally although both really hate smoking now.
Some people say to keep it to yourself initially when you stop. I disagree and say you should tell all those people you interact with regularly. In the past some smokers would want you to fail and offer you a smoke the vast majority of people now however are pretty supportive of people stopping and that includes smokers.
The big problem here is that it is a tax free smokers haven. Those I smoke are only 11 a carton of 200. There are very few places where smoking is not allowed.
We are moving back to the UK in a few weeks where smoking is basically not allowed in any public place. It would also cost us £180 a week for us both to continue smoking. Despite the health benefits neither of us are prepared to pay that so stopping completely is our only choice.
I have stopped twice before for 6 months and 3 months. It only took one cigarette to be fully hooked again so I know this time I can never smoke again.
I've smoked for 31 years and have reached 40 a day sometimes more when I have a night out. Over the last week I have limited myself to 20 a day.
My Mother stopped around the time I started and my Father a few years before that. Both say they get the odd craving occasionally although both really hate smoking now.
Some people say to keep it to yourself initially when you stop. I disagree and say you should tell all those people you interact with regularly. In the past some smokers would want you to fail and offer you a smoke the vast majority of people now however are pretty supportive of people stopping and that includes smokers.
The big problem here is that it is a tax free smokers haven. Those I smoke are only 11 a carton of 200. There are very few places where smoking is not allowed.
We are moving back to the UK in a few weeks where smoking is basically not allowed in any public place. It would also cost us £180 a week for us both to continue smoking. Despite the health benefits neither of us are prepared to pay that so stopping completely is our only choice.
ah, i didn't know you had quit before!
well that certainly is good, since you know what to expect, and have "made it" before...obviously the key this time, is not letting your mental guard down.
it sounds like you had got past the physical part, but still were a bit susceptible to temptation mentally...
this time around, i think you will decide you are "up for the fight"...it sounds silly, but it really is a bit of mental war. (insert melodramatic music)
the "just have one cig" excuse is something i wondered if i could handle from time to time..."maybe if i just had one", but i heard so many stories similar to yours, where it was one, and then right back...i think the body almost has an initial muscle memory or something where it is like immediate "total recall" and all of a sudden, the nicotine jonesing is activated again.
I agree on telling people...as you said, most people these days are supportive. I think in the past, most of the people wanted others to fail because they were afraid of dealing with another "sanctimonious ex-smoker" who will chastise them for not quitting.
I never do that, and i still hang out with smokers, and all i ask is that they blow it the other way...i never tell them they should quit, and i always say "hey, if it wasn't for the health consequences, i'd lit up this instant...etc."
but i do know those who lecture...my father is one of those...he is the absolute worst. he smoked for about 50 years or so, and at his worst was probably 3 packs a day. he tried to quit dozens of times over the years (always on vacation, when he was away from the stress of work...this way he could be miserable and yell at everyone else and ruin our vacation too)
he finally "quit" about 7 years ago, about a year after i did, but would still lapse, and still chews the nicorette gum like a fiend, and uses the patch, so he will always be an addict.
when i quit, he did not even congratulate me (also because we do not get along,m not just because he had failed at quitting)
but now at parties, he lectures everyone old and young, while they are smoking...he stands with them, and says "you know you really should quit" (nothing a smoker likes to hear more than a lecture from the guy chewing nicorette gum frantically while he says to them "Oh you,re so weak" jokingly, when they say "yeah, i know i should quit")
that is the absolute worst...so i never lecture smokers, especially since i would still do it if not for the consequences
as for the financial aspect, it sounds like definitely it is the smart move. all the money you'll save, as i said is an incentive, and buying yourself little gifts, i found to be very mentally affirming. :smile:
well that certainly is good, since you know what to expect, and have "made it" before...obviously the key this time, is not letting your mental guard down.
it sounds like you had got past the physical part, but still were a bit susceptible to temptation mentally...
this time around, i think you will decide you are "up for the fight"...it sounds silly, but it really is a bit of mental war. (insert melodramatic music)
the "just have one cig" excuse is something i wondered if i could handle from time to time..."maybe if i just had one", but i heard so many stories similar to yours, where it was one, and then right back...i think the body almost has an initial muscle memory or something where it is like immediate "total recall" and all of a sudden, the nicotine jonesing is activated again.
I agree on telling people...as you said, most people these days are supportive. I think in the past, most of the people wanted others to fail because they were afraid of dealing with another "sanctimonious ex-smoker" who will chastise them for not quitting.
I never do that, and i still hang out with smokers, and all i ask is that they blow it the other way...i never tell them they should quit, and i always say "hey, if it wasn't for the health consequences, i'd lit up this instant...etc."
but i do know those who lecture...my father is one of those...he is the absolute worst. he smoked for about 50 years or so, and at his worst was probably 3 packs a day. he tried to quit dozens of times over the years (always on vacation, when he was away from the stress of work...this way he could be miserable and yell at everyone else and ruin our vacation too)
he finally "quit" about 7 years ago, about a year after i did, but would still lapse, and still chews the nicorette gum like a fiend, and uses the patch, so he will always be an addict.
when i quit, he did not even congratulate me (also because we do not get along,m not just because he had failed at quitting)
but now at parties, he lectures everyone old and young, while they are smoking...he stands with them, and says "you know you really should quit" (nothing a smoker likes to hear more than a lecture from the guy chewing nicorette gum frantically while he says to them "Oh you,re so weak" jokingly, when they say "yeah, i know i should quit")
that is the absolute worst...so i never lecture smokers, especially since i would still do it if not for the consequences
as for the financial aspect, it sounds like definitely it is the smart move. all the money you'll save, as i said is an incentive, and buying yourself little gifts, i found to be very mentally affirming. :smile:
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Thanks Vince. Much appreciated.
Flashy you will probably laugh at what I'm about to tell you.:redface:
First time Paul and I quit for 6 months I saved the money we would normally spend each week on cigs. There was enough to pay for a really nice cruise with plenty of spending money. The first night aboard we bought a pack between us in duty free. Of course that pack became a "why not smoke for the week of the cruise". By the end of the week we were both back to square one and of course didn't stop.
Second time I got a severe bout of bronchitis. I stopped dead and cold turkey. The bronchitis cleared quite quickly but I kept off the cigs and found it very very easy. Too easy I suppose as one night out after 3 months I took one and that was that.
I know what you mean about some ex-smokers (my own Mother being the absolute worst). A pal who smokes called round today for coffee. He apologised for smoking in front of us. I told him to please go ahead as we can't avoid it for the rest of our lives.
Flashy you will probably laugh at what I'm about to tell you.:redface:
First time Paul and I quit for 6 months I saved the money we would normally spend each week on cigs. There was enough to pay for a really nice cruise with plenty of spending money. The first night aboard we bought a pack between us in duty free. Of course that pack became a "why not smoke for the week of the cruise". By the end of the week we were both back to square one and of course didn't stop.
Second time I got a severe bout of bronchitis. I stopped dead and cold turkey. The bronchitis cleared quite quickly but I kept off the cigs and found it very very easy. Too easy I suppose as one night out after 3 months I took one and that was that.
I know what you mean about some ex-smokers (my own Mother being the absolute worst). A pal who smokes called round today for coffee. He apologised for smoking in front of us. I told him to please go ahead as we can't avoid it for the rest of our lives.
that's funny about the cruise...lol...how do things always happen like that?
like going on a diet and buying the new suit and pigging out and then 3 weeks later the suit no longer fits...:redface:
I feel for you or for anybody who is trying to quit smoking. Good luck to you in your journey. I used to smoke like a train when I was in high school but eventually I quit before I graduated. ...And how I did it was totally beyond me.
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Cunning Stunt (very tricky pseudonym to quickly type, by the way): I applaud your quitting smoking. I shoot you karmic "quit smoking" bullets your way.
me and my mother both left them the same way. squashed the last one down in a tray one day, said this is gross, and never looked back. not at the same time, she smoked when i was a kid. but i remember the story, and funny how mine turned out the same way. neither of us picked up after that.
another thing, i chomp on raw carrots alot. i dont know if that is a replacement, but it is a healthy alternative.
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Thanks guys. The name needs typing carefully MLB :biggrin1:
I'm gonna use this thread to keep myself updated on my progress and vent when and if it gets tough. You never know it might help someone else one day who wants to quit.
This is day 2 and I woke up much earlier than normal and can't get back to sleep. No worries though as I've plenty to do. Cravings have been fine so far and I'm missing nothing. I'm glad I made the decision to quit.
I'm gonna use this thread to keep myself updated on my progress and vent when and if it gets tough. You never know it might help someone else one day who wants to quit.
This is day 2 and I woke up much earlier than normal and can't get back to sleep. No worries though as I've plenty to do. Cravings have been fine so far and I'm missing nothing. I'm glad I made the decision to quit.
D_Ronald Rumpleforeskin
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its great to find this as i have stopped for 3 weeks now. Good luky to you and i hope you do it.
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I just had a friend (another one) die this week. A few months ago he was having problems and advised to stop smoking. We thought he had kicked the habit but found out after his death, he had been sneaking around puffing.
Is a cigarette worth dying for?
Is a cigarette worth dying for?
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