Thoughts on Smoking?

justicer68

Completely, 100%, the truth!

You must REALLY REALLY want to quit, once you realise that you REALLY REALLY want to, it is not hard at all.

Everything starts from the mind, everything ... Get the mind right and it all flows, I swear it.

Smokers will find every justification to keep going ... I've been there and done it, I thought I'd lose my very personality by giving them up, I smoked because otherwise I'd be bored, etc.

None of it is real.

Smoking is completely a mental game.

After deciding enough was enough, I quit 18 months ago, never looked back.

Biggest regret, other than starting, was not giving up sooner. I've wasted 16 years of my life stuck with cigarettes - now I see what I've achieved without them, it is my biggest regret

Yes it is a total mental game.

As the above poster said...I wish I would of given it up sooner. I know once my mind was made up it wasn't nearly as hard. I just thought of how much better I would feel, my chances of getting emphysema or cancer had lowered considerably and not to mention on this new way of living journey I would never have been able to work out like I do much less even do cardio without going into a coughing fit trying to breath! Every time I even start to get a craving I think...do I want to take that chance and give up how I feel now and everything that I have accomplished since I quit....I think not.

GermanicKnight

I smoke....meats. Pork chops, chicken breasts, salmon. Even bacon. Doesn't suppress my hunger, but it does take care of it!

Iron_Lotus

I definitely gained a bit of weight when I quit 2 years ago, but that was due to the oral fixation aspect. Once I found something else to put in my mouth we were all good.

Fit4_Life

A little story goes back when I was 11 years old. After seeing my mother hunched over holding her chest- as a child, I felt so helpless seeing her in such pain. I promised myself that I would never pick up the nasty habit of smoking. My mother never did quit smoking and today, she carries an oxygen tank, she has emphysema and takes a bunch of medications to counter-act the other. If and when she walks 15 to 25 feet...she is out of breath. My 2 brothers had open heart surgery in their mid-40's, and they STILL smoke! I made the remark to my brothers and asked them both if they understood what the reasoning was for the scar on their chest?! Of course they knew..My Dad also had open heart surgery and thank goodness he quit. My sister had died in her mid-40's due to cardiac arrest.

I would much rather have a longer healthy life, than to pick up a cigarette and spend all that money to burn for 10 minutes to each cigarette.

Growing up and going to school, kids would always complain about the cigarette smoke that was in my clothes. Kinda embarrassing..and it did stink.

Why would you want your life like what people are going through that do smoke?? Just WHY??

Not only the expense of buying cigarettes...it's medical self inflicted and your life.
A life is priceless.

TdaniT

my goal is to not smoke at all...it is just a fact I found interesting

It is an interesting fact. A lot of things in today's society that are addictive started out as a use for something else. There used to be actual cocaine in Coca-Cola...things like that. Very glad to hear that you aren't thinking about picking up the habit. I hope you kick the "second hand withdrawals" soon. My husband is in the process of quitting smoking and my son and I are in heaven!

goalss4nika

Ewww smoking is gross! So glad I NEVER picked that habit up. Plus the price on them suckas are terrible! No thanks :noway:

EddieHaskell97

No, it isn't "100% mental". That's a huge part of it, but nicotine addiction is a physical process.

I quit "cold turkey" last year, and the headaches, non-stop diziness, "deafening silence", pain, sweating, etc... was due to physical withdrawal from nicotine. Once it was all gone on day four, then all that remained was the mental addiction.

It was one of the most difficult things I ever had to do, but I'm so very glad that I quit it. Hopefully, doing so saved my life.

MelsAuntie

I don't care if it's a suppressant, clears acne, programs your VCR and does dishes. It's stinking and suicidal.

MelsAuntie

Try watching a family member die a prolonged and agonizing death from lung cancer or emphysema, then ask yoursel if maybe there are better ways to deal with your appetite.

THIS. My dearly loved father took four miserable and agonizing years to die from smoking-induced cancer.

vingogly

People gain weight when they quit smoking because they replace the act of smoking addiction with eating. I quit over 100 days ago and have lost over 30 lbs since I quit. If you replace smoking with doing something active (walk around the block, ride a bike, whatever), and don't head for the fridge or cupboard every time you want a cigarette, you won't gain weight. Appetite suppressant???? I smoked about 2 packs a day and I got up to 342 pounds, the only thing smoking suppressed on me was smelling good!!!

Watch the scene in the movie Clean and Sober where Michael Keaton meets with his sponsor ... By the end of the scene, the sponsor has several empty ice cream dishes in front of him. Which demonstrates: replacing one unhealthy habit with another gets you nowhere.

mojohowitz

I quit 11 years ago. I had to eliminate many of the other triggers that made me want to smoke. No more fatty foods, no more alcohol, no more smoking friends. I don't think I could have done it without Zyban.

mojohowitz

I definitely gained a bit of weight when I quit 2 years ago, but that was due to the oral fixation aspect. Once I found something else to put in my mouth we were all good.

:laugh: :flowerforyou:

Paging Dr. Freud! My doctor said the oral fixation can be traced back to breast milk, the 'original" gateway drug.

wmstormvet

Do NOT.... I repeat, do NOT take up smoking!!! I am a former smoker and I can tell you from experience that it will do you way more harm than good.

wolverine66

Smoking seems to be one of the few things people are perfectly okay with shaming others for doing.

Just making an observation.

As for it being an "appetite suppressant," I don't know if it is or isn't- but even if it is, there seems to be dozens of others that are a better option. Also, I seems that people who smoke enjoy a post-meal cigarette rather than pre-meal, so I don't think many are using it as an appetite suppressant anyway.

KANGOOJUMPS

I was a smoker.
now I am a runner.
still want to have one tho when I drink,

BinaryPulsar

Smoking seems to be one of the few things people are perfectly okay with shaming others for doing.

Just making an observation.

This is probably true to some degree. But, I observe that anybody that does any kind of shaming of anything, does so thinking it is ok to do. There are always going to be people that shame what others do. And there will always be people that think it is ok. And people that don't necessarily agree but don't vocalize it.

I do think shaming smokers is one of the tactics people use, intending to prevent children/teens from starting.

Anyway, I personally think it is good to tell the truth. And there is a way to tell the truth without shaming. There are a lot of ugly truths about smoking. But, I personally don't see the benefit in shaming people for it. The truth is really bad enough.

I try to teach my kids why people start smoking, why they shouldn't, why it's bad. But, I try to teach them in a way that they feel like they have knowledge. I don't want them to think bad things about smokers. Because sometimes they may have a teacher that smokes. I don't want them to learn to think badly of people just because they have a bad habit. It's a bad habit (for the person's health), it doesn't make the person bad (or anything else). You never know why a person has any of the issues that they have.

Anyhow, my daughter learned in kindergarten from friends about how they lost family members from smoking. I didn't need to teach her that. She learned that from her friends. So, I do think it is different now. People have more awareness and knowledge and experience at a younger age of the devastation that smoking can eventually lead to. My daughter saw someone smoking and said, "He's going to learn the hard way not to smoke, when he dies". I did ask her about that and talked to her about it and then I also told her that it's ok to know about that and to talk and ask questions, but it's not really nice to tell people they are going to die. And I told her that he may learn that on his own and quit, and be able to turn things around for himself.

wolverine66

Smoking seems to be one of the few things people are perfectly okay with shaming others for doing.

Just making an observation.

This is probably true to some degree. But, I observe that anybody that does any kind of shaming of anything, does so thinking it is ok to do. There are always going to be people that shame what others do. And there will always be people that think it is ok. And people that don't necessarily agree but don't vocalize it.

I think what I meant was more that other people seem to condone the shaming of smokers than other unhealthy/unsavory habits. Example: if someone is body shaming someone who is fat, others will tell them to back off. Yes, the person doing the shaming, in any instance, thinks it's okay. But others will be quick to point out that it isn't. You don't often see that reaction from many when it comes to smoking.

Iron_Lotus

I definitely gained a bit of weight when I quit 2 years ago, but that was due to the oral fixation aspect. Once I found something else to put in my mouth we were all good.

:laugh: :flowerforyou:

Paging Dr. Freud! My doctor said the oral fixation can be traced back to breast milk, the 'original" gateway drug.

I was bottle fed

elkahallick

If I could do one thing without harming my body it would be somking cigs... or snorting meth... its really a toss up

BinaryPulsar

Smoking seems to be one of the few things people are perfectly okay with shaming others for doing.

Just making an observation.

This is probably true to some degree. But, I observe that anybody that does any kind of shaming of anything, does so thinking it is ok to do. There are always going to be people that shame what others do. And there will always be people that think it is ok. And people that don't necessarily agree but don't vocalize it.

I think what I meant was more that other people seem to condone the shaming of smokers than other unhealthy/unsavory habits. Example: if someone is body shaming someone who is fat, others will tell them to back off. Yes, the person doing the shaming, in any instance, thinks it's okay. But others will be quick to point out that it isn't. You don't often see that reaction from many when it comes to smoking.

Yeah, that's true.