Quitting Cigarettes

soulakelly

Along with re-embarking on a healthier attitude towards health and fitness, one thing I would really like to do is quit smoking. I work in a very alcohol orientated industry, and noticing that alcohol is an enormous trigger for my smoking, i'm doing dry January, and will take it on a month by month basis and see how I go.

However just wondering for anyone who has managed to ditch the smokes, was there anything you found particularly useful in succeeding? I find I can go a day or two, and then buy a box etc and the cycle goes on.

tirowow12385

Just got tired of it. Good riddance.

xmissxamyx

I know it sounds like really dumb advice but the thing that worked for me was just simply not buying them, you can't smoke them if you don't have them. When I went went to the supermarket I wouldn't go anywhere near the smoke counter so I wouldn't be tempted and id purposely avoid walking past tobacconists. If I felt strong cravings id literally just stay home, or go somewhere where there was no chance of being able to buy smokes, or be near smokers.

I know it's hard but each day you go without the easier it becomes. Ive been smoke free for nearly 6 months. I really don't miss them at all.

AprilFlowersinPA1

I think everyone goes through that cycle of stopping and starting. I finally quit two years ago. I didn’t think it was possible but I did it.

You have to find your reason and you have to make a plan, much like losing weight.

One of the biggest things that worked for me, among other things, was this: when I wanted to smoke, I acknowledged it and asked myself “.. is this worth poisoning myself for..” so far nothing has been worth that. I told myself when I find something or have some good reason to poison myself I’ll give myself permission to smoke.

It’s not easy but you can do it. After a while you’ll wonder why you ever smoked.

nikkibrianne64

Find your reason why you want to quit. Find a substition. I used baby carrots and going for a walk. Like on work breaks I walked the stairs or around the block. Or during work or in the car I would chew gum or eat carrots. Also I went just cold turkey. I tried to cut back yet you're still a smoker. Money you spend on smokes, put in a jar so it's visual.

kittybenn

You might like the Dry January group: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10714172/less-alcohol-january-2019-one-day-at-a-time

Haven't seen anything about smoking yet, but the support there is great, at least alcohol-wise. I'm not a smoker, thank God, because I'm everything else (eater, drinker), LOL. Total admiration for what you're trying to accomplish. It cannot be easy.

sineadqui1852

I’m going to try stop myself tomorrow, I’m going to go cold turkey and hope I can do it. So any support recommendations to help are welcome

suziecue25

I made several attempts [over 45 years] to quit smoking and always started again within a few days or weeks....however a year ago I knew my health was really suffering and I just stopped completely and now have not smoked a single cigarette for over a year and I know I will never start again. I just wish I had done it sooner ........ I have put on some weight I had lost though but I am going to deal with that again now....exciting!!

There are loads of ways of dealing with the craving for a ciggie but what you really need is motivation and willpower.

Johnd2000

Vape.

emmamcgarity

For me mindset was the issue. I had to recognize it as a real addiction. Then after quitting cold turkey remind myself that I couldn’t have “just one” cigarette again. Ever. One will always be the path to being a smoker again. And I don’t want that path. I still crave it many years later, but I am happy with no longer being on that path. 18 years now

RitaC21

I've never smoked but I just wanted to congratulate you for taking this step towards a healthier life! Good luck, you can do it!!

snowdemon75

On on my 4th day cigarette free my family think I’ve been evil but luckily they are very understanding in those 4 days I’ve brought a pan set n new cutlery something I never seemed able to afford but I’m starting to feel better and I think having the flu has helped 😂 good luck you can do it

brando1968

For me, it was the same as Emma. Mindset change is what did it. Was a smoker for right at 30 years. I was a bartender, then moved into restaurant ownership. Everyone around me smoked, high stress environment, etc. I bet I “quit” 15 times before beating my addiction to nicotine. I tried vaping, that didn’t really satisfy me, nor help with the nicotine cravings.
Here’s the real deal, it’s hard but doable. I told everyone I knew I was quitting smoking. Not so much for support, but for me to hold myself accountable to my word with my friends. I set a date to quit on Jan 1 (I made this commitment on Dec 30). When I woke up on New Years Eve, I hoped it was going to be my last day/night as a smoker. I got psyched up for the challenge, then it hit me, you’re either a smoker, or a non-smoker, there is no middle ground. My mind shifted from “I’m gonna try to quit smoking” to “I’m a non-smoker”. Why set an arbitrary date to quit? Just do it now. So, I want to a NYE party, drank too much, but didn’t have a cigarette (verrryyyy tough). When I woke up the next morning after a drinking party success, it wasn’t just a feeling of “I CAN do this”, it was “I AM doing this”. It’s a mind shift. I had significant cravings for over a year, but it slowly and steadily became less frequent or intense. 3 years now, and not even ONE puff.
When cravings got bad I’d drop and do as many pushups as I could, or I’d do jump squats - it actually helps kill the urge.
Sorry for rambling, but you WILL do it. If you need extra help, get Chantix. In my experience, it has worked 100% of the time for 8 or so friends that truly committed. Stay strong, make it happen.

Maxxitt

It took me 6 or 7 tries to quit - was finally successful 30+ years ago but the urge did not leave for another decade. I did it cold turkey but if I was to be in that situation today, I would definitely use a patch to make the withdrawal process easier. I figure that my "pack years" started in the womb - my parents were both heavy smokers. The motivation to quit was financial. But within a couple of weeks I noticed that food tasted better. Yup, gained some pounds but not a ton (that came later). My mother died of complications of emphysema ... a pretty terrible way to go. Quitting smoking is probably the single best thing you can do for your health. Good luck.

moogie_fit

Amazing goal! I was able to quit once with patches, but then started again. Because of that, Canadian government paid for me to use champix! Literally so turned off by smoking as it smells and tastes like vomit on that pill. Now never have been attracted to it since.

emmamcgarity

I forgot to mention... don’t let anyone make you think this is easy. It’s definitely hard. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It was also one of the best changes I made for my health. I was definitely a real grouch those first couple of weeks. And stressful situations definitely made it tempting to start again. But, It becomes easier to resist as time goes on. But those first few weeks... rough.

Danp

I quit in 2006 and haven’t had one since.

I actually quit spur of the moment. I had just finished lunch and had a cigarette. I went to grab one last one before heading back upstairs only to discover my pack was empty, so I got up and started to walk to the convenience store. Half way there I came to a flight of stairs and knew there was a chemist (pharmacy) up there. I looked towards the store, up the stairs, back towards the store then back up the stairs. In that moment, I made a split second decision that I was done with smoking so I went up the stairs, bought a packet of nicotine lozenges that was that.

Now I’d attempted to quit numerous times before but something made this time different and I think I pinpointed what it was. Every other time I had tried to stop smoking I was ‘quitting’. This meant that I was still a smoker, just a smoker who was quitting and it’s very easy to quit quitting and continue to be a smoker. This time, the minute I made the decision to stop I started to think of myself as a non-smoker and a non-smoker just doesn’t smoke. This turned out to be (for me) what made the difference. If someone offered me a smoke instead of saying ‘No thanks, I’m trying to quit’, I’d respond with ‘No thanks. I don’t smoke’. Until I was ready to be a non-smoker I wasn’t ready to stop smoking.

That’s not to say that stopping was easy. Here’s what I tell everyone that is going to quit smoking.

- It’s going to suck. HARD. You’re going to be miserable, you’re going to be angry, you’re going to feel like crap. Get ready for feeling like dirt for a while.
- You’re going to get cravings like you’ve never experienced before but they’ll pass. It won’t feel like it in the moment but it will pass. The cravings will feel insurmountable and will feel like they’ll never pass but they absolutely will so just keep holding on just a few minutes/seconds. The good news is each time a craving hits it will be a little weaker, last a little shorter and go away for a little longer. I still get cravings to this day even 12 years later but they’re insignificantly mild and pass in a matter of seconds. Get ready for dealing with cravings
- Pay attention to triggers. I would be able to go for hours without a cigarette while sitting at the computer at work but would chain smoke in front of the computer at home. My other triggers were driving, coffee and meals. I didn’t/couldn’t avoid these so I just prepared myself for a craving to hit when I was in one of those situations.
- You’re going to start coughing a few days after your last cigarette. In fact you’ll cough so much you’ll want to have a cigarette just to make it stop. You’ll cough so much you’ll think you’re going to cough yourself to death and what’s worse is you’ll be coughing up the vilest muck. I kid you not the gunk you’ll cough up would make Beelzebub grossed out. This is actually good news though. It’s the little hairs (cilia) in your lungs coming back to life and FINALLY ridding your body of all the hideous crap that’s been coating your lungs. It has to come out so get ready for that too.

G'luck