Any smokers or Ex-smokers out there???

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  • MassiveDelta
    MassiveDelta Posts: 3,311 Member
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    This my opinion only and based on my experience:

    I quit smoking cold turkey on Dec 25th 2006. I quit because I wanted to get healthy. I knew there was no reason for me to try to lose weight or exercise if I continued to poison myself everyday. It was fake to me to pretend to get healthy if I kept killing myself. So before I started getting healthy I quit. IT wasn't easy. It took me a good 2 months to feel like I was not addicted anymore and I still sometimes crave in certain situations. I have not taken a single drag since the day I quit. Its not worth it to me anymore.

    In addition to the poison I am now paying the price for the years of smoking. It has taken me longer to build up endurance and cardio than it should have. I am struggling with swimming training and being able to breath properly because of the damage I did to my lungs.

    Not a single smoke was worth it.

    Quit now and dont whine about it just do it! : )
  • EightDMB
    EightDMB Posts: 155 Member
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    Hi,
    I have smoked off and on for years. I quit for both pregancies and nursing. I also quit for another 1.5 years. I don't smoke in my home, car or work. I do smoke when I'm drinking (which is not much). However, I had to have two a day or I went insane.

    I am working from home now and the temptation to end up on my back porch, puffing away, was too strong for me. I'm now smoking e-cigs for awhile, which has helped me tremendously. I haven't wanted or craved a cig in 2 weeks. I love mine. Ihope to not be using it forever, but it's working for me right now. If you are interested, do a ton of research (U tube really offers the most legit reviews). I got a JOYE510 and love it.

    Tracie
  • kuhnkathy
    kuhnkathy Posts: 1
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    Actually yesterday was my 1 year anniversary of becoming smoke free. I used Chantix three different times. It actually worked every time but the first two times I would gain a few pounds and then panic and start smoking again. Finally after watching my mother on oxygen I realized that was where I was headed. I had smoked for 32 years. I use to panic when I would try to quit. I would get rid of my cigerettes and then panic. This time I decided to make it my choice. I still have a pack in my car. I'm choosing not to smoke.
    As long as I feel like I'm in control of them and not them in control of me, I can quit. My choice. Now I need to work on the 30 pounds I have gained!!
  • kskye82
    kskye82 Posts: 56
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    WOW!!!!!!!!!! I really can't thank you all enough for the advice and personal stories and triumphs!!!!!! All of you really make me feel like this is a battle that I CAN win!
    There are a lot of you that I would love to be friends with on here for support and motivation! If you would like, please feel free to send me a friend request!


    I am truly humbled by all the feedback here....thank you all again SO much! :heart:
  • alska
    alska Posts: 299 Member
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    i'm an ex smoker .. wahoo lol

    i quit this past May!! I couldn't have done it without the nicoderm patch (and tons of gum .. haha) .. i did each step (3 steps all together) for 2 weeks (1 box each) .. all in all it was kinda easy .. till i stopped the patch .. first few days after stopping the patch was a lil hard but it wasn't so bad. when i got the urge to smoke .. i cleaned lolol or went for a walk :)

    i smoked for prob 10 or 12 years!
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 21,734 Member
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    Ex-smoker here too. I quit May 23, 1996, after 20+ years. Yes, I remember the date. It was THAT big of a deal. My inspiration was my almost-4-year-old daughter (now 18), who picked up a crayon, stuck it in her mouth, and said, "When I grow up, I can smoke real cigarettes like Mom." She doesn't remember that, but she is very proud to take the credit for my quitting. I am very happy to say she did not grow up to smoke cigarettes, real or otherwise.
  • LotusF1ower
    LotusF1ower Posts: 1,259 Member
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    Hey guys,

    I am a smoker :smokin: (i know, it's awful!) and have been for years.....I am active in workout programs, but still smoke! I am looking for any advice that could help me stop smoking.....I want to do it without any patches or medications....I'm just scared of what to do without it (and yes I know the millions of reasons it's bad for you) and afraid of weight gain!

    Any advice is appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :flowerforyou:

    Two things made me give up smoking my 50 per day two years ago, one was thinking I coughed up blood the second was curiosity to see just how well I could run after training whilst being a heavy smoker and then not smoking at all.

    I took one day at a time to give up and during the first 72 hours, I was taking it at an hour at a time.

    Always give yourself goals, my first goal was to set a personal best with no ciggies, that personal best would have to be more hours without than I had done so on a long-haul flight (which in total was 12 hours), therefore, when I got to 13 hours, I thought, "right, a PB lets see if I can get to 18 hours" and then it was a full 24 hours. After that, 48 hours and then 72 and then I wanted to go for a week, the rest is history for me now.

    You see, once I had gotten to 72 hours, I vividly remember thinking to myself "it would be a damn shame to have one now, after all the hard work it takes to go cold turkey" - that thought I kept in my head permanently.

    Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed smoking and I still, periodically miss it, but now, I am not coughing up blood and I can run further and faster than I ever did (even when I was at school and a fit little thing), so I won on all counts.

    So OP, get yourself goals and keep focussed at all times. Oh and tell everybody you are giving up so they do not inadvertently offer you a ciggie or smoke in front of you.

    Good luck! :flowerforyou:
  • diverdi
    diverdi Posts: 64 Member
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    I'm an ex-smoker too, stopped about 3.5 year ago. I'd given up a few times, including during pregnancy and breast feeding, but always gone back to it. The last time I used Alan Carr's The Only Way to Stop Smoking Permanently book, which just highlighted how much I'd been deceiving myself.
    I didn't use anything, and I don't remember the exact date, I just decided I didn't want to smoke anymore and then it was easy. As long as you are stopping because you want to, and not because you feel you must it's easy. I also didn't gain much weight on giving up, my weight gain came from starting work and having children.
  • purple1butterfly
    purple1butterfly Posts: 576 Member
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    I'm a ex smoker & i'm proud to say it has been 10yrs now. I gave up when i found out i was pregnant with my 2nd child, that gave me the reason to keep me off them + the smell made me feel sick. Sorry don't have much advice to help.
  • renae5
    renae5 Posts: 393 Member
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    Smoked a pack a day for almost 17 years. Quit using Chantix back in May 2010. Yes, I gained 10 pounds right off the bat but weight gain was one of my absolute biggest fears so I used exercise to battle the cravings (not that there was many with the Chantix, made my ciggy taste like a dirty ash tray) but if I wanted a cigarette, I'd jump on the treamill or go outside and take a walk or bike ride. Now, after a couple months I had lost the ten pounds and feel better than I have in YEARS!!! I wish you all the luck in the World and would Gladly be a support buddy if you need it!!
    Cindy
  • DanL66712
    DanL66712 Posts: 135
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    I found the Allen Carr book really useful for giving up smoking. Worth a try! It helps you understand why you smoke and why you won't want to any more after reading the book!
  • KristenAnnJones
    KristenAnnJones Posts: 10 Member
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    I was a heavy smoker for about 4 years.:smokin: However, I have asthma and my doctor kept pressing me to quit :grumble: (which I knew I needed to do!). So I got a nicotine inhaler. I have had great results and am down to three cigarettes a day. I started at 8. My breathing has noticably improved and I have more energy now:flowerforyou:
  • TheNewJessieMae
    TheNewJessieMae Posts: 767
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    Quitting when I lose 8 more lbs. Not sure if I'm going to do cold turkey or the patch....
  • TheNewJessieMae
    TheNewJessieMae Posts: 767
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    I am a smoker too and quitting very soon.

    Cold turkey. Wanna join me?

    You'll know I've quit when my sentences ramble forever, I use no punctuation, and I'm eating 800 calories worth of Jolly Ranchers.

    Seriously, if you want to do it with someone, I'm game!


    yall let me get 8lbs off and I will too!!! Send me a FR and hit me up with a message or something!!!
    Let me know when and I will attempt to quit too
  • pamp1emousse
    pamp1emousse Posts: 282 Member
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    I used to smoke 20 a day until last year, when I decided to run a half marathon. I figured at 21 I should probably be at my fittest, not unable to run down the street! At first I convinced myself I didn't have to stop smoking, but after a while I did and felt so much better for it... and I think having a goal like that really helps. I didnt use any patches or medication or anything, but having had my friends and family donate £600 for my run was pretty good incentive to not start again! If you're already active maybe you could go for a marathon or something? Or endurance event that you think would really push you. And then you'll know whatever cause you're running for is definately more important than that cigarette youll crave! (plus running helps burn off all that comfort eating!)
    Good luck :drinker:
  • LittleSpy
    LittleSpy Posts: 6,754 Member
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    <---- Ex smoker

    I quit 3 years ago this month. I didn't have a single cigarette for over a year. Then gradually, I'd allow myself to have one socially very occasionally (I had maybe 3-4 through year 2 of quitting). Then that turned into allowing myself to have one a few times a month (every time I hung out with friends who smoke) and then that turned into me smoking a couple on my own on the weekends and that turned into smoking ONE cigarette at night almost every day and that turned into smoking almost a pack a week!! :noway: I put my foot down and completely stopped again 9 days ago. It's been a piece of cake for me this time because I was able to quit before I let myself get physically addicted to nicotine again. I quit cold turkey when I quit 3 years ago (I smoked about a pack a day but previously smoked even more than that at times).

    It's amazing how easily addiction sneaks back up on you -- even after not smoking for years!
    Find something else to do. I love to smoke while sitting in a rocking chair on my porch and enjoying the fall weather. Now I just read a book while I sit out there. If you use a cigarette as a way to help you stop eating, chew a piece of sugar free gum to end your meal. It probably is going to be really hard. And you probably are going to miss it. But it's really really worth it in so many ways. :wink:
  • ley1
    ley1 Posts: 115
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    i smoked 20 a day up until 3 years ago, put out my last siggy and never ever lookeed back, no cravings nothing, my husband did the same (though he was more a 6-a-day guy).

    http://www.allencarrseasyway.com/

    read a book called allen carr's easy way to quit smoking.

    read it once to see what it was about - lent to me by a friend i had no intention of stopping at the time.

    got to the end of the book and really wanted to quit so i re-read it with the knowledge that i wanted to stop.

    finished the book and my last cig and as i've said never looked back for a second.


    lots of people are sceptical about reading a book to quit but i tried everything else so this was a last resort.
  • reneelee
    reneelee Posts: 877 Member
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    I quit cold turkey 25 years ago. I desired cigs when drinking for about 15 years, but never had one . The desire isn't there anymore, cigs just stink and the stink lingers on the smoker and they stink as well.

    My Father was hypnotized and that worked for him.

    My step Mom put a thick rubber band on her wrist and every time she thought a cig would be good she snapped the rubber band hard on the inside of her tender wrist.

    A friend of mine also went to a hypnotist, he asked her what is the most awful food that she would never eat, she said liver. Today the craving for liver and onions is so strong that she has to have it once a week. She is still a smoker.
  • AnnaPixie
    AnnaPixie Posts: 7,439 Member
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    I quit cold turkey 6 years ago. Best thing I ever did in my life! :bigsmile:

    Joined Quitnet on Day 26 and it saved my life - literally!

    You need support, you'll get plenty there. It's just like here, but for smokers :bigsmile:

    Good luck :flowerforyou:
  • ShellyKay67
    ShellyKay67 Posts: 489 Member
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    I smoked for 25 years and finally quit with Chantix! (worked really well for me)
    Unfortunately, some stress in my life recently, I have been having a few here and there! I've got to stop or I will be back a full blown smoker and I've found out I can't run and smoke! AND I feel SO MUCH better not smoking!
    I'll give them up with you (this time without medicine) Let's DO THIS!! : )

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