did you quit smoking or are you trying?

Katymom22

how did you/are you doing it? i just can't! i'm trying really i am i just can't! i quit soda and coffee cold turkey not to mention the cakes and cookies but smoking i just can't do. i want this as much if not more then the actual weight loss but besides the actual physical addiction i am afraid! i don't want to replace smoking with food. i want this for not only myself but my children. my 8 year old son freaks out everytime i go outside because he know i am smoking and i feel horible but i go out anyway. i need help!

spacecase76

I quit Jan 5, 2010. I just put them down and quit cold turkey. The first 3-5 days is the worse, then it starts getting easier and easier. GL, you can do it!

And, chew gum (arctic chill is my favorite) or exercise when you get a terrible craving, instead of eating.

kao708

I quit several years ago but it was due to a friend of mine that had a terminal lung disease. He had never smoked a day in his life so I figured if he could get Pulmonary Fibrosis being healthy, I could sure do it being unhealthy. I just quit smoking one day. Had a few slip ups but now, the smell of it makes me sick and I avoid it!

Alot of people suggest chewing gum or you might just have to go the route of medication to help you kick it! Good luck!

Mads1997

After 27 years of 30 ciggies a day I stopped cold turkey, I have just passed my one year anniversary being smoke free.

mistyb47711

My husband and I are trying the same thing right now...We have foundaelectronic cigarette that works wonders for us....It is called the Joy 510....It is just like inhaling a real cigarette and it even makes you cough if you draw to much...It does have nicotine, but its available without and there is no second hand smoke even though it looks like it. It water vapors....Here is the link.....
http://www.thefogecig.com/

tammyquinnlmt

I haven't quit, but I want to. I'm thinking of setting a 2 week goal. Want to friend me, and do it together?

jennifer293

My mother quit 5 weeks ago using the step program nicotine patches. For the first 3 weeks on them she refused to leave the house for anything because she did not want to be anywhere that she would smell it on someone or anywhere that she would be tempted to buy cigarettes. She has realized in her case it was not the nicotine she really wanted but the oral fixation that came along with it, so now everytime she feels uneasy or tempted she grabs a dum dum lollipop and sticks it in her mouth. It is apparently working for her and my dad is home with her all day so he knows she is not cheating this go around. I have never smoked before so I cannot tell you that I know it is hard to quit, but it seems like you have some very good reasons to want to quit. Good Luck to you

BrittBritt117

I just quit *again* about a month ago! Honestly the only way I can do it is cold turkey and support....try setting a date so you can mentally prepare yourself. The first, say, three days are the worst of all, but after that it gets a lot easier. Especially if you have other people cheering you on and no one else smoking around you! I like to chew gum or mints (pro: good breath instead of bad, smoky breath!) and just try to keep busy to keep my mind off it! I also like to *try* to think positively....you can tell SUCH a huge difference in the way you breathe! Try exercising harder, and you'll see what I mean. Saving ~$30/week helps as well. GOOD LUCK!

FearAnLoathing

:drinker: edited due to husbands feeling that i am to open about my past lol

shardown

I quit over two years ago and the first few days were the hardest for me. It gets a LOT easier but you have to be disciplined. I replaced my addiction for nicotine with food and gained most of my weight because of it. So if you're already making sure you're eating right and are working out, you should be fine

Tomhusker

I quit about 5 years ago. I just set a date that I would quit, got some folks to buy in to try it with me and then counted down to the date. Me and a couple others from the original 7 or 8 are still smoke free.

tpycha126

I quit just a little of 5 weeks ago. I hate to say but it hasn't been terribly hard, not like the numerous other times that I tried. I just decided that if I was going to try to eat healthier and exercise more that smoking was counter productive for me. That and I wanted to be able to keep up with my workout videos without having to stop every few minutes to hack a lung. But I was also ready for it. I think that it has to be something that you are completely ready for otherwise it won't work. Good luck

Ben2118

I quit back in Nov (2010) cold turkey, after a few days the physical side of having a cig, after a meal for example more or less went but the mental side of it is a lot harder to overcome, if I'm at home, I wonder outside with the dog into the garden like I used to do when I smoked and it seems to really help, you walk back inside and feel better and I drink plenty of water.

It's not easy but if you want it as bad as it seems you can make it work, just tell yourself you are no longer a smoker! I sometimes forget I used to smoke now so it gets a lot easier

Good Luck

Ben

Marcia_11

I want to quit but I think for me, I need to get the eating under control first. My plan/goal is to quit smoking once the weather breaks so I can get outside and work in my garden and flowerbeds. I just know that with this winter weather keeping me cooped up inside, I'd never leave my fridge! :laugh:

blakeym

I used Chantix. It worked for me. Not had one in over three years now. Was full time for twenty years.

leomom72

I want to in the worst way, but I don't think I am ready for it yet..I mean I am, but just can't seem to find a stopping point that I can get to yet. My biggest fear is gaining weight ( I heard it happens) And, like you, I don't want to turn to food as a replacement. You can add me if you like for support, and I wish you the best of luck.

MsFitnFabulous

I quit several years ago but it was due to a friend of mine that had a terminal lung disease. He had never smoked a day in his life so I figured if he could get Pulmonary Fibrosis being healthy, I could sure do it being unhealthy. I just quit smoking one day. Had a few slip ups but now, the smell of it makes me sick and I avoid it!

Alot of people suggest chewing gum or you might just have to go the route of medication to help you kick it! Good luck!

I quit 6/13/10 the 15 yr ann of my dad's death cold turkey. I had smoked the better part of 10 yrs. My dad was a chain smoker who died of a massive heart attack @ 56. I sit across the wall @ work from a lady who smokes and it makes me sick to smell her.

Robin66

I quit cold turkey on July 10, 2007. Don't ask me why I can remember that date, because it was just an ordinary, uneventful day. It wasn't easy to do this and there were days that I would've done just about anything for a cigarette, but I finally got to a point where I wanted to quit more than I wanted to smoke. I smoked for over 20 years and was as addicted to it as anyone, so I know you can quit if you truly want to. I honestly believe that when your desire to quit smoking becomes greater than your desire to smoke is when you will quit. Good luck to you!

Boomerof51

My husband and I quit 2 1/2 years ago with the assistance of Chantix. It really seems to take the edge off those first couple of weeks. I wish I'd had MFP then. It definitely would have helped me focus on exercise and calorie control. I suggest staying away from places and people who smoke for several months and put your energy into exercise. A few extra pounds are much easier on your body than the effects of smoking. You can do it!!!

tdonlin

Quiting is easy. I did it a dozen times. Staying quit is tougher. Last time was January of 2005. I did it with a combo of the patch & pill (welbutrin?). It actually was pretty easy for me. The huge weight gain I got is another story though. Talk to your doctor.

rcrea

I smoked for 15 years, started when I was ten years old and was a three pack a day smoker when I quit in one day. He's how I did it. My oldest son had been sick since birth. I never smoked in the house or in the car. No one could tell me what was wrong with him, but he was deathly ill all the time. One day my sister in law asked me to see her kids dr. At one point in the visit, the dr asked to me if I would leave the room. It was just he, the nurse and and my son for a few minutes. I worked for a social service agency at the time, so I figured they just wanted to ask him some private questions and I had nothing to hide, so I had no problems with it. When we left, the dr gave me no real info but asked to see us again in two weeks. As I was walking to my car, I lit up a cig in the parking lot and my then 5 year old son threw himself on the ground and began hysterical crying. I tried to pick him up but he was just totally resistant screaming "You want me to die! The doctor says I'm deathly allergic to cigerettes and if YOU smoke I will die!" I was caught between wanting to shove my pack down the throat of that dr or thank him for saving my son's life. And just like that, I put out my cig and threw out my pack and have never picked up another one since. That was ten years ago and I've never missed it. My husband quit that day also and has never had another one either. Make it a matter of life and death. It's that simple.

Katymom22

the hardest thing for me will be my fiance smoking....he has no desire to quit what so ever....all my friends smoke and camping in the summer will be soooo hard with everyone smoking but i plan to have it totally under control by then!!

kerryannk

I too have been trying to quit on and off for what feels like forever. My boyfriend doesn't smoke, so I don't smoke around him, but I only see him 1-2 days a week, so the other 5 I'm huffin' away on a pack of menthols. I know I need to quit before we decide to live together, but I just don't know how to get in the right mindset either. If anyone decides to create a group for those of us wanting/needing to quit, please keep me informed!

melba2

Hi there

I gave up smoking 13.5 months ago because I had a prem baby. Now down the track, it pisses me off that my husband doesnt man up and give it up as well.

U do need to be in the right head space to give up smoking and very positive. Think to yourself, after you have had your last, I AM NOW A NON SMOKER. It does work.

Another suggestion is: put 5 or 6 smoke butts in a little box, and each time you feel like a cigarette, smell the box, its foul and makes you want to vomit.

Good luck with quitting. Its definately not easy but well worth it

Carl01

A coworker and long time smoker was diagnosed with cancer and was dead within a couple of months.
He was in his 50s and that was the point where I looked at staying in a job I was only mildly enthusiastic about but had a good retirement and then making sure I very likely wouldn`t live long enough to ever see it.

I said to myself that at the end of the week I was going to quit and then kind of forgot about it.
March 7th 2003 was on a Friday and I remembered that evening what I had told myself.
Smoked a couple of cigarettes and then threw what was left in the pack in the outdoor wood furnace.
Almost at once I felt like a nonsmoker for the first time in decades and made it through Saturday the 8th without buying a pack and that was it.
Took a long time to finally get to that point though and still doubt that a person will quit until they really want to mentally.

I could start again tomorrow if I wanted to and it doesn`t bother me to be around someone smoking I just won`t let myself consider it.
Any time I get the urge I just push it from my thoughts with a "don`t be stupid" sort of mindset.

Lakeside54321

I absolutely LOVED to smoke.... I smoked daily for about 23 years.... I NEVER coughed from smoking, or woke up in the morning thinking... "I've GOT to quit smoking" or anything like that.... I never felt bad because of smoking! You are reading something from someone who literally LOVED to smoke, and didn't want to give it up! BUT... after 23 years of smoking.... I just stopped! I set a date about 2 weeks out.... told myself how much money I would save a day (4dollars a Day) told myself how bad smokers stink (and oh my goodness..... all smokers STINK!)!! Now I don't say "I quit smoking" If anyone asks, I just say "I don't smoke" I don't keep up with when I quit.... I do this for a reason. For me, if I keep up with how long I've been quit, it seems like I'm just setting a record, or seeing how long I go before I start again! I just don't smoke! It has been a long time!

Boomerof51

My husband swore he didn't want to quit and I told him "that's fine, but I'm going to quit". I never said another word about it and 1 week after I quit he asked me to get him a doctor appt for a prescription for the Chantix. You'll be surprised how many people want to quit but don't want to be the first. We all need a leader...you can be the leader!

WattsJA

I quit on May 22, 2009 @ 4:47pm CST .. cold turkey and STILL lost weight!

First 3 - 4 days will be tough as you have to get the chemical out of your system .. then it will take several months to get the physical and oral addiction and fixation to subside.

Good luck and remember the first and most important step is to have you MIND set ... it is a mental thing as much as a physical/chemical thing.

pecket83

I have been smoke free since Aug of 2009. I quit both times that I had become prego for the entire lenght of my pregnancy and then would start back again after my babies were born. This final time I just realized that I wasn't missing anything by quiting. It was actually the hardest but also the easiest thing I have ever done. I just made a choice to quit and no matter how hard it got I just didnt smoke. If you are serious about quitting you just have to stop. Not after this pack or after this weekend. Right now. You can't say " just one puff, or just one cig" it does not work that way. As long as you allow yourself that little bit you wont quit. You have to fight through the cravings and know that it gets easier as long as you don't smoke.. Good Luck!

123nikki123

I quit smoking a little over a year ago and I did it cold turkey. It was hard, really hard. But, just like any other goal it is attainable if you set your mind to it. If it's something you really, truly want to do then you will do it. There's no easy way out, there never is. I had cravings well into the first 6 months but that's because my hubby is a smoker and he smoked around me. But, I did it and I'm soooooo glad I did. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner and that I even started to begin with:( I did put on weight because I did snack more. I gained 10 pounds in over a year and some of my food choices weren't good ones. I became addicted to chocolate...lol...then I figured out why! Did you know that there are 4 GRAMS OF SUGAR PER CIGARETTE!!! Crazy, isn't it? That is why when we do quit smoking we crave sweets because we are addicted to sugar. Well, a year later and I'm still working on my addiction to sweets. I allow my self small amounts every day (1-2 pieces of dark chocolate) and that''s it. As far as smoking goes...now it's gross, I can't even stand the smell of it and I can't believe I ever did it! Good luck to you and don't worry about the weight gain because once you are able to run and exercise like never before because you can breath, all of the weight will come off!

SeaShell33

I quit 6 years ago. its a decision, nothing more. You decide to quit, then you decide you can and will handle any difficulties....at least that is what I told myself and it worked. Good luck!!