Any smokers out there?

melsinct

I smoke a couple a day (more if alcohol is involved!) and know I really should quit. My plan is to reach my goal weight then tackle the cigarette addiction. One issue at a time is all I can handle!

jridgway49

I'm in the same situation, going to be 50 in July, feel I need to get the weight down before I try to quit smoking, please add me as friend, I'm new here thanks

artificialdream

:happy:

artificialdream

I quit cold turkey on the evening of Dec10th. I had ran out of smokes and it was too late and cold out to makea trip to the gas station. I have been smoke free since. What worked for me was little goals. Getting through the weekend, making it until tuesday.. Going for a walk after meals. My biggest temptation is in the car... getting stuck in traffic always made me ight up. Now, I keep a bag of jolly ranchers in the car instead. I couldnt get a grip on my eating/exercising lifestyle until I quit. That was number one. I knew that if i could quit smoking and BE successful, than theres no excuse i cant lose weight too! You CAN do it!

right on!

shellshell43

I quit cold turkey on the evening of Dec10th. I had ran out of smokes and it was too late and cold out to makea trip to the gas station. I have been smoke free since. What worked for me was little goals. Getting through the weekend, making it until tuesday.. Going for a walk after meals. My biggest temptation is in the car... getting stuck in traffic always made me ight up. Now, I keep a bag of jolly ranchers in the car instead. I couldnt get a grip on my eating/exercising lifestyle until I quit. That was number one. I knew that if i could quit smoking and BE successful, than theres no excuse i cant lose weight too! You CAN do it!

Wow, I can't believe how much alike we are in our quits. I also ran out of cigarettes but I had such a busy night helping my son with homework I didn't make it to the store to buy them...I then ran late the next morning so again didn't stop to buy any...that night was a Friday so I decided (just because I seemed to be doing okay without them) to see if I could make it until Saturday morning...Saturday morning came and my husband an I did some plumbing and I was pretty busy and distracted so again decided to see how long I could go...I set a goal of Tuesday- that would make 5 days with no cigarette, and I did.

I always told myself that I could go buy them any time..that seemed to take the pressure off because it wasn't an official quit. But after I made it over 4 days I realized I no longer had any nicotine in my system and t then it was all about breaking habits from then on...so I decided I HAD quit.

I too used an occasional Jolly rancher but mostly, I sucked on a straw cut to the size of a cigarette and I also did jumping jacks when I really really craved. The first day I did 600 jumping jacks- 25 every time I had a really bad crave. By the time that Tuesday rolled around and I made it to my goal day, I realized I had actually quit. I was no longer using the straw by then or doing the jumping jacks. That's when I realized I would needed to make sure I didn't make a habit out of feeding myself (even if it was just a little jolly rancher) every time I might crave a cigarette. So that's when I started to exercise to fight any weight gain I may get from the quit as well as to try to drop a few pounds that I was putting off because exercise was not so easy when my lungs were still smokers lungs.
My biggest hardest time to get over the crave was when I talked on the phone...that was the worst, I was very short on the phone and explained to my family and friends 1) number one- please do call me because I had to get over the habit 2) please understand if I make the conversation short on occasion because sometimes it was too much and I'd have to get off the phone...I am fine with that now...no problem gabbing...

I feel so much better now..and total weight gain from the quit so far(it's been almost three months) has been 1 pound but I am also not as dehydrated as I was when I was smoking so that one pound just may be my natural water weight coming back to a healthy level.
I would encourage anyone who is smoking to try to quit for at least two weeks...really, you may find that you feel like a non smoker in no time at all...I actually can't believe I ever smoked..as crazy as that sounds...I am so over it that I never even crave at all....

albali

Hi
I started on here May 2nd this year and came across the site because I had just given up smoking. I knew I had to do some fitness/exercise/dieting as soon as I stopped as I didn't want to put on (more) weight! I have found giving up this time much easier as I had all this logging and exercise to concentrate on (lol)~!! I smoked 15 or more a day for 22 years, would wake up with horrible back and chest pains and always felt bad! Yesterday I did the second day of C25k and found it easy! That is a miracle for me!! Please stop... you really won't regret it. Only good things will happen to you.

jujubean1992

i'm a smoker... i'm slowly cutting back how many i smoke per day and hopefully i'll just stop one day but it's hard when everyone around me smokes!

laurad1406

I quit cold turkey (2 years ago), after 7 years of countless... failed attempts.

"If I can do it - YOU most certainly CAN do it" - and I mean that!

You just have to do it - by not doing it.

It's only as tough as you make it. You'll feel amazing when you stop - and before you know it, you won't believe you were once a smoker. Things will taste different, things will smell different - you'll even smell different - in a good way.

Try and replace smoking with a Healthy Habit whenever you get that 'urge'.

same! I told myself I wouldnt smoke in 2011, my last cigarette was Dec 31st at 11:30pm! it absolutely is tough...but you just have to NOT do it. And everything above is completely right, your sense of smell and taste come back, and I personally was SHOCKED at how strong the smell of cigarette smoke actually is. I thought as long as I sprayed myself with some perfume and popped a piece of gum I'd be fine....WRONG. you CAN do this, absolutely! Once you start working out, it will go hand in hand, you'll realize how much easier it is to run and work out sans cigarettes. Good luck, and please let us know if you need ANY help!

(oh, and this is cheesy but helped me, I got a pack of post its and wrote a "count-up" if you will, every morning I peeled one off (i.e. this is day 4 without a cigarette) and rewarded myself at certain goals. Make it public that you're quitting too, people are SO motivating!)

MtnKat

I quit cold turkey 2-1/2 years ago after being too sick to smoke for 4 days. This is my 3rd real attempt at quitting smoking after smoking for 20 some years (I always quit when I got pregnant, but as soon as the baby was born, I would pick it right up again - I don't count that as quitting because I really wasn't quitting....I was just waiting for the time for my next cig...after the baby was born).

The first time I quit smoking I exercised a lot and that made it a lot easier on me. I lost weight and felt much better. This time around I didn't exercise and I gained 30 lbs (which I am now trying to work off)....so I am back to doing what I should have been doing all along...exercising and taking care not to light that cig.

My biggest problem is that I picked up a cigarette and smoked it lol. Now I truly believe that one cig will do me in so I avoid it at all cost...no matter the craving - and I DO crave it a lot. One cig will tear down 2-1/2 years of sweat and tears.

Good luck to you. I hope you do well. I do not consider myself a non-smoker....I am a smoker who chooses not to smoke. Big difference

AngieM76

I quit cold turkey (2 years ago), after 7 years of countless... failed attempts.

"If I can do it - YOU most certainly CAN do it" - and I mean that!

You just have to do it - by not doing it.

It's only as tough as you make it. You'll feel amazing when you stop - and before you know it, you won't believe you were once a smoker. Things will taste different, things will smell different - you'll even smell different - in a good way.

Try and replace smoking with a Healthy Habit whenever you get that 'urge'.

same! I told myself I wouldnt smoke in 2011, my last cigarette was Dec 31st at 11:30pm! it absolutely is tough...but you just have to NOT do it. And everything above is completely right, your sense of smell and taste come back, and I personally was SHOCKED at how strong the smell of cigarette smoke actually is. I thought as long as I sprayed myself with some perfume and popped a piece of gum I'd be fine....WRONG. you CAN do this, absolutely! Once you start working out, it will go hand in hand, you'll realize how much easier it is to run and work out sans cigarettes. Good luck, and please let us know if you need ANY help!

(oh, and this is cheesy but helped me, I got a pack of post its and wrote a "count-up" if you will, every morning I peeled one off (i.e. this is day 4 without a cigarette) and rewarded myself at certain goals. Make it public that you're quitting too, people are SO motivating!)

I am afraid to make it public again. I have tried and failed so many times. people will just think "oh she is at it again"

ghoztt

My brother in law is trying to quit and he's been using one of those electronic cigarettes that release water vapor and give you a small nicotine hit. He says it sucks and is nothing like the real thing but I see him constantly at it and he's been cigarette free (according to him) for a month now. Might be worth a shot for some of you trying to quit.

somigliana

I also felt that I needed to tackle one issue at a time, so I quit smoking after I'd reached maintenance weight. I quit cold turkey on the 30th August last year, so it's just over 9 months now. It was a nightmare for the first 2 weeks, but once that hurdle is crossed, it gets easier. I rarely think about ciggies or get cravings for one now. As long as I logged my calories every day, I found that compensative eating didn't become a problem. BUT, I developed a slight issue with overindulging on sugar-free gum, so I've banned myself from gum for now

Good luck with your goals.

shellshell43

I just have to add to my already so long post above/ I -after the craves , and the crabbies, a little bit of munchies as well as some general readjustments with every day life... remember the first time I woke up and realized that I was a non smoker...I had such a feeling of pride and freedom...

nikkircaddell

I still have the electric cigs all around my place in various locations. (I'll find them all eventually i guess lol) They dont seem to be enough for me its more frustrating for me to not be able to get enough smoke out of them than to try and go without them. Shrugs. I'm just weird I guess. It's watching the smoke itself I'm hooked on more than anything, along with the fact that with an ecig i never feel like i finish the darn thing even when i cant get no "smoke" out.

nikkircaddell

Yea that was my favorite thing about quitting and I so cant wait for that day again. When it hits me out of nowhere, I didnt even think of a cigarette today. That is the most awesome feeling.

Ambria0516

I quit regular smoking 5 weeks ago. I thought if I could tackle this weight loss thing I could tackle quitting smoking. I do use an electronic cigarette (water vapor and nicotine) to curb the nicotine cravings. It totally worked and I find myself using it less and less as the days go by. I only used it 3 times yesterday.

strawberry1969

i do think you need to tackle one at a time i gave up smoking 4 years ago with no help but i then put on about 2 stone it took me about a year to then start to lose the weight i have now lost in total 45lbs it was hard because my husband is still a smoker but im so glad ive done it.and feel so much better for it health wise and money wise.

kirstyfromscotland

i am thinking the same, i would like 2 give up smoking 2. But def want 2 get the eating and exersize sorted 1st, i have said 2myself by the start of june nxt year at the latest i wan2 b totally off smoking, i hope 2 do it sooner but im concentrating on my fitness first. Good luck.x

houstonsmama04

I will have been quit for 6 wks Tuesday. And I am on Chantix. Works wonderful. Downsides: make me nauseous, so I only take the night dose. I have gained weight but not sure if from not smoking or Chantix. Either way, thats why I joined here to curb any weight gain and maybe lose a little. I have smoked for 7.5 years and quit so many times it laughable. I don't go public anymore b/c everyone has seen me quit a million times. You just have to be ready to quit, you really can do it. You have to have willpower, you can control any action you make, just takes a little discipline....and maybe some medication lol! Good luck:)

barbiex3

i cant wait to hear the responses! im right there with you. I do try to limit myself how many i have per day. Its a bad habit but so hard to tackle. Although I guess its like anything else, if we want to quit bad enough we will. I hate it and love it all at the same time.

story of my life. I am down to one a day for the past 10 months. just cant seem to let it go.