Stopping smoking

Donners185

Has anyone on MFP stopped smoking sucesssfully whilst sticking to your fitness plan? I'm only on day 2 and have so far stuck to my plan but as the cravings get worse i know its going to get harder. I've used nicotine replacement products before and they have worked for me but as soon as i come off them its like im quitting smoking all over again! So... i've decided to do it cold turkey this time. Any advice welcomed!!!

dls06

Check the search botton above. There are a lot of people having success with quiting. Just enter "Smoking".

jooles0

Good luck! I SUCK at lasting longer than a couple of days :-( Its crazy I can eat right, exercise, went through 2 weeks of the worst caffine withdrawal when I gave up diet soda and coffee but just can't do the smoking. I am rubbish.

Mgrogers09

Yeah I "quit" right when i started my program. So about 3 weeks ago. My situation is I had a tooth extraction so i couldn't smoke for 3-4 days (i geuss i could have but wasnt worth the risk for complications) so thats what used as my excuse to "quit".

I put quit in quotations becuase i have smoked but its been 8 cigarettess in 3 weeks, so for me that is almost quitting. I have tried the gum, patches, even the new pill. For me personally i find that going cold turkey for a few days gets the most uncomfortable stuff out of the way. Using the aids just drags out the process. Now i just have one or two on the weekends when out with friends and do not smoke during the week. I can definetly tell the difference doing cardio.

awkwwward

I haven't done it while on MFP but I will tell you what "worked" for me when I did: no pills or patches but changing up my schedule. You get into habits when you smoke - one on the ride to work, one on your break, one after lunch, etc. Break those "scheduled" periods up somehow - switch your break until later, go for a run on your lunch, drive a different path to work or take the bus for a week or two, etc. Those shifts really helped a LOT for me. Good luck!

PoeRaven

I'm going this route www.greensmoke.com ...so far so good. :smokin:

Good luck to you!

Coltsman4ever

I quit cold turkey 4 years ago and it was the hardest thing I've even done in my life. Not gonna sugar coat it.
I kept plenty of sugar free chewing gum and toothpicks on hand.

That's also when I started my health kick. I got a pedometer (at that time I didn't have a smart phone) and I tried to log as many steps as I could every day. I would get at least 6,000 and as much as 12,000 some days. I averaged about 2000 steps per mile so if you do the math...

Don't try to take it one day at a time. Take it one minute at a time. There will be times when you struggle worse than others so take them as they come. After the first couple weeks every day got easier until I hit 3 months. Then I struggled again for a short time. If you want it bad enough, you'll succeed. It took me 3 or 4 time of seriously wanting to quit before I succeeded, but don't use that as an excuse to start up again. I think that's what I did.

I smoked for 26 years and quit on my 40th b-day. Greatest thing I've ever accomplished on my own.

amyrc12

I'm going this route www.greensmoke.com ...so far so good. :smokin:

Good luck to you!

I got on here to suggest exactly the same thing!! I quit in April - when I started running - and so far, it's been my saving grace! I used it constantly for the first couple of weeks - actually more than i would have smoked a real cigarette... but now, I use it 1 or 2 times in a week.

Good luck!! It can be done! : )

prettyfitchick

I am cutting back how much smoke using an app on my phone but I have not quit compelety yet Good luck

sunkis1769

I quit cold turkey 3 months ago. This is the first time I have actually been successful. However, I couldnt stick with eating right very well. Everytime I would want to smoke, I would take a walk. I think that helped the most. I stayed away from alcohol because I knew I would cave. I stopped going outside with the smokers at work. I just tried to keep myself busy and move all the time. You can do it. Just keep telling yourself you will no longer be controled by a little cigarette anymore.

Dauntlessness

I have been smoke free for around 2.6 years. It is super tough but its worth it in the end. It really gets better! I haven't had a craving in probably over a year and even then, it is not bad. If anything, I smell it on people and I really don't like it.

I used Nictone gum and 21mg patches for the first week then over the next 2 months I used the smaller patches staggering down in mg. I had also become a mint gum addict...lol I was getting through 5-6 packs a week. Don't rush it. If you are having such a hard time weening yourself off the patches, extend the time a little. My husband went off the patches 2 weeks after he quit and had a much harder time then me. I really think it was too soon.

The next thing is you should do is change your mindset. My biggest issue was when I got upset about something I wanted to reach for a cigarette. I kept telling myself that "This cigarette is not going to fix the problem, it will be there when I am done with it". That was enough to get me through those times. It is not a solution even though it feels like one in the moment.

Hang out in places you wouldn't normally smoke anyways. Coffee shops, non smoking family homes, movies, malls, etc etc.
Exercise!! You breath better and it releases stress! I cant even imagine how hard it would be to do cardio as a smoker. Even a year after smoking (when I started walking, I didn't start the major stuff until about 10 months ago) it was soooo hard! I will never go back to that. I am so much stronger then I ever was.

Keep the faith! You can do this! If anyone is having a hard time feel free to add me and I will help as much as I can.

Donners185

Thanks everyone!!! I'm just gonna take each craving as it comes, when i start to think about all the future cravings i get really anxious so one step at a time. Thanks for all your advice and support!! I'll keep you all updated.

runlorirun

I quit cold turkey 12 years ago. The first month was the worst. Most people will tell you that if you make it 5 days.... but really it was about a month before I really felt the physical and mental cravings start to get better. I also stopped in stages. No smoking in the car, when we bought our house we decided no smoking in the house. That was the one that really helped me! We live in Iowa and it was freaking cold that winter.

It does get easier, but it is hard! There are times, still even 12 years later, when I am really stressed that I get that 'I need a smoke' feeling, but it's usually gone by the time I recognize it.

I think it really helps to have a goal to work towards. For me I was not going to smoke when I was pregnant and we were starting that journey.

When my SIL stopped smoking she put all the money she would have spend on cigs in a 'reward' fund and she saved that money for one year. Her reward... a new car! She'd saved enough for her down payment on the car she wanted.

Good luck! It takes work and someday will be really bad but the more you can work through those bad times without sliding, the easier they will become.