Quiting smoking

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  • cjhart81
    cjhart81 Posts: 200 Member
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    i quit 9 months ago...

    I felt so much better for it and i started jogging and was so proud of myself for this new healthy lifestyle I had chosen for myself..

    AND THEN>........

    and about a month ago decided it was ok to have one if i was out drinking with friends.. WHY I have no idea.. it hadnt bothered me up until then.. i have since had one every few days... I am moving house in 2 days so have decided that from then THATS it!!
  • leomom72
    leomom72 Posts: 1,797 Member
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    im trying to quit for the 20th time in my life..longest i have gone ( aside from stopping with my pregnancies ) is 4 days..this time it has been almost 24 hours, and i am using some spare e-cigs my hubby had..they work for a bit, but you have to keep on them every 30 minutes or so, and it still blows because i need a real one, but im gunna try my hardest this time..good luck to us all:drinker:
  • rcm1973
    rcm1973 Posts: 40 Member
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    I hope I can offer some encouragement...

    After 14 years of smoking a pack a day, I quit cold turkey on June 30, 2003. That's almost NINE years ago, if you're counting!! ;)

    I was HOOKED and for a long time after I continued to miss smoking (mostly the social aspect). I used a free website called QuitNet.com. Great moral support.

    If I can be of any help to anyone, don't hesitate!!

    You CAN overcome this!!
  • shan_0517
    shan_0517 Posts: 88 Member
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    Congrats on quitting! I have cut down to smoking only when I'm drinking. So about oince a week. I would love to quit for good.
  • Sonnie124
    Sonnie124 Posts: 99
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    Oh my God! The commercials make me look at my husband (still smoking) and shake my head! I quit January 9, 2011 and can't stand it now!
    :grumble:
  • hphm420
    hphm420 Posts: 34 Member
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    I quit 115 days ago. I feel great!! It is most difficult when I'm drinking!!!!

    I found that quitnet.com is very helpful. It keeps a log of how many cigs you haven't smoked and how many days you've added to you life.

    My states:
    Smoke free: 115 days
    Cigarettes not smoked: 1385
    Money saved: $278.40
    Lifetime saved: 10 days

    :-)
  • hummus40
    hummus40 Posts: 72
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    i am having a horrid time quitting. have been using the patches since Dec 2011 and am still craving (and stuff going on with stress is at an all time high)...i manage to go a few days then BAMB i am craving one....bottom line is i am averaging 3 a week. Not to mention i am running in the Flying Pig Marathon in May (which is less than two weeks away)...i keep trying to remember why i decided to quit but i must say that it is the hardest thing i have ever tried to do...

    that having been said...i gonna keep on keepin ON :)
  • HikeRunLift
    HikeRunLift Posts: 70
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    Hey there. Congrats on quitting such a terrible bad habit and addiction.
    I myself quit too. My last smoke was Dec 24th, 2010 at 11:49pm. After 22 years of smoking and several attempts, I finally quit. It was hard but after a few weeks it became very easy to stay smoke free.

    I think the new anti smoking commercials are AWESOME!!! Anything so shocking that helps influence people to quit I'm all for it.
  • BiggTim
    BiggTim Posts: 53 Member
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    I quit for 112 days last summer then started again. This time I'm on day 4, but it has to be permanent. I have a dozen ulcers, which are caused by smoking, but have damn near zero chance of healing whilst smoking.

    I'm sorry to hear that. Good luck on your journey. You can do it this time.
  • Sonnie124
    Sonnie124 Posts: 99
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    You can do it! That is my favorite saying "stab someone with a fork" I beat cancer too and when I was done fighting that and wanted reconstructive surgery I had to quit. I haven't looked back and it has been over a year! Good Luck!
  • trybefan
    trybefan Posts: 488 Member
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    Ex smoker for 15 years here. I smoked for 10 years. When I was 21, my G-ma died of throat cancer (non-smoker that was married to a smoker) and I quit overnight. Dec 23 1997 I was a smoker, Dec 24 1997 I was a non smoker. Overnight. The hardest battle for any addiction is the mental aspect

    For anyone trying to quit....you will gain weight. Nicotine is a CNS stimulant that does speed up the metabolism to a degree. The hardest battle is the psychological addiction. We spent so many years training our minds that we picked something up and put it in our mouth, so the need to feed takes over. Find some low sugar candies, quality snacks, gum, etc to battle that aspect.

    You can do it!
  • jociesich
    jociesich Posts: 10
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    I quit 2 years ago (January 10th)on Zyban . I never thought I could do it but I DID!!
    I'm really proud of myself! I did gain 40 lbs but that is why I'm here now :)

    You can do it!!!
  • joytron
    joytron Posts: 104 Member
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    I was a dedicated, defensive, fully committed smoker for about 10 years, smoking close to 2 packs a day by the end (age 29!). Accompanied by gallons and gallons of booze, also pretty much daily. I had told everybody I would quit by age 30 so that they would leave me alone and stop nagging me. Then my 30th birthday approached and I realized to my horror that THE TIME WAS NIGH, but I was at the point by then that I would rather be alone than socialize if being alone meant I could smoke in peace. It was a really miserable place, and I knew it, but although I was willing to do many things to fix myself, I was not willing to quit smoking because I thought it was the only thing keeping me even somewhat happy. My birthday grew ever closer and people intensified their "I guess you'll HAVE to quit smoking, NOW," comments, which threw me into a panic, and then I recalled a book, Allen Carr's "Easy Way to Quit Smoking", that an ex-smoker friend had given me months ago. I really scorned this book, for a few reasons, 1, it had a ridiculously cheezy cover, 2, books can't create permanent lifestyle change (I knew this to be fact; I'd tried previous books before), and 3, I didn't want to quit, I just wanted people to stop bothering me. So I devised a genius plan: I would read the book, make a token attempt to quit, fail, and then tell everyone that I had legitimately tried and that it just didn't work for me. Problems solved! Imagine my surprise, a week later, to douse my final cigarette CRYING with gratitude that I never had to smoke one again. Today, 7 months later, I have never had a craving, even though I continue to drink alcohol (much less, but still a lot) and continue to hang out in crazy bars and Tokyo backwaters where cigarette smoke is everywhere. All I feel is gratitude that I'm free. Not painful at all.

    Edit: Others have mentioned weight gain, which scared me before I quit. I *did* gain weight -- but only 5 pounds. This is an incredibly insignificant amount and I lost it within my first 2 or 3 weeks on MFP. So don't be scared! You can do it!
  • BiggTim
    BiggTim Posts: 53 Member
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    Today is my 8th "Day 1" of not smoking! I have tried 7 times before, but they say fall seven times, stand up eight, right?! I just went and used the treadmill and walked for 10 minutes at work while I would have usually taken a smoke break. I plan to do it on my afternoon ten as well to keep from going outside to the smoke pit. I also bought a new car this weekend and refuse to smoke in it, so that's helping!

    That's great news!!! Here for support whenever you need it my friend!!!! :flowerforyou:
  • mermx
    mermx Posts: 976
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    I smoked for 30 years and gave up twice duiring tht time once for 4 years and stupidly started again. So I think it is something that never quite goes away...so never give into the idea that `I will only smoke when I go out` or `just at the weekend`.

    I gave up again 3 years ago with the help of electronic ciggies. i still use my e-cig when I have a drink or when I go out as they are legal to smoke in a bar here (UK)

    Probably not ideal, but its like a chocaholic changing milk chock for dark choc and only having a cube as a treat.

    But well done to all who have quit :-)
  • BiggTim
    BiggTim Posts: 53 Member
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    Hey there. Congrats on quitting such a terrible bad habit and addiction.
    I myself quit too. My last smoke was Dec 24th, 2010 at 11:49pm. After 22 years of smoking and several attempts, I finally quit. It was hard but after a few weeks it became very easy to stay smoke free.

    I think the new anti smoking commercials are AWESOME!!! Anything so shocking that helps influence people to quit I'm all for it.

    That's awesome that you have it down to the minute you stopped. Ha!! Yeah the commercials are an eye opener to say the least......
  • dynamojones
    dynamojones Posts: 52
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    I quit smoking about a month and half ago. I haven't looked back. I've stayed busy with dieting and exercising. I was ready to quit though It was causing a lot of issues with my health and sleep and prevented me from drinking the coffee that I love. Before that I'd been a smoker for several years and have also tried quitting multiple times. I think now I understand the triggers and try to resort to other things when i'm in a smoking situation.
  • monicaabrown
    monicaabrown Posts: 3
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    I am on my 20th day! It seems like I have quit forever ago and then again it seems like I just quit yesterday. I guess I really don't have "cravings" any more but I still want to smoke, especially when drinking. Every other time I have tried to quit I would "only" smoke when I drank, which led me to smoke all the time again. So far I have drank and not smoked even when friends have smoked. I have really amazed myself with not cheating! I have also had some very stressfull moments when I wanted to go get a pack and didn't. I feel like if I have to think about going to get a pack then I really shouldn't. Then I will have these crazy thoughts of well if I don't smoke for ___ many days, weeks or months then I can have one. Then I have to remind myself that it's for good and that one will turn into many. I used the patch for the first day and a half (I got them free through my work) but they kept falling off and not sticking to me so I decided to do it cold turkey from there. I was afraid to gain weight which is one of the reasons I joined this group, plus I am trying to lose weight, and exercise. I have tried to use exercise as replacement for smoking. When I want to smoke or at my usual smoke times I will get up and walk around my building or go to the bathroom...just to do something and keep me somewhat sane!
  • dmanning0819
    dmanning0819 Posts: 93 Member
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    Applaud!!!!!

    I quit a month ago and I AM NOT GOING BACK!!!

    I can breathe better and not to mention that I don't smell like foul cigarette smoke anymore.

    I never realized how much it effected my nose as well. It seems I can smell things alot better!
  • d3mon4ngel
    d3mon4ngel Posts: 242 Member
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    On Monday 7th May 2012 I will have been smoke free for 2 years exactly.

    I gained some weight when I quit, but I don't think I can blame it on that entirely. It was also totally worth it. I feel so much better, my asthma has calmed down and I started to notice my breathlessness reducing fairly soon afterwards.

    I was smoking about 20 superkings a day, but cut down to kingsize a few months before quitting. I was still on 20 a day though. I'd not liked the taste of them for a while and that one morning I just woke up and thought to myself "I really don't feel like smoking today", and haven't had one since.

    I had one of those e-cigarette things with apple flavour juice (which was amazing btw!), which I'd used the last time I decided to quit. My previous quitting attempt failed because I forgot to take my e-cig away with me when visiting people who were heavy smokers. I used it maybe three times in the two weeks following my last cigarette, and since then I've done without. I liked the flavour of the apple vapour so much that I did buy a zero nicotine version, but I tried it once and it made me feel ill, so I was disappointed. I miss my apple vape more than cigarettes lol.

    I also avoided alcohol for a long time after quitting, as that had been my trigger for failing on the previous attempt.

    My OH didn't quit, and I think he thought it was just a temporary thing for me, as he continued to smoke 20 - 30 a day around me. However, I've been lucky I suppose in that I didn't have any real cravings to start up again. I'd made the decision that I didn't want to do it, and I still haven't changed my mind.

    I think I'll do something nice for myself to celebrate my anniversary of smokefreeness, but not sure what yet :smile:

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