Any tips to quit, or limit smoking?

pinkwhisk

i smoked for 10 years, approximately 25-30/day. I will have quit for three years on Friday. Just quit. Cold turkey. Do not use NRT - this just drags out the process and makes the experience worse.

I quit on the the 1/6/09. The first few days were rough (very) but it gets so much easier after! I found the Alan Carr book a useful tool, but in all honestly, it is nowhere near as bad as you think its going to be!

EnjoyX

beachlover317

Gums, the patch, hypnotism... not of that crap will work unless you TRULY, HONESTLY, desire to quit.
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This is the total truth.... I have been a non smoker for the past 16.5 months, I used Chantix to help me get through the first 6 months and since it works on the brain and does not give you any nicotine your body starts to heal itself sooner. One of the reasons that you love to smoke and that you find it relaxing, even though it is not (just check your blood pressure), is because it is one of the only ways your body is currently able to emit endorphins....smoking and exercising. January 10th, 2011 I was smoking my third cigarette for the day, on the porch in the winter with a chest cold.....three drags, shook my head, put it out and have not smoked since - but then again for the first time I really wanted to stop. It takes three months nicotine free to get the endorphin system to start to function again.....good luck if you decide to try to quit. BTW - I smoked for 35 years.......
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I quit cold turkey. I had smoked for a while, but come January this year I put them down. Why? My SO has COPD from a 39 year affair with Marlboro Reds. He was on oxygen to keep his levels up to Fair. Not good. When he was unable to walk and breathe at the same time, he went to his doctor and finally accepted the script for Chantix. He quit smoking on Jan. 13th and has not had one since. He was a 2 - 2 1/2 pack a day smoker. I never thought he would do it. He's still not smoking (miraculous!) and can breathe without oxygen again. ONly took taking the Chantix for about 2 months. He said after the first month he didn't crave nicotine at all. He still would love to smoke - but he loves breathing. After watching him struggle for a breath at his young age (55), I agree. Good luck to you.

DonttrythatwithME

one way, just stop... its a question of mind over matter, but you have to want to do it, I like you 'loved' to smoke and would probably still love smoking now if i was still doing it, but i could't play football the way i used to when I was younger.

I substituted the addiction of smoking, the habitual nature for something else, updating my MFP diary, becoming addicted to exercise and focusing on my health goals.

I made a mood board of things i wanted to achieve look at it every day, every time i doubt myself and every time i think about smoking.

with the phrase Just f**king do it in the middle, that keeps me going

hallie_b

I wish I could personally help but, I quit cold turkey one day and after 24 hrs. I was totally fine. My motivator was that I was getting married, didn't want to spend 5000 on a photographer just to look back and have it documented that I was that bride with a cigarette in her mouth ashing like an idiot so she doesn't get any on her white dress. Maybe you need a motivator?
My husband quit doing that laser therapy and it worked pretty well for him, he didn't have any complaints.
I tell new therapy patients who are forced to quit after incarceration to remember, "It can take up to 28 days to break a habit, I'm sure you've had worse months that you have survived." We also do meditation techniques and many say that is super helpful (likely because the deep breathing simulates smoking once the nicotine is out of the system).

estrange22

I am quitting now with help from a coach from Blue Cross Blue Shield (my health insurance company). He is always an email or phone call away when I am about to cave:-)

lawkat

I quit over a year ago. I loved to smoke, but what I loved was the addiction and what I perceived as "dealing with stress through smoking." Smoking just masks so much of what I really had to deal with when it came to stress. I think that is really the toughest part of it. You have to retrain your brain to deal with emotions and stress. That is why after a year, I still get that craving when I am bored or stressed. It happens, but few and far between.

What I did, and I know you said you hate taking pills, was take Wellbutrin. It seriously cut down my cravings and helped with my depression. You don't have to take it long term and it has fewer side effects than Chantix. There is also the website quitnet.com. I found that to be very helpful because people from all walks of life and levels of quit are on it.

Quitting is easy. Staying quit is the hard part. You just need to keep your resolve and not glamorize smoking as anything other than a filthy, smelly habit. Trust me, you stink and really bad.

Danielle2344

I'm right there with you. Smoking is my releiver for stress, boredom, after eating, driving, well, just about everything. I do feel like it controls my life. If I go somewhere where I know I can't smoke, my biggest worry is "When is the next time I can stop to get that smoke?" I've quit when I was pregnant, but started soon after having the kids, with the worst one being my last one, I made my husband stop at a gas station on the way home from the hospital! I keep thinking of every excuse of why I can't/don't want to quit - the social aspect of it, how will I make it through the day without a cigarette??, I'm afraid of gaining weight (even though I've been working out for the past month every single day). But I do have my 7 year old daughter who is questioning me "Mom, why do you smoke? You should just quit." I know, but I know too that I've got to WANT to do it. I've been working out so much, that helps, but like some of the others, right after a great run (my main choice of exercising), I smoke. I even ran a 5k the other week & when I got back to my car, I smoked before leaving!! I never smoke in my house or my car, when my kids are with me. Reading all these posts really do make me think that I can do it, as long as I have the drive & determination to do it. I couldn't run most of a 3 mile run before, but now I can - it's my shortness of breath that holds me back from running the entire time. I know this one has to be all about me & not what anybody else wants.

kammy92

I smoked for 24 years, started when I was 13..............quit August 10th of last year..............tried everything, even Chantix, didn't work...............used an e -cig for about a month......................proud to say I'm a non-smoker!!!! :bigsmile: