When would you consider yourself a "non-smoker"?

classycouture

I have recently quit smoking (23 days 15 hours and 37 minutes cigarette free to be exact!), but I started thinking, when do you consider yourself a non-smoker? The day you quit? Two weeks? A month? A year? There's that obvious chance of relapsing, but how long do you think you need to be cigarette free to consider yourself a non-smoker?

Curious to see what everyone thinks!

LeenaRuns

Great question, Steph. I think that if you're not smoking and don't plan on smoking again then you're a non-smoker.

kaydensmom12

I would say that you are a non smoker. I would say that someone is a non-smoker after 1-2 full days without a cigarette, and with no intention on smoking. If asked at the doctors' though I would mention that you recently quit smoking, for a while, because there are so many risks associated with smoking.

Congrats!

FireBrand80

The day you quit. The power of positive thinking

jilliew

The insurance industry (in Canada, anyway) says 1 year after your last smoke. But I'd say the day you quit. Not that I've ever smoked. Keep up the good work!!

LaurySch

As soon as you finish your last cigarette you are a non-smoker! Congrats!

Good luck with staying a non-smoker, I had to try it a couple times before I actually earned the title - but it was worth it (now an 11 year non-smoker)!

itsuki

There was a day maybe 6 months after I quit (cold turkey, no less) where the odds were stacked against me.
1. It had been a horribly stressful day (smoking was a good anti-stress agent for me)
2. I was hanging out with some friends who did smoke (I wouldn't even have to buy a pack to bum one off a friend)
3. We were having some beers (nothing better than a smoke when you're drinking, right?)

And, despite all this, I didn't have a cigarette.

That was the day I considered myself a non-smoker!

kayl3igh88

I considered myself a non-smoker when I stopped smoking. Like, as soon as. It was part of how I coped.

ETA: I know I'm going to stay a non-smoker as I have NIGHTMARES about smoking. I wake up terrified that I've actually had a cigarette :huh:

maesgrammie

Congratulations on becoming a non-smoker. Having quit 8 years ago after smoking for nearly 40 years I know what a struggle it is to give up those little demons. I chuckled at your "23 days, 15 hours, etc." - I think you can truly call yourself a non-smoker when you no longer think about how long it's been since your last cigarette, when you suddenly realize you haven't thought about a cigarette in many hours and, truthfully, when the scent of a cigarette stinks to you rather than makes you feel like you're missing something. Stay strong - it took me months for the "feel so much better" thing to kick in but it did and it will for you, too. Did you make a list of all the reasons you should quit? Refer to that as often as you must and give yourself a huge pat on the back. Smoking is one of the hardest addictions to give up and you're doing yourself an enormous favor.

BondBomb

I think 6 months to a year. When you are past the general point of relapsing.
For yourself it would be day 1. But for insurance or say dating someone that doesn't want to date a smoker it should be longer.

stellarcanicula

The day you quit. The power of positive thinking

Agreed, I always tell myself: "I think like the person I am becoming"

Start calling yourself a non-smoker. Congratulations. That's a huge success.

LeslieC1970

I think it depends on the person. I quit 3 years ago but find that classifying myself as a smoker who chooses not to smoke keeps me vigilant against picking the habit back up. I think you will be the best person to decide that. To this day, there are still moments when I don't want my "old friend" back especially during stressful or bored times. What is important is not going back to it.

Laces_0ut

iv seen my friends try to quit. id say you'd need a year.

78Octane

Mentally consider yourself a non-smoker. I have been done with them now for 7 months. It took many many failed attempts to quit smoking and the most I would ever go was 2 or 3 days before lighting back up.

Be proud of yourself. If you have gone this long, you can definitely do this. Don't give up.

Congrats!

sbernardy

When your at the dr office.. they say a year.. but I agree after you last smoke! :smokin:

beckajw

The day you quit. The power of positive thinking

^^ This. If I smoked, I would say I'm a non-smoker, the day I decided to be a non-smoker. Of course, if a doctor asks, do you smoke, you may want to tell him/her no, but I did until a month ago. However, for the rest of the world, I would say, "I'm a non-smoker".

_Elemenopee_

23 days, 15 hours and 37 minutes plus however long it's been since you first posted this.

Well done!

ahviendha

I considered myself a non-smoker when I realized cigarette smoke smell makes me gag and search for clean air rather than smile to myself and go "mmmmm!"...

It happened a couple months after I stopped.

devil_in_a_blue_dress

I only smoked for a couple years, I considered myself non-smoker about 3 months of quitting when I finally had the internal feeling of "I know I am never going to smoke again". Every single day before that I woke up and told myself "just make it today and you can smoke tomorrow" -- just to make it through.

TheRealParisLove

When I quit it wasn't really a conscious decision. I would go longer and longer between smokes until one day I decided to light up and thought to my self "Why am I doing this?"

I would light up and take a couple of drags and then put the darn thing out. I guess it has been 2 years now since I had my last cigarette, but I only started calling myself a non-smoker recently. I've been going with the "social smoker" or "Stress smoker" title for most of that time, lol.

Edited to add: I began smoking at age 13, and became a pack a day smoker by the age of 15. Worked in bars most of my adult life, so no need to "take a smoke break" until recently with new indoor smoking bans.

CarleyLovesPets

The day you decide to quit and never smoke again!