Any one quit smoking successfully?...help!
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I do not think anyone can quit smoking successfully until they really want it. I had tried several times but didn't really have my heart in it. I one day woke up and decided I wasn't going to let my life be ruled by a little inanimate object. I quit cold turkey. I cut up straws in the size of cigarettes and smoked them when I felt the need. Helped with the hand to the mouth thing, along with some jolly ranchers. I also decided I didn't want to gain weight and ended up losing it with the help of my fitness pal. Keep in mind, too, I was unemployed the entire time I quit smoking with no friends or family in Arizona to keep me busy. If I can do it in those circumstances, I think anyone can! You will feel AMAZING as time goes on being a nonsmoker. I have been one a whole year and the smell of those things and smokers themselves gross me out now!0
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the best way to quit smoking is you have to want that change in your life i quit 11 months and two weeks ago i will be at my 1 year mark september 2nd.,it is hard work and dedication,and learning not to replace them smokes with food ,good luck0
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the best way to quit smoking is you have to want that change in your life i quit 11 months and two weeks ago i will be at my 1 year mark september 2nd.,it is hard work and dedication,and learning not to replace them smokes with food ,good luck
This is a very good point. I have friends who went to the gym regularly, keep track of food intake and lost a lot of weight and looked really good...then they decided to quit smoking. Now they are bigger and more out of shape then they started, mostly because they replaced the habit of hand to mouth from cigarettes with food. This was motivation for me to both quit smoking and lose weight at the same time so I don't fall into that cycle.0 -
I do not think anyone can quit smoking successfully until they really want it. I had tried several times but didn't really have my heart in it. I one day woke up and decided I wasn't going to let my life be ruled by a little inanimate object. I quit cold turkey. I cut up straws in the size of cigarettes and smoked them when I felt the need. Helped with the hand to the mouth thing, along with some jolly ranchers. I also decided I didn't want to gain weight and ended up losing it with the help of my fitness pal. Keep in mind, too, I was unemployed the entire time I quit smoking with no friends or family in Arizona to keep me busy. If I can do it in those circumstances, I think anyone can! You will feel AMAZING as time goes on being a nonsmoker. I have been one a whole year and the smell of those things and smokers themselves gross me out now!
I agree, but my problem was that at the time I quit I honestly DID want it. But so many months into being smoke-free I missed and craved it so badly I would give in and start all over again. I have smoked for 12 years and I've probably been trying to quit for the last 7 of that.0 -
This thread made me want to go back to quitnet.com and see what my "quit stats" were....
1025 days, 6 hours, 36 minutes and 32 seconds smoke free.
20506 cigarettes not smoked.
$5,483.75 and 5 months, 6 days, 15 hours of your life saved.
Don't ask me where that money went, though...hell if I know
hahahaha, this was a great post. That's a lot of money to be saving! And who cares where it went
, as long as it didn't go to smokes, thats a good thing! 0 -
I quit a year ago. I was smoking since I was 16 and I was then 31. So 15 years as a smoker in total.
I'd smoke a pack of 30's a day or more and usually a 1/4 of weed every few days.
I hurt my leg bad a few years ago and became pretty sedentary and I got up to 140kg (308lbs) I was in a really toxic relationship with an abusive partner, I had sleep apnea and I was incredibly depressed. I wasn't eating properly and I basically just lived off coffee/coke/energy drinks and fast food and cigarettes and weed and worked all day and got by on barely any sleep.
My chest used to hurt sometimes and I could feel my heart pounding away. I felt like I was dying and I honestly think if I hadn't made a change I'd be dead by now.
I knew it was time for a change and I just said F*** it. I have to do it.
And I did.
This is a picture of me then
Just over a year later I'm 99kg, divorced. I've quit smoking (cigarettes and weed) and I got to gym 5-6 days a week. I saved my own life.
If I can do it anyone can.
wow! This is so inspiring. You look great now, and I can see how far you've come. Thank you for sharing this. Keep up the good work! I think I'll get to changing my life now lol0 -
I smoked for almost 25 years and decided I wanted to quit before I turned 40. I was successful in doing that using a couple of different methods.
1. Nicorette Lozengers - I used these for the first month. I found them more effective than the gum or the patch because they help a bit with the oral sensation and the nicotine craving.
2. I used the prescription Campix for 6 weeks to take the edge off. This drug has been used by people in Canada that I know of and it has been successful for many.
I have not been smoking for 3 years now.
Good luck.0 -
I started smoking at 13 and quit when I was 24. I took Welbutrin for about a week to help me quit. I've been a non-smoker for 8 years. I will say that if I go to a party and drink too much, I may have a hit of a cigarette or smoke one but that's once every couple years. I still like the smell of the a freshly lit cigarette too but I hate the smell on my clothes. My daughter's dad smokes as well as my parents and I will rewash my kids' clothes when they come home from spending the night. I know it sounds weird but ugh!0
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hi there i quit nearly two years ago, having stopped on a few other occasions unsucsecfully! if you want to stop you will, just boils down to your choice alone, i used nicotene patches for ten days or so but they didnt agree with me, so just did then on naturally, i think it helps if you can avoid smoke related enviroments to be honest.0
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My first husband was a heavy smoker since age 13 and he died of a massive heart attack in 2004. No warning, no nothing. In a split second he was gone. In 2008 I reconnected with my high school sweetheart and in 2009 we got married. He also had been a heavy smoker since he was around 15. We were out hiking in March at Gatlinburg and he had chest pains and could barely breathe. I thought we would never get back to the car. An angiogram showed two clogged arteries. A stent was put in one and he is on daily medication for a year. He quit smoking in March using Chantex. Chantex caused some terrible nightmares for him. In April we were in a high-rise hotel room and he woke me up in the middle of the night and told me not to let him jump off the balcony. When I asked him about it the next day, he had no memory of saying that. He got off the Chantex in May and has been cold-turkey since then. Having a 'cardiac event' was the scare he needed. (I don't think he would have quit otherwise). Today, he calculates that he has saved nearly $2000 in no longer buying ciggies.
I wish you the best of luck.0 -
hello,
I was a smoker from a very early age. I smoked a pack a day or more. I tried to quit and failed so many times ugg. Finally I had success with the Nicotrol inhaler. Maybe you could try that. I have been smoke free for years. Looking back it was the best decision I ever made. I wish I could say it was easy as pie, but it wasn't. The inhaler helped a lot though. I didn't gain any weight while I was in the horrible quitting/just quit phase. Good luck with quitting. In the end it is the best thing you could do for yourself, and your wallet! :bigsmile:0 -
I quit 21 weeks ago cold turkey after reading The Easy Way to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr.
That's what I'm reading now... getting my mindset.... feeling like a hampster in a wheel.
Guess I'll let you know how it goes, hoping to complete the book this Friday.0 -
I haven't read all the replies so forgive me if I am repeating something someone else has already said...I quit cold turkey almost 3 years ago...best thing I ever did for myself!
You only need 3 things...a strong desire to quit (you need to want to be a non-smoker more than you want to smoke); a copy of Allen Carr's book "The easy Way To Quit Smoking (you actually have to read it); and to join (and participate in) Quitnet.com.
In my opinion, the above is the recipe for success...no gimmicks, no drugs, no patches...just you, Allen, and Quitnet!
I did it (after 50 years of 2 packs a day), millions have done it, and YOU CAN too! Give yourself the best present ever...become a non-smoker! I would wish you luck, but it doesn't require luck, just desire and determination!
Cheers, Carole0 -
I quit smoking cold turkey June 26,2011. One year to the day and time that my beloved father died of lung cancer. He asked me to try to quit shortly before he died. I gave myself one year, to get past all the firsts, first christmas, first birthday without him. I planned quitting for months ahead. I knew my worst two triggers were talking on the phone and driving so I looked for alternatives to break the routine. For driving I began listening to audio books. I plugged my phone into a charger when I was home because I only smoked outside and I couldn't go outside while plugged in. I have never had so much as a puff since. But the demon still tries to get me. I just choose not to give in. Besides better health, which took quite some time to notice, I find I have so much more money now. I was paying over $7 a pack. Be strong!0
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I quit smoking for about two years, my manager told me the best way to quit was everytime you craved a cigarette, have sex. It worked pretty well though resulted in several sexual encounters/partners that I kinda regret.
I also got hooked on dumdums and those tacobell cinnamints trying to quit.
I was successful but then I started clubbing alot and the best way to get a creepy guy away from you is to go "I need a cigarette" and then you can escape. so I only really smoke at the club or if everyone around me is smoking.0 -
I am happy to say i have been smoke free for almost 2 years now and I NEVER ever want to go back to that nasty habit. I had a herniated disk and had to see a neurosurgeon and he said if I were to quit smoking it would increase my chance of recovery by 400% because the chemicals in the cigarettes were not allowing the cells in my lower back regenerate quick enough to recover. Now was that just a ploy to get me to quit? Maybe, however, it was the best thing I ever did for myself. I quit cold turkey and can tell you it is the only way to really be successful at quitting. I also used the help from a web site called whyquit.com they list out interesting facts and people get to share sad stories on how loved ones died from it. So every time I would get a craving I would log on and read a really sad story about how someone lost a lung or a close family member to death from it and it made that craving go away really fast! The first two weeks are the hardest with the cravings but if you can talk yourself off that craving ledge for 10 seconds it goes away and then over a few months you won't even get them anymore and at some point the smell of it will totally gross you out and make you wonder what the heck were you doing all those years! I wish you the best of luck with being a quitter!0
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I loved loved loved smoking. No one thought I would quit. It has been just a little over a year since my last cigarette. I have never cheated, not even a single hit. I read, "Allen Carr's Easy Way to Quite Smoking." I HIGHLY recommend it. It worked for me and my aunt. It is the biggest accomplishment I have ever achieved! I love being a non-smoker. I didn't gain any weight either. When I craving got bad (which only is really bad for a few days) I walked a lot. I reminded myself not to substitute food for cigarettes because I wasn't craving food, I was craving nicotine. It really works!0
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I smoked heavily for about 10 years. It took me several attempts at going "cold turkey", but when I fell off the wagon, I got back on. Eventually, I didn't buy another pack.
Shortly after I quit for the last time, I got pregnant...that kept me smoke free. I've been smoke free for more than 11 years.0 -
My story is similar to many of the other posters on this thread...
I smoked for about 12 years. One to two packs per day. I quit when I was newly single and realized that many people don't like the dirty habit, and that continuing to smoke would limit my dating options. (Silly reason I know, but whatever works). I quit cold turkey on the 4th of July in 1986.
My triggers were coffee, alcohol, and driving in the car. I gave up coffee and alcohol for a while, and every time I got into my car for about a year, I pushed in the lighter, and then had a laugh because I didn't have any cigs.
It has been 26 years since I quit, and it is one of my greatest accomplishments. I have been diagnosed with COPD as a result of my smoking. I do not have symptoms, and the doctor says that I will probably not develop them.
The best thing you can do for yourself and your family is to quit now -- it is more important to quit smoking than it is to lose weight IMHO. Do whatever it takes. If I could you can.
Good luck
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I've smoked since i was in college,i am now 31. I was ine of those people who resigned to the fact that i will smoke until i get old. My partner, who is in health care, helped me through the process. I was checked up on every so often, caught when im lying ( :0 ) and supported when i strayed. One very vivid thing that kept an imprint was that i smelled cigarette smoke on a very humid and cold evening when i was abstaining and i was so repulsed. I guess i was just ready and primed to quit.
I had 2 or 3 fails of 2 to 5 months each. I am now going 1 year. I feel so much healthier! The benefits everyone said they felt, they are so real. I am still a big girl but i dont lose my breath climbing few flights of stairs, i breathe easier, i have been more productive and my smoker friends say that they'd like to go back smelling smoke free cause they say i smell great. Lol.
I guess you need someone who can support you and help you progress. 0 -
hi! im 21 and i started smoking when i was 14. I smoked for 7 years, and abou the last 4 years it was at least a pack a day, sometimes 2. I didnt want to quit i was fine, it stopped me from eating more.... then a family friend went into the hospital for a stroke. i went to visit one day and asked the doctor what was being pumped out of her (it was thick and a dark brown color).. the doctor told me it was being pumped from her lungs and it was caused from smoking. i threw out my cigarettes as soon as i got outside the hospital and i havent thought twice about it. its actually 8 weeks today and i havent had one craving... before that i tried over and over and i would last a few weeks and then start back up. but i was so scared seing the effects up close and personal.
i feel so much better since quitting, breathing is easier. and i didnt gain weight, i lost it. instead of running out of breath when exersising i could go longer.
GOOD LUCK!0 -
I smoked a pack a day for 2 and a half years straight. It's obviously a mental crutch as much a physical addiction, so I attacked it at both angles:
-Physical:
1- I used commit lozenges, and some gum. Whenever I was severely jonesing and on the brink of lighting up, I would pop one and it gave me my fix. It also helped replace the gratification of lighting up to popping one. I became addicted to the Commits temporarily.
2- I also started exercising and eating healthier. The last thing you want to do after a long run or 30 min at the gym is light up- gross!
-Mental:
1- I walked through all the damage it was doing to my lungs. And it helped for sometime. But really, I focused on the vanity (sounds terrible, I know). But I would visualize how my skin would become really dry and saggy and my lungs would be filled with tar.
2- Then I identified the habit times and spots- after a coffee, when i jump in my car, when I'm out at a bar. And i would really have to work hard to replace a cigarette with a Commit or a piece of fruit.
3- Also keep a calendar of how many days you've been smoke free!
4- GET OVER THE FACT THAT YOU'LL GAIN WEIGHT. This was the hardest part- but just accept that it may or may not happen, and that the long-term health you're going to regain is worth every short term inconvenience.
BE STRONG!0 -
On Aug 31 this year it will be 8 years since I quit! I did not use patches ( they made me nauseous) or nicotine gum or medication . I did use a website very similar to MFP called quitnet.com . It was VERY helpful! I did set an actual quit date and spent 2 or 3 weeks before my quit date (sept 1) . During those weeks I still smoked but I logged in daily and talked to others and browsed the forums . I started to desire quitting so much that I found my self smoking less and less everyday I went from about 30 cig a day to 3 before It was even my quit date . I quit one day early because my twin nephews were born that day and it would always be easy for me to remember my day ! I used additional stategies message me it you want to know more!0
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bump to read later0
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I quit trying to quit, I just significantly cut back0
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i smoked starting at the age of 12, and smoked 3 packs a day from 18 - 34. I quit 14 months ago. Honestly, i can say that i tried SEVERAL times. and when you want it bad enough, you will do it. You just have to lay them down & NEVER EVER touch one again. No matter how much your body begs for one. It is a simple (yet not so simple) as that.
Good luck!!0 -
I quit 11 years ago and never looked back. It's a lot like changing your eating habits! Here's what I wrote about it: http://alicesadventuresaboveground.com/2012/07/22/habits-are-good/
Good luck!!!0 -
Patches, over 10 years ago. Best thing I ever did. My brother and I quit together, we didn't live in the same town but I think it helped us both. Good luck.0
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I smoked from 1984-1998. I walked out of work one Monday night and lit the last cig in my pack. I either had to get off the bus in a snow storm to buy more or quit. So I quit. It was the only time I ever tried to quit.
I did get off the bus to buy Nicoderm patches. I bought one box (a two week supply) and used them full strength for a week. After that, I cut them in half for two week. And I was done.
I chewed a lot of gum while I was quitting. I also quit on 12/28/98. Three days later I was able to say, "I quit smoking last year." It was a mental trick but it really helped. I also told everybody I knew that I was quitting. I had to quit to save face.
Now I just need to lose the 50 lbs I gained after I quit....0 -
I smoked for 10 years. You're probably not going to like this answer too much, but here it goes.
I wanted to get married, my fiancee hated the smoking, so I just stopped.
Was it hard? Oh yeah, I had to stop drinking at the same time since the two went hand-in-hand for me. After the withdrawals went away, I just never picked one up again. It took a conscious effort, and a realization that you have control. Stress, social pressures, depression, they're all just excuses we make because we really don't want to quit, but if you want it bad enough, then you'll just put them down and tell yourself every time you are tempted to buy a pack, or when someone offers, you just say no.
When you say no to others or yourself enough, it'll become a habit that you won't even have to think about after awhile.
That's the best answer I can come up with. The only magic pill is the one between your ears.0
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