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

classycouture
classycouture Posts: 888 Member
in Motivation and Support
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!
«1

Replies

  • LeenaRuns
    LeenaRuns Posts: 1,309 Member
    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
    kaydensmom12 Posts: 338
    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
    FireBrand80 Posts: 378 Member
    The day you quit. The power of positive thinking
  • jilliew
    jilliew Posts: 255 Member
    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
    LaurySch Posts: 277 Member
    As soon as you finish your last cigarette you are a non-smoker! :smile: 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
    itsuki Posts: 520 Member
    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
    kayl3igh88 Posts: 428 Member
    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
    maesgrammie Posts: 22 Member
    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. :smile:
  • BondBomb
    BondBomb Posts: 1,781 Member
    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
    stellarcanicula Posts: 50 Member
    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
    LeslieC1970 Posts: 160
    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
    Laces_0ut Posts: 3,750 Member
    iv seen my friends try to quit. id say you'd need a year.
  • 78Octane
    78Octane Posts: 68
    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
    sbernardy Posts: 188
    When your at the dr office.. they say a year.. but I agree after you last smoke! :smokin:
  • beckajw
    beckajw Posts: 1,728 Member
    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_
    _Elemenopee_ Posts: 2,665 Member
    23 days, 15 hours and 37 minutes plus however long it's been since you first posted this.

    Well done!
  • ahviendha
    ahviendha Posts: 1,291 Member
    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
    devil_in_a_blue_dress Posts: 5,214 Member
    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
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    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
    CarleyLovesPets Posts: 410 Member
    The day you decide to quit and never smoke again!
  • flyingpurplemonkey
    flyingpurplemonkey Posts: 105 Member
    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:

    I've done that too! I was really relieved when I woke up and realized that I was still smoke-free.
  • blakeym
    blakeym Posts: 97 Member
    I would say one year also, as it's really easy to say "no" after that amount of time.

    Keep up the effort.
  • mschmalfuss
    mschmalfuss Posts: 28 Member
    Congrats on earning your new title!

    I use a program to count up from the time I put out my last one. It pops up every time I start my computer. At 9:00PM EST on August 15th it will be 2 years. I chose the 1-year mark to consider myself a non-smoker because it was twice as long as my previous best attempt.

    The fact that you are on here may also help you aviod the dreaded weight gain usually associated with quitting.

    Good Job! Keep it up!
  • slowturtle1
    slowturtle1 Posts: 284 Member
    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!
    Can't argue with that! Congratulations! You passed the 3 toughest tests! :bigsmile:
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
    I still don't call myself a non-smoker, I'm an ex-smoker . . . and it's been 8 years. I started considering myself an ex-smoker after about 6 months to a year when I stopped dreaming about smoking, realized the smell was finally out of everything I owned, and couldn't even stand to be in the same general vacinity as someone smoking. I will take the long way around something just so avoid the smoking areas.
  • abbezen
    abbezen Posts: 405 Member
    I quit on June 22, 2012. That was 49 dyas ago. That is the day I became a non-smoker!
  • FlyByJuly
    FlyByJuly Posts: 564 Member
    The day you quit. The power of positive thinking

    Exactly! I'm now 61.5 hours post-smoker! Since I had my last cig, I've had only two thoughts of cigs. And I said to myself 'nope, I don't smoke.'
  • Fatbuster205
    Fatbuster205 Posts: 333 Member
    Congratulations!! You are a non-smoker the second you give up!! I gave up almost 2 years ago - cold turkey thanks to pleurisy and I haven't looked back. Not a single craving! The first I did was get my house redecorated - the colour of ceilings was awful and I had every curtain cleaned. My house is strictly a no smoking zone and even the smell makes me feel ill. Stop counting and enjoy the fact that you are no longer dependent on a dangerous poison. Your body is already recovering. Keep it up!
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    I've never smoked, but I would say the second after you decide to never smoke again, you are a non-smoker. I considered myself a vegetarian the day I decided to stop eating meat. It's similar.
  • AJ_Pete
    AJ_Pete Posts: 863 Member
    The moment you quit and never go back.

Categories