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

Options
2

Replies

  • flyingpurplemonkey
    flyingpurplemonkey Posts: 105 Member
    Options
    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
    Options
    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
    Options
    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
    Options
    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
    Options
    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
    Options
    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
    Options
    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
    Options
    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
    Options
    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
    Options
    The moment you quit and never go back.
  • mariposa224
    mariposa224 Posts: 1,269 Member
    Options
    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!

    I've never called myself a non-smoker. I tend to use the terms "former smoker" or "reformed smoker." lol I just hate how smokers have no rights and it seems the world is full of rabid-anti-smokers. yes, we all know it's horrible for everyone's health but so are a ton of other things. Not going to start a rant... Just giving my thought on it.
  • squishycow7
    squishycow7 Posts: 820 Member
    Options
    Not to be negative, but in medical records... you're either never, current, or former... it's always going to part of your medical history!


    But on a personal level... whenever you think you're clean of it. Thinking negatively (like your doctor!) might = relapse! Be proud of quitting :)
  • redmagpie91
    redmagpie91 Posts: 77 Member
    Options
    I smoke a single cigarette about once or twice a week at most. Sometimes I go weeks without. I definitely consider myself a non-smoker and my doctor does too even with all the facts. I was never addicted though and have just always done this so I don't know if that helps.
  • meli_medina
    meli_medina Posts: 594 Member
    Options
    When I went out to a bar for the first time, wasn't tempted to light up, and also felt disgusted by the smoke clinging to me from others when I left.

    Before that, I still considered myself in process of quitting. When the temptation left me, I knew I was good!
  • j_wilson2012
    j_wilson2012 Posts: 293
    Options
    I am almost a full 4 weeks without cigarettes. Okay, my BD was on the 7th, and I had a few that day (like 4), but I bought the nastiest cigs on the shelf, and at the end of the day, I broke the rest of the pack and put them in the dumpster. It was a very depressing day, and I was on edge (unemployed, in the dark with edd, havent accomplished anything in life, etc etc). But I had a few that day, and when I woke up the next day, I did not have any cravings to go out and buy more cigs.

    Being that I have lost that urge to smoke out of recreation, I would consider myself a non-smoker. I will through exception to that one day I had about 4 or 5, because it was controlled--- as in, I didn't get re-hooked. So, on Sunday, I will be a Month without a cigarette.

    It takes months for your body to restore itself though. Lung capacity gets better with every work out, and blood pressure reduces gradually. GREAT JOB ON QUITTING! You just saved about $85 so far!
  • slowturtle1
    slowturtle1 Posts: 284 Member
    Options
    Congrats on quitting! That's a huge accomplishment! Only briefly was I actually a "smoker"--maybe 6 months. But I was a "social smoker" off and on for years. All that time I still called myself a non-smoker (denial?). I can't remember the last time I had a cigarette, but I can't promise I won't ever have another one, so I'd agree with those who've said that you define it, you will know when you are a non-smoker. Maybe it's when the smell grosses you out. Maybe it's when you can't remember your last cigarette. Maybe it's when you can sit in a room full of smokers after a few drinks and not even want one... But definitely important to always clarify to the doc that you are a former smoker, no matter how long it's been. I still tell my doc that I'm a social smoker, but when I can't remember my last cigarette he usually just shakes his head and marks it out.:laugh:
  • MrDude_1
    MrDude_1 Posts: 2,510 Member
    Options
    i never smoked.

    but I do NOT consider myself a non-smoker... im just not currently smoking.

    non-smoker implies i have some kind of problem with it.
  • gogojodee
    gogojodee Posts: 1,261 Member
    Options
    iv seen my friends try to quit. id say you'd need a year.

    This. And for insurance purposes - usually it's a year. Some polices state if you've been a smoker as in daily, you're still a risk so they count that.
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
    Options
    I started smoking a pack a day at 14 years. About three years ago, I quit with the help of Chantix, after trying for over 20 years.
    It was so impossible to quit, I'd never go back. But, I still consider myself a smoker because I know that if I had just one I'd be hooked again. And, I might never be able to quit a second time.
    But, that's just me. I think once a smoker, always a smoker.
    Research says that those who become smokers before age 18 years smoke the most and have the hardest time quitting, and the earlier you start the worse it is. People who begin smoking after age 18 years generally have a relatively easy time quitting.
    The reason nicotine is so addicting is because the delivery system is through the lungs. That means, it gets to the blood stream and the brain fast and it hits them hard. It is why crack is so much more addictive than snorted cocaine, and why drugs injected into the vein tend to be so addictive. The harder and faster a chemical hits the brain the more it sucks!
    The reason cigarettes are so difficult to quit is that there is no positive reinforcement for not smoking, but if you give in, and light up, you feel better right away.
    Good luck with quitting! If things get hard, just remember, there has never been a smoker who hasn't tried quitting. There are many reasons for that.
    Signed,
    A smoker who refuses to relapse.
  • bbmkr3
    bbmkr3 Posts: 25 Member
    Options
    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.

    ^^ This is me, 1 year 5 months! I feel more like an ex-smoker than a non-smoker and while I still feel the urge when I get stressed, I don't give in. After I quit I still liked the smell and would stand next to people while they were smoking but now it's starting to stink and I don't feel the need to smell it anymore.

Categories