Giving up the smokes...

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Replies

  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    The Allen Carr Easy Way book worked for me, 20 year habit quit cold turkey.

    You can't crave what you don't want, willpower not required.

    Sorry to sound a bit evangelical but that book gave me my freedom back.

    This lovely man introduced me to the magic book! It works! Trust him, trust me. Just read the book!

    Thanks again, Vim!

    You are most welcome, very glad to hear that you are still on the straight and narrow. :)
  • diligentjosh
    diligentjosh Posts: 274
    Good luck man. From personal experience. I have to say one thing. I have said it before a couple of times, but here goes:

    1. you have to HATE cigarettes. You have to hate the act of it. You have to feel guilt every time you light up, and it has to consume everything you do. It has to affect your day to day operations, as in not being able to run to catch the bus, or walk down a trail in Tahoe to your favorite fishing spots. If you do not have that mindset, you are doomed to fail. Hard to digest, but I feel it is the truth.

    2. any chemical dependency will not help you. when I was checking out the gum earlier this year, a couple people told me that they depend on the gum, and it has been that way "for about 3-4 years"." I quit almost cold turkey this time, and have never looked back. Gave away my gum to someone else hoping to quit.

    3. You will eat more, thus you will gain weight for a while. You have to be okay with that. Do not start working out immediately. I gained 10 lbs in a week when I quit, because I ate everything in front of me and your mama's Christmas recipe, too! But within a month I lost it all back.

    4. There has to be little to no stress in your life. Money issues, such as day to day jobs, or dealing with loans, will trigger you. You cannot be in a high stress life situation.

    I am something like almost 2 months smoke free for the first time since I was 13. I feel awesome, and am going to be running my first timed 5k at sunrise. I just consider myself a non-smoker now. I do not even think about it. Good luck in your journey!
  • MsTT80
    MsTT80 Posts: 59 Member
    I used an electronic cig when I quit in Feb this year.....still off the smokes! It is possible, just give the ecig a try. I still use it with a zero nicotine cartridge when I feel that urge e.g. after a good meal, when I've had a few drinks or feeling very stressed. I will cut it out totally but I'm not putting too much pressure on myself about it.
  • goonas
    goonas Posts: 205
    3. You will eat more, thus you will gain weight for a while. You have to be okay with that. Do not start working out immediately. I gained 10 lbs in a week when I quit, because I ate everything in front of me and your mama's Christmas recipe, too! But within a month I lost it all back.

    Sorry you don't have to gain any weight, I didn't, I didn't substitute, if you substitute a chocolate bar for a cigarette then yes weight will go on, but if you substitute say a 5 minute jog on the spot or a small carrot when you fancy a cigarette the you will be doing yourself the world of good.
  • goonas
    goonas Posts: 205
    4. There has to be little to no stress in your life. Money issues, such as day to day jobs, or dealing with loans, will trigger you. You cannot be in a high stress life situation.

    That point is all in your head, smoking doesn't relieve stress, think about when you used to smoke, I bet 99% of the time you would smoke the same number of cigarettes whether you were stressed or happy - thats been the case for me and pretty much everyone I've ever spoken to about smoking.

    Having a smoke doesn't relieve stress, it doesn't get rid of it, the stress factor will still be there after you stub out that cigarette.

    On another point, quitting Smoking is not about breaking an addiction to nicotine but breaking an addiction to the physical habit of smoking.

    If you REALLY want to quit you can and will quit without any Nictoine Replacement, and doing it cold turkey. It's your brain you need to train to break the habit of smoking. You probably find yo smoke at the same times of day each and every day, i.e. when you wake up, during a 5 minute break at work in the morning, after lunch, before and after dinner, and before bed.
  • blueeyess55
    blueeyess55 Posts: 36 Member
    BUMP
  • Gitn_Fit
    Gitn_Fit Posts: 40 Member
    I quit smoking with the e-cig too. It's been a little over a year now and still have that same half pack of smokes in my car. I tried one type of e-cig first and it just was too fussy and didn't do it for me, then I got the ego tank (type B) and it just worked great. Then the challenge was finding a flavor and strength. I forced myself to go 7 days without a smoke, ecig only. I felt better after about day 5. Day 7 came and for some reason I couldn't use my ecig (don't remember why), so I had a smoke. It was DISGUSTING, even when I tried chewing on the sinus-clearing strong gum, just tasted like licking an ashtray. That was the end of that.

    Occassionally cigarettes smell good to me now, but most of the time not. The ecigs just taste better and I get all I need from them. I too can smell someone smoking in the car in front of me and I was shocked how easily detectable that smell is. I never thought I smelled bad when I smoked. i can only imagine now... as I was 2 packs + per day!

    I was so convinced at how easy this was... first time trying to quit smoking too... that I got a couple friends on it. None of them succeeded like me though and I believe it is really about attitude and want. For me it was key to not have any smokes at all. Others do well with some smoking, some vaping and just naturally lessen the smoking.

    Best of luck to you. Once you are done you will be so happy that you got it done :) It made a huge difference in my life.
  • Restybaby2012
    Restybaby2012 Posts: 568 Member
    I quit almost a year ago. I too didnt gain weight but lost. I find that not smoking I also dont eat........the two went hand in hand for me. I also know that I always liked smoking. I didnt seem to smoke because of stress, or any of the other myriad of excuses we use to smoke. I never even minded the smell until one day.....


    .........one day I noticed I had mega trouble breathing as I walked in to work from my car. I shook it off. Then I began to notice trouble walking out to my car. Now Im not talking a lil huffin n puffin..........Im talking true trouble......like OMG I dont know if I can draw another breath I need to stop for a minute. Did I quit then? Nope...that would have been too simple. It took a breathing test along with lung function tests and some odd cardio testing thrown in for good measure. It all sucked.

    ........so I quit one day. I merely and quite simply said "I quit". I learned to hate the smell. I learned to hate the taste, the look, the touch, the feel, and gawd knows the money wasted. I discovered that I would save at LEAST $400 a MONTH by not smoking. That's $400 a month towards my new car, or new clothes, or a personal trainer, or a savings account.

    I find I have to stay aware--forever more, of how easy it is to slide back into the "I want a damn cigarette" mood. I usta not smoke or even want one from 530 am til 3pm..........and from 7pm to 3am. SO why the hell was I smoking? I never smoked at work, I never smoked in my car, I didnt smoke at other peoples homes. WTF. Why not just "not smoke"

    So.......I dont.
  • Smuterella
    Smuterella Posts: 1,623 Member
    DeadVim, me too - Allen Carr Easyway; finished the book and haven't smoked again. Didn't suffer a single withdrawal pang. It's been an utter pleasure to this day. Best $7.00 I ever spent; cost of a pack of smokes in MD.

    Hmph. Didn't work for me. I've read it several times.

    Tried hypnotism, ecigs, champix.

    Sigh.

    I think I'll just give up giving up.
  • dcurzon
    dcurzon Posts: 653 Member
    thurs - just that one early morning cig.


    friday. ZERO!

    although starting to feel a bit angsty
  • Scoochie1
    Scoochie1 Posts: 121 Member
    Good Luck - I was off them last year 7 months with Champix. Fell off the wagon for 3 months.
    Off them now since January again on Champix but much more positive now. My other half smokes like a trouper and I'm back to my pre-smoker days of finding the smell of cigarettes rotten!
    Everyone is different, there is no magic answer, its very similar to the dieting :laugh: Just do the right things and then you will get the results you want
  • dcurzon
    dcurzon Posts: 653 Member
    Saturday - zero
  • AudreyinNC
    AudreyinNC Posts: 59
    I quit a year and half ago, after 22 years, a pack and half a day smoker. Quit cold turkey. Although I did use the e-cig for about 3 days. My thing was I couldn't breath, a trip from the couch to back yard would have me feeling like I was drowning. Scary.
    But hardest thing I ever did. Its hard to admit this out loud, but sometimes my withdrawals were so bad I would go into the bathroom at work and cry. And I'm not whimpy kind of chic. I'm an admin in a truck shop spending my whole day with mechanics and truckers. I was one of those people that idolized anyone who quit cold turkey, saying I could never do it. But I did.

    After 3 months it really got easier for me and I havent looked back. I'm SO glad I did it. I can do things now I could only dream about then. And I can breathhhhh! Good luck to you! It's not easy, but its attainable for sure.
  • NotSoBigNeil
    NotSoBigNeil Posts: 215 Member
    I've been smoke free for 7 days! Moved to e-cigs and I never thought they'd work, but they are a MASSIVE help. I'm just a little concerned now that I'll be addicted to vaping!
    The only downside is that the cartridges don't last very long, the manufacturers claim that each cart is the equivalent of 40 regular cigarettes, but I reckon it's more like 10!
    It's still working out quite expensive, but I feel so much better without cigs, I can actually take a huge deep breath now without coughing my lungs up :laugh:

    Good luck to everyone on the wagon, and if I can do it - anyone can, I used to smoke around 20 to 30 a day, and have been on 'em since I was 13 (I'm now 42) and I NEVER thought I'd do it.

    Happy days!!
  • Lolly13
    Lolly13 Posts: 35
    I quit 5 or 6 years ago. Cold turkey is the only way to go - sorry! www.whyquit.com is a good recource to learn about quiting smoking. It breaks down what the hell is going on inside your brain while you trying to quit. It helped me.

    i was a smoker for almost 10 years - not a heavy smoker though, I quit cold turkey too, woke up one morning after a night out and just decided to quite, Cut down bit by bit per day for 5 days, to "ease" myself off them and thats it on the 5th day i didnt have one and not had one since - been a non smoker for 7 months now and i certainly dont miss it. :)

    I used the NHS quit smoking guide and App on my phone too as it tells you where you are, how many days you have quit ad how much money you have saved.
  • Mads1997
    Mads1997 Posts: 1,494 Member
    Good luck everybody trying to kick the habit.

    I gave up cold turkey on the 20th Feb 2010 after smoking a pack (30) a day for 27 years.
  • shannoniacovino
    shannoniacovino Posts: 5 Member
    :wink: :wink: you are doing awesome no matter what. keep it up.
  • dcurzon
    dcurzon Posts: 653 Member
    sunday was going so well....

    but the child was playing me up. On purpose. I faltered and had a cigarette.

    First couple of puffs, i was like, eurgh, but then it came so easy

    still, not going to kick myself about one ciggy.



    Monday - zero
  • Restybaby2012
    Restybaby2012 Posts: 568 Member
    sunday was going so well....

    but the child was playing me up. On purpose. I faltered and had a cigarette.

    First couple of puffs, i was like, eurgh, but then it came so easy

    still, not going to kick myself about one ciggy.



    Monday - zero


    COME ON NOW DC!!!!!! Fight this damn thing son............you CAN ya know? I smoked a pack or more a day for a whole lot longer than I care to think about (Like ohhhhhh 30 years!!!) Trust me....you dont want to get to where I got to before I quit.

    DO THIS!!!

    DO THIS


    DO
    IT and dont look back.!!!! We'll be here to support you.........to catch you.......to hold you ............and even to kick your *kitten* if ya need it.

    YOU
    CHOOSE

    catexercisetodaymovetolefttommovetoright.jpg



    if I can put em down.......I have absolute trust that you can!!!

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