Motivation to stop smoking?

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KendellRhee
KendellRhee Posts: 3
in Motivation and Support
I've been having a lot of trouble with this. A LOT. I want to but I can't find the self motivation to do it. I know all of the drawbacks of it and how I could get cancer or diseases that can't be cured but I honest to god want to stop so I can run without nearly fainting again!

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  • Capt_Inzane
    Capt_Inzane Posts: 733 Member
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    I'm not sure what you've tried but I was able to quit when I got really ill I tried the patches, gum, and even tried dipping occasionally (YUCK!) I quit around 8 years ago and am glad I did but enough with that.

    You can try the above (don't get sick though) ideas, they even have the vapor cigarettes. My recommendation is when you want to smoke force yourself to do something else. Most the time it was the fact I was bored or everyone went outside for a smoke break and I wanted to be social with them. I never felt the need for nicotine but that may just be me heck they say after 24 hours its out of your system anyways.

    Right now I'm trying to stop drinking alcohol and what I've done is I make tea instead and sip on that. I dunno hopefully some of the rambling above will help you.

    Goodluck!
  • Yeller_Sensation
    Yeller_Sensation Posts: 373 Member
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    At the risk of sounding trite and condescending, you will stop when you really, really, really want to.

    I quit six weeks after I overhauled my life more than a year ago. Lots of people around me--friends AND family included--did not take me seriously and I hardly blamed them for that because it was not my first time announcing my decision to quit. But quit I did and within days, my energy level and endurance in the gym increased significantly.

    People shut up forever about me falling off the wagon when I stayed nicotine-free after the 12th week and never even gained an ounce. In fact, I lost weight and body fat because I had begun lifting heavy a few weeks before my very last cigarette.

    Dig deeper than you think you already have. You will find a way when you want to get out of where you are.

    Good luck. :flowerforyou:
  • foxgl0ve
    foxgl0ve Posts: 43 Member
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    I quit using the gum, but then my husband and I were addicted to the gum.

    I took all of the money we spent on the gum in a month and put it in cash in an envelope on our kitchen counter. If he broke down and used the gum or smoked I got all the cash, and vice versa. At the end of the month if we both quit successfully, we split the cash and spent it on something fun.

    This made my competitive nature work for me, and the cash at the end was a nice reward to make me feel good about quitting.
  • krrs1980
    krrs1980 Posts: 90 Member
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    I struggle with this as well. The problem is I enjoy it too much. I literally need to change my whole life, the people I hang out with, etc. in order to quit....otherwise, I can never find the will. I've tried Chantix and got completely depressed on it and had people beg me to start smoking again. It's a hard road. You simply have to be ready. Good luck to you though. I also have friends that can give it up during the week and only do it on the weekends. I don't even understand that. I hope you're able to find the will. I wish that for myself too!!
  • Rocknut53
    Rocknut53 Posts: 1,794 Member
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    My husband smoked for over 40 years and of course knew it was bad for him. He had a stent put in his blocked brachial artery a year ago and the doctor told him that if he didn't quit smoking the stent would fail and he would die. He quit that day with the help of nicorette gum. Please, pay attention to the health warnings. You are young and can beat the addiction. The longer you smoke the harder it is to quit. Quitting is a win-win situation for you, you save a lot of money and get healthy.
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
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    I started smoking when I was 13 years old. It is a general rule that the younger you are when you start the heavier you smoke (more cigs per day) and the harder it is for you to quit.
    I think I was 25 years old when I made my first serious attempt to quit. I never could and I never stopped trying -- just about every day.
    Finally, when I was 50 years old, I got a prescription for Chantix and was able to do it. With that drug, it wasn't much trouble.
    But here's the thing: I was trying for 25 years and not succeeding. That is pure misery.
    Listen, have you ever known anyone who smokes (or smoked) who did not try to quit at some point?
    That is how unpleasant smoking becomes, very shortly after you start.
    Don't go through what I did. I had many negative consequences from my smoking and my constant attempts to stop. Get a prescription, for Chantix or Wellbutrin. Get a nicotine patch. Enroll in a quitting class or program. Lock yourself in a room for a week. Do whatever you have to do.
    Giving up on your desire to quit is not an option. You will always want to quit. I have never heard someone say: "Yeah, I thought I wanted to quit. But, then I realized, smoking really is great ! Now I am really glad I didn't quit." Therefore, there is only one way to go, and if you don't find a way to do it, you will be stuck in a purgatory.
    People can do it. Many are successful. You can do it !
  • michellechawner
    michellechawner Posts: 892
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    I quit in 2009 after an illness hospitalized me. I quit cold turkey (my illness wasn't from smoking, but a rare bacterial infection in my intestines that took several months to get over).

    Do I still get the cravings? YES, even 4 years later. But I steer clear of it, because I connect smoking with when I had that bad infection (even though the 2 have NOTHING to do with each other).

    I watched my grandfather die of emphysema. I remember sitting in his hospital room, with my family, and watching him struggle to breath in the end. Seeing a family member struggle like that, you catch on quick.


    My boyfriends parents and brother all used Chantix. They had crazy vivid dreams, but they ALL quit and never went back. His brother now uses an eCig, which he enjoys because they come flavored so it's like smoking a hookah, so he can change up the flavors and still get some nicotine, without ALL the carcinogens.

    Eventually, your want to run will outweigh the cigarette.
  • mousetrousers
    mousetrousers Posts: 27 Member
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    I quit smoking two years ago. I figured when I'm scared about something than I can "psych" myself out of doing it by telling myself over and over in my head that something will go wrong...etc. So I used the same logic and everytime I wanted to light up, I told myself over and over that it was gross, disgusting, poisoning me, it would taste like a chimney. Just anything to "psych" me out of wanting to smoke. It worked for me and I was able to quit cold turkey.
  • Natihilator
    Natihilator Posts: 1,778 Member
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    I tried quitting for all of the "right" reasons before and would eventually go back to smoking. I found that getting really into a certain cardio routine, whether it by C25K or Zumba or biking helped me not pick up my smoking habit again. Having a crappy lung capacity really held back my progress at improving cardio. May not be the "best" reason to quit, but it worked for me. Good luck!
  • chasetwins
    chasetwins Posts: 702 Member
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    At this very moment I have 3 cigarettes left...not because I have no money...not because I can't get to the store...but because I DONT WANT IT ANYMORE!!!
    It holds me back - it controls me and I am not one to be controlled..so how the bleep did a piece of paper filled with dirt get control in the first place>

    I have wanted to quit for a few yrs now - tried everything (except chantix..that crap scares me!) Never made it past 3 days...I have even thrown away whole cartons..only to buy a new one a few days later.

    I work from home...I am forcing myself to finish those 3 today before I go to bed and push my way through the day tomorrow smoke free. From 6 AM till 5:30 PM I really can not get to the store...

    I am afraid - afraid of how I will feel, how I will respond to people and afraid of whose head I will rip off first, afraid of crying for stupid reasons like 2 yr olds do, afraid of giving up my long time friend....but what I am more afraid of...........is failing at it again!!!

    But.....I am going to try anyways. They say never stop trying to quit. If you want it bad enough...you will succeed! Fall off that horse...get your butt back on!!!! ~ Yeller is right...you will quit when YOU really want it. No one can do it for you - no one can make you...but it is the one thing you really can do for yourself that no one else can do..doctors can make you lose weight with knives and suction machines...they can not make you quit...only you have that control ;)

    There are threads on here with people gladly handing out advice on this topic...do a search and read each and every one! Feel free to add me - I will support you any way I can with hopes of vice versa.

    To a smoke free tomorrow :}
  • squirrelythegreat
    squirrelythegreat Posts: 158 Member
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    You've gotta do it for you, and nobody else. Break those psychological links to smoking instead of replacing them with something else.
  • MelsAuntie
    MelsAuntie Posts: 2,833 Member
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    I had a father whom I adored. He was a smoker. From age 14 he worked with his uncles in painting and carpentry, and all of them smoked. Daddy smoked three packs a day for most of his life. He was taken from us by cancer at age 63. The last four years of his life was spent in and out of hospitals, surgery, chemo, in constant agony. I was with him when he died. He never made it to retirement, never got to travel, never got to see this farm, which he would have loved. The day he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he came home, threw his cigarettes in the toilet, and never touched one again. He was determined to outlast the withdrawal, outlast the medical stuff, and beat cancer to be with his family. He lost, but he went down fighting. That was 40 years ago, and I miss him every day.
    If that doesn't motivate you to throw away the cancer sticks, nothing will. Good luck to you.
  • Shawty_Ro
    Shawty_Ro Posts: 135
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    At the risk of sounding trite and condescending, you will stop when you really, really, really want to.

    I quit six weeks after I overhauled my life more than a year ago. Lots of people around me--friends AND family included--did not take me seriously and I hardly blamed them for that because it was not my first time announcing my decision to quit. But quit I did and within days, my energy level and endurance in the gym increased significantly.

    People shut up forever about me falling off the wagon when I stayed nicotine-free after the 12th week and never even gained an ounce. In fact, I lost weight and body fat because I had begun lifting heavy a few weeks before my very last cigarette.

    Dig deeper than you think you already have. You will find a way when you want to get out of where you are.

    Good luck. :flowerforyou:

    This! I've stopped 10th September 2012 still smoke free first 2 weeks are tough after that it gets easier
  • Rocknut53
    Rocknut53 Posts: 1,794 Member
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    I quit in 2009 after an illness hospitalized me. I quit cold turkey (my illness wasn't from smoking, but a rare bacterial infection in my intestines that took several months to get over).

    Smoking makes it more difficult for your body to fight off infection, so perhaps there was a relationship, maybe an indirect one....just a thought.

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