Any smokers?

I used to smoke a lot some time ago, and one day I quit cold turkey. I spent something like two years without any ciggies, but then one day I was drinking with some friends and someone was smoking: I could'nt resist. I started smoking two-three, and went up to almost 10 a day until a month ago, when I decided I was going to GRADUALLY quit. Since last week I don't smoke during the day or before I exercise. It is only at night when I get home that I give into my craving for smoke and on the weekends when I go out or drink with someone (especially if they smoke).

As I read on a previous reply, everyone is different. The first time I quit it was sort of easy, but as you can see I picket it up again... so I guess doing it gradually might just be what will work for me.

smoking causes horrific mouth odors during intimate kissing sessions. Best solution is to hold your nose. The relationship will last alot longer when its outta smell outta mind

i was smoke free from july to october last year about 10lbs during that time. then i ran a marathon, celebrated my achievement with a couple cigarettes a day for two weeks, then got laid off from my job and jumped back on the horse and went back to smoking half a pack a day until now. i found quiting easy in some ways because i was going on a camping trip with my family and wouldnt be able to smoke during the trip so when i came back i had a week under my belt and kept up that positive momentum. if you have something, even if it isnt a whole week or more, where you can change your surroundings and routine it makes it much easier since so much of it it mental. i have another family trip coming up in june and so i am enjoying every last smoke until then when i will put them down for good

i have posted my suggestions and advice before so this is mostly cut and pasted from another thred i posted it in but it all applies here.

oranges help when you have a craving and are a good post workout treat.

wanting a cigarette feels a lot like hunger - which it is, your body is hungry for nicotine, and you are hungry for the taste and experience of smoking. This is a big reason we eat more when we quit, recognize that and be prepared with carrots or something else to fill that void and realize you arent really that much more hungry than normal, they just feel the same.

on weight loss and nicotine loss at the same time...
1. if you arent going to watch your weight while you quit smoking, then when will you know it is time to start? once you quit smoking then you have quit. do you wait a week, a month, a year? what is the magical date? if you arent actually quit for X amount of time then you are allowing the doubt to exist in your mind and allowing for the possibility that you will fail, dont allow for that doubt, dont make failure an option. there is no magical date where you have quit other than when you stamp out that last cigarette so dont make excuses for yourself by saying you cant do both at once.

2. to change, add, or get rid of habitual behavior you need to shake up your routine, thats hard enough to do once so why do it twice? you want to add or build on new habits - dieting and exercise and get rid of one - smoking, so set up a new routine that incorporates those goals.

3. if you are starting to exercise more and you want to quit smoking (this is the most important factor, you have to really want to, otherwise dont bother trying) then you dont want smoking to become part of your exercise routine. a cigarette after a workout is the greatest thing in the world (that is by far the hardest one for me to give up) so if you want to quit then you are going to make it a lot harder.

4. you can obsess about your calories and or your exercise to help eat up the time you might be thinking about how you miss smoking, it will give you a new addiction to replace the old one.

5. of course there are people at gyms and in running groups and other people you might meet exercising who smoke but if you start to make fitness related friends and have never smoked around them, they might not smoke around you or not much at least since it is less acceptable since you met at a gym or on a run, thats a good thing for you, fewer people smoking around you is fewer temptations and less envy.

6. workouts will start to become easier as you get in better shape and also as you smoke less, get both of these benefits at the same time and it will spur you on in your efforts that much more

i dont say good luck to people since there is no luck involved in quiting smoking and saying there is gives you an out or an excuse to start again, it is mental, you have to convince yourself and your mind that you really really really dont want to smoke anymore. the rest is handling the side affects.

grab your goal by the horns and dont let go, add me if you want, i will do my best to check up on you

I quit in June 2012 after smoking a pack a day for 10 years. I did gain some weight, maybe 10 lbs, but guess what? It's a lot easier to lose weight than to get a new set of lungs! (I wish I could take the credit for that, someone else said that in a previous post a few days ago on the same topic).

Anyway, have you tried nicotine replacement? The gum is great for break-through or sudden cravings. Quitting smoking is more than breaking one habit- you've built up habits around that habit. For instance, smoking after meals, smoking in the car, taking smoke breaks at certain times of the day, smoking while drinking, etc. Try breaking each habit, one at a time. And take it one day at a time, like any addiction. Can you promise yourself you won't smoke today? Or at least for the next 2 hours?

It is doable. You have to understand your "why" though. Why do you smoke when you smoke? Because it's just that time? Because of a specific feeling? Is it a reward? Is it punishment? Find other ways to manage these "whys," ways that don't involve food. You don't want to be transferring your addiction onto food!

I wrote a blog a bit ago on the topic, so feel free to check it out. Good luck!

I quit this past January. And I was doing really well, until about a month ago. And I'd go visit one of my friends once a week and sit on her back porch and smoke like 4-5. And now I'm at like 1-4 a day for the past week. It's sick I know, but it's like an old friend I didn't realize I missed until I indulged it. This has to stop. I know that. I just kinda want to hang on for a bit longer... which is dumb I now b/c it'll make it worse.

I quit smoking 9 months ago and have lost weight since (not gained). I went to an Allen Carr's The Easy Way clinic. AMAZING.

My opinions on this....If you go into it thinking it will be a struggle, it will be. If you go into it thinking you might fail, you probably will. The only way I was able to quit was to realize that I was stopping. I wasn't TRYING to stop. I was simply DOING it. Also, I was not giving up anything. I was freeing myself from something terrible that only had illusionary benefits. I am trying to use the same method (The Easy Way) to get off of purely unhealthy junk food. It is VERY successful. Once you take away the ILLUSION that something is good or pleasurable, you see it as it truly is = poison to your body. All of this being said, if someone had said, "Danika, you can quit smoking today but you will gain 15 pounds", I would have gladly done it right then and there. Every single day, I am a happier person for having quit. Also, you should not gain weight. Just do NOT replace cigarettes with any other food or drink (drink water). Also, you will be able to work out EXTRA hard. I can now run for an hour straight without stopping or having a cherry red face.

I wish you the best of luck and if you want a new friend, add me!

XxX Danika

I stopped cold turkey in November and started to gain so joined MFP and lost a bit. I will admit to smoking on nights out recently but have set rules about when I smoke. The thing is though, it takes me a full week to recover from a couple of ciggies on the weekend, so I think I have to cut them out again. But there are some days when all I can think about is a ciggie! I even had the really vivid dreams about smoking and some really wierd things! lol. They are actually worth quitting the gigs on thier own! lol

I once read this quote:

"Never do two hard things at once." It was a book about fasting, and how you shouldn't fast during stressful times, if you can help it. But, I think it applies here, as well.

Of course I advocate quitting, but, maybe you can hold off until you have the diet and exercise under control? Or quit, then work on diet and exercise?
Why make the process more difficult than necessary? If you make it so stressfull you can't handle it, you won't succeed on either front.

I smoked for 37 years and stopped 3 years ago. I used patches for the first 3 weeks then cold turkey. I put on some weight but only because I chose to concentrate on stopping smoking. I have been up and down the scales since I stopped but am now well on the way to permanent weight loss and improved fitness

Another thing to add, is that when you quit smoking you can do more at the gym/exercise, push your body harder, run faster, cycle longer etc so you'll lose weight / inches.

I don't think some people realise just how much smoking can take hold of your life and hold you back.

Like I put earlier the biggest regret was I didn't stop sooner - I smoked for approx 16 years.

I was a smoker, now I am a runner, YEAH!

I quit on Ash Wednesday of this year. Since that day, I have lost 43 pounds. I started running on April 2nd, (the day after Easter), and have steadily racked up 154.67 miles, and am on my scond pair of running shoes.

I smoke a cigar or two on weekends still, and find that it is not interfering with my running routines.

I've struggled with cigarettes since I was 16.

Quitting is not a whole lot different than deciding to eat healthier and lose weight.

If you analyze it too enough...you can come up with lots of reasons why you can't do it...

i smoked a pack and a half a day. I'm doing pretty good I've had 4 in the last 3 days. I'm trying not to be miserable trying not to be grumpy. I've got this.
The 4 I've had are at work. Break time is really hard.

I quit over 2 months ago and have continued to lose (over 20lbs), you can do it if you are determined enough.