Quitting Smoking, Exercise & Other Lifestyle Changes.

cnorthrop3263
cnorthrop3263 Posts: 3
in Motivation and Support
I have decided, after months of nagging myself and beating myself up for smoking, that it is time to quit. Along with that, I have decided to lose the extra weight that I've put on in the past 7-8 months. I wrote down reasons I am quitting cigarettes, and plan on keeping it with me. I am going to change my routines, such as going on my back porch first thing in the morning to smoke. I will most likely begin using my front door to avoid the back porch area (it is basically the "designated smoking area" at my house). As far as the weight loss, I've begun tracking my food intake, and slowly modifying my terrible diet. I think I'm going to try to drink a few glasses of water first thing in the morning before I drink coffee or eat, as I heard that kind of gives your body a heads up...plus it will help me increase my water intake. I don't drink very many sodas, but I do like juice. I've begun a few workouts, using fitness blender. I'll admit I can't keep up with a whole workout yet. The smoking and sedentary lifestyle has really weakened me. (I spend hours on the computer doing homework, because I take online college classes--partly why I've gained weight..also adopted a bad diet; stress eating) I plan on taking face-to-face classes next semester just because of how much time I've ended up sitting in front of my computer. Does anyone have advice for me? I would especially like advice in the area of NOT smoking. Please and thank you. Thanks for reading.

~Christina

Replies

  • ronit_rai
    ronit_rai Posts: 325 Member
    :good luck for ur journey :)
  • clioandboy
    clioandboy Posts: 963 Member
    I gave up smoking 25th Sept, havent given up nicotine yet am using electronic cigarette, dropped one level of nicotine and due to drop another next week. Have you considered nicotine replacement? small steps to big changes seem to be working for me, I need to measure the stressors i am putting myself under too much too soon and I can drop all the balls! good luck to you, it isnt easy but well worth it!
  • unknownexile
    unknownexile Posts: 52
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sMdWxE-Wgc
    :)
  • cnorthrop3263
    cnorthrop3263 Posts: 3
    Thanks. Interesting video. (: Like the arm thing.
  • cnorthrop3263
    cnorthrop3263 Posts: 3
    Yeah I have one of those electronic cigarettes. I don't want to use it. I just want to be completely done. I've had it for a long time but it always makes me want an actual cigarette. :\ I am happy you're doing so well! Go you!!! :D
  • lil_lizt
    lil_lizt Posts: 275 Member
    I've found the easiest way for me is to quit smoking cold turkey. I try to avoid smoker friends the first few days too as that makes it harder. Oh, and alcohol lol. You'll know what triggers you to reach for a *kitten* eg after meals so it's just a case of breaking the habit. The nicotine passes through your system with 48 hrs ( I think ) so after that it tends to be habit. Good luck!
  • lrome1966
    lrome1966 Posts: 2
    Hi
    I quit smoking for around a year now. I didnt like the idea of nicotine replacement, tried it before and didnt work. Also what is the point of putting something else into your body!! I quit by using some tablets called *Champix* that was prescribed to me by my health clinic. You carry on smoking and believe me after a few weeks you slowly dont want to smoke. They worked for me but unfortunately I kind of replaced my smoking with food, hence the reason I am on here. Just try not to make the same mistake of replacing cigs with food, it is easily done.

    Good luck :)
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    I can totally recommend Allen Carr's Easy Way book to deal with the smokes.

    I quit after 20 years of puffing away after reading that.

    You can't crave what you don't want ... Good luck.
  • carolemack
    carolemack Posts: 1,276 Member
    Saturday was my 4 year anniversary of quitting smoking...I was a two pack a day smoker for almost 50 years and never thought I could quit. The two things that helped me to kick the habit was the Alan Carr book noted above and a website called Quitnet.

    I also went cold turkey...I had tried to quit many times before using one crutch or another and always ended up smoking again. For me, cold turkey was the only way to success.

    Good luck...quitting smoking is the single most important thing you can do to improve your health.
  • SurfyFriend
    SurfyFriend Posts: 362 Member
    I used to smoke about 6 cigarettes a day. Best to taper yourself down otherwise its risky and easy to start up again by accident. Swap to sky blues or a lower strength cigarette and gradually cut down on the number of cmokes per day as you can manage. Its hard. Its actually really hard. And sometimes will power isnt enough. Exercise is the best thing because it reminds you of how much easier things would b if you quit. When I had the worst cravings ever, I would read articles about other people smoking and how good it was. It was like reminiscing and i didnt feel so left out anymore and the feeling passed. Things like that. Talk to everyone about it and call them when your feeling weak and they will talk you through it, things like that.
    I quit 3 years ago and I'm glad I did :)
    You can do it too
  • lauren3101
    lauren3101 Posts: 1,853 Member
    I have given up cigarettes a few times :laugh: so I feel your pain!

    Congratulations on taking this first step. You are making a lot of big changes at once so don't feel bad if you fall off the wagon at any point, just get back on and keep at it. Good luck :smile:
  • goonas
    goonas Posts: 205
    I have decided, after months of nagging myself and beating myself up for smoking, that it is time to quit. Along with that, I have decided to lose the extra weight that I've put on in the past 7-8 months. I wrote down reasons I am quitting cigarettes, and plan on keeping it with me. I am going to change my routines, such as going on my back porch first thing in the morning to smoke. I will most likely begin using my front door to avoid the back porch area (it is basically the "designated smoking area" at my house). As far as the weight loss, I've begun tracking my food intake, and slowly modifying my terrible diet. I think I'm going to try to drink a few glasses of water first thing in the morning before I drink coffee or eat, as I heard that kind of gives your body a heads up...plus it will help me increase my water intake. I don't drink very many sodas, but I do like juice. I've begun a few workouts, using fitness blender. I'll admit I can't keep up with a whole workout yet. The smoking and sedentary lifestyle has really weakened me. (I spend hours on the computer doing homework, because I take online college classes--partly why I've gained weight..also adopted a bad diet; stress eating) I plan on taking face-to-face classes next semester just because of how much time I've ended up sitting in front of my computer. Does anyone have advice for me? I would especially like advice in the area of NOT smoking. Please and thank you. Thanks for reading.

    ~Christina

    The best advice I can offer you to quit smoking is one of the things you're doing, changing a habit - the back porch thing. Another piece I can offer is on the weekly anniversary of you quitting put the money you would have spent on cigarettes into a clear plastic jar to save, it acts as a great way to show the improvements in your wealth as well as your health. It has to be clear so it can be seen all the time, put it in a prominent place in the house so you see it a lot!

    Once I had saved over £2,500 I bought myself an expensive bike and took up cycling, and haven't looked back, neither do I crave or want a cigarette, I prefer other things and cigarettes don't cross my mind on a day to day basis. I quit in January 2012 (was a 15-20 per day smoker), so now just over 1 year and 10 months 'clean' - oh and in that time I've also lost 3.5 stone.

    Anyone that says you can't quit smoking and lose weight at the same time just isn't dedicated enough in my opinion. Just don't substitute food for your cigarettes. I also used sugar free mints to give me something to do when I wanted a cigarette instead of lighting up... one mint then a glass of water, worked wonders for me.
  • TheRealJohnnyDelWalker
    TheRealJohnnyDelWalker Posts: 22 Member
    I'm 26 days smoke free and I did it cold turkey. I thought about some of the Nicotene replacements out there but then thought to myself that as long as I'm putting Nicotene in my system I'm just making the process longer and harder.

    What I found to be extremely helpful is to excercise while you are trying to quit. Reading your post it seems like you might have a hard time with that but...find something that you can manage to start with and do that. Make it fun. Walk after dinner...etc. Get a gym membership (most gyms will throw down a couple of free weeks to try them out) and sit in the wet sauna to sweat out all the toxins. Take deep breaths of the moist air into your lungs.

    Whatever it is that works for you...you will find your way. There is a support group at livestrong.com of folks that are trying to quit. Check it out. Best of luck!

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