How did you quit smoking?

I used Chantix, I was supposed to set a quit date 7-10 days after I started taking the meds... so of course I chose 10... within 3 days my cigs tasted like licking a 2 year old, never cleaned ash tray and I was immediately down to about 4 a day, had completely quit by day 6, that was back in May, the smell still makes me nauseous and I never want to go there again. I did gain 10 pounds, but they are back off now and I feel better than I did in my 20s, literally! I wish you the Very Best Luck with this decision.... You have to do what is right for You, but believe me.... YOU ARE WORTH IT!!

I quit at the same time as starting MFP. I think that helped because gaining weight was always a concern with quitting smoking. As of this week it has been 2 months smoke free. Knowing the start date for diet/quitting smoking I started to cut back on smoking a few days ahead of time and then went cold turkey. First few days were rough, but it got easier after a couple of weeks and now I hardly think about it at all. You'll do great! Good luck

Cold turkey. I had only been smoking 2-4 cigarettes a day by then, my highest was a pack a day. I had started working out regularly and was having trouble breathing while doing cardio (plus I a lot heavier). I woke up one morning (Oct 31, 2004) and said "enough, I am done." I haven't looked back since. I went through spurts of being a "social smoker." I would have a few here and there while I was out but still considered myself an ex-smoker. I would go back to my normal routine and not even think about smoking nor crave it. Now, I really can't stand them at all.

I used the gum and quit in '96 when my then-little girl pretended to smoke a crayon and said, "When I grow up, I'll smoke real cigarettes like Mommy." :noway:

Great question and I do equate some of the needed tools for quitting smoking as also useful for losing weight. I had felt for decades that I needed to improve myself by quitting smoking, losing weight and probably a few other things but I would try and falter or try and fail and felt like if I couldn't change everything at once it wasn't worth it. So, big psych outs. One thing about quitting smoking I always believed though was that trying and not succeeding wasn't the same thing as trying and failing. And I also knew that the more times you tried the better your chances became of succeeding.

Here's a little funny and even true story I like to tell: I used acupuncture to quit smoking. Yup, I had 3 sessions and 10 years later I quit! (ok, I'm a smart *kitten*, but its true).

So, for my final, successful run at quitting (18 yrs smoke free after 20 as a pack a day smoker) I employed several strategies:

1) listed first because it speaks to my main motivation: both my parents had heart attacks and I had multiple family members from older generations who had died from heart attacks. I faced the fact that heart disease ran in my family and not smoking may not prevent it but it sure wouldn't help me down the road with dealing with it.

2) a friend gave me a smoking cessation self-hypnosis tape (yeah, 18 yrs ago it was "tapes"). One side of the tape was a deep relaxation hypnosis side and the other side was just subliminal messaging you couldn't hear, it was just ocean wave sounds and some flute music set over the sounds. I'd listen to the hypnosis side every night and the subliminal side during my evening bath. The hypnosis side asked you to mentally set a date for quitting. Initially I would mentally say "I will quite smoking when I am ready to". Eventually I picked a date 6 months out. I picked the memorial day holiday because it seemed easy to remember. So, for more than 6 months not a day went by that I didn't listen to 2 hours worth of quit smoking messaging. I smoked a pack the day before I quit. And on the day I quit I bought a pack of nicorette gum to have on hand. I chewed a couple pieces a day for only a couple days. The hit of nicotine made me dizzy. So, I quit and haven't smoked a single cigarette since (nor have I even wanted one!). One thing I did mentally write into my hypnosis program was that I couldn't care if others around me smoked, even in my car or home. I didn't want to care at all about cigarettes. That has held true even to this day. I really don't care (except for some reason I do care that my sister smokes, but I let her smoke in my car anyway). Because I feel strongly that the self-hypnosis method was a huge help to me in breaking my smoke habit, I have now been using weight-loss self-hypnosis CD's for my weight loss efforts and find them very helpful and the messages incredibly positive and reinforcing. It doesn't hurt to reprogram that little voice in your head if its been telling you stuff that undermines your efforts to make positive changes in your life.

3) I was dating a pulmonary doctor during the time I was trying to quit. Whenever I saw him I asked him to tell me about any of his patients battling smoking related illnesses. It wasn't pretty. Negative imagery may or may not work for everyone, but I tell ya, imaging my nostrils eaten away by cancer scared me a lot! He also told me an observation he had about counseling people to quit smoking: 1/3 can quit cold turkey, 1/3 can quit via a program and 1/3 can't or won't or don't quit. I resolved to being one of the people who COULD quit.

SORRY this was so long!!!! I know that everyone needs to come to their own method that will work for them, but gathering information about how others succeeded can be very helpful. I also think that often a multi-faceted approach is very helpful. Go at it from several layers.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JoJo

i quit smoking cold turnkey on March 18th, 1999. i put that cigarette out telling Jesus that He would no longer smoke through my body. that whatever he wanted for me, i would do.

my Husband, took Chantix. he set his stop smoking date according to his work schedule, he wanted a couple days off for his start date. he took the first week of meds, stopped smoking the next week, got a stomach bug, stopped taking the meds and never went back to the meds or the smokes. he has been smoke free over 2.5 years.

cheering you on!

I posted something about 2 weeks ago. Well more like replied on someone else post regarding smoking. I have been a smoker for a very long time. Out of everything I have tried Chantrix was the only thing that worked but I stopped taking it when it caused my abdomen soreness and I was angry all the time for no reason. I have thought about quitting cold turkey. But I will be honest, eventhough I know all the risks and benefits, quitting cold turkey really scares me. BUT, I will try because I really would like to quit. I know its more of a mental thing than anything else. I have begun smoking at scheduled times now instead of smoking at random. I will have a smoke about every 2-3 hours now. And thats a great start for me since i'm somewhat of a chain smoker. I will quit cold turkey. The day after Thanksgiving will be my first cold turkey day.... I will pray and see how it goes from there. I want to bring 2011 in smoke free. Hmmmm maybe those of us who are trying to quit can form some type of smokers support group. Just a thought though.

I quit cold turkey. Just decided one day that I should quit instead of going to the store for a pack cause I had run out. Instead I spent the money I would have spent on the cigs on something nice for me:) I wasn't a heavy smoker though. I usually was only smoking 5 to 10 a day. Wish I could give some advice on what to do to quit though. I just toughed it out until I didn't have anymore cravings. My husband did the same thing when he quit.

I really hope you find something to help you out. I know I'm not much help right now....But I'll help support you on that journey as well:)

Cut back/ then cold turkey nearly 20 years ago, after many many attempts. I was down to 5-10 a day by then.

I had to quit drinking at the same time, I found that when my inhibitions were lowered after a couple drinks, I would smoke.

It was way past time. I did it for my peace of mind - not giving in to an addiction that was going to kill me. I smoked for many years.


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That's what I think would be my worst challenge,drinking and not smoking.I want to quit as well.Good info on this post

Cold turkey and I stopped hanging out with other smokers. I still want to sometimes.