I'm done, I quit.
missiontofitness
Posts: 4,059 Member
No, not from my fitness goals!
But tonight, I made the decision to quit. To quit smoking.
I'm more fortunate in the fact that I've only been smoking for two years. I don't have decades under my belt, and drained bank accounts to prove it. But I've realized what a waste smoking is, what it's doing to my body, and that smoking is not aligned with my health and personal goals.
In the past week, I've spent nearly $40 on cigarettes. That's 2/3 of a tank of gas for me. That's almost two weeks of groceries for me. That's nearly half of the first early payment I made on my student loans 12 days ago. What if I was to keep that up for a year? That's $1,800 that was gone for something that destresses me for ten minutes at a time and puts me at higher risk for cancer.
I'm starting to get that very attractive smoker's cough, and becoming more aware of how much my clothes reek. And, the smell is creeping in to my car as well; one of my biggest triggers is getting bored or stressed, and going on nightly late night drives and smoking while I do it. That's also indirectly driving up (no pun intended) the mileage on my car, and affecting how often I have to fill my gas tank. It's costing me more than the equivalent per month of what I put towards my loans.Smoking is doing nothing good for me, while the past 149 days I have logged on this site have done much more for me. Do I want an extra $100 in my pocket, or do I want pain in my chest, a gross cough, and reduced stamina? Do I want to fill my gas tank up less, or do I want to make my car smelly and put unnecessary miles on it?
So I've decided that this Sunday (August 17th) is the last day I'm allowing myself to smoke. After that, it's cold turkey for me. If I have any cigarettes left from this current pack (and I am not allowed to purchase a new pack if I blow through this one before Sunday), they are going to be doused in toilet bowl cleaner, and thrown in the trash. I did it for a month earlier this year, and it was a challenge, but I was successful at it. Before when I would try to cut back, I also discovered that eating oranges were also an unusual way for me to curb cravings and keeping my hands occupied, so I will be picking up a giant bag of clementines (which are a bit easier on my macros than navel oranges are!), and keeping those on me at all times.
I will also be setting up a jar in my room, and every three days, I will be putting $5-$10 in it ($10 the price of cigarettes in MA, and $5 is the price if I drive 15 minutes up the road to NH to get some), the equivalent of what I would have spent on cigarettes during that time frame. If I keep that up for 30 days from Sunday, in one month I would have saved around $100, and can lump that on top of my next $100 early payment towards my student loans as a reward. The biggest reward I could get from this is to have all of the interest paid off on my biggest student loan by December 2015, when my grace period for my loans is over, and moving on to more affordable payments. $3,600 in interest could be gone through doubling my payment. That's huge for me. Not $1,800 paid off because I decided to blow the other $1,800 on cigarettes.
So, I quit! I'm done! Finished!
I've seen a lot of smokers and ex smokers on here, and I'd love to hear stories about how you did it, how you felt after, and how you've kept it up. I definitely could use some pointers right now!
But tonight, I made the decision to quit. To quit smoking.
I'm more fortunate in the fact that I've only been smoking for two years. I don't have decades under my belt, and drained bank accounts to prove it. But I've realized what a waste smoking is, what it's doing to my body, and that smoking is not aligned with my health and personal goals.
In the past week, I've spent nearly $40 on cigarettes. That's 2/3 of a tank of gas for me. That's almost two weeks of groceries for me. That's nearly half of the first early payment I made on my student loans 12 days ago. What if I was to keep that up for a year? That's $1,800 that was gone for something that destresses me for ten minutes at a time and puts me at higher risk for cancer.
I'm starting to get that very attractive smoker's cough, and becoming more aware of how much my clothes reek. And, the smell is creeping in to my car as well; one of my biggest triggers is getting bored or stressed, and going on nightly late night drives and smoking while I do it. That's also indirectly driving up (no pun intended) the mileage on my car, and affecting how often I have to fill my gas tank. It's costing me more than the equivalent per month of what I put towards my loans.Smoking is doing nothing good for me, while the past 149 days I have logged on this site have done much more for me. Do I want an extra $100 in my pocket, or do I want pain in my chest, a gross cough, and reduced stamina? Do I want to fill my gas tank up less, or do I want to make my car smelly and put unnecessary miles on it?
So I've decided that this Sunday (August 17th) is the last day I'm allowing myself to smoke. After that, it's cold turkey for me. If I have any cigarettes left from this current pack (and I am not allowed to purchase a new pack if I blow through this one before Sunday), they are going to be doused in toilet bowl cleaner, and thrown in the trash. I did it for a month earlier this year, and it was a challenge, but I was successful at it. Before when I would try to cut back, I also discovered that eating oranges were also an unusual way for me to curb cravings and keeping my hands occupied, so I will be picking up a giant bag of clementines (which are a bit easier on my macros than navel oranges are!), and keeping those on me at all times.
I will also be setting up a jar in my room, and every three days, I will be putting $5-$10 in it ($10 the price of cigarettes in MA, and $5 is the price if I drive 15 minutes up the road to NH to get some), the equivalent of what I would have spent on cigarettes during that time frame. If I keep that up for 30 days from Sunday, in one month I would have saved around $100, and can lump that on top of my next $100 early payment towards my student loans as a reward. The biggest reward I could get from this is to have all of the interest paid off on my biggest student loan by December 2015, when my grace period for my loans is over, and moving on to more affordable payments. $3,600 in interest could be gone through doubling my payment. That's huge for me. Not $1,800 paid off because I decided to blow the other $1,800 on cigarettes.
So, I quit! I'm done! Finished!
I've seen a lot of smokers and ex smokers on here, and I'd love to hear stories about how you did it, how you felt after, and how you've kept it up. I definitely could use some pointers right now!
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Replies
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That's awesome! It sounds like you have a really good plan.
My grandma quit smoking cold turkey. She told me that she decided she would go as long as she possibly could without a cigarette, but if she got to where she felt like she was going to die without one she would have one. Then she said, "I guess I never got to that point."
She was a very strong lady.0 -
Congratulations!!
I quit the easy way... I never started. ;-)
I just wanted to applaud all the wisdom in your post. It was wonderful, and I wish you the best. You CAN do it!!0 -
Woohoo! What an awesome decision! I never smoked, but I can imaging that quitting smoking is a lot like losing weight and getting for. It requires work, and a lot of effort, but it can completely change your health and well being for the better. This is a wonderful decision and I wish you the best of luck in sticking with this.0
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good for you, and best of luck with your plan.
years ago when i quit smoking, i just stopped. it wasn't always easy - i discovered that smoking gives you something to do with your hands, and that was actually quite rough for me. did i want a cigarette? sure, i did - but i'd get myself a tasty iced tea or go for a walk whenever i wanted a cigarette. i found that walking or jogging enough to breathe a little hard seemed to take care of the craving best.0 -
CONGRATS! You've taken the first step! And I LOVE Grumpy cat! I smoked for 17years and tried to quit often and ended up smoking again. Here is what helped me.
Stay away from smokers. If you have friends/co workers, don't be around them when they are smoking.
Drink lots of water.
Chew gum, this helped when I really needed a fix.
Go for walks.
For me, exercising helped show me how out of shape I was and how much I wanted to be in shape so walking would help me solidify this goal in my brain.
You are good to quit this now as it only gets harder. Ultimately, I just got sick of the feeling, it would make my throat sore, my sinuses swell up, I wouldn't feel good. It only takes 3 day for the nicotine to get out of your system and after that it's all about breaking the mental attachment to it. You can do this!
Friend me if you like and you can always message me or comment if you need encouragement. I totally understand. You are doing a great thing and you CAN do this!!!!0 -
That's awesome! It sounds like you have a really good plan.
My grandma quit smoking cold turkey. She told me that she decided she would go as long as she possibly could without a cigarette, but if she got to where she felt like she was going to die without one she would have one. Then she said, "I guess I never got to that point."
She was a very strong lady.
She does sound like a very strong lady! I like her mindset.
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Awesome decision! It sounds like you have determination and the right attitude to succeed.
Good luck to you!0 -
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good for you, and best of luck with your plan.
years ago when i quit smoking, i just stopped. it wasn't always easy - i discovered that smoking gives you something to do with your hands, and that was actually quite rough for me. did i want a cigarette? sure, i did - but i'd get myself a tasty iced tea or go for a walk whenever i wanted a cigarette. i found that walking or jogging enough to breathe a little hard seemed to take care of the craving best.
I found that exercising more did the same thing for me too when I was cutting back way back when, and then trying to quit. A running and exercising high is much better than a nicotine one!
I do like that iced tea idea...luckily I just got huge 12-pack bottles of Snapple for a steal at the store recently! 0 -
I quit cold turkey around December 2012. I had started smoking on Djarum Vanillas and then Blacks. When those became illegal, I swapped them for Camel Crushes. I never realized how addicted I really was! Quitting cold turkey was rough. I had a lot of negative side-effects (I won't scare you with them), but somehow I managed to keep strong and follow through (really, the guy I was into hated smoking :noway: so lame, but it was effective), Anyway, I did try a cigarette again about a year after, and I got so violently ill from it! Nausea, light headed, clammy, etc... I've been too scared to try again, but I'll admit that the urge still is there sometimes still and I often miss it. Best of luck to you, it really is a great feat to overcome!
Thank you! I noticed the same thing too after I went cold turkey for a month and then started back up again after a breakup (the boyfriend was my main motivator for quitting, since he hated the smell; sounds like we're in the same boat). I had one, and I felt SO awful after it. But still couldn't get me to stop again. But luckily the worst withdrawal symptoms I had before was just being really, really grumpy. Luckily I was able to mostly stay grumpy in private, lol!0 -
I don't smoke but I was having this very discussion on Tuesday with two co-workers who do. They told me it's about mindset...Does someone REALLY want to quit or does the person feel like MAYBE they should.
I do know that my aunt quit cold turkey when she became a christian. If she and so many others did it, so can you. We are rooting for you! :flowerforyou:0 -
CONGRATS! You've taken the first step! And I LOVE Grumpy cat! I smoked for 17years and tried to quit often and ended up smoking again. Here is what helped me.
Stay away from smokers. If you have friends/co workers, don't be around them when they are smoking.
Drink lots of water.
Chew gum, this helped when I really needed a fix.
Go for walks.
For me, exercising helped show me how out of shape I was and how much I wanted to be in shape so walking would help me solidify this goal in my brain.
You are good to quit this now as it only gets harder. Ultimately, I just got sick of the feeling, it would make my throat sore, my sinuses swell up, I wouldn't feel good. It only takes 3 day for the nicotine to get out of your system and after that it's all about breaking the mental attachment to it. You can do this!
Friend me if you like and you can always message me or comment if you need encouragement. I totally understand. You are doing a great thing and you CAN do this!!!!
Haha, I know, isn't Grumpy Cat the best? I feel like I need to post them everywhere to keep me motivated!
Gum is definitely a good idea. Plus it will make my breath minty fresh and not gross like smoke.
Thank you so much for your kind words and tips!!0 -
good luck, your neighbors will appreciate it.:flowerforyou:0
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good luck, your neighbors will appreciate it.:flowerforyou:
Luckily I am not an indoors smoker!0 -
Awesome job! I've smoked for those decades you spoke of and three weeks ago, I decided to quit. I did the patch the first few days then thought why replace it, its still nicotine. So I ripped it off and here I am that three weeks later. No one's died and I don't smell.
You've got this!0 -
I smoked for 13 years. I quit cold turkey in 2007. It was a rough few weeks but each day got better and better. The hardest was not so much the physical craving (that seemed to subside within a few days) it was the time spent smoking. Now that I'm not taking 5 or 6 smoke breaks...wtf do I do with that "smoking time"!?! So kept busy, and tried not to eat too much. I wouldn't go back for the world and neither will you. You'll see. :flowerforyou:
Good luck, you got this!0 -
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Quitting smoking is the easiest thing on earth. I've done it hundreds of times.
In all seriousness, I smoked from age 13. Some days, months, years I would be a pack a day smoker, some days, months years I would give up, or only have a few, or only when I was drinking.
I was 30 when I gave up my last pay every couple of days habit and it was only about a year ago (33) that I finally stopped stealing smokes off my friends when I was drunk. It finally just started tasting awful, so matter how in my cups I was.
I think for me the key was very similar to weight loss, that if you slip up, it's no reason to think "I've blown it" and go back to bad habits. Many a time I would want a smoke when I was partying, so I'd buy a pack and whaddaya know, keep smoking the next day and bam, I'm back in the habit.
Forgive yourself the slip ups but don't let them become excuses to give up givving up! Also forgive yourself if you gain some weight from snacking, chew the top off every pen in the house, become a gum cracker, develop an obsession with mints or any other distraction technique 0 -
Very, very proud of you! That's an awesome step to take, inprivate let alone in a public proclamation!! Good luck with this as some days will be challenging. But I know you will persevere! Way to go friend!0
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Quitting smoking is the easiest thing on earth. I've done it hundreds of times.
In all seriousness, I smoked from age 13. Some days, months, years I would be a pack a day smoker, some days, months years I would give up, or only have a few, or only when I was drinking.
I was 30 when I gave up my last pay every couple of days habit and it was only about a year ago (33) that I finally stopped stealing smokes off my friends when I was drunk. It finally just started tasting awful, so matter how in my cups I was.
I think for me the key was very similar to weight loss, that if you slip up, it's no reason to think "I've blown it" and go back to bad habits. Many a time I would want a smoke when I was partying, so I'd buy a pack and whaddaya know, keep smoking the next day and bam, I'm back in the habit.
Forgive yourself the slip ups but don't let them become excuses to give up givving up! Also forgive yourself if you gain some weight from snacking, chew the top off every pen in the house, become a gum cracker, develop an obsession with mints or any other distraction technique
I'm definitely trying to remember that! I don't want a repeat of February, when I full blown lapsed back into it after a slip up.
Thank you very much for your kind words and advice! This was so helpful. 0 -
Way to go!!! Quitting smoking was the best decision I made for my health and I LOVE the fact that all of that is behind me. It'll be 10 years this month for me!!
Nothing like getting your sense of taste and smell back too. It is hard to believe that smoking takes so much away from you and your family.0 -
Great decision! I jumped in to say "No, don't quit, you can do it, let's be friends and help each other on MFP" but I am very happy you didn't mean that! Quitting smoking is one of the most important decisions of your life, and if I may suggest something?
As much as saving to pay off student loans is admirable, with the first money that you save, buy something for yourself. Something you can see every day, to remind you how awesome you are, and now also much more healthy since you quit this bad bad habit 0 -
Great decision. If you can survive week 1 with its nicotine cravings, after that if you still feel addicted, it isn't the nicotine talking anymore. So if you feel fidgety then, maybe find some new hobby or such to keep your mind occupied. Good luck!0
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Whoop, whoop.....you are amazing! 0
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That is an amazing choice and commitment to make for yourself, your body, and your wallet!!
On September 14th, I will be smoke free for 7 years. The BEST decision I have ever made in my life. I am so much happier and healthy. And, unfortunately there is becoming a stigma attached to smokers. It's a great feeling to not have that following me around. I did use Chantix to quit. I had an AMAZING experience with it. If you (or anyone else) would like to PM me about my experience, don't hesitate. It worked wonderfully for me. But, everyone is different.
Keep it up and when it gets really hard, just keep in mind how much more healthy you will become from beating this habit
Good luck!!0 -
That is awesome!! Congratulations!! 0
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Good for you! I was an up-to-3-packs-a-day smoker for 35 years. I was not a social smoker or an oral smoker or a something-to-do-with my hands smoker. I was a cigarette addict. I smoked my cigarettes down to the filter. Left ashtrays full if there were long butts in them so I could have the old stale cigarette later. I was so addicted that I would wake up in the middle of the night for a cigarette, and before my feet hit the floor in the morning I would have lighted up. Sometimes I would have two cigarettes burning just to have one closer as I moved around. I quit 15 years ago cold turkey. The thought of never having my "friend" again in my life was so depressing. Afterall, cigarettes had gotten me through happy, sad, sleepless, and stressful times. So, I had to give myself permission to smoke first. Everytime I would want a cigarette, my self-talk was "You are a grown-up. If you want to smoke you can. You just can't have this one." Maybe 10 minutes, or 10 seconds later, I would have to give myself the self-talk again. Pretty soon, the time got longer and longer. I never have had that cigarette and know if I do, I'll be a smoker again by the time the ash hits the filter. Even after 14 years, I still occasionally crave a cigarette totally out of the blue, but I still give myself my little talk.
My life opened up after I quit. I had never traveled much because I could not sit on a plane too long. I used the money I saved and started traveling. I could sit on a plane for trans-oceanic flights. I also could better afford them. I also could expand my circle of friends because I didn't have to worry about them not liking smoke. I know I must smell better. :huh:
Good luck to you. You can do this!0 -
I used nicotine patches & over the course of a couple of months, was able to kick it. I used the 'step down' patches where you start with a higher dosage of nicotine & it decreases as you get on.
However, the urge to not have a cigarette didn't got away completely until about 4 years or so later =/
It was easier not to give in, the more time that passed.
For a little perspective, I'm 45 & started smoking in the late 70's when butts were .65 a pack & it wasn't unusual to see kids smoking. I've never smoked while pregnant, just didn't feel the urge to, but certainly took it back up as soon as babies were born & celebratory drinks were flowing.
I didn't smoke around my kids & used to hide cigarettes outside in the garage, I took the garbage out a lot :laugh:
I just felt guilty smoking around them, so I couldn't even do it outside.
Anyway.....I don't miss it, but I had to find something else to do in the car, on the phone & to basically punctuate everything that happens in daily life
I still like the way cigarette smoke smells though....don't judge me
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Best of luck to you! I've never smoked, thank God (because I don't know if I could break another bad habit!) but I saw how hard it was on my husband to quit. Quitting smoking and getting in shape AND paying off student loans early, you sound like a guy who has it together!0
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good for you, and best of luck with your plan.
years ago when i quit smoking, i just stopped. it wasn't always easy - i discovered that smoking gives you something to do with your hands, and that was actually quite rough for me. did i want a cigarette? sure, i did - but i'd get myself a tasty iced tea or go for a walk whenever i wanted a cigarette. i found that walking or jogging enough to breathe a little hard seemed to take care of the craving best.
I found that exercising more did the same thing for me too when I was cutting back way back when, and then trying to quit. A running and exercising high is much better than a nicotine one!
I do like that iced tea idea...luckily I just got huge 12-pack bottles of Snapple for a steal at the store recently!
One of my buddies would carry around toothpicks and chew on them if he started itching for a smoke. He felt like if he occupied his hands and teeth it made things easier.0
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