Quitting Smoking

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  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    I forgot gum! Sugarless gum was a huge help for me. :)
  • tracymayo1
    tracymayo1 Posts: 445 Member
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    I will be 2 years smoke free cold turkey on November 19.
    I would drink water, or have some "little suzies rice thins" when I would get the hunger cravings. They are low cal, and filling with the water which helped me stay on course. Although I was NOT trying to drop weight at that point... I gained the weight I am trying to lose by quitting ;)
  • lmarshel
    lmarshel Posts: 674 Member
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    I quit cold turkey with a half pack sitting on the kitchen counter. I was so afraid I wouldn't succeed that I didn't tell anyone (even my hubby) that I was trying to quit. I kept chocolate in my desk at work to treat myself whenever I worked through the urge to smoke. Within 7 months I had gained 25 pounds. But, honestly, I felt OUTstanding! Even with the extra weight, I was in much better health.

    That was in December 1999, and to this day I have never had another cigarette. I managed to shed that extra 25 pounds and then some. :) And I still feel outstanding!

    Even if you gain some weight, it's worth it to kick that habit. If you really want this, you'll make it happen. Best wishes to you. <3
  • socalkay
    socalkay Posts: 746 Member
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    Good for you!!! I put on 35 lbs after I quit almost 3 years ago so not much help here either.

    Except I'll say I came to MFP because my BMI was 30.2 and the Lung Transplant protocol won't consider putting anyone on the transplant list with a BMI over 30. I need to be on that list. I wish I had quit 10 years sooner... but hindsight and all the exercise in the world won't fix what's wrong with me now.

    Hope I scare you into sticking to it. It's not fun living at the end of 50 feet of oxygen tubing.
  • DiabolicalColossus
    DiabolicalColossus Posts: 219 Member
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    I quit just over 2 years ago.

    What has helped me stay away from it is chewing gum, drinking water, cutting back on alcohol (I was a major social smoker), broke up with my ex who smokes like a chimney and finding things to occupy my time.

    Full disclosure: when I quit smoking, my eating got way out of control and I put on weight...which I'm taking off now.

    I remember the day I decided to quit: I was coming home from work and walking up the subway station stairs...I was having an extremely hard time breathing. At the time, I was just shy of 30. It was extremely upsetting. I knew that 29 was way too young to be having those issues, so I decided to finish out my pack and be done with it.

    Do I miss it every now and again? Of course.

    But I remember very vividly how I felt that day.

    And I'm never going back to that.

    You can do it.
  • rebeccaamy95
    rebeccaamy95 Posts: 12 Member
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    socalkay wrote: »
    Good for you!!! I put on 35 lbs after I quit almost 3 years ago so not much help here either.

    Except I'll say I came to MFP because my BMI was 30.2 and the Lung Transplant protocol won't consider putting anyone on the transplant list with a BMI over 30. I need to be on that list. I wish I had quit 10 years sooner... but hindsight and all the exercise in the world won't fix what's wrong with me now.

    Hope I scare you into sticking to it. It's not fun living at the end of 50 feet of oxygen tubing.
    wow thanks for sharing that :) I've only been smoking a few years on and off but for the past year and a half i've been smoking more and more( about 20 roll ups a day) and my bank balance isn't allowing it. Things like your story are the things that keep me going
  • rebeccaamy95
    rebeccaamy95 Posts: 12 Member
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    Thank you very much to everyone who has wished me good luck :)
  • healthygreek
    healthygreek Posts: 2,137 Member
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    I've been quit for over 10 years. The only way I could quit was by telling myself I could smoke whenever I wanted to.
    It took me about a year to not feel I could start up again.
    Now, I can't stand the smell at all and I can't understand how I could smoke to begin with. It's an awful true addiction!
    I replaced smoking with exercise so I've lost a lot and I'm down to goal weight.
    Drinking cold water and taking deep cleansing breaths when I wanted a cigarette really helped.
    I also sucked on cinnamon sticks and chewed gum.
    I also used the straw trick for awhile.
    Congratulations! You've done one of the best things you can do for your health!
  • Foamroller
    Foamroller Posts: 1,041 Member
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    Congrats on quitting! Agree with above advice on sugar free and or nicotine gums. Took me 2 years phasing those out. I was a very stupid quitter, substituting cigs with packets of sorbet icecream and bowls of Kellogg's cornflakes. Must have been thousands of kcal per day....

    Find low kcal things like cucumber or tomatoes if you have oral fixation, don't do like me.

    Good luck:)
  • rebeccaamy95
    rebeccaamy95 Posts: 12 Member
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    Thank you very much.
    Today I have tried the water method and have managed to resist the urge to replace cravings with food :) I got a few cravings today when I was home alone (there are normally a few people around to tell me off when I feel close to giving in) so I went to the gym instead and that really helped :)
  • IKnowStuff2
    IKnowStuff2 Posts: 15 Member
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    I know there are folks who may not think this is a good thing but it has worked for me and my doctor is very happy. Also my weight gain has been minimal 6 pounds and I am getting that off slowly. I switched to the e-cig and have slowly also lowered the nicotine level in my liquid. I decided to get with MFP because of the accountability part and I am getting the 6 pounds back off. I knew not smoking would give me weight gain so I decided to walk more and use MFP at the same time. It has really helped keep the food intake under control. I have not smoked since April and before that I smoked for along time. Also by not smoking my HDL has risen and LDL gone down. I am eating healthier and drink lots of water, and I am healthier. I tried patches, and chantix = a pound a day weight gain, couldn't tolerate that and went back to cigs and bad eating habits. Then I tried this and for me it's great. Hope this helped?
  • rebeccaamy95
    rebeccaamy95 Posts: 12 Member
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    IKnowStuff2 wrote: »
    I know there are folks who may not think this is a good thing but it has worked for me and my doctor is very happy. Also my weight gain has been minimal 6 pounds and I am getting that off slowly. I switched to the e-cig and have slowly also lowered the nicotine level in my liquid. I decided to get with MFP because of the accountability part and I am getting the 6 pounds back off. I knew not smoking would give me weight gain so I decided to walk more and use MFP at the same time. It has really helped keep the food intake under control. I have not smoked since April and before that I smoked for along time. Also by not smoking my HDL has risen and LDL gone down. I am eating healthier and drink lots of water, and I am healthier. I tried patches, and chantix = a pound a day weight gain, couldn't tolerate that and went back to cigs and bad eating habits. Then I tried this and for me it's great. Hope this helped?

    Thank you for your advice personally I don't wanna smoke e cigarettes as it's still nicotine intake and I just wanna cut it all out. I tried patches last time for 14 days 14mg for 7 days then 7mg and then after that all i craved was the nicotine hit so I went back to smoking. I resisted multiple people offering me a cig last night so I'm feeling proud enough to keep going :)
  • Aemely
    Aemely Posts: 694 Member
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    A friend of mine quit cold turkey using Everlasting Gobstoppers, which aren't too terrible for you. Drinking lots of water and staying busy doing things that don't remind you of your habit can help as well. Good luck!
  • IKnowStuff2
    IKnowStuff2 Posts: 15 Member
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    Thank you for your advice personally I don't wanna smoke e cigarettes as it's still nicotine intake and I just wanna cut it all out. I tried patches last time for 14 days 14mg for 7 days then 7mg and then after that all i craved was the nicotine hit so I went back to smoking. I resisted multiple people offering me a cig last night so I'm feeling proud enough to keep going :)
    [/quote]

    That's great! And u should feel proud. Keep up the good work. There seems to be lots of good ideas and support here. Good luck.
  • cantumelia
    cantumelia Posts: 59 Member
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    I quit smoking 15 years ago and put on a lot of weight as a result. But really, even if you gain some weight when you find that you can run without gapping like a fish out of water and you can climb quite a set of stairs without lacking air you´ll find much easier to exercise. So even if you gain some weight the resulting improvement in your health will make you exercise more easily. And there are some nicotine patches, e-cigs and chewing gums that may help you in the proccess.

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