Smoking Vs stamina

It's amazing how much money is made helping people "quit" smoking! Now the vapes are raking in the dough, along with the nicorette and patch people.

Capt_Apollo wrote: »

after years of trying different methods, i went cold turkey and it has worked.

yes, i'll still end up having a cigarette like, once a month, but that doesn't make me a smoker again. in fact, it just pretty much reaffirms my desire to not smoke anymore.

what finally got me to kick the habit was that it was effecting my endurance training. i could put in the miles on the road or the time in the pool that i wanted to. i had been cutting back a lot, but then just stopped.

some tips:
-set a date to quit. make it say, may 1st. plenty of time to quit. quit no matter how many you actually have left. having a few left in a pack might be a good thing, as it'll be a mental thing, being able to tell yourself "if i really want one, i can have one. it's right there in my coat pocket... but i'll have one later."

-tell everyone you're quitting. co-workers, ppl on social media. make it a known thing so they can help you stay accountable.

-start cutting back. you can restrict your time of smoking (say 9am-5pm) and every day that window gets smaller. or you can say that this week only 6 cigarettes a day... next week 5... etc.

when you do quit, do not feel bad if you slip up and have a cigarette. but don't let it get out of control. also, spend this time figuring out what triggers you to have a smoke. is it something stressful? is it the association with sex, food, coffee? could be a lot of different things, and try and find ways to replace a cigarette with something else.

My husband was a smoker and did all of this to quit. He quit cold turkey too and gives this same advice to people

futuresize8 wrote: »

Do you want to quit? If so, you will. I read the Alan Carr's Easy Way to Quit Smoking book when I was ready and it worked like a charm. I didn't even finish the book. I have never looked back and I don't miss it.

THIS! I read this book, went cold turkey and never looked back. That was over 5 years ago and was the best move I ever made. I had been a very heavy smoker for almost 50 years when I quit...more than 2 packs a day. I was 62 when I quit...if I could do it, you most certainly can.

After 15 years I finally succeeded when I started looking at quitting like a skill that I needed to learn. Then instead of "failures that were best forgotten" I had "opportunities to learn something about what makes me tick."

Practice, and keep practicing. You'll figure it out.

What helped me a lot, specifically, was making little rules like, "I can't smoke for at least an hour after eating." Because those were times where it was a major habit, and it was easy to put it off for an hour because I knew it wasn't going to be forever. It's just an hour, no big deal, yet it had the effect of learning how to put those impulses to the side so they don't affect me.

ShayanKhan2015 wrote: »

What are chantix and vaping and how they are used and let me know of other tools too which can be used ..

C'mon mate read a book. If you are interested in quitting something that is potentially killing you then at least take the time to meet us half way and do a bit of research.

Vaping is smoking an electronic cigarette. It is a battery attached to an atomizer filled with liquid. Instead of actual smoke, it produces vapor. You still get the nicotine and the sensation of smoking, but instead of thousands of ingredients and chemicals like cigarettes have, the e-juice is made of propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, nicotine, and flavoring. The e-juice comes in various nicotine levels and just about every flavor imaginable. It's proven to be perfectly safe (I recently read an article that ultimately stated that the vapor contains as many carcinogens as air. I'll see if I can find the link) and has helped a ton of people quit smoking.

I am on day 11 of vaping. I can run better than when I was smoking cigarettes. I hope to gradually reduce the nicotine levels over the next few months until I am at zero nicotine. Also, avoiding alcohol completely helps with vaping or cold turkey.

Okay, so I've finally quit cold turkey. It's been 24 hours and it's been surprisingly easy even though I've been a 2 packs a day smoker for the past 13 years. Maybe it's just the fact that I'm still too early into the process to experience severe anxiety, but the cravings aren't as bad as thought they would be, just a subtle "yeah I'm used to lighting up on certain cues and it feels weird not to" which subsides after a while.

Now just like OP I'm quitting because I really REALLY want to have better stamina and breathe better. My problem with the withdrawal process is the physical symptoms. It's only been 24 hours but I already feel extremely tired and completely lacking energy. I slept 2 hours yesterday evening, woke up, slept 10 hours at night and had weird dreams, woke up tired, and 2 hours after waking up I feel sleepy again. I'm gonna go drag my feet on the treadmill for an hour or so to wake myself up. A headache is also starting to emerge, along with a bit of a dizzy blurry feeling in my head, and I feel over all "slow", just going through the motions. The whole thing feels more physical than emotional.

I've also noticed I'm having to clear my throat a lot today, even though I've never had a smoker's cough back when I smoked.

How long until I get my energy back and my throat finally clears? I mean I'm not regretting quitting, but I'm getting impatient because what's happening to me is the exact opposite of what I'm quitting for.

I used to be a 20 a day smoker (40 on a night out). I quit in December 2012, you can do it! Just think of it as a gift to yourself, good luck!

amusedmonkey wrote: »

Bump for answers: I would really like to know from people who have gone through this how long will I be exhausted? It's unbearable. Even typing is a chore. I was fine on the treadmill doing slow incline walking because it's just mindlessly dragging feet, but I couldn't go any faster and did not get any energy from the exercise. In the past 35 hours of quitting I think I've slept 18 on and off, but I still wake up tired every time. I'm very tempted to smoke just to make this go away even though he cravings themselves are very mild. I'm not used to having absolutely no energy. Even when I'm sick it's never this bad.

Smoking temporarily increased your blood sugar. When you first quit, your body has to relearn how to maintain blood sugar levels. Drink small amounts of juice through out the day.
There will also be depression for the first two weeks, as your body learns to regulate seratonin levels as well. If depression is intense, lasts more than two weeks, or the cravings are so intense they are ignorable, that is when a prescription such as Wellbutrin is in order. Most likely you were treating a mild depression with smoking, and will need more supports as you quit.

Almost 4 years from me, no cheating. I did use Wellbutrin the first 3 months, within 1- 2 years( I do remember) after quitting my "chronic" depression ( that started in my teens after I started smoking) was gone.