No More Butts (Closed Group)

So I thought we could start out by introducing ourselves. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your smoking history. How long have you smoked? Have you ever tried to quit? If you are planning to quit when is your quit date? If you already quit then how long have you been smoke free? Why do you want ot quit or why did you decide to quit?

My name is Jeanette,I have smoked since I was 13 im 34 now so a very long time.I was also a long time drug user (17 years) I quit cold turkey on that 5 years ago and have not looked back.So I tend to beat myself up about not being able to kick smoking since I quit drugs.You would think since I did that I could do anything.Im seting my quit date as Aug 1 I want to be done with cigarettes for good by then.Ive been thinking about quiting for along time.Every winter now I get very bad respotory infections,and it seems like each year they get worse.When I exercise I have the stamina to go for a long time but will not go over an hour alot of the time because it just gets to hard to breath.So now its June 1st 6:30 am.Im sitting here watching my husband smoke on the patio. Im trying to hold of as long as I can,I woke up today with that tight chest feeling like I have a band around it.It hurts a little to breath.
So trying to hold out as long as i can this morning!

Hi Everyone,

I've smoked for the better part of 30 years - I cut way back for a few years, and then quit completely for about a year, but then started again during a trip to Switzerland where everyone was smoking... not the best souvenir to pick up :-( That was a few years ago. Now, I'm ready to give it up for good. As I get older, I notice more trouble breathing sometimes, and I'm also in the process of discovering my 'inner athlete' - I run 5Ks regularly, and I want to improve my time, but I know I'm not going to make significant progress unless I cut out the smoking. Also, I'm tired of wasting money on cigarettes - there are a lot of other things I would rather buy, like new clothes for when I reach my goal weight :-) My goal is to be completely smoke-free by July 4, but I plan to taper down between now and then so cold turkey isn't quite so shocking to the system. I'm also going to work on the behavior/habit changes between now and then, like getting used to not smoking in the car, or before bed, etc...

Anyway, good luck to everyone else!

I'm actually heading to bed right now, but wanted to post that I will fill you all in on me tomorrow AM before I hit the hay!

I set a goal for myself that I would only smoke 15 cigs per day this week, 10 per day next week, 5 per day the week after that and be quit completely by my birthday of July 1st. I think I will be under my 15 cigs for the day today since I still have four left to smoke and I'm whooped!

Hi my name is Shelley. I started smoking when I was 13 and then quit when I was 20 so I could think about starting a family. I did great UNTIL.......I went through a divorce while I was in college (at 33). I was out with my friends one night and we were dancing and my friend asked me to hold her cigarette and beer while she got on the bar to dance, I took one hit and that's all it took. I was sucked back in.

I quit right after I found out I was pregnant with my son (he will be 4 in August). I vowed not to pick them up again. I literally dreamt about them every single night. It was terrible. My husband lost his job right after I had him and with the stress of 6 kids in the house, I found myself being a grown *kitten* woman hiding from my husband behind the garage smoking. I have tried to quit numerous times since then. I made it 3 days last summer but the mood swings from the nicotine withdrawal were more than I could handle and I caved.

I hate smelling like a cigarette. I hate being tied to them when we go somewhere. I want my husband to be able to put his nose in my hair and not smell smoke. I do not want my kids to EVER EVER pick up the habit.

I probably should also state another huge reason I need to quit and that is my job. Ummmm.......I am a respiratory therapist. Yeah, I see the worst of what smoking does to people then I go outside and light up. Pretty bad.

My name is Kristina. My story is typical. . .

My mother's a smoker. My dad quit after their divorce. My first stepdad was a smoker, as were two of my three stepmoms. My sister smokes, as does her boyfriend. My current stepdad smokes My friends smoked. I remember my first cigarrette - we were at a wedding, and i went for a walk with a friend of mine. She pulled a pack of stolen Marlboros out of her pocket and offered me one. I accepted. Didn't choke, didn't retch. Got a little dizzy - and enjoyed it. Like i was meant to smoke.

I was never what you might call a 'regular smoker'. I mostly smoke when I'm out with friends, if they offer me one. I guess peer pressure on top of old habit. I've never really had to 'quit'. My life changes constantly, and I've noticed that when it does, the cigarettes just kind of fade into the background of my life until someone else offers me a smoke.

Problem is, my husband's a smoker. So, he goes out on the front porch to light up, and i go with him - it's our conversational bonding time - and next thing i know, i'm asking for a cigarette. Two weeks ago, he jokingly bought me a pack of my own (i'd been complaining that he needed to buy menthols more often) for our anniversary. lol Fine by me; i couldn't think of anything else i wanted or needed anyway. But the next day i found myself looking for a lighter so i could go out and smoke one - by myself. My husband wasn't even home. And that's when i knew this habit needed to be broken. So, i stretched that pack out as long as i could, and smoked the last one Saturday night, May 28.

It's been a heck of a week - My husband's cousin came to town on the 29th, bringing with him the money to take us all out to a buffet lunch, as per tradition. I got my period, so there's THAT hormonal nonsense and bloating to deal with. My husband's birthday was on Monday. We had a party, complete with hotdogs, chili, and cupcakes. All this while i'm fighting cravings and wondering if i'll be able to get to the 20-lbs-lost mark by the time my stepbrother gets married on the 11th.

For me, the key to quitting will be habit correction. To that effect, i have a bunch of blueberries, grapes and strawberries frozen in 1-cup portions. When i want to go out for my husband's smoke breaks, I'll just grab some fruit - thataway i'll have something to keep me busy, and hopefully, now that i've gotten past the first few days, it won't be so hard to say, "no thanks, babe. i got my little fruit bag here".

Anyways, that's my smoking story, beginning to end. Hope this works - and more importantly, i hope we can all enjoy mutual success and support!

This was the best site when I was quitting. It gave step by step effects and withdraws to expect. It helped me to know that what I was feeling was normal and others feel it also during their quit and there is an and to it....read it again and again....and go back to it whenever you may need to. http://whyquit.com/whyquit/A_Symptoms.html

Hmmm, let's see, I'm right handed, so not too interesting... How about, I'm really a dog person but someohow have wound up with a string of cats? I often think about getting a dog, but then I see someone out walking their dog in the rain, and think I'll stick with the cats :-) One of these days, though, one will probably fall into my lap...

I'm right handed, however I seem to be ambidextrious when it comes to batting and smoking :ohwell:

PS Smoking my last (15th) cig for the night right now.

Heya peeps , Thanks Sarah for the add to the group . My name is Sharleen and I have been smoking off and on for about 12 years. I first started smoking after my first child was born as a time out strategy. I then quit when I was pregnant with my second child. But then 1 1/2 year after she was born I went through a breakup. It wasn't a bad one more a omg I'm on my own one that makes you face reality. 7 years later and here I am also today is my first day of being smoke-free I have been up 30mins and find it amazing that it starts messing with your head straight away. But it won't beat me this time!!! I have a friend on FB who quit 5 days ago and was posting a progress status each day I found this really inspiring makes you see that yeah you feel crappy for the first few days, that is just the toxins emptying your body. But they groggy feeling passes and the craving do as well. I had once heard that giving up smoking is harder than giving up heroine, so that shows you how harsh this drug is and how much hold it can have on you. Good luck to everyone here nd as I have told myself the benefits of being smoke-free far out weigh the challenge of giving up. WE CAN DO IT!!!!

The hardest part of the day for me is the morning when I'm having my coffee. THAT is when I want to smoke the most.

I've heard it's good to try switching up your routine to break the cig/coffee habit. If you don't mind it, try hot tea instead of coffee, or if you drink your coffee with sugar/cream, switch to black, etc. My mom quit 20+ years ago and had to switch to tea in the a.m. to break the mental correlation between coffee and cigarettes.

My name is Jaime. I started smoking 7 years ago, right after my son was born. I had actually tried my 1st cigarette ever the week before I found out I was pregnant and didn't smoke again until after he was born. My husband is (was - quit "real" cigarettes a month ago and switched entirely to an "ecig") a smoker & he's the reason I started.

I am not proud to admit it, but I smoked the entire time I was pregnant with my daughter(now 5), and justified it because I was only smoking 3-5 cigs a day. Her entire life, she has been surrounded with cigarette smoke in the house, in the car, etc. This winter she was diagnosed with Asthma. Why? Because of all the second-hand exposure to smoke. I beat myself up about it (and still do). I am her protector - I would DIE for my babies, and what did I do? I CHOSE to put her little life and lungs in jeopardy because I CHOSE cigarettes over my own precious baby's lungs.

After her diagnosis, I quit smoking in the house completely and in the car when she is with me. I have "cut back" from 1/2 pack a day to 3-5 cigs/day. I turn 30 on 9/11/11 & want to be COMPLETELY smoke free by that time.

My mom is my inspiration for this journey. She quit 20+ years ago after the dr. told her it was killing her & I was young (maybe 4) and I told her if she didn't listen to the dr. she wouldn't be around to see me have kids. She quit cold turkey. Now she can see her grandkids, but if I don't quit, I won't see mine!

i smoked for about 9 years, since i was 17. i never really smoked more than a half a pack a day, except for the usual going out, finals week, etc. i started MFP and got really into health and nutrition. i wouldn't eat anything processed, started looking into "clean" eating and i would go for natural and organic food when i could. after a month of this, i thought smoking was just silly. i started getting annoyed with the ashes, the butts, empty packs, almost setting my house on fire, burn holes in my clothes and seats of my car, the smell, opening the windows in the car in the pouring rain with no rain guards!!! so i picked a quit date in july cuz i work at a school and was waiting for summer vacation. april came around and my friend got the e-cig...i tried it, thought it was pretty cool, and ordered it online. and as soon as it came in the mail, i started substituting it for the real thing. i only did this for a couple days though. my 100th day of MFP was coming up, so i decided to quit that day. i did the whole last cigarette at midnight and everything.

it was pretty bad that first week, and if anyone is interested, i posted a blog pretty much every day that week, and i went into some crazy details lol...

it's been 33 days since my last cigarette and i feel pretty awesome. i still have the e-cig but i'm on the lower strength now, and i don't need it as much.

if anyone is going to use the e-cig, i'd recommend going a strength HIGHER and get MORE cartridges than what they tell you. i know that sounds crazy and expensive, but i really needed it the first week, and ended up having to overnight more cartridges for an extra $30 in shipping. i also had to go out and buy the gum because i felt like i was going totally crazy...i only needed the gum for the first 3 days though. BUT that was just for the first week...then i naturally just didn't need it as much, and the stronger cartridges were TOO strong. i only use it a couple times a day now

good luck everybody!!!

i use green smoke.

to be honest, i was freaking out the first day and had to run to the store to buy the gum. i just didn't think the e-cig would be enough that first week. i used it with the gum for the first 3 or 4 days. i used a full piece of the lowest dose gum while using the e-cig and it was perfect. after a couple days, the gum was too strong and i used half a piece, and i didn't even need it anymore by the end of the week.

i felt that i needed the e-cig more than i should have, and i was scared that i was gonna get hooked on it or something. but that didn't happen. i would use it when i needed, without depriving myself and i just stopped needing it as much. sometimes i would use it a bunch of times a day but only take one puff. some days i would forget it at home and not even realize.

i love the green smoke, it have no problems with it. by quitting a month ago i already saved up the money that i spent on the e-cig and all the accessories. i'm ordering the lower strength soon, but i should make that money up in no time. by the time the month is over, i should actually start SAVING money!!

Time Smoke-Free: 33 days, 8 hours, 7 minutes and 49 seconds

Cigarettes NOT smoked: 233

Lifetime Saved: 1 day, 18 hours

Money Saved: $115.50