Any Ex- Smokers on MFP? I need suggestions!!

Options
Ally1104
Ally1104 Posts: 18
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone!

I recently just joined mfp and I feel really good about this change! I downloaded the blackberry app, have been excercising daily, and I track everything I eat- both good and bad. I'm really enjoying doing this and already feel more upbeat and energetic and just overall more optimistic. However, I am an ex smoker (I quit March 13th of this year) and although I have already done really well, I still get angry or stressed and crave a cigarette and sometimes give in. Any tips on how to ignore these cravings and replace them with something healthy? I'd love to go for a run when I get stressed but sometimes that is not an option- and to be completely honest I can't run- or at least I've never gotten very far. I can't imagine that running down the block 3 houses will help relieve my stress!!! Any tips and/or support would be welcomed!
«1

Replies

  • megz4987
    megz4987 Posts: 1,008 Member
    Options
    I'm still a smoker but while I was pregnant, obviously, I wasnt. I snacked on carrots or even just held the carrot or a pen like a cigarette. They make fake plastic cigarrettes that you can "inhale" and it's like actually smoking one, mostly for the oral fixation.
    March 13, wow, you're doing great!
  • alannablue
    alannablue Posts: 13
    Options
    I quit smoking 2.5 years ago with the help of Chantix. Mostly, it helped me because it made me sort of nauseous and the last thing I want to do is smoke when feeling gross like that. And after 12 weeks, well, you just don't need to smoke anymore. I still have some friends that smoke at poker night every week, and it does not make me crave smoking at all. In fact, now the smell is kind of gross - and I always loved the smell of smoking. Odd.
  • registers
    registers Posts: 782 Member
    Options
    I use an electronic cigarette. It does have nicotine, but it doesn't have the other 4000 chemicals found in a cigarette. The chemicals that cause certain types of cancers.
  • Dencrossgirl
    Dencrossgirl Posts: 501 Member
    Options
    The longer you can stay away from cigarettes the easier it gets. Once all that garbage gets out of your system you won't think about it anymore. Just think like this, you weren't born with a cigarette in your hand and for most of your life you didn't smoke.

    I was hopelessly addicted to them too, I would seriously considering walking barefoot in a snowstorm for a cigarette. Good luck you really can do it.
  • 5weeks
    5weeks Posts: 38
    Options
    The longer you can stay away from cigarettes the easier it gets. Once all that garbage gets out of your system you won't think about it anymore. Just think like this, you weren't born with a cigarette in your hand and for most of your life you didn't smoke.

    I was hopelessly addicted to them too, I would seriously considering walking barefoot in a snowstorm for a cigarette. Good luck you really can do it.

    Exactly! You just, well, don't smoke and don't replace it with anything, it does get easier, promise!
  • rmsrws
    rmsrws Posts: 639 Member
    Options
    I am a recovering X smoker.....yes, I still sneak one! I am taking the prescription chantix, it seems to really be helping a lot. This may sound crazy but it does help me. I use cinnamon sticks. Yes, the spice. I bought a bottle of whole sticks and when I have an urge I pop one in my mouth, and just sort suck on the end. It's like a cigarette. You get to in hale and you get flavor. I think it satisfies that hand to mouth craving.

    But if you really think about. When you smoke you are standing there taking deep breathes, just focusing on that silly cigarette. So for that 5 minutes or so that cigarette has all of your attention. Have you ever just thought about just taking 5 minutes and going somewhere calm and taking deep breaths and just focusing on breathing?.....I bet if you did you would feel a more relaxed calm state. It's all in reprogramming your brain, once you get past the nicotine addiction. Nicotine stays in your body for about three days. I have personally called the American Lung Association to ask this question! Best Wishes!!
  • superhippiechik
    superhippiechik Posts: 1,044 Member
    Options
    I am an ex-smoker,as in started at age 11 and moved up to a pack a day from age 18-31. I am now 34. Having a cigarette to hold helped me. Get a fake one if you still don't have willpower. I would hold it and suck it in times of serious stress but never light it. And for the running...One day I was inspired to start running by a fellow MFP who just got up one day and tried to run around the block. So I tried it too. It was mostly speed walking but I did it. Now I can run/walk a mile in 15 minutes. Slow? Yes. Do I run the whole way? No. But one day I will. And so will you.
  • donbet69
    donbet69 Posts: 133
    Options
    Been 4 years for me and I still think about having a cigarette on occasion. Chew lots of sugar free gum. Develop a new habit for those stressful times or craving moments (like after a meal). Do anything except give in to the craving !!!
  • bootlebop1979
    bootlebop1979 Posts: 42
    Options
    I smoked 1 ½-2 packs a day for 8 years. I quit smoking "cold turkey" Nov 3, 2000. I haven't picked up a cigarette since. I still have the craving and if I smell a menthol, the cravings hit harder. I have chewed A LOT of gum and sucked on A LOT of peppermints over the years. When I get a coffee from Starbucks, I will have them add peppermint to most of my drinks. So those have been my replacements for my “menthol” cigarette addiction.
  • BabyDuchess
    BabyDuchess Posts: 353 Member
    Options
    This August will be 17 years clean from cigs.....and I love it! Every time I craved I would find something to do and I also wrote down a list of all the negatives of smoking vs. all the positives of quitting and I would refer to those in my mind whenever I craved. It takes 21 days to make or break a habit.....after that it's all psychological. You can do this....just keeping concentrating on the positive aspects of it and get some carrots or sugar-free gum to chew. Good luck to you! :flowerforyou:
  • irunwithscissors
    irunwithscissors Posts: 89 Member
    Options
    Keep on going! I quit cold turkey August 1, 2010. Hubby and I both did. To this day I still haven't smoked, but mostly of fear that I would start again. I don't know that I used anything to to help, but I have heard carrots and mints, gum, & brushing your teeth when you feel the need to smoke. I liked the mini altoid cinnamon mints.. It really does get easier, but you will still have a craving here and there, it just gets easier to get past it. Good luck! and Don't give up! :)
  • Cmccracken1
    Cmccracken1 Posts: 326 Member
    Options
    i quit smoking after 21 years last April 2nd 2010. it's hard that is for sure,,, one thing on the running, i was never a runner in my whole life could never do any kind of distance mostly because i couldnt breath,,, in January this year i started a program called c25k. "couch to 5k" i completed the 8 week program in about 15 weeks and i can now run 4 miles without stopping several times a week, you want to talk about stress reliever... it's amazing. you can feel free to friend me if you want some additional support.. you can do this you just have to take control.
  • therealangd
    therealangd Posts: 1,861 Member
    Options
    I'm an ex smoker (a pack a day for over 20 years), and I was going to say start running. You would be surprised what an endorphin rush can do to replace the cigarette addiction.
  • nicolerah
    nicolerah Posts: 440 Member
    Options
    I have stopped smoking more than three years now. Occasionally, in the first three - six months, I still had one occasionally. What I realized was the more I stayed away from it, the easier it became! Now I live in a house with two smokers and the scent of it disgusting to me now! I sometimes wonder how in the world I ever smoked!!

    Oh... thinking about the severity of lung cancer and throat cancer scared the crap out of me... that also helped!!
  • craft338
    craft338 Posts: 870 Member
    Options
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/253665-no-more-butts-closed-group

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/230732-quitting-smoking-and-dieting-support

    a couple threads on here, maybe u can find some friends that are quitting or ex smokers =)

    i quit over a month ago. i just stopped and use the e-cig now. i don't really need it anymore, but sometimes it helped after a long day at work or if i'm in a bad mood or something. i have the super low strength now, and i'm waiting to get the zero strength.

    the beginning was really hard for me, but now it's not really that big of a deal anymore. i feel amazing and that's worth more than a few minutes of smoking a cigarette and feeling horrible about it after. i didn't allow myself to cheat, i know i could never only have "one". i'm either a smoker, or i'm not. there's no in between....
  • jenseye
    jenseye Posts: 166 Member
    Options
    I quit a little over 9 years...best thing I ever did, other than having my two children!
    I drank alot of water, I used the nicotine lozenges, chewed gum, got up walked around and lots of deep breaths...reminding myself if I smoked again I may not be able to breath deeply like that for long!
    Good luck and take it one day at a time, and there will come a day you won't think about them anymore.
  • lingading
    lingading Posts: 259 Member
    Options
    I took cigarettes completely out of the equation. I quit December 24th, haven't had as much as a drag since. It HAS been hard, but I've gotta say the only time I'm ever tempted is when I'm super drunk. But the guy I spend alll my time with won't allow it. He's an ex-smoker as well & knows how much i'd regret it if I broke my nearly 6 month streak of not smoking. Have supportive people around you to tell you NO! Don't have cigarettes around. Chew gum. Sugarfree hard candy. Stuff to calm the oral fixation that comes along with smoking a cigarette :)
  • shellshell43
    shellshell43 Posts: 116
    Options
    It does get easier. I had to think(in times of stress) many many people deal with stress without lighting up, so why can't I? Well the answer is- I can! and I decided to. It did help to take myself away from the stress for a minute and deep breath as if I were actually going for a cigarette. I would then return after my deep breaths...lol...I would also do jumping jacks (25) because doing the jacks releases chemicals in the brain similar to the effects of nicotine(the stimulant then the relax).

    Remember nicotine is out of your system after 3 days...after that, any craving you have for nicotine will only last 3 minutes at a time. If you can make it through those 3 minutes you're doing great. the cravings will eventually die down BUT if you give in and have a cigarette the entire process starts all over again...so if you do not give it up completely you are torturing yourself with the withdraw symptoms again and again...quit and make a choice never to light up again..ever..and you will find yourself a non smoker in no time.
    I also used music...at the times when I would reward myself for a job well done or get my 5 minutes to relax...I used to light up...now I get out my headphones go to a quiet place and listen to my music for a few minutes...also add some good smells such as a favorite candle or air freshener...sit and enjoy the music without the stinky smoke.
    I never used food to take away the edge and I have only gained one pound with the quit. I am on here to lose another 9 or 10 pounds I had gained over the past couple of years but because I was smoking I never had the breath to try to run or exercise enough to enjoy it and would always give up the exercise session to go have a cigarette break.

    Make a commitment to quit completely...make up your mind to be a non smoker...remember there are millions of people who handle stress without cigarettes, there are millions of people who reward themselves for a job well done without a cigarette, there are millions of people who relax without a cigarette..and you can be one of them. Good luck.
  • HDFUGU
    HDFUGU Posts: 4
    Options
    Hi Ally,
    DO NOT GIVE IN !!
    I quit smoking cold turkey in November 2010 (3packs a day), the urge to smoke came back wave after wave bringing with it a feeling of loss:
    LOSS OF WHAT???? smelly breath, depression, letargy, stinking clothes, coughing and hacking???

    Let the urges come..several seconds and they will be gone.

    Mine are gone for good....I think they disappeared on/abt. the fourth month. Beware of the third month.

    Exercise helps a lot: go to the gym, the swimming pool, join a hiking club..........now you have enough breath to engage in
    all these activities....back when you smoked you were severely empeded at best.
    LAST BUT NOT LEAST: HOW MUCH BETTER DOES YOUR SKIN LOOK??
  • SixCatFaerie
    SixCatFaerie Posts: 690 Member
    Options
    :heart:
    I smoked 1 ½-2 packs a day for 8 years. I quit smoking "cold turkey" Nov 3, 2000. I haven't picked up a cigarette since. I still have the craving and if I smell a menthol, the cravings hit harder. I have chewed A LOT of gum and sucked on A LOT of peppermints over the years. When I get a coffee from Starbucks, I will have them add peppermint to most of my drinks. So those have been my replacements for my “menthol” cigarette addiction.

    I smoked 1.5 to 2 packs a day for 15 years. My hubby & I quit almost 2 months ago using SmokeAway from http://smokeaway.com/. You only need to get the Premium Kit - no need to spend the extra money for the Premium Plus. Haven't had a SINGLE craving! However, I find that I'm now absolutely addicted to all things peppermint!!! :heart: I loved it before, but now I can't get enough! When I go to Starbucks I get a peppermint mocha, I chew peppermint gum, I drink peppermint tea everyday, I put organic peppermint extract in both my water & my coffee at home! I even bought a mini flask that holds an ounce of my organic peppermint extract & have it with me at all times to add to things when I'm out & about!

    Good luck to you!

    4581915.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools

Categories