Stop Smoking
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Marisela170
Posts: 48 Member
Any tips to stop smoking? I’ve been smoking on and off for years now but this time I’m finding it a bit more difficult to stop. When I try to stop, I start eating way more than I usually would. I want to quit but I also don’t want to gain a lot more weight in the process as I’m still working on getting to my goal weight. I’ve lost about 35 pounds this year and I still have about 25 more to go.
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Replies
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That is a tough one. I quit some years ago for good, but had a lot of false starts before that over a decade or more. It was really hard. There's probably a lot of different potential answers to your question, but here are my suggestions.
- Avoid nicotine replacement products. They are just as addicting as cigarettes, some of them more so. You are not addicted to cigarettes, you are addicted to nicotine, so any product with nicotine in it is just replacing one delivery system with another. You just have to tough it out, and I won't lie, it is hard. But don't fall back on any crutches like patches or nicotine gum. Just get it over with. It takes 72 hours to break the initial hard-core nicotine craving, and then around 3-4 more weeks to come to terms with things. After about a month, if you've made it that far, you should be solid.
- Log EVERYTHING. Seriously. Even if your current diet method is to allow some flexibility or not log once in a while, for the first 30 days log it all. Be diligent. Your only hope of not replacing cigs with massive, massive piles of junk food is to measure, log, and monitor everything going into your mouth. I wish I had known this way back when.
- Be gentle with yourself. You can't boil the ocean all at once here. You cannot quit smoking, which for many people, including me, is the hardest thing they ever do and causes intense food cravings and oral fixation, and also have a great weight loss month. I will give you some advice you may not want to hear: give yourself a free pass to gain back 5 pounds over the first 30 days. You are going to gain weight, unless you have super human strength unknown to most smokers trying to quit, so the challenge and mission is to manage and be in charge of it, rather than a passive victim of it. Just give yourself a free 5 pounds and work with that. It's only 14 % of what you lost, you can accommodate it. The reason is, you are not going to replace smoking with nothing or with carrot sticks, it just doesn't work that way. So the choice is really whether to give yourself a quota with some realism built in, or have no quota, get super depressed when you start gaining weight, and possibly go back to cigs. If you truly, truly want to be done with cigs, you have to give yourself a pressure valve and that should be something like permission to gain 5 pounds over the next month. Otherwise, haywire may ensue.
- Above all else, and you don't really need to hear this but maybe you do, do not have another cigarette. People just quitting come up with a billion excuses why they should allow themselves a relapse. I know, because I've been there. Dieting is the easiest excuse - you don't want to gain weight, can't handle the weight gain, will have 3 cigs and start over tomorrow, your weight is as important and you can't do both at the same time, etc. Don't do it. Put smoking in the rear view mirror whatever the cost, and just get through that miserable first month. By the 2nd month, things will be a lot better.
- One more tip: Buy a huge quantity of Newman's Own Peppermint Mints in advance. I'm talking at least 30 tins, one for each day of the first month, but 60 would not be unreasonable. These are 3 calories each, and are really strong so they kind of burn out your mouth and mask the nicotine craving. Nothing else is as effective. Yes, that'll add 250 cals a day to your diary. Remember what I said about tolerating the first 5 pounds of gain and being lenient with yourself. Apply that leniency by popping a Newmans Own mint every time your mind wanders to cigarette craving, which is going to be nearly non stop for at least the first couple weeks. Learn to consume them slowly. You will frantically chew your way through the first few hundred, but then you'll ease off the gas and the point is, a single 3 calorie mint can last for 45 minutes and mask the nicotine craving for all that time.
17 - Avoid nicotine replacement products. They are just as addicting as cigarettes, some of them more so. You are not addicted to cigarettes, you are addicted to nicotine, so any product with nicotine in it is just replacing one delivery system with another. You just have to tough it out, and I won't lie, it is hard. But don't fall back on any crutches like patches or nicotine gum. Just get it over with. It takes 72 hours to break the initial hard-core nicotine craving, and then around 3-4 more weeks to come to terms with things. After about a month, if you've made it that far, you should be solid.
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PP gave a pretty good list of ideas so I don't have a lot to add - I quit 7 weeks ago after 40+ years and it was rough, really rough.
Changing routines helped quite a bit - so times I usually go have a cigarette I've been doing other things. I'd usually get up and go out for a smoke before coffee. Now I get up and walk the dog around the block before coffee.
Best thing I can tell you is to be nice to yourself. The first few days are really *kitten*.
ETA: And I've gained 6 pounds in the last 7 weeks. That's okay - I know I can lose them again. One thing at a time!6 -
I quit, and 3 years later started my weight loss journey.
I was kind to myself, I let myself eat a little extra but was realistic that eventually I would have to cut back. I also used patches for longer then 3 weeks ( I did several months) to ease myself out of it. I also sought out help from my doctor and he put me on Wellbutrin for 6 weeks. I only needed it for a short time it turns out, but it did help me ease off smoking.
Did I gain weight? Yes, but it was temporary and I felt so much better.
My lungs were happier and now that I've lost 91 pounds they are not just clean lungs, they have TONS of room now where the fat used to be!
It CAN be done6 -
I quit overnight using an app created by Jason Vale. I tried loads of times before and failed miserably. For some reason, the app just made something click for me.
My partner was able to quit cigarettes through vaping.4 -
Ok I quit cold turkey after 1.5 packs a day for 20 years. First of all, you have to be ready / and want to STOP. So what I did was buy bags of navel oranges. Every time I wanted a smoke I would begin peeling the large orange. Slowly and slowly I would peel and nibble on the tasty segments. I must have gone thru 5 bags of oranges that 1st week but it WORKED. I dunno if it was the sheer will power, keeping my hands busy or the flood of vitamin C but my cravings stopped after a few days. tip, the oranges taste better chilled in the frig... good luck! You CAN do this...8
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Ok I quit cold turkey after 1.5 packs a day for 20 years. First of all, you have to be ready / and want to STOP. So what I did was buy bags of navel oranges. Every time I wanted a smoke I would begin peeling the large orange. Slowly and slowly I would peel and nibble on the tasty segments. I must have gone thru 5 bags of oranges that 1st week but it WORKED. I dunno if it was the sheer will power, keeping my hands busy or the flood of vitamin C but my cravings stopped after a few days. tip, the oranges taste better chilled in the frig... good luck! You CAN do this...
Congrats on quitting. I heard somewhere (don't know if it's true) that Vit C can help flush nicotine out of your system, so that may have been part of it.1 -
Ok I quit cold turkey after 1.5 packs a day for 20 years. First of all, you have to be ready / and want to STOP. So what I did was buy bags of navel oranges. Every time I wanted a smoke I would begin peeling the large orange. Slowly and slowly I would peel and nibble on the tasty segments. I must have gone thru 5 bags of oranges that 1st week but it WORKED. I dunno if it was the sheer will power, keeping my hands busy or the flood of vitamin C but my cravings stopped after a few days. tip, the oranges taste better chilled in the frig... good luck! You CAN do this...
Congrats on quitting. I heard somewhere (don't know if it's true) that Vit C can help flush nicotine out of your system, so that may have been part of it.
Not quite. Nicotine makes it harder for the body to absorb vitamin C.1 -
I smoked for 35 years before switching to vaping in 2012. Still smoke free now and I barely touch my vape from one week to the next.
Nicotine is no more harmful than caffeine. It’s the smoke that kills.
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I used to smoke two packs a day and stopped in 1993. For me, it helped to have positive re-inforcement in the form of purchasing power since most re-inforcement is negative (not wanting to die of lung cancer, not wanting your clothes to stink).
My smoking habit used to cost me about EUR 40 a week, so the price of a new CD at the time. At the beginning of the week I would buy myself a gift equivalent to the cost of a week of smoking (typically a new CD for me, but a new lipstick, glossy magazine, restaurant meal or anything else you enjoy would work). My contract with myself was to not smoke for the week until the frivolous gift was paid for. After a few weeks my gifts became bigger (new designer shoes in return for a month or two of no smoking). After about 18 months I no longer needed the bribes.
I found it also helped to think that i would quit for 3 years to clean up my lungs, and then re-think whether I wanted to start smoking again. It was hard to imagine quitting forever at the time. However, once I quit, re-starting was a no-brainer.5 -
Forgive me, but someone has to say it. It is not true that Nicotine is no more harmful than caffeine, or that it's the smoke that kills. I finally had an excellent explanation of the mechanisms by which nicotine may induce heart disease and heart attack from a doctor I spoke to after my ex had a massive heart attack. I wish I could recall the details well, because it was put very clearly, and was the first time I'd been given the specific information. But it's not hard to do a google search and find that nicotine can cause an increase in blood pressure, heart rate, narrowing of the arteries and hardening of the arterial walls, which on it's own, may lead to heart disease and/or a heart attack. I can't speak to the possibility of cancer, but heart disease is sufficiently bad.
I'm not an anti-smoking nazi, just don't like to see the "It's not the nicotine, it's the smoke" misinformation. They are both bad.
I work from home and used to do a lot of my smoking working at my computer. When I was quitting, I needed a hand-to-mouth substitute, so I replaced cigarettes with green tea. I'd brew a pot and keep it under a cozy on my desk, and when I was craving a cig, I'd pour a little cup of tea, like the mini cups they give you at some Chinese restaurants, and occupy my hands and my compulsion to consume something with that. I feel like the hotness of the tea contributed to it making a suitable replacement for me, because I could feel the heat spread in my stomach much as I used to feel the smoke in my lungs. Plus it had the benefit of antioxidants and keeping me hydrated to hopefully flush out toxins.
Good luck to you. It's hard, but it's 130% worth it!7 -
Forgive me, but someone has to say it. It is not true that Nicotine is no more harmful than caffeine, or that it's the smoke that kills. I finally had an excellent explanation of the mechanisms by which nicotine may induce heart disease and heart attack from a doctor I spoke to after my ex had a massive heart attack. I wish I could recall the details well, because it was put very clearly, and was the first time I'd been given the specific information. But it's not hard to do a google search and find that nicotine can cause an increase in blood pressure, heart rate, narrowing of the arteries and hardening of the arterial walls, which on it's own, may lead to heart disease and/or a heart attack. I can't speak to the possibility of cancer, but heart disease is sufficiently bad.
I'm not an anti-smoking nazi, just don't like to see the "It's not the nicotine, it's the smoke" misinformation. They are both bad.
I work from home and used to do a lot of my smoking working at my computer. When I was quitting, I needed a hand-to-mouth substitute, so I replaced cigarettes with green tea. I'd brew a pot and keep it under a cozy on my desk, and when I was craving a cig, I'd pour a little cup of tea, like the mini cups they give you at some Chinese restaurants, and occupy my hands and my compulsion to consume something with that. I feel like the hotness of the tea contributed to it making a suitable replacement for me, because I could feel the heat spread in my stomach much as I used to feel the smoke in my lungs. Plus it had the benefit of antioxidants and keeping me hydrated to hopefully flush out toxins.
Good luck to you. It's hard, but it's 130% worth it!
To be fair, he didn't say it was harmless, just that it was no more harmful than caffeine.5 -
Forgive me, but someone has to say it. It is not true that Nicotine is no more harmful than caffeine, or that it's the smoke that kills. I finally had an excellent explanation of the mechanisms by which nicotine may induce heart disease and heart attack from a doctor I spoke to after my ex had a massive heart attack. I wish I could recall the details well, because it was put very clearly, and was the first time I'd been given the specific information. But it's not hard to do a google search and find that nicotine can cause an increase in blood pressure, heart rate, narrowing of the arteries and hardening of the arterial walls, which on it's own, may lead to heart disease and/or a heart attack. I can't speak to the possibility of cancer, but heart disease is sufficiently bad.
I'm not an anti-smoking nazi, just don't like to see the "It's not the nicotine, it's the smoke" misinformation. They are both bad.
I work from home and used to do a lot of my smoking working at my computer. When I was quitting, I needed a hand-to-mouth substitute, so I replaced cigarettes with green tea. I'd brew a pot and keep it under a cozy on my desk, and when I was craving a cig, I'd pour a little cup of tea, like the mini cups they give you at some Chinese restaurants, and occupy my hands and my compulsion to consume something with that. I feel like the hotness of the tea contributed to it making a suitable replacement for me, because I could feel the heat spread in my stomach much as I used to feel the smoke in my lungs. Plus it had the benefit of antioxidants and keeping me hydrated to hopefully flush out toxins.
Good luck to you. It's hard, but it's 130% worth it!
This is 100 % true and beyond dispute in any professional medical setting. I don't know why the Internet picked up on the idea that nicotine itself is harmless, but good Lord what a dangerous, pernicious meme that has become for a younger generation of vapers, who've convinced themselves there is basically no health risk in using nicotine.
When I quit and talked to my doc about it, he was emphatic that if I did any kind of nicotine replacement therapy, it should be very short term, weeks not months, because those products are ridiculously bad for you. For exactly the reasons stated: increased blood pressure, narrowing of arteries and hardening of arterial walls, and downstream from that, heart disease and stroke. One thing that is common with alternative source nicotine users is Raynaud's syndrome, when the fingers turn white from sudden vasoconstriction. From head to toe, nicotine places pressure on the arterial walls and narrows them. Nicotine is a poison. Anyone trying to get healthy must not only get off cigs, but all forms of nicotine. No doctor would say otherwise, or has ever said otherwise. That is just a fact.7 -
A friend of mine who quit had the opposite strategy as me using a system of extreme restriction instead of frivolous treats. When he quit smoking he quit everying that's fun to put in your body: alcohol, caffeine, sugar, meat, salt, dairy. Every week, he would re-introduce one thing--except for the cigarettes.3
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Argue all you like. Smoking hardens the arteries, and lots more besides. Nicotine does not.
The problem here is that people equate nicotine with smoking. Your Dr was referring to the known effects of smoking.
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Argue all you like. Smoking hardens the arteries, and lots more besides. Nicotine does not.
The problem here is that people equate nicotine with smoking. Your Dr was referring to the known effects of smoking.
You are badly misinformed.
The tar and some of the other non-nicotine ingredients in cigarettes cause lung cancer. Nicotine itself does not cause lung cancer.
Separate from that, nicotine causes narrowing of the arteries, increased blood pressure, increased resting pulse, and vasoconstriction, which lead to heart attacks, strokes, and many other cardiovascular ailments. The smoke and tar in cigarettes are not the primary culprit here; it is nicotine. This is established scientific fact. No doctor, no cardiologist, no medical professional of any type, would argue otherwise, or ever has.
If you think that the high BP and cardiovascular problems understood by all in the field to be caused by nicotine use are somehow limited only to the other ingredients in cigarettes, I just don't what else can be said.
Nicotine is a poison. Anyone trying to live a healthy life owes it to themselves to get off it 100 %, in all its forms, forever. You cannot be a healthy person living a healthy life preparing for a healthy future while ingesting nicotine.
But of course, we all know that. Does anyone truly believe that if you went to see a cardiologist and asked him if using nicotine in any form was OK, he'd say "Sure, why not." No, he'd tell you to stop a.s.a.p.3 -
Correct me if I am wrong, but I read that nicotine is water soluble, so the physical addiction of withdrawal is resolved in 3 days. Compare that to heroin addiction where physical withdrawal syptoms last a month. Any remaining habit after physical withdrawal is pyschological addiction. I don't discount the seriousness of psychological addictions. Ask any gambler.
I decided to quit smoking after getting a bad case of bronchitis where I didn't even feel like smoking for a week. I really enjoyed smoking cigarettes but thought I should take the opportunity to quit, seeing as the physical addiction to nicotine was already out of my system.1 -
Last I heard, caffeine has not been linked to cancer, high blood pressure or hardening of the arteries. Nicotine is way worse than caffeine.4
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I vape and the warning is to never let the vape liquid touch your skin and if it does wash it immediately,also I watched a show once where someone was actually killed by nicotine poisoning that was in a garment they wore🤷 who knows2
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Argue all you like. Smoking hardens the arteries, and lots more besides. Nicotine does not.
The problem here is that people equate nicotine with smoking. Your Dr was referring to the known effects of smoking.
You are badly misinformed.
The tar and some of the other non-nicotine ingredients in cigarettes cause lung cancer. Nicotine itself does not cause lung cancer.
Separate from that, nicotine causes narrowing of the arteries, increased blood pressure, increased resting pulse, and vasoconstriction, which lead to heart attacks, strokes, and many other cardiovascular ailments. The smoke and tar in cigarettes are not the primary culprit here; it is nicotine. This is established scientific fact. No doctor, no cardiologist, no medical professional of any type, would argue otherwise, or ever has.
If you think that the high BP and cardiovascular problems understood by all in the field to be caused by nicotine use are somehow limited only to the other ingredients in cigarettes, I just don't what else can be said.
Nicotine is a poison. Anyone trying to live a healthy life owes it to themselves to get off it 100 %, in all its forms, forever. You cannot be a healthy person living a healthy life preparing for a healthy future while ingesting nicotine.
But of course, we all know that. Does anyone truly believe that if you went to see a cardiologist and asked him if using nicotine in any form was OK, he'd say "Sure, why not." No, he'd tell you to stop a.s.a.p.
I have to disagree, as does my doctor. When I smoked cigarettes I had chronic bronchitis and high blood pressure. I vape now at 3-6mg low dose nicotine and have low blood pressure and no signs of bronchitis at all.2 -
To all those saying there is dangerous misinformation out there, you're right. Potentially millions of smokers with a 95% less harmful alternative available will die because of an illogical, "moral" panic about nicotine and/or vaping that is simply not backed by science.
Article written by a doctor and molecular biologist at the Pacific Research Institute.
Summary of UK study.
"Nicotine is not a cause of cancer, cardiovascular disease or the respiratory conditions that dominate the ill health from smoking." Quote from UK recommendations to policy makers.
Sources for the above statements.
Also important when talking about the increase in vaping, whether in adults or teens: "The available evidence to date indicates that e-cigarettes are being used almost exclusively as safer alternatives to smoked tobacco, by confirmed smokers who are trying to reduce harm to themselves or others from smoking, or to quit smoking completely." - Royal College of Physicians
Another good article. Interview with Professor John Britton, director of the UK Centre for Tobacco & Alcohol Studies at the University of Nottingham.
Some key quotes:
"They are effective quitting agents, so we should be promoting them."
"They aren’t new. They’ve been around for 15 years; they’ve been in widespread use in the UK for about seven years. There’s been no appreciable reported adverse effects, with use by millions of people. So, if that was a drug, you’d be pretty confident that there are no major adverse short-term effects."
"If you look at the general physiological profile of effects of nicotine on the body, it’s on a par with caffeine."
The percentage of adults smoking flatlined in 2005 at 20%. Just wouldn't budge. E-cigs came on the scene. Do you know what the media doesn't report? That as vaping increased, the rate of smoking fell by a comparable percentage - in both adults and high school students. E-cig use doubled in the adult population, and smoking rates fell to 14% by 2017. High school smokers dropped from 15% in 2011 to 7% in 2017 - while vaping increased to 11%. Logical indication is that, while kids shouldn't be using these products, they were already trying regular cigarettes.
Why so much UK stuff? Maybe because they took a more reasonable approach to this issue than the US. Maybe because the US has a Big Pharma/Big Tobacco/big tobacco taxes problem.
By the way, the FDA ok'd long-term use of nicotine replacement products back in 2013 and removed certain warnings from the packages.
And for those who don't care to read through links, this video is a pretty good summary:
https://youtu.be/cLBfZe2sppg
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