Stop Smoking
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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SafeR is not the same thing as safe. Like any other smoking cessation product -- such as nicotine gum or Commit lozenges -- vaping is better than smoking cigarettes, but not a healthy thing to do, and something that only makes sense as part of a short term quitting strategy.
Don't know if you're up on the news this week, but the CDC is investigating over a hundred cases of mysterious lung diseases that have suddenly popped up all over the country from teenage vapers.
https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/22/20828512/vape-lung-disease-cdc-investigation-ecigarette-thc-weed
Please do not promote nicotine use here. It's irresponsible. Adults can do whatever they want with their bodies, but there has got to be something better to talk about on a diet and health forum than encouragement for people to suck nicotine vapors into their lungs.
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Don't know if you're up on the news this week, but the CDC is investigating over a hundred cases of mysterious lung diseases that have suddenly popped up all over the country from teenage vapers.
Those kids in the news lately all were using cartridges purchased off the street. These happened in clusters, aka similar geographic areas. They were buying narcotics - not typical electronic cigarette liquid or store-bought nicotine pods.
https://cei.org/blog/if-you-vape-illicit-street-drugs-it-may-kill-you-duh
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Please do not promote nicotine use here. It's irresponsible. Adults can do whatever they want with their bodies, but there has got to be something better to talk about on a diet and health forum than encouragement for people to suck nicotine vapors into their lungs.
Please do not promote fear-mongering that may dissuade a smoker who is unable/unwilling to quit cold turkey from using an alternative product, whether nicotine gum or e-cigs, that could potentially help them eliminate cigarettes and greatly improve their health and longevity (as well as the air of those around them).
If you're unwilling to read through the links I posted and give the information any consideration, then you're simply confirming that your real issue with these products has very little to do with health.
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Please do not promote nicotine use here. It's irresponsible. Adults can do whatever they want with their bodies, but there has got to be something better to talk about on a diet and health forum than encouragement for people to suck nicotine vapors into their lungs.
Please do not promote fear-mongering that may dissuade a smoker who is unable/unwilling to quit cold turkey from using an alternative product, whether nicotine gum or e-cigs, that could potentially help them eliminate cigarettes and greatly improve their health and longevity (as well as the air of those around them).
If you're unwilling to read through the links I posted and give the information any consideration, then you're simply confirming that your real issue with these products has very little to do with health.
I did not fear-monger. I said that nicotine replacement products can prove useful for people attempting to quit smoking as a short-term therapy, but that they are dangerous and ill-advised for long term use and/or recreationally. Also, I have pushed back in this thread on the absurd and anti-science argument that everything that's harmful about smoking is in the other ingredients and that nicotine is somehow excluded from the harm that cigarettes do. That is ridiculous.
I spent a long time trying to wean myself off nicotine replacement products, and it was a harder-won battle than quitting cigarettes, because they are just as addictive but also more discrete, socially acceptable, and you do get sucked into the "healthier than smoking" thing as an excuse to keep going with them. Meanwhile, you have not made even a tiny dent in the real problem - your physical addiction to nicotine, which causes immediate vasoconstriction and, longer term, potentially very serious cardiovascular problems.
I have said my piece on this. We disagree, both about nicotine and about the appropriateness of promoting its use on a health forum. We will have to simply disagree, because the chasm between our views on this is enormous. Sometimes politely disagreeing is the best that can be done. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.3 -
Quitting smoking? If you’ve begun the process my heart goes out to you. It’s hard. It’s a nightmare from hell. I’m 56 and I quit smoking 12 weeks and 1 day ago. I’ve smoked for 40 years. I’ve tried numerous times over the years (using Chantix) but never stuck with it. It’s hard. I’ve already said that but I promise you it bears repeating, IT IS HARD! It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, which is saying a lot because I’m also a recovering alcoholic, 10+ years sober. Quitting smoking makes quitting alcohol seem like a cake walk.
When I chose a quit date, I also chose an end date for MFP. I told my friends what I was doing and they understood completely. They offered me nothing but love and support (I have the BEST friends on MFP!) which really helped me move forward with my plan. Then I gave myself permission to eat. Whatever. Whenever. It didn’t matter. I just ate. I knew the risk and was ok with it. I wanted to quit smoking. I knew this was my last chance, my last go round, it was quit or smoke the rest of my life, because I was so sick of trying. I didn’t need any distractions. I didn’t need any excuses or reasons for starting again. Or for cheating. I chose life over weight. You can always lose weight. You’ve only got one life. Do whatever you need to to quit. Only you know your triggers.
Prepare yourself for learning a different way to live. I couldn’t do anything without thinking, ok let’s go smoke, because that’s what I did - when I cooked a meal, I’d take a break and go smoke. Wake up? Go smoke. Get aggravated? Go smoke. After a meal? Go smoke. Every ounce of your life will change. You may think you’re prepared for it. You aren’t. It’s going to nail you when you least expect it. It will feel like hell so many days. Don’t give up. Just DON’T GIVE UP! Once you start the quit process don’t stop, tough it out and get it over with. Need a friend, friend me, or message me.
Quitting smoking has literally changed my life in so many ways. It’s also one of the most gratifying feelings in the world once you succeed. I promise you. It’s amazing. I only wish I’d done it eons ago or never started to begin with. Wishing you all the best ❤️🙏🏻
PS Yes I gained weight, 17lbs in 10 weeks. It’s ok though because I’m back on MFP with my friends and I’m back in the gym working it off. Plus, I’m jogging!! Jogging!! I jogged for 6 minutes straight without stopping. I haven’t done that since high school. I’m so damn proud of myself! 😊9 -
I was a smoker and i struggled for years trying to quit. I mean off and on multiple times. It wasn't until I joined a boot camp and really struggled breathing when running that I realized I needed to quit for good. Also I was completely embarrassed to be a smoker being around all of those fit and healthy people. 3 weeks into my boot camp I quit cold turkey. Totally mind over matter!! I also like to have a few drinks which triggers my cigarette cravings. I avoided alcohol for at least a month and focused on exercising. Dentyne Ice chewing gum was my best friend LOL (still is).
Starting my exercise program helped me avoid any extra weight gain.
Good Luck to you: )2 -
Marisela170 wrote: »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.
I quit smoking many years ago. I got mad at myself for depending on cigarettes like a drug addict, not being able to do anything without smoking. I quit cold turkey and told myself too bad about the physical suffering. I also paid for a 6-week stop smoking course, even though I'd stopped on my own, because I knew I would start again.
You asked for tips. Here are mine:
(1) Take a stop-smoking class. Many hospitals offer free ones. I paid for mine, which was worth every penny. They give support and train you to think like a nonsmoker.
(2) Realize the suffering is temporary. If you can live through the flu, you can live through cigarette withdrawal. It doesn't last forever. Eventually, I promise, you will feel like a normal person and go through your day without thinking about cigarettes.
(3) I didn't tell anybody I was quitting. I didn't want people judging me and adding pressure.
(4) I took quitting seriously. I made it the most important thing in my life. I stayed away from people and places where I might smell smoke for about 4 months.
(5) I planned treats for myself -- bought things that smelled nice, went to interesting places.
(6) If you gain back a small amount of weight, well, so what. You can lose it. Exercise more. Buy yourself some great new exercise clothes or shoes. Quitting smoking is more important.
Good luck. You can do this, too.
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It will 10 years come January that I quit and despite all the cessation aids, courses, and products out there, many of which I have tried with ZERO degree of success, it came down down to the simplest of things; wanting to quit, finding the motivation that is truly mine to drive me, which was just the purest of self-directed rage! Anger that my next to last attempt to quit failed so quickly and miserably despite all will and planning. That rage and my desire to never, ever again have to listen to anyone talk to me about smoking fueled me and once I started facing all the so-called obstacles and found they were ALL complete nonsense each hour, each day, week and month became easier and easier!!! I have not looked and not one single cessation product was ever used!! And every single thing I used to do with cigarettes, I still do today without them; AND THEY ARE SO MUCH BETTER!! E-cigs was kind of new when I quit. I had no interest in them as I was convinced they'd do nothing but drive me right back to tobacco. No, Thank you! Smokers!! Quitting is totally doable!! Just quit over-thinking it!! Find that reason, find that drive, that fuel latch on to it and make it yours and yours alone!!! You will be amazed how far it will take you!!
This message brought to you by a man who never, ever thought he could or would quit. Be inspired by him!!2 -
From what I've read on the topic it seems the most effective way to quit involves some type of counseling, support system, accountability system - accountable to a doctor seen regularly, coaching, etc. Some human connection.
I've heard of these "natural" things to try- found a website the includes them all: http://www.altmedicinezone.com/how-tos/quit-smoking-naturally/
Items Needed
Unsweetened grapefruit juice
500 mg vitamin C tablets
Cinnamon mouthwash
Cinnamon toothpaste
Maybe it could help. Good luck.0 -
I wrote the following in another thread today and decided to share it here:
"Congratulations to all who have 'pulled the trigger' on quitting 🙂
I quit 'cold turkey'. Please trust me when I say if your drive and fuel is sufficient and your's, it really isn't that cold!!! My strong motivation was the inward rage created when my last planned and prepared attempt failed...in hours! I didn't use any aids or apps or e-cigs. I had no further interest in nicotine or any of the other addictive aspects of smoking as I believed all that would do was propel me back to cigarettes. I wasn't going back!
Let me share some guarantees:
You will see it get easier by the day, by the hour because you will see that all the obstacles to remaining smoke free are bogus and mental! You will bust right on through them!
With the current prices of packs and cartons (at least where I live) you will see your spendable money increase a bit depending on how much you used to buy.
You will find that everything you once did while smoking, you can still do without them...and they will be more enjoyable! Example: How many of you have been in a smoke free place having dinner/drinks with people and left them to out into weather because you needed that 'after dinner smoke'?
The food and drink you enjoy will taste better!
You will soon begin asking yourself incredulously "I did that!!?? I smelled like that!!??" You did! I did!! Your perfume/cologne should smell better. I don't know that as I don't use it.
Months and years later you will be able tell when a smoker is approaching or where a lot smoking has been done or smokers gathered, as that stench which we never noticed when we smoked will be in the ground and their clothes. It will be strong and it will be very noxious to you!! It will be the best reminder you have to never let yourself go back there!!
This is not a guarantee but a plea; once you get to that point where you will never 'go back', please, please do not be afraid to speak to others and let them know just how doable and easy quitting is!! Please be straightforward about it but also be kind and respectful especially when directed at any family members who may still smoke. Be an example but don't risk driving them away from you. Once again, congratulations. Keep it going, one day at a time!"0
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