Advice for a soon to be non-smoker?

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  • sdguy2002
    sdguy2002 Posts: 84 Member
    I have quit now for 15 days. I have quit before but this time should be for an extended period of time. Firtst you have to look at it as every 24 hours without a cigarette as a success. Also for the first time i called the 1800 no butts and they sent me material and tests that i filled out. After identifing what my triggers were it was easier for me to say no to a cigarette because i noticed hey its not that i feel i need a cigarette i just feel stressed. The 2 techniques i have used is breathing...alot. excissivley someties but it has been working; and gum for theat oral addiction. I also usually have a pen or something in my hand for the joy of holding something. The support from the person on the hotline wasnt much but the paperwork helped me. Also i would quit on the first of the month because it is easier to track. For your case in particular i would start on dec 1st. Ask for your material now. so byt the time jan 1st come s around and you start running your body is healed and running would be easier
  • Emily102102
    Emily102102 Posts: 33 Member
    I quit in September
    Set a date & syke yourself up!
    I had a big calender hanging up & everynight before bed I put a big red X on that day (if you do not smoke!)
    That Helped me A LOT! I couldn't stand the thought of having a gap between X's!
    I counted days until day 10 & after that I stopped counting because it was easier (kept doing the X's tho)
    Have some healthy snacks around & gum too!
    I Also quit drinking coffee & drank wine instead of beer until I was over it!
    I did gain 10-15lbs but I'm working it off now :) No Big Deal


    Had my last smoke 9-2-2011 & Have NO desire to ever smoke again
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
    Have you guys heard of the phone ap "Quit Now"? I've already downloaded it in preparation, and you put in your quit date and time (when you actually DO stop) and how much you smoked + pack price you usually pay, and it will tell you at anytime how much money you've saved, and also what your health benefits are so far. I'm really looking forward to using it.....
  • Raclex
    Raclex Posts: 238
    Have you guys heard of the phone ap "Quit Now"? I've already downloaded it in preparation, and you put in your quit date and time (when you actually DO stop) and how much you smoked + pack price you usually pay, and it will tell you at anytime how much money you've saved, and also what your health benefits are so far. I'm really looking forward to using it.....

    Yes! I also used that to track how much money you saved, how much time it had been since you quit, etc. I used it until my 1 year anniversary. I really enjoyed it and it truly motivated me. I mean within hours I could see that there were already health benefits. Every bit of support helps!
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
    Have you guys heard of the phone ap "Quit Now"? I've already downloaded it in preparation, and you put in your quit date and time (when you actually DO stop) and how much you smoked + pack price you usually pay, and it will tell you at anytime how much money you've saved, and also what your health benefits are so far. I'm really looking forward to using it.....

    Yes! I also used that to track how much money you saved, how much time it had been since you quit, etc. I used it until my 1 year anniversary. I really enjoyed it and it truly motivated me. I mean within hours I could see that there were already health benefits. Every bit of support helps!
    Cool.. I'd like to make a plan for setting that money we would have spent on cigarettes aside for a set period of time and then using it for something fun (or just pay off a bill). I think that will be a great motivational tool :)
  • mnishi
    mnishi Posts: 419 Member
    Have you guys heard of the phone ap "Quit Now"? I've already downloaded it in preparation, and you put in your quit date and time (when you actually DO stop) and how much you smoked + pack price you usually pay, and it will tell you at anytime how much money you've saved, and also what your health benefits are so far. I'm really looking forward to using it.....

    Yes! I also used that to track how much money you saved, how much time it had been since you quit, etc. I used it until my 1 year anniversary. I really enjoyed it and it truly motivated me. I mean within hours I could see that there were already health benefits. Every bit of support helps!
    Cool.. I'd like to make a plan for setting that money we would have spent on cigarettes aside for a set period of time and then using it for something fun (or just pay off a bill). I think that will be a great motivational tool :)

    That's a great idea, I think I'll use my saved money on an awesome vacation or something that'll really keep me motivated.
  • ms78
    ms78 Posts: 37 Member
    Wow! good for you!

    Part of my job is researching how to help people stop smoking. A big help is nicotine replacement therapy (patches, spray, gum etc) - it really reduces your chance of relapsing. Also - one way I have heard is good (although I can't personally vouch for it) is Allen Carr's easy way - its a therapy session that changes the way you think about quitting - rather than missing something you enjoyed, they make you feel that you have escaped from a habit which is damaging your health and your wallet.
  • yesiamaduck
    yesiamaduck Posts: 531 Member
    If you hate the idea of being a social smoker I also recommend you try not to drink too much! Sure you can have one or two but after the 4th 5th or 6th the is a strong chance that you'll end up smoking! I got lucky, and lots of people hate me for it, in that I went from 20 a day to 1 or 2 whenever I fancy in the blink of the eye but find myself smoking almost an entire pack when I'm real sloshed (though this has subsided a lot recently, as I get more used to not smoking whilst drinking)
  • gashinshotan
    gashinshotan Posts: 749 Member
    When I started running 3 weeks ago I was a half a pack a day smoker... went from running 1 mile to 6 on my last run @ 10 min pace... so don't let your mind trick you into thinking you can't run because you were a smoker.
    I've decided to quite smoking on Jan 1st!!! And I'm going to try to replace smoking with running, I'm hoping that it I focus on running, it might make the cravings easier. If all goes well, I will reward myself at the end of Feb by signing up for the Chicago Marathon (something I've always wanted to accompl....ish but couldn't because of smoking). I've been a smoker for half my life, 15 years, and I'm so scared that I won't be able to do this and will just end up disappointing myself. Are there any ex-smokers that have some advice for me?

    Also, if there are any smokers that would like to join me, we can kill this habit together!
  • TuscanySun
    TuscanySun Posts: 3,608 Member
    I've decided to quite smoking on Jan 1st!!! And I'm going to try to replace smoking with running, I'm hoping that it I focus on running, it might make the cravings easier. If all goes well, I will reward myself at the end of Feb by signing up for the Chicago Marathon (something I've always wanted to accomplish but couldn't because of smoking). I've been a smoker for half my life, 15 years, and I'm so scared that I won't be able to do this and will just end up disappointing myself. Are there any ex-smokers that have some advice for me?

    Also, if there are any smokers that would like to join me, we can kill this habit together!

    Good for you!! You CAN definately do this! I smoked for 18 years and quit for life 10 years ago, thank God.

    My advice...between now and Jan 1 start cutting back. Try every other time you go to grab a cigarette to say, no...not yet. I'm going to wait 20 minutes. Then go do something else for 20 minutes, walk, run, read a book, laundry...whatever...just do something else and make yourself wait those 20 minutes. Then gradually do this for every time you reach for a cig. Training yourself to wait is part of breaking the habit.

    What worked for me was to do the above till I was at a half pack a day. Then, I made the rule "no smoking in the car". Enforce that with yourself and be strict. Tell yourself "I can wait till I get home" or "I can wait till I get there". Then when you do, only smoke a half and toss it.

    Then, when I was ready to say "NO MORE"...I upped my vitamin B (helps with mood), bought some crunchie fresh green beans (huge bag fulls...they're roughly the same shape/size of a cig) and also bought Celestial Seasonings "tension tamer" tea (it also has valerian and other mood regulating herbs).

    Every time I had a craving...I said a prayer...literally "Please God, help me thru this craving!" and ate those beans by the fist full till the craving passed. I drank tons of that tea too!!

    I figure the green beans being the same shape and size and crunching on them like mad gave my hands and mouth something to be occupied with till I got thru the craving.

    It really worked. May sound dumb, but I've been smoke free for 10 years now and it only took me about a week to break the habit for good this way.

    Set yourself up for success and beleive that it can be done! Good luck!!!
  • zendarah
    zendarah Posts: 91 Member
    I quit cold turkey five months ago. I had been smoking for 4 years. I decided to quit without patches because I did not want my body to be addicted to nicotine any longer. Just remember that the first 72 hours is the worst. It gets alot easier after that :) i drink tea instead of smoking. Nice "break", not too many calories. I found that remembering the quitting timeline really helped me because i did not want to undo the good I had already done by smoking.

    http://whyquit.com/whyquit/A_Benefits_Time_Table.html

    Good luck! You are about to do the best thing of your life!!!
  • paulwgun
    paulwgun Posts: 439 Member
    I went cold turkey 26 years ago, mainly because my girlfriend (now my wife) was a non smoker. I bought a car on hire purchase which the money i was spending on cigarettes had to pay for, so i could not afford to go back to smoking

    Watch your diet as this is the time i started to put on weight and did not keep it in check until now
    I cant stand the smell of cigarettes these days, but can sympathise with your plight I hope you succeed
  • coxy1968
    coxy1968 Posts: 77
    I quit smoking January 17 of last year, when I turned 40. I had smoked for 26 years!! I was told about a book titled THE EASY WAY TO STOP SMOKING by Alan Carr. What a great book! I read it and didnt pick up another smoke since. I really recommend buying it, Found it at Borders for $13.95. Good luck!!


    I also read this book and i found it so easy and i didnt have any cravings at all, i have been a non smoker 5 years in February.
    In my experience i have found that all of my smoking friends that have set a quit date have not had any success and the smokers that just said thats it ive had enough im quitting NOW and they have had the success and are still non smokers.

    All of my family have also read the book and ALL of them quit and the biggest surprise of all was my mother in law who smoked 20 per day since she was 15 and she quit at 72 and is still a non smoker.

    Good luck and you can do this..!
  • Cooriander
    Cooriander Posts: 2,848 Member
    I quit on my wedding day, had my last one right before I walked into the church. It worked for me to quit on a special day. I used the nicotine gum for a year and then quit the gum. The gum definitely helped with the craving. I quit the gum by mixing it with regular gum, with less and less nikotin gum.

    I was a heavy smoker (2 packs per day), but I ran road races even when I smoked, didn't really prevent my from exercising. I stepped it up though after quitting, my DH and I ran 5Ks and 10Ks the first few years of our marriage - before our careers got really busy....(and having kids)...
  • IronmanPanda
    IronmanPanda Posts: 2,083 Member
    I always told myself I would never quit until I actually stopped enjoying it. If you still enjoy smoking you will never quit because you'll always want one. Somewhere in the back of your head you will crave it.

    Luckily for me, one day I woke up and decided I didn't enjoy it anymore. Quit cold turkey almost 2 years ago and haven't looked back.

    I can guarantee you if I still enjoyed it though, I would have been back on in a day.
  • stuart959
    stuart959 Posts: 33 Member
    Firstly, congrats on making the choice to and practicing a healthier life style to support your decision. Though I'm not a smoker, I can speak from addictive behaviour. I've found that when major changes are made especially with my favorite way to de-stress alternatives will pop up. Instead of overeating I'd be tempted to watch TV as an example. So be aware of negitive emotional/behaviour patterns that can undermine your goal, also you're taking a wise approach by focusing on what positive things do I want to do to enrich myself instead of negitive re-inforcement. Good luck!
  • Cooriander
    Cooriander Posts: 2,848 Member
    I always told myself I would never quit until I actually stopped enjoying it. If you still enjoy smoking you will never quit because you'll always want one. Somewhere in the back of your head you will crave it.

    Luckily for me, one day I woke up and decided I didn't enjoy it anymore. Quit cold turkey almost 2 years ago and haven't looked back.

    I can guarantee you if I still enjoyed it though, I would have been back on in a day.

    NOt true for me - I enjoyed smoking, and I still remember enjoying it. The trade-off if it being dangerous to your health AND breathing better helped me stop for good. If you smoke (a lot) you will eventually get cancer, the statistic is overwhelming - my mother smoked for most of her life and quit, but did not escape getting lung cancer. She is now motivating me to get more healthy, lose weight and get in shape. I am grateful that she does. It was worth it to quit. I am grateful. You can do it.
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