Quit Smoking

[Fraidycat]

I have just quit smoking after about 7 years.
it has been roughly 1 month now since i quit and its not as hard as i thought BUT It has just recently started to get tough.
Lots of things in my life have begun to mess me up a lil and I'm tempted to start again . . . I DONT WANT TO !!
Words of advice or experience would be appreciated.
Please . . . ?

[Solkern]

I love smoking, it does a body good!
that was a joke, but no, quitting smoking is all mental i tell you!

[Weedmage Princess]

First of all, kudos to you for quitting. I can imagine it's not easy...especially after having done it for such a long time.

As far as advice, I'd say focus on the thing that made you want to quit in the first place. Everytime you get the urge, think back to that. Hope that helps and best of luck to you!

[Fraidycat]

Thankyou . .
It also helps that I have begun a relationship with a girl who doesnt smoke . . I keep telling myself how much that would ruin things . . or just make me look weak.
Still . . I eat about 3 packs of gum when I get drunk!! (chuckles).

[StrayRogue]

Originally posted by Fraidycat
Thankyou . .
It also helps that I have begun a relationship with a girl who doesnt smoke . . I

Does she have any fit, single and emotionally damaged friends???

[Adhara]

Here's a trick I picked up from Dr. Phil. Find a rubber band that fits snugly but comfortably on your wrist. When you feel the urge, pull it and let it snap back. A little masochistic I know. I haven't tried it myself but it seems like it would work.

[Fraidycat]

Actually i do worse than that fer fun while smoking . . . ah those chains chafed so bad I . . . umm . . ferget i said that.!

[Weedmage Princess]

Originally posted by Fraidycat
Actually i do worse than that fer fun while smoking . . . ah those chains chafed so bad I . . . umm . . ferget i said that.!

Oh boy!!!

[Camri]

Originally posted by Fraidycat
Thankyou . .
It also helps that I have begun a relationship with a girl who doesnt smoke . . I keep telling myself how much that would ruin things . . or just make me look weak.
Still . . I eat about 3 packs of gum when I get drunk!! (chuckles).

Keep that in the front of your mind.

As someone who doesn't smoke, I can tell you how repulsive everything about smoking is to those of us who can smell it.

It seems that smokers can't actually smell that smell like us non smokers can. It's on your clothes, in your hair, and makes you stink when you walk into a room. Not to mention, your smoking makes us stink too.

I'm sure she'll greatly appreciate the fact that you've quit.

[peam]

http://www.tobaccofacts.org/media/pukepage/lungs1.jpg

Print that out, put it in your pocket, and whenever you need a reminder just take it out and have a look.

[Ravenstorm]

My last cigarette was about 2 years, 3 months ago so I actually have practical advice.

When you get that physical feeling you want a cigarette, take a really deep breath. And I mean as deep as you possibly can. Then hold it a bit. It will help that 'I want a cigarette' feeling you get in your lungs. Repeat a few times. Then go do something to distract yourself. When you're busy, you feel it less.

Keep a pen, pencil, popsicle stick, etc nearby if you're one of those people who get a psychological urge to have one. With me it was mostly physical. Take the pen and play with it, bite the end, whatever. Having carrots or celery available is also good as you can actually eat them.

Fortunately, after 2 years, I /finally/ lost the urge to smoke. Though I still think the smell is wonderful and want to jump in the lap of people whenever I walk by an office building where people are smoking outside.

Raven

[Tendarian]

I agree with Daina,ive always promised myself id quit smoking when i got pregnant too. Harmnone said she was looking into a way for males to get pregnant too and i vollunteered so there is hope.

Congrats on quitting by the way. That takes a lot of will power i just dont have at the moment so im impressed anyway.

[Camri]

Since we're talking about smoking. I'm curious to know why people start smoking to begin with?

Can any of you smokers explain to me why you choose to take up a habit that not only smells bad, but threatens your health?

I'm not trying to offend smokers or come down on them. I'm just honestly curious.

[Rowi]

Just glad i dont smoke, I do something much worse!

I chew snuff, Copenhagen!

<gimme a kiss>

[Camri]

Originally posted by Rowi
Just glad i dont smoke, I do something much worse!

I chew snuff, Copenhagen!

<gimme a kiss>

That's gross in a whole other kind of way. ::Shudders::

[Snapp]

That reminds me of a guy that comes into the store I work... His girlfriend hated his smoking.. so he decided to quit for her.. by taking up snuff instead! Oddest thing is, she was happy with that! I gag when I see people using that stuff.

[Rowi]

Yea, Well try living in Los Angeles and findin the stuff thats the first part thats hard enough!

Yes, my wife hates it. But ill never stop, ever! atleast im killing myself and not everybody around me....unless of course you wanna give me a kiss!

[Tendarian]

My first cigarette was when i was around 16 or 17 i think (which is pretty old to start) I was at a party and i dont like drinking but was a lil here and there anway and walked with a friend to a store so he could buy a pack. He offered me one and i declined and then later i was bored so i asked if i could have one. Whoa boy did i feel a high from that! I was scared to drive when i smoked the first few times,it was great. If i had known then that the high would never be that great down the road i would have just smoked pot when i wanted a high and not been addicted to cigarettes.

I personally dont think scaring kids that its bad for their health works. Kids think they are invincible and the bad stuff happens to the other guy.

[Tendarian]

Originally posted by Rowi
Just glad i dont smoke, I do something much worse!

I chew snuff, Copenhagen!

<gimme a kiss>

Haha i chewed when i was in college cause they didnt allow smoking in the lobby of my dorm. I played cards a lot and didnt want to have to go outside to smoke so i took up that. I let it go when i got out of college as i just didnt like it as much as smoking.

[Camri]

Originally posted by Rowi
Yea, Well try living in Los Angeles and findin the stuff thats the first part thats hard enough!

Yes, my wife hates it. But ill never stop, ever! atleast im killing myself and not everybody around me....unless of course you wanna give me a kiss!

I think we'll just leave that to your wife, since she seems to have the stomach for it. :yes:

[Rowi]

Yea I picked it up living in Ohio well Growing up there bailing hay cant smoke there. dry hay and straw dont care for fire.

My whole family back home there in Ohio chews, I know girls that chew Snuff............I look at them maybe as some women look at men that chew so i understand its nasty.

Chew on airplane, chew at movies, chew at school, Chew at work on a gas barge! many reasons i took up and kept chewing.

[Camri]

Originally posted by Tendarian
My first cigarette was when i was around 16 or 17 i think (which is pretty old to start) I was at a party and i dont like drinking but was a lil here and there anway and walked with a friend to a store so he could buy a pack. He offered me one and i declined and then later i was bored so i asked if i could have one. Whoa boy did i feel a high from that! I was scared to drive when i smoked the first few times,it was great. If i had known then that the high would never be that great down the road i would have just smoked pot when i wanted a high and not been addicted to cigarettes.

I personally dont think scaring kids that its bad for their health works. Kids think they are invincible and the bad stuff happens to the other guy.

It was never the health warnings that kept me from starting smoking. It was the smell. Maybe it's just me, but I find the smell horribly offensive.

[Snapp]

Originally posted by Camri

Originally posted by Tendarian
My first cigarette was when i was around 16 or 17 i think (which is pretty old to start) I was at a party and i dont like drinking but was a lil here and there anway and walked with a friend to a store so he could buy a pack. He offered me one and i declined and then later i was bored so i asked if i could have one. Whoa boy did i feel a high from that! I was scared to drive when i smoked the first few times,it was great. If i had known then that the high would never be that great down the road i would have just smoked pot when i wanted a high and not been addicted to cigarettes.

I personally dont think scaring kids that its bad for their health works. Kids think they are invincible and the bad stuff happens to the other guy.

It was never the health warnings that kept me from starting smoking. It was the smell. Maybe it's just me, but I find the smell horribly offensive.

I think a lot of kids just start because parents (and those stupid commercials) are so preachy about not doing it.. Kinda like a rebellious thing I guess... and of course there's peer pressure. ;)

[Artha]

Find a nice big picture of a black, tarry smoker's lung, and set it as your desktop.

[AkMan]

Ugh. I started smoking at 18. The sad part was, it wasn't easy to start smoking. I had to really try and work at it. My friends and I all started smoking at the same time to be cool, I guess. If you don't smoke, don't start. Please.

[Geoff]

Originally posted by Rowi
Chew on airplane, chew at movies, chew at school, Chew at work on a gas barge! many reasons i took up and kept chewing.

I used to chew and I think that's one of the reasons it's so hard to quit. I chewed in school, in bed before I went to sleep, church, (when mom dragged me there) pretty much everywhere I wasn't having to do anything intensely physical. I even started chewing using my upper lip because it doesn't juice up as fast and then I didn't have to spit.
I ended up quitting for a girl but I almost decided the other way.

[Lord Deprav]

I don't even wanna read the rest of your post. I have been trying over a month now and failing badly. Will try again tomorrow...But in the meantime very good luck with your attempt. I sincerely mean it. I know trust me.

Deprav
Who smokes 3 packs a day.

[HarmNone]

Oh, Deprav, hon! Please, at least slow down. I really hate to think what three packs of cigarettes a day is doing to your body. It makes me shudder. You are worth far more than that!

HarmNone is now officially worried :(

[Fraidycat]

Thanks for all your advice . .
The biggest reason I don't want to begin smoking again is I have never felt so healthy.
I don't know if I actually am, but it makes me feel a little better about myself . . . I can even drink coffee without having a smoke . . . . WOW :D
Thanks again !

[HarmNone]

Congratulations, hon. Your lungs are screaming "Thank you" as we speak. :D

HarmNone is happy for you

[StrayRogue]

<------ Is glad he never smoked cigarettes.

[Betheny]

Quitting smoking sucks. I've done it a few times. I wish I could stay quit. :(

You should stay quit, so that you can be my role model.

[Crazed Sylvan]

You probably aren't imagining the feeling that you're getting more healthy.

Your lungs and the rest of your body begin the entire process of doing what it can to repair the damage to your body and lungs within hours of your last cigarette, and from what I hear (since I've never even touched a cigarette), soon after the results start becoming noticeable, like your sense of smell and taste working more like they should.

Harmnone is right, actually... it really is your body screaming "Thank you!" at the top of its lungs. </pun>

[Lord Deprav]

Originally posted by Maimara
Quitting smoking sucks. I've done it a few times. I wish I could stay quit. :(

You should stay quit, so that you can be my role model.

Haha you started back up again! I knew you were week!

Deprav

[Bewitchindryad25]

I've been quit for 3 or so weeks now. Food has never tasted so good. I swear Im going to get fat. I want to now eat everything that is not nailed down.

I just quit and threw them away and wanted to chew gum or eat constantly, anything to keep my mind off it and hands busy.

The hardest times for me were right after eatting a meal especially, or sitting around with friends and talking etc.

I was up to 3 packs a day and I already have health problems so it wasn't really helping those at all.

Then actually Izalude *thanks hon you are a dear!* sit down and talked to me one day and basically layed it down as with you already having health problems what happens if your son comes in to wake you up and finds you dead. That really hit home. I just got big tears in my eyes, and haven't had one since. I didn't want my son to go through that or to go through life without a mother.

My boyfriend has also been a great help. So really I owe it to the support of my friends Kevin, my boyfriend and my boyfriends good friend who is like a brother to me.

They all made me promise to quit, and I am the type of person who hates to break promises once I make them. So thanks guys I owe you all three one!

Amber

[Edited on 10-11-2003 by Bewitchindryad25]

[Betheny]

Originally posted by Lord Deprav
Haha you started back up again! I knew you were week!

Deprav


STFU. :( Be nice to me! As nice as my preciousssssssses are.......

Camel Lights are the bane of my existence.

[Ravenstorm]

If nothing else, figure out how much money you'd save by not smoking. That's what did it for me. I quit when my Marlboro 100s went up to around $40 a carton. That was just too ridiculous.

So lets say you pay $3 per pack and smoke 2 packs a day.... $2200/year. Think about it and what else you could be spending it on.

Raven

[Betheny]

But cigarettes never reject you. Nor do they talk back. Nor do they cheat on you.

Better than a man, I say.

[Tendarian]

$40/ carton of Marlboros! Wow here they cost $27.99 thats incredible. Yeah the waste of money on smoking is high and it almost gets me to quit a lot.

[Ravenstorm]

NY. Lots of 'sin tax' on cigarettes. I used to get mine from the Amerindians over the internet so never paid near that myself. But their prices went up as well.

Anyway, quitting smoking saves lots of money if nothing else. Oh, and getting rid of the constant coughing is a true joy.

Raven

[Betheny]

pack of camels costs 3.04 here.

[GS4Gurl]

Wow cigs are expensive. Glad I never started. I guess you can say you are literally BURNing money. hehe.

I've heard that nicotine causes your body not to heal as fast as it should, or not at all. Like when you get the flu, cold, or even cuts and scrapes a chemical causes the healing process in your body to occur at a much slower rate, aside from the fact its ruining your lungs. I know it can be hard. I've watched a few friends try to stop and they just can't. They try lots of creative ways to stop its just really hard to do.

[Edited on 10-11-2003 by GS4Gurl]