I Quit

[ThankQ]

Today, July 23rd, is day 23. Blew my last fag on 6/30/09. I was about a 50 cig a day smoker, but it seems I have now quit.

Lots of stuff I'll get into, but I want to hear from other quitters. How long has it been? Anyone quit for an extended period of time (years) only to go back?

Anyone manage to quit heavy, daily smoking and become a "one cig every now an then" smoker?

Anyone still smoking and want to quit?

Anyone still smoking and not want to quit?

Anyone got a smoke I can bum?

 

[Deckerd]

Is it affecting your weight yet?

 

[Kestra]

Can't relate personally, but just wanted to say, good for you, and good luck.

 

[Plecostomus]

Anyone got a smoke I can bum?

*shotgun blast*

NO SMOKING!

 

[ThankQ]

Is it affecting your weight yet?

Yes, about 12 lbs in 3 weeks. Ugh.

However, for the first 4-5 days I allowed myself to eat anything I wanted.

On day two, I was going so crazy that I actually went to Golden Corral (and you have to know me to know how amazing this is) and filled up two plates...

One with every type of meat I could find, and the other with every type of chocolate.

And then I did it again.

But hey, small price to pay.

For several years now I've had a healthy lifestyle other than the smoking, so I'm not too worried about the weight.

Haven't asked any girls out in a couple weeks, though. Something about putting on the "fat jeans" that doesn't allow you to feel all kinds of sexy.

 

[Chekov's Phaser]

I quit July 4th of last year, and I haven't smoked since. I smoked about a pack a day. I'm glad I did it because I love not being controlled by smoking. I don't have to sneak away to smoke or have to deal with the smell. I don't have to worry if some restaurant I go to allows smoking or not. Best of all, I probably save 160-200 dollars a month! It really is quite liberating. Hang in there, and you can do it.

I will say this though, as much as I love that I don't smoke anymore, I do miss the actual act of smoking. There is something about it, and I'm not just talking about the nicotine, that is very alluring and addicting.

 

[Cakes488]

Yes I smoke cigarettes and want and need to quit. I said that I was going to do it this fall. Fall is fast approaching. I'm scared to think of life without cigarettes -- but I know that I can't have a life with them either. Cigarettes have always been there for me...in good times and bad...they've been my friend. But I know this is a one way friendship and they only really take and don't give. This is going to be one of the hardest things I'm going to do. I want a magic bullet to take my addiction away. Why can they do that for heroin and not nicotine? I hope I can be strong enough to do this...I must be strong enough to do this. I'm so upset now just thinking about it...I need to go smoke a cigarette and sort this all out.

 

[Squiggy]

I had my last one on 7/7/07 at 7:07 PM. You're over the 3 week hump. It get's better from here.

 

[TheBrew]

Grats! Keep it up.

 

[ThankQ]

I had my last one on 7/7/07 at 7:07 PM. You're over the 3 week hump. It get's better from here.

Nah, I'm gonna start smoking again until September 9th, just so I can be cool like you.

 

[Squiggy]

It's true. Chicks dig smokers.

Actually, I figured if I was going to quit I was going to need all the luck in the world to do it so why not throw a bunch of 7s into the mix?

 

[RandyS]

I can't relate. The one and only time I tried smoking 25 years ago I got violently ill, and have never smoked since. I just don't see the attraction. And, I'll never forget watching my grandpa (who raised me like his own son) die from lung cancer five years after he quit smoking. Of course, it didn't help that he smoked for close to fifty years before that.

Good luck to you.

 

[ThankQ]

It's true. Chicks dig smokers.

Actually, I figured if I was going to quit I was going to need all the luck in the world to do it so why not throw a bunch of 7s into the mix?

Smoking chicks dig smokers.

That is one thing about smoking people don't talk about much.

If you smoke, you're basically limiting your dating pool to other smokers.

(non-smoking men are more likely to accept a woman who smokes. Just our nature. There has to be something really wrong with the pussy to get us to say no)

 

[Plecostomus]

*shotgun blast*

NO SMOKING!

 

[AstroSmurf]

I quit when I turned thirty but spent several years before that attempting too. I started smoking when I was fifteen and sucked down at least a pack a day. At one point it got so bad I was waking up in the middle of the night to have one. In the morning I would light up before I would even get out of bed. But here I am, four years later, and I haven't touched one. I am very proud of that actually. But I do have days where I would sell a kidney for a smoke. I still dream about them sometimes. I don't think that will ever pass though. And in the last year I have finally dropped the rest of the weight I gained when I quit. (It was a whopping thirty-six pounds which is a lot for my small frame.) Despite those quibbles, things could not be better. I feel like a million bucks most of the time!

And my anniversary is June 14. It was not a special day or even planned. I just woke up the morning of June 14, 2005, said "no more" and threw the pack I had away. I gave away the rest of the carton to someone at work that morning. I wouldn't suggest going cold turkey but I had made up my mind. It was a split second decision but it worked.

But I wish you all the luck ThankQ! Keeps us updated on your progress. I will cross my fingers and hope you had an easier time of it than I did.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Aside from various brief periods of abstinence lasting a few days to a few weeks, my smoking/non-smoking bio is something like:

1) Started smoking cigarettes in 1973. Smoked 30 to 40 cigarettes a day, on average, until April of 1979.

2) Non-smoker from April of 1979 to November 1980.

3) Smoked 30 to 40 cigarettes a day, on average, from November 1980 to October 1985.

4) Non-smoker from October 1985 until November 1997. In November I started smoking cigars, at first occasionally and then several a day up until February of 1998.

5) Smoked 40 to 60 cigarettes a day, on average, from February 1998 to May 1999.

6) Non-smoker from May 1999 until now.

So since the age of 19 I've spent somewhat over 12 years as a smoker in one way or another and somewhat more than 23 years as a non-smoker. I certainly hope never to smoke again - there's really no comparison in terms of finances, fitness, general attractiveness (or at least, a critical lowering of the "repulsive" threshold ) and so forth - but I can easily imagine circumstances in which I might.

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

I have been smoking heavy tobacco for 10 years now. I started smoking cigarettes two years before that. I'm now 25, and still in no hurry to stop. I'd like to stop, since it's none too healthy, but there is nothing else (aside from medication) that has the same positive properties for me that smoking does (I've got ADHD). As such, I'll keep looking for alternatives, but will probably keep smoking for some years yet.

I've stopped a few times, one of which for more then half a year, after which I consciously decided to start again. If it's just the physical addiction, it's not that hard after a few weeks. The mental addiction slims too, but it takes a little longer, maybe a month or two. When you're through that, there's nothing attracting you back to smoking, aside from a conscious decision or heavy mental "troubles". So that's the goal you've got to set yourself; once you get through that, you're done.

Anyway, I wish you all the luck with not smoking.

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

Smoking chicks dig smokers.

That is one thing about smoking people don't talk about much.

If you smoke, you're basically limiting your dating pool to other smokers.

(non-smoking men are more likely to accept a woman who smokes. Just our nature. There has to be something really wrong with the pussy to get us to say no)

Not true. Of my male friends, most of those who don't smoke would not accept a smoking girlfriend. But of my female friends, most of those who don't smoke wouldn't mind a smoking partner, though chewing gum might be mandatory.

As such, it all depends on the person. There are probably as many non-smokers who don't mind a smoking partner in the female population as there are in the male population.

 

[Cakes488]

I can't relate. The one and only time I tried smoking 25 years ago I got violently ill, and have never smoked since. I just don't see the attraction. And, I'll never forget watching my grandpa (who raised me like his own son) die from lung cancer five years after he quit smoking. Of course, it didn't help that he smoked for close to fifty years before that.

Good luck to you.

My father died of smoking related illnesses and as I kid I let campaigns for him to stop... complete with artwork adorned throughout the house. And look I turned around and did the same thing.

It's true. Chicks dig smokers.

Actually, I figured if I was going to quit I was going to need all the luck in the world to do it so why not throw a bunch of 7s into the mix?

Smoking chicks dig smokers.

That is one thing about smoking people don't talk about much.

If you smoke, you're basically limiting your dating pool to other smokers.

(non-smoking men are more likely to accept a woman who smokes. Just our nature. There has to be something really wrong with the pussy to get us to say no)

Yeah I've never been rejected for being a smoker!
Even if the guy says I don't like smokers and I tell them I smoke they'll say Oh I really don't mind about that.

I've gone out with smokers and non's alike...I actually prefer that he doesn't smoke because that ends up discouraging me and I'll end up smoking less. If he smokes I tend to smoke more.

 

[ThankQ]

Smoking chicks dig smokers.

That is one thing about smoking people don't talk about much.

If you smoke, you're basically limiting your dating pool to other smokers.

(non-smoking men are more likely to accept a woman who smokes. Just our nature. There has to be something really wrong with the pussy to get us to say no)

Not true. Of my male friends, those who don't smoke would never accept a smoking girlfriend, aside from one guy. But of my female friends, those that don't smoke wouldn't mind a smoking partner, though chewing gum might be mandatory.

As such, it all depends on the person. There are probably as many non-smokers who don't mind a smoking partner in the female population as there are in the male population.

I would agree that it comes down to the person. Generally speaking, men will put up with a lot for sex, and women will put up with a lot for relationship.

"GENERALLY SPEAKING"... just wanted to point that out before someone shoots me and says, "how can you say ALL! ALL ! ALL!" like some of you almost ALWAYS do when someone says "many" or "most".

I wanna hit those people with bricks.