To smoke or not to smoke that is the ques....

[K'Ehleyr]

My wise board-mates, smokers preferred

I have decided I'm going to try and give up smoking. All usual reasons.
Thing is I haven't convince myself yet. I have a pack in front of me. Do I
a) have one, hate it and convince myself
b) resist as long as possible (taking into Borg code)
c) throw them away?

n.b. c is not really an option but on all multi choice there are usually 3.
How did other's quit?

 

[Miss Chicken]

I went cold turkey but for it to work I think you have to be extremely determined to give up.

After smoking for about 18 years I had my last smoke almost 16 years ago.

 

[K'Ehleyr]

I went cold turkey but for it to work I think you have to be extremely determined to give up.

After smoking for about 18 years I had my last smoke almost 16 years ago.

Well done you I have bad self-discipline but could see cutting down to 3/5 a day for a start. Surely that's a move towards. This is a bad time - on the machine with a cup of tea and a ciggie just seems natural - in a self poisoning kind of way

 

[Mallory]

I asked my doctor for a prescription for a drug that reduces the urge for nicotine and cut back gradually over a month before quitting completely. Even then, quitting for good was hard. Good luck!

 

[Squiggy]

I quit by

A: Not having anyone to smoke with. They're pretty much nonexistent in DC...
B: The patch and...
C: I actually wanted to quit.

I stayed on the first step of Nicoderm for about two weeks. That got me well over the dreaded 3 day mark to break my physical habit (mental addiction) of reaching for a smoke if I was bored and the remaining week of my actual physical addiction to nicotine was countered by just not wanting one anymore.

 

[Timby]

I can't speak for smoking (thankfully never got into that habit), but from my personal experience, when you're trying to kick an addiction, you're your own worst enemy. It helps to anticipate the fact that you're going to try and rationalize buying another pack. You then need to break down WHY you're thinking of smoking again, and find the logical break (there will be one).

You might lose the argument the first few times, but given practice, you should get pretty good at convincing yourself that there's no reason for you to smoke, aside from it being mildly pleasurable.

The vast majority of it is willpower, so unless you're truly sick of smoking and ready to quit, you're probably going to backslide.

Otherwise, try working in an exercise routine as you're breaking the smoking habit. It'll give you something to do, it's positive reinforcement as you notice how you're not nearly as winded and tired, and it keeps away those extra pounds you'll pick up as you snack instead of smoke.

 

[Squiggy]

Indeed. The only person who can make you quit smoking is yourself.

 

[Gertch]

I finished off my pack, looked myself in the mirror and said I'm a non-smoker. That was 3.5 yrs ago. My wife still smokes but I haven't had one craving. Although out of habit I have reached for a pack when out with the ole smoking buddies at work.

 

[Outpost4]

Gertch, you're better than me.

I found two ways to stop smoking and I'd recommend one and not the other:

1) Get cancer. Be in a hospital bed for seven weeks, paralyzed, learning how to walk again, and not being able to physically have a cigarette. Zoning out on morphine also helps. Who needs a cigarette when you have morphine?

2) For this second technique to work, you really, really have to want to quit. If that isn't the case, forget it.

But if you do truly want to quit, then every time you want a cigarette, say ten times, "I am not a smoker." Saying out loud is the best, but if you are with others, this may not be practical. Just say it to yourself in that situation. Positive affirmations also work. "I am a person who doesn't smoke cigarettes." After saying it ten times, you might find you don't want a cigarette. If that's the case, great. Don't have a cigarette. If you still want a cigarette, have one. It's not worth beating yourself up over a cigarette. Keeping this routine up for a few weeks, you will find yourself smoking less and less. They will also start tasting bad. Finally, you will just find you have quit. Tell yourself you are now officially a person who doesn't smoke cigarettes and congratulate yourself for that.

With either (1) or (2), the tough trick will come in a few months after you have officially quit. You'll get in a situation where you'll be with smokers and you'll want a cigarette. DON'T SMOKE ONE. You will start down the evil path toward being a smoker again. This last step is crucial, and is where I failed a couple of times. With technique (2), I stopped twice for years. My mistake was thinking I could then have just one. No. That leads to two which leads back to a pack a day. With (1), I've been successful in not smoking for seven years now. There is nothing like cancer to be a wake up call. It's kept me strong when I've been in a smoky bar and wanted a cigarette.

It took me four years to stop dreaming about them. I don't anymore. I really now am not a smoker.

 

[J.T.B.]

One day I thought, am I going to be a smoker the rest of my life, or am I going to quit at some point? Well I knew it would be pretty stupid to keep smoking the rest of my life. So I decided I might as well get on with it and went cold turkey that day, crumpled my last pack. It was hard, but I found that a lot of it was daily habits and routines, so I shook things up. When I had a break and used to smoke, I'd go for a short walk. I got into an exercise routine (running and biking). I drank more water. I quit hanging out where it was easy to smoke. But the main thing was, I knew I didn't want to smoke anymore. That made everything easier.

Before I knew it, it was a couple of months later and I was done. Didn't want them anymore. That was 16 years ago, and I've not even been tempted since. Cigarettes seem nasty, and I can hardly believe I ever started in the first place.

Remember the big picture. Nobody looks back at their life and regrets quitting smoking. Don't think quitting is so hard it's intimidating, because it doesn't have to be, you just have to want it. If you try to quit but somewhere deep down some part of you still likes smoking, you're fooling yourself and it won't work. Best of luck!

--Justin

 

[Captain Intrepid]

I dunno, you might try smoking some good tobacco, a good pipeful or cigar, and realizing how shitty cigarettes actually are?

 

[Bacl]

Switch to cigars.

No health risk, and they make you look cool.

 

[Captain Intrepid]

Switch to cigars.

No health risk, and they make you look cool.

There's still a health risk.

 

[Squiggy]

Switch to cigars.

No health risk, and they make you look cool.

There's still a health risk.

And you'll smell even more like ass.

 

[T'Baio]

Throw them away.

Anything less and you're fooling yourself. Come back and ask for advice when you're serious.

 

[Deks]

If you really have a desire to quit smoking, then you can throw away the cigarettes into trash and start like that immediately.

You don't have to take support groups, you don't need anything apart from determination to quit.
That's the only thing that matters.

Heck ... I wouldn't have lost 46 kilograms in 4 months, 5 years ago unless I actually wanted to do so.
One day I was eating regularly, and the next day, I began a rigorous diet that lasted 4 months.
I don't have weight problems to this day (I did put on a few kilos during the holidays which I'm in the process of eliminating).

It was tough not to eat even when I was craving food ... but I was determined not to indulge and stuck to my own newly created routine.

 

[SlaveOfSeven]

It helps to anticipate the fact that you're going to try and rationalize buying another pack.

Yeah, it's good to be aware of this. A few days after I gave up I found myself actually considering buying a packet of cigarettes as a reward for doing so well. It seemed totally logical and reasonable for a moment or two.

I was prescribed drugs (Zyban). Don't think I would have managed without that; certainly the one time I tried cold turkey was hopeless.

 

[RoJoHen]

Find another vice. Like pie.

Anytime you get the urge to smoke a cigarette, eat a piece of pie instead.

 

[Bacl]

Switch to cigars.

No health risk, and they make you look cool.

There's still a health risk.

True, but it is very minor and more akin to the health risks of drinking alcoholic beverages. Cigarettes are a promise of deadly cancer to come. Cigars are about as dangerous as anything else in this life, bacon on your hamburger, a six-pack of beer, sex, driving your car on the freeway, etc.

 

[RoJoHen]

Switch to cigars.

No health risk, and they make you look cool.

There's still a health risk.

True, but it is very minor and more akin to the health risks of drinking alcoholic beverages. Cigarettes are a promise of deadly cancer to come. Cigars are about as dangerous as anything else in this life, bacon on your hamburger, a six-pack of beer, sex, driving your car on the freeway, etc.

...inhaling fire...