Smoking: Quit and Commit

[Shake]

I smoked for 20+ years. Some things happend this year to basically force me to quit smoking and I did quit several months ago. For some unknown reason today I've had the most crazy urges to pick up a cigerette which my family and my doctors would absolutely kill me if they saw me smoking. The temptation...... ( after all I've been through)... became to strong and I gave in and had a total of 3 hits of a cigerette and I honestly can tell you I got sick. Like, literally sick, cold sweats, nautious, and just about threw up. Only 3 hits and it was the most disgusting feeling ever and I am soooo happy that I did that. It reinforces everything for me that smoking is not for me any longer and no longer part of my life. I cannot even believe I was a smoker, it makes you think how disgusting I must of smelled to those around me and how much potential damage I did to those around me and of course the damage I did to myself. So today I had a weak moment which turned into GOLD in the end. I am so happy that momentary lapse of judgment turned into a very succesfull outcome.


If you're a smoker, please quit, find a way. Do yourself proud and keep your health strong and keep the health of those around you strong as well. You can do it!!

[ericdaoust]

This exact experience has happened to a few of my relatives. I'm not a smoker but I have asthma and I definitely know when people around me are smoking...

[Rylant]

I smoked a pack a day for about 15 years. I can pretty honestly say that quitting smoking may have been the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life. I count myself lucky that I just passed the 10 year anniversary of my quitting. I watched 3 close people in my life die as a direct result of smoking, and I saw it in detail; make no mistake about it, it is a horrible way to die. It also saddens me that several close people in my life are still pack-a-day smokers.

I gotta agree with Shakedown. If you are smoking, do whatever it takes to quit. More importantly, if you aren't a smoker, don't EVER start. The BEST thing that any smoker has to look forward to in their future, is the difficult road to quitting that Shakedown and I have both been through. The worst thing that any smoker could see in their future, is a slow and horrible death as you slowly suffocate.

Rylant

[butch]

guy I work with spends his lunch hour in his car eating a bag of chips , drinking bottle of pop and probably chain smoking 3-4 cigs .

comes back into workplace and wonders why everyone stays 50 feet away from him

buddy , you smell like shit .

[newfcollins]

My uncle was a smoker for years. He has four kids. About 25 years ago, when his youngest son was about six years old, they were all in the car driving to the mall. They had this paraphrased conversation:

My cousin: Mom, do you know how to drive?

My aunt: Of course. Why do you ask?

My cousin: We learned today that smoking kills, and daddy smokes and who is going to drive us to the mall when daddy dies?

He never picked up another cigarette.

Congrats to those kicking the habit or already have. You'll probably never do anything more important if you have a family.

[Twiggy]

Was having a chat with my wife about this today. One of our best friends is a heavy smoker. She just went 9 months without touching one (stopped as soon as she learnt she was pregnant) and the day she left hospital she was back on them and heavy. Almost like she was making up for lost time. We're so disappointed in her. You went almost a year without dude! Ehh

[Godin]

Congratulations Skakedown and all of you that have quit. I'm on my 4th month and I feel so much better especially sleeping. I smoked for 15 years and then quit for 4 when I started again. I quit and started 3 times, but now that I am in my 50's, this is it. I will not have another cigarette.

I quit cold turkey, as I did every other time.The day I was waiting for, came, and I did it. There is a good book out there by Alan Carr called 'Easy way to stop smoking'. It does help people quit smoking. I did start reading it last year, but never finished it for one reason or another.

There is also a great app for your i-pad or i-phone to help you along when you do quit. Its called 'My Last Cigarette'. After downloading this app, you enter a few details about your smoking habits such as the number of cigarettes you smoked per day, the cost of a pack of cigarettes, the number of years you have smoked and so on. Then, whenever you open the app, it calculates how many cigarettes you would of smoked had you not quit, how much money you have saved since you quit, how many days its been since you quit and other details and facts to help you along. It has been very helpful. In less then 4 months, I have saved almost $900 and would have smoked almost 2000 cigarettes. That one is mind boggling.

Good luck. There are many reasons to quit, if you really want to that is.

[smoothfun]

Smoothmove Shakes!
I began smoking at 13 , fulltime from about 15yrs old up to 30yrs old , pack + a day.
When I found out I was to be a father I was informed by my sons Mother that there would be no smoking around the baby.As well at the time I worked as a Nursing Attendant and the quit smoking drive was going into high gear , so I went to the Doc and got a perscription for the patch.So I began what was one of the most if not the most difficult things to do in my life , quit smoking.I relapsed several times , smoked butts from places I'd rather not think about and struggled with the effects of withdrawals from smoking.The day my son was born I removed the patch I had on and have not had a ciggarette since , not a puff!
That was close to 20 yrs. ago and I still get the urge to have a smoke from time to time , not very often anymore but , it still happens.
I agree that anyone who smokes should quit for various reasons and if you don't smoke leave them be.
They say quitting smoking is as hard or harder than quitting heavy drugs such as heroin.
I still smoke the "weed" and it's funny it doesn't get me back in the habit of smoking cigs. but , if I have weed I can't leave it be so I go for periods without it then get some for a period of time and so on.Funny thing is when I smoke weed I don't get shortness of breath , hacking up flem , etc. , wierd.
I have no issues with smokers and respect their choice to smoke but , there is no doubt it is a habit that controls your everyday life and untill you quit you don't even realise it!

[Bomm Bastic]

Smoked at least a pack a day for 20+ years. Quit cold turkey, two years this past November. Best advice I could give is if you're gonna quit change your entire daily routine to exclude the psychological cues that trigger the compulsion. In fact, for the initial two months I made sure I had no downtime whatsoever. After work it was straight to the gym so that by the time I got home I was too hungry/tired to even think about a cig.

Mind over matter, but it can be done. I loved smoking, but love not smoking even better.

[Chili con Carne]

I smoked for several years (around 8) off and on but was at a point where I was at least a pack a day for a couple of years. I tried quitting many times before and it never lasted long. Finally, a co-worker told me a horrible story of watching her father die from cigarettes. I threw my pack out that day and have never touched another. I will admit that I do still have cigarollo (cheap Colt etc.) or cigar once in a while - but even this is something I have to conciously keep in check.

Concluding thoughts - quitting smoking is a tough, tough thing to do and it is very easy to slip back into habit. For those trying to quit, stay strong!

Kudos to all of those who have been able to quit.