No more smokes

[darth]

Hello everyone, I recently joined the forum and I want to ask for some of your help in what is turning to be one of the hardest things I´ve tried lately: Quit smoking

I am following the Livestrong My Quit Coach program and I´m in the 3rd week, started smoking about 14 cigs a day and I´m down to 8, this week I should finish in 5 cigs a day. It´s getting difficul, my goal is to quit completely by April 30 so I got another couple of weeks left.

I am convinced I need support for this so thats what I´m asking all of you brothers and sisters to give me a hand with. From this very moment I will post on this tread before I have a smoke, so I can be kept accountable and I can track my reasons to smoke and keep bringing the daily smokes down to 0 where it belongs.

Thanks you for reading this and thanks for any support you can give

Cheers

[calebwojcik]

Welcome Darth. I know you can quit. You have put the plan in place, you are following it so far and you just need to stick with it.

The benefits of quitting a smoking habit are huge and I know you can do it. We're here for you.

[1fever]

The livestrong plan is good...this will be the best thing to ever happen to you. My dad was in better shape at 50 then he was at 35 due to quiting smoking.

Oh and reward yourself. You will save tons of money by not smoking...go out and buy something cool with the saved money so you have yet another reason to say hey if I buy this pack I can't get that video game, guitar, roller blades, whatever...

[darth]

Thank you both for your comments, they give me a lot of strenght

Well, Im having the 5th cig for the day, generally I relate this hour to a cig, It gets kind of slow in my business and I get mad cravings, been holding em off for an hour and a half, another time I would have had about 3 cigs so I feel really good about bringing it to just one.

5.04.11 5/8 5:30 PM

[sumdawgtwigg]

I was a smoker for years and I mean a smoker! I smoked a pack a day at least, disgusting huh? What made me quit in the end was realizing that all I'm doing is killing myself. I honestly asked myself "Why am I doing this?" and I couldn't come up with a good answer. Also, my mother has been a chain smoker her whole life and I would be embarrassed as a kid when my friends asked why I smelled the way I did. It was a pretty damaging thing as you can imagine.

There are way to many awesome things to be done in life to waste it with smokes. It's just not worth it man, plain and simple.

[CapN_Tommy_Sunshine]

Good luck. I just quit at the start of last challenge, so I know what you are going through. I am at about 30 days. You can totally do this!

[darth]

Thanks Cap and Sumdawg, I am sure I will be able to quit smoking, My motivation is a better life and a healthy body, this is a change I need to make

Got stressed a couple of minutes ago because of some work I´m doing and cant put the urges down, I´m going to have the 6 and final cig of the day. 2 under my allowance!

[Raincloak]

Congrats on deciding to quit poisoning yourself. Did you know that within 48 hours of not smoking, your deadened nerves will start to grow back? You will find your circulation improving, as well as your senses of smell and taste. Find something pleasant to smell and enjoy a properly working airway.

Don't be discouraged if it's hard. The average smoker has to "try" to quit eight times. Every minute you don't smoke is a minute your body gets to repair itself, so just get as many of those minutes as possible.

[sumdawgtwigg]

It's just like every other bad habit, it's really hard to fight off urges sometimes. For example, for the past 4 months my diet has completely changed for the better. However, in the past week I've gave in to some of my old ways. I've eaten doritos and greasy fast food burgers and I'm afraid everything is slipping back to the way it was. So, I've got to try even harder and push myself back in the right direction. I know you can do it but don't be discouraged if you backslide from time to time, it happens to almost everyone.

[mrRed]

Keep it up and learn how to deal with and fight back the urges. They will get better, but will be part of your life for a while. I can tell you though, that after quitting around 4-5 years ago (long enough now that I lost count) I don't really have cravings at all any more, and my lungs feel back to levels they were when I was much much younger.

Stay strong, keep focused on your goal and in a few short months cigarettes will actually be repulsive to you.

[Alethea]

Good for you! I know you can do it. I was a half-pack smoker for years and years, quit 2 years ago (ish). I still have the occassional craving, but OMG no regrets at all. There isn't a single better thing you can do to improve your lifetime. More money, more energy, better sleep, more endurance, heightened senses, clearer thinking, more even mood... yes please!

The thing I missed most when I quit was the quiet time. having 10 minutes at regular intervauls to go outside, chat with friends, or have a moment to myself were REALLY nice. So I kept doing them, and went for a walk instead. Have you figured out your alternate activity to relax for the break times? Are you using it during the times you don't smoke?

[darth]

Thanks everyone for their words, everytime I´ve had a craving today I read them and the craving begins to fade, it´s already 3:17 pm and I have only had 1 cig and feeling very good about today. Just to put it in perspective, at this hour I already had like 6 cigs a month ago, so its a great achievement for me, thank you everyone.

Alethea, I took in consideration the 10 minutes alone thing and how it serves as a release from the daily tension and I have been taking some sun, putting headphones on and playing one song and really focus on it. Focus on the guitars, bass lines, drums, get lost in it. This has kept the urges back by focusing all my attention in my other addiction, which is music.

I was going to post that I was going to smoke but now I´ve lost the craving for it thanks to posting this. I am happy and on a great track to kick the cigs. I feel good!

Cheers

[kahn265]

WAY TO GO!

[sumdawgtwigg]

I was going to post that I was going to smoke but now I´ve lost the craving for it thanks to posting this. I am happy and on a great track to kick the cigs. I feel good!

Cheers

Keep it up!

[Tenkyuu]

We all know you can do it!!

I'm fighting against it with ya! Let's brag about it when it's finally gone!

Keep strong, remember why you're dropping it, and never forget life is a game where there are no save-spots and easy mode. When you feel the craving, do something, anything, but don't smoke.

I lost some big trenches in this war because I allowed myself one damn cigarrete, and it grew to a pack sometimes. I'm slowly reducing it again, and that's the way to go.

Good luck, and have a nice victory!

See ya healthier in a while!

[Plex]

I was going to post that I was going to smoke but now I´ve lost the craving for it thanks to posting this. I am happy and on a great track to kick the cigs. I feel good!

Cheers

This is one of the harder steps. Having the craving and waiting for it to go away. Reformed smoker myself, smoked about half a pack for about 6 years or so.

When I quit, I found that cardio destroyed my cravings. I already felt ill from destroying myself on the machines when I first started out, I couldn't possibly think of having a cigarette. It also helps that when I got the car, I was literally too tired to achieve the effort for smoking.

I also found that your accountability idea worked *really* well. Telling all my friends I quit and hearing the congratulations pretty much made me not want to go back because I didn't want to disappoint them or myself.

To this day, I keep a half pack of cigarettes with a lighter in my room on my dresser. Every morning I look at it, say 'Nope', and move on with my day. I am also a masochist.

Remember, it CAN be done. Every day you are constantly proving to both yourself and world, you are BETTER then these cigarettes.

Good luck with your quitting, Darth. May the force be with you.

[darth]

I am really overwhelmed with all your comments, all your help is fuel to keep this fire for living a better life burning strong.

Plex, I loved this line you wrote "Remember, it CAN be done. Every day you are constantly proving to both yourself and world, you are BETTER then these cigarettes." It´s not printed and hanging in my office, thank you so very much.

Well, yesterday I continued to fight the cravings and ended up having just one mor cig before going to bed, I think that will be the hardest one to quit. Today my program is to smoke just 6 for the day, I had one in the morning and just about it, I went swimming and did it specially strong, I think it was because I needed to mentally counter the effect of that cig. Ended up exhausted and no smoking since then, your advice does work.

The path to a better life is now clear. With the help of technology and my fellow rebels I will turn into a better me. Thank you for everything and let´s keep it going strong beyond forever.

Cheers

[Alethea]

Excellent job so far, Darth! Keep up the awesome!

I just remembered another thing that worked for me. When I quit, I went cold turkey because I'm a child of extremes, but I carried around nicorette gum. When I didn't want to use any more self-discipline and felt like I was going to break, I'd guiltily reach for the gum, not smokes. I carried that stupid pack for about a year, and went through about half a pack total.

[ThatOneGirl]

Way to go man, you're doing awesome!

I know it's really hard to quit, I've been trying to kick the habbit for about a month now and I've been having a time with it. I keep getting frustrated and snappy with the people around me and end up having a cigarette for their sake. Then I get bummed because I let myself down. My goal is to be smoke free by my birthday in a month. I can do it if I just stick with it and keep my head straight.

It's certainly difficult, but so very worth it. Keep up the good work.

[Alethea]

ThatOneGirl, your logic is faulty. I hear what you are saying, but you're not doing it for their sake. You are doing it for your sake, because you don't like being snappy. They would be far better served if you provided a good example, were healthy, happy, lived a long time, and didn't smell vaguely like a chimney .

[sumdawgtwigg]

Hope the quitting went well again today darth!

[CapN_Tommy_Sunshine]

To all current smokers, I totally recommend The Easy Way to Stop Smoking, by Allen Carr. It is what did it for me. I had to read it a couple of times for his advice to stick, but when it did, it actually was not too bad (although I didn't leave my house the first couple of days, just in case).

[darth]

Hey sumdawg, I´m on track with the quitting, my allowance or today was 6 cigs, tomorrow it will be 5 and you bet I am followin my program. Friday is always a hard day because I have band practice and it always triggers the smoking nerves (I guess one of the reasons I started smoking was seeing Keith Richards all cool and almighty with a cig hanging from his mouth playing that beautiful Telecaster of his, but now I´m convinced he´s from another planet so that no longer a reason to do it, plus, I play a Les Paul) but there is no excuses, I will go through it just as the last days.

I also noticed I am swimming harder and faster, I dont know if its just my imagination or some effect to the reduced smoking but I feel more energized and I´m freaking loving it. These last few days my battle song has been Damage Inc by Metallica, I think the lyrics fit extremely well with my mindset these days and it gets me really pumped up

Thanks for your support and let´s keep hustling.

"Living on your knees, conformity

or dying on your feet for honesty"

Never on my knees for anything ever again, no crappy jobs, no crappy girlfriends, no life robbing cigs and no unhealthy living

Cheers

[sumdawgtwigg]

That's great that you're sticking with it! You will succeed in this because nothing is impossible. It may take a hell of a lot of will power and strength but it's not impossible. I was also influenced by those around me, mostly my family, it made smoking seem like an okay thing to do. Getting past that is a big step. Best of luck man and keep us updated.

[Plex]

I also noticed I am swimming harder and faster, I dont know if its just my imagination or some effect to the reduced smoking but I feel more energized and I´m freaking loving it. These last few days my battle song has been Damage Inc by Metallica, I think the lyrics fit extremely well with my mindset these days and it gets me really pumped up

Way to go Darth! Down to 5 as an allowance.

If you are the competitive type, see if you can keep it under your allowance. Turn it into a game if you have to.

Also, that is awesome that you found swimming makes you too exhausted to want to smoke. It's your lungs saying "We have a hard enough time getting oxygen right now, don't mess with us please."

and that is actually really humbling that you have that quote in your office. Glad it helped though.

Best of luck, wait, you don't need luck, because you are awesome for quitting.