HELP! Calling on former smokers!

[Route66Girl]

-I didn't make an official resolution this year, but desperately want to quit smoking.

I'm 28, and started smoking fourteen years ago. I holed myself up in my room one January day with two packs of cigarettes I'd sneaked from my parents' 50-carton supply, and didn't stop until I'd smoked every single one. And for a long time, I enjoyed smoking. I liked the ritual of it, the smell of it, the taste of the smoke, learning how to blow smoke rings, inhaling it. I loved laughing at the shocked and revolted look from pinched-faced middle-aged women in the mall who passed by, waving their hands melodramatically in front of their faces as if to clear away the stench even though they were fifty feet away.

I knew how horrible for the health it was, and always told myself I'd quit after ten years or getting pregnant- whichever came first. Well, I didn't get pregnant, and ten years passed, and I waved at them with a cigarette between my fingers as they went by and disappeared on the horizon behind me.

I've now officially been smoking for half my life. I have no other addiction, but it is a full-blown addiction. I've attempted to quit in the past, and each time, I'd go back to it in less than a couple days and smoke twice as much, as if making up for lost cigarettes.

I cough all the time, sometimes hacking up that brown goo a friend of mine calls "lung butter." It's expensive as hell anymore- up to five bucks a pack where I live, and I smoke a pack a day on average. I don't like the smell of it- not on my clothes, on on my breath. I don't like the yellowish pall that coats my walls and curtains. I don't like anything about it anymore. I reeeeeally wanna quit.

And here I am, with an overflowing ashtray and an unlit cancer stick hanging outta my mouth. It's my second to the last cigarette- there's only one more left in the pack. Cold Turkey... I'm quitting. Everyone who's ever smoked and quit in my family has done it Cold Turkey. Call it a family tradition.

What I do want, is advice or words of wisdom from people who know where I'm at right now, at this moment of truth, nervous at the idea of being without my nicotine crutch, (lighting up that second to the last one right now), unsure I'll make it.

What did you do to resist the craving? Any advice? At all? (puff, puff)

 

[Shadowann2]

I made a resolution to quit and it hasn't happened yet. I've cut way back, but I still have 3 or 4 smoked a day. I have found that gum and sunflower seeds have helped. I've also gained 3 lbs this month because I find that I'm eating all the time! I'm interested in reading what others have to say too!

 

[peachykeen]

Buy this book:

Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking


I know it just sounds like some gimmicky title, but it's meant to be a bit ironic.

It helped me a lot.

That's all I'll say.

 

[Olivianna]

Go to a city in a 3rd world country where the air quality is especially poor. After about 3 days, you'll likely develop a respiratory infection because of the fumes. You will become very sick and, at the same time, thoroughly disgusted with the idea of contributing to the pollution of your lungs (through smoking). Once you begin to recover from your illness, you'll swear off smoking forever and appreciate the importance of breath and healthy lungs.

If this doesn't work, I don't know what will. I used to smoke. When I was around 19 or 20, I'd cut down considerably from about a pack a day to about 8-9 a week. As of last year, I was smoking about 4 a day. I just couldn't give them up completely. SO, as you can see, I think my story is out-of-the-ordinary. I weaned myself off cigs over a 6 year period. How does the story end? I quit back in August. I realized one day how much I hated it. I hated the smell, the act, everything. I learned to appreciate my breath. I can't say what will work for you. Just know, though, that as long as you continue to smoke, you will only disappoint yourself, chipping away at your sense of self as well as your physical health.

 

[Zmey]

I can give you one sound advice. When you get a craving inhale , hold your breath and try to exhale but don't. Apply a little pressure this way nicotine that is still in your longs will be forced into you blood.
Don't give up.

 

[Aquila]

Water.
Everytime you want to put a ciggarrete to your mouth, drink water from like a sports bottle or something. That and hope to god you have good friends who won't bug out when you get pissy, cause you will.

go cold turkey too.

 

[Marxist]

Quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do for yourself and it's much easier if you break your resolution into three phases:


1. Agree with yourself not to purchase cigarettes from X day forth. You can still bum smokes from co-workers and people on the street.


2. Agree with yourself not to bum cigarettes. If you find one lying about on the sidewalk or smoldering in an ashtray smoke it, but otherwise--NO!


3. Stop smoking all together. And if you slip up and smoke one it doesn't mean you can smoke another or go back to either of the previous phases. Besides, it won't be long before just the stench of tar will make you sick.


The first two phases should last about 2 weeks each. The last one should last a lifetime.

Good luck.

 

[Lost Cause]

Don't make it a crisis...

Treat it like losing weight, a little at a time, and not as hard on you. Make it a insignificant part of your lifestyle, minimize it's importance to you. For motivation, pick a location to smoke not in the home, and stick with that for a smoke.
A lot of smoking is without thought, and when you have to go outside to have a smoke, it takes preparation, and switches to a conscious action. You'd be suprised on how much that cuts out right away. Switch to a lighter brand in time, try a epidermal patch, try to find an indoor swimming pool to do laps in, and just raise your thoughts about how your lungs are doing.
Download some pics of lung damage from smoking, and post them where you usually smoke in the house.
Make a list of 5 reasons you want to end your habit.
Don't be so hard on yourself, you have to reduce your intake down to a manageble level, increase aerobic activities (hiking/swimming/bicycle), and changing your smoking habits.
After that, you'll know when it can be done.

 

[Guest]

There's a yogic breathing technique that helps both dieters and people like you. Can you roll your tongue into a hollow tube? Most people can but a few aren't able to . If you can't this is waste of time so stop reading now.

If you can, everytime you get the urge to smoke/eat breath through this tube for a minute or so. Best to do it in private, others tend to look at you a bit strangely.

Good luck, you're doing the best thing you could right now!