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BrennieBaby
01-09-2008, 12:19 PM
Hi, This is my first post. Just registered today so we will see how it goes.
Why is it so hard to stop smoking???? What has anyone found that has worked for the long term?

Easy180
01-09-2008, 08:20 PM
Welcome aboard

Never have smoked so no real help

My mom stopped after smoking for 25 years...She did the one less cigarette a day method instead of quitting cold turkey

Put on 30 lbs but she kicked it for good

Dar405301
01-09-2008, 09:35 PM
I quit smoking just last week, so i'm still dealing with cravings, but they're much better. Today is the first day that not smoking didn't bother me at all. I still want them, but I try to think of other things, chew gum, or start doing jumping jacks whenever a craving comes on. Now that it's been a week, my lungs are starting to clean themselves out. I have been coughing since the moment I woke up this morning, and the pain in my chest is almost unbearable. Every few minutes, I have to excuse myself to a restroom so that I can spit out the tar that keeps coming up! GROSS! I've been told by more than 1 person that this could last for as long as a month! I'm definitely bummed about that. The reason that I wrote this reply was not to try to talk anyone into quitting, but to let anyone who's interested know that quitting has been one of the hardest things I have ever done and that I will NEVER put myself through this again! I'll never smoke again, because quitting really is hell on earth. If you're considering quitting, make sure that you are dead set on it. If you're not absolutely ready to kick the habit, you probably won't. Best of luck!!

Karried
01-10-2008, 07:40 AM
Congratulations on your success!

I'm sure your family and/or children and grandchildren and great grandchildren will appreciate your efforts for years to come!

BrennieBaby
01-10-2008, 08:04 AM
I think that has been my problem in the past, I was never committed to quitting. This time I am kicking the habit for good. Piece of Pie. Cheers

mcbee04
01-10-2008, 01:13 PM
My fiance quit about a year ago as a gift to me. He was smoking a pack a day at that time. To quit, he started smoking lights and weaned himself down to less each day. He had picked a date that he was going to quit, and when that day came, he threw out the rest of his cigarettes and hasn't had one since. To each their own, but I was amazed at how easy is seemed for him. He coughed a lot for a week or so, and has gained some weight. I'd suggest finding something to replace cigarettes when you need something to do with your mouth, because he goes for a snack now to keep his hands/mouth occupied. Maybe something low cal and crunchy? Gum and mints?

mcbee04
01-10-2008, 01:16 PM
Also, I told him when we started seeing each other that I didn't date smokers, I have asthma and allergies and it seems to really irritate them both. I would wake up coughing with a sore throat after a night of him smoking near me. So maybe threats from your significant other help keep you motivated!

jacodenn
01-10-2008, 01:24 PM
I have committed to quit this year. I am trying the ole pavlov method. I can only have a cig when my alarm clock goes off, which I have to reset with each cig. I started out with 1 every 1/2 hour...I am up to 1 every hour this week. Next week I go to 1 every 90 minutes, and so on and so forth until I have quit.

Foe some reason I am finding the morning the toughest, when I wake up...having a very difficult time re-setting my alarm clock until AFTER I have had my one cup of coffee.

I am chewing the heck out of Trident and eating a lil bit more.

BTW...I just checked out that website Oklahoma has up for folks that want to quit... Tobacco Stops With Me. (http://ok.gov/stopswithme)

Good Luck!

Sjon
01-17-2008, 11:14 AM
Hello! My name is Sjonna and I work for the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET), the state endowment responsible for the The Tobacco Stops With Me campaign in conjunction with the Oklahoma State Department of Health. I'm glad people are checking out the Web site at stopswithme.com.

I don't want to sound like a commercial but I do want to let those trying to quit tobacco use know that they can have FREE help to quit and can receive FREE gum or patches too. The Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline, at 1-800-QUITNOW, provides free one-on-one coaching over the phone for Oklahomans who want to quit smoking or using other tobacco products. People who call are able to work with a coach to set up a quit plan, identify their triggers for smoking and create plans to deal with cravings and get the support they need. All of this happens over a series of about four to five telephone sessions. You don’t have to go anywhere, or participate in a group, and the sessions are all designed around you and your unique needs. Starting this January, this service expanded to include a 24/7 online component where you can track your progress, interact with others trying to quit and find tips on dealing with cravings, etc.

Keep checking back with the stopswithme Web site -- we will be adding lots of content over the next few months and I would be happy to hear your feedback about the site or the television, radio and print ads that are running now for the Tobacco Stops With Me campaign.

TSET is an endowment started by the ratification of an Oklahoma Constitutional Amendment in November 2000. The endowment's funds came from the Master Settlement Agreement and each year the interest and earning from the endowment are used to support tobacco control efforts across our great state. You can find out more at our Web site: Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust - Home (http://www.tset.ok.gov).

Best of luck to those who are trying to quit!

pulse
01-18-2008, 03:44 PM
I think Einstein told once that the most easiest thing in the world is quiting from smoking he already quite 58 times.
The point is , it is not difficult to quite it is difficult not to start again :dizzy:

PennyQuilts
01-18-2008, 06:21 PM
Good luck. I hope it isn't too tough. My mother gave up smoking after 35 years and felt so much better once she got past the first few weeks. My husband, then boyfriend-to-be, quit because I wouldn't go out with a smoker. He still smokes a pipe but no cigarettes. He told me he'd eventually give up the pipe because it was such a pain but that was ten years ago and I don't see it happening. I figure if I kick the bucket, he'll be heading for the 7-11 for a pack of cigarettes and will call 911 from there...

Patrick
01-23-2008, 12:11 PM
You might try the drug Chantix. It's worked wonders for all of the patients I've put it on.

jsenter
02-05-2008, 06:36 PM
Smoking is flat out stupid. I don't know how anyone can breathe smoke into their lungs and think there's anything positive about it. Why start to begin with? It stinks, it kills.

FritterGirl
02-05-2008, 06:43 PM
Smoking is flat out stupid. I don't know how anyone can breathe smoke into their lungs and think there's anything positive about it. Why start to begin with? It stinks, it kills.

jsenter, I agree with you in principle. It's obviously best if people should not start in the first place. The bottom line is, however, that some people are more genetically programmed to be more addicted to the nicotine and it has a more instant effect on them. These people tend to have a stronger addiction and a much harder time trying to quit.

Instead of judging people who smoke as stupid, what we should be doing is supporting their efforts to quit.

jsenter
02-06-2008, 11:39 AM
I think it's been made public for years now that smoking is addictive. Yet, people still start smoking. It seems like people would be more intelligent and know better.

Midtowner
02-06-2008, 01:50 PM
I think it's been made public for years now that smoking is addictive. Yet, people still start smoking. It seems like people would be more intelligent and know better.

At my brother's graduation at OSU, the speaker remarked that he wouldn't hire smokers -- not because what they did was a nasty habit, but because these were people who had received a decent education, were taught to think, had at minimum taken a biology class and knew smoking was bad for them. Despite having all of that information, however, they still made a stupid decision.

The bottom line was that he wouldn't hire people who made stupid decisions when faced with solid evidence regarding that decision.

Good stuff.

Jesseda
02-08-2008, 07:17 AM
well i smoked pack to alomst 2 packs a day for 8 years, i stopped smoking completly in may 2007.. I use to try stopping before that but it never worked out.. My mother was admitted into icu and she was in terrible shape, she is at her home now but on oxygen all the time day and night. She has copd really bad, she didnt know this unti she collapsed from lack of oxygen, it was due to smoking she even gave up and admitted that, she use to use the excuse everytime she had a coughing spell her excuses where allergies, or a tickle in my throat. Well when i saw my mother in the icu on oxygen. I went out to my car and tossed my cigarettes out.. i have 2 young kids and i dont want them to be without a dad and i want to see and play with my grandkids, something my mother misses so much, she mentions to me all the time she wants to do something fun with her grandkids, but physically she cant..My mother no longer smokes thank gawd, but it costed her a lot. She smoked for 30 plus years. So my kids and seeing my mom in that state gave me enough will power to stop smoking..

jsenter
02-08-2008, 09:39 AM
Glad you stopped smoking. Smoking kills, and you're finally seeing that. I applaud you for stopping for the sake of your family and yourself.

CCOKC
02-08-2008, 05:48 PM
I agree that smoking is a bad choice made by people but usually that choice is made before a person has the education and decision skills necessary. After a person is hooked it usually isn't their choice to pick up a cigarette but a physical addiction. I personally have not ever been hooked on cigarettes but grew up with smokers who tried to quit many times before kicking the habit. My mother quit when my daughter was born and wanted to be around to see her grow up. Her mother died of lung cancer a few years later and didn't get that luxury. My dad quit when his mother died of emphysema. I can sympathize with you Jesseda, watching someone you love struggle for every breath is very painful.

Misty
02-15-2008, 03:27 PM
I am on day 11 of quitting! I have tried EVERYTHING in the past and finally decided to get hypnotized (by a licenced therapist). It has been amazing, I wish I would have done this 10 years ago. I still have some cravings and have been bitchy, but overall this is the easiest "quit" I've ever done and am confident that this time I will be successful.

As far as the comments about why intelligent people would ever start, well I was 15 when I started smoking regularly and by the time you are mature enough to realize the true dangers you're already hooked. I was probably 11 or 12 the first time I tried one I loved it from the first puff.

CCOKC
02-15-2008, 04:29 PM
Congratulations Misty! Keep it up.

jsenter
02-18-2008, 10:23 AM
The knowledge that smoking kills is so widespread now. I don't think age makes a difference. It's still an addiction of the ignorant.

Oh GAWD the Smell!
02-18-2008, 04:05 PM
The knowledge that smoking kills is so widespread now. I don't think age makes a difference. It's still an addiction of the ignorant.

If age wasn't a determining factor in decision making abilities, then why don't we let 14 year old boys drive? Why don't we let 12 year olds get married?

And calling people stupid has never been very effective at getting them to stop doing something.

OKCDrummer77
02-18-2008, 06:13 PM
The knowledge that smoking kills is so widespread now. I don't think age makes a difference. It's still an addiction of the ignorant.

Unfortunately, teenagers are rarely, if ever, swayed by the threat of long-term consequences. Most don't care about what happens next month, let alone 30+ years away. They think smoking makes them look cool (it doesn't), and they dont think bad things will happen to them (they do).

Misty
02-19-2008, 08:04 AM
The knowledge that smoking kills is so widespread now. I don't think age makes a difference. It's still an addiction of the ignorant.

Yes, between writing letters to the C. Thomas Howell fan club, wondering how long I was going to have to wear my headgear, trying to figure out how to put mascara on and dreaming who I would get my first kiss from (FYI, unfortunately it was not C. Thomas Howell as I originally thought it would be) I REALLY should have set aside a little more time to contemplate the dangers of smoking.

drumsncode
02-19-2008, 09:21 AM
Why does our government allow cigarettes to be produced at all? I've always wondered that. If I tried to market a food that killed people, I'd never get to first base. You don't suppose our government cares more about tax revenue than the health of its people, do you?

Patrick
02-19-2008, 06:44 PM
Why does our government allow cigarettes to be produced at all? I've always wondered that. If I tried to market a food that killed people, I'd never get to first base. You don't suppose our government cares more about tax revenue than the health of its people, do you?

Exactly what I was thinking.

And, I've never understood the notion that teens start smoking because it's cool. I don't think it's a bit attractive, and it stinks.

Lauri101
04-24-2008, 05:39 PM
Just wanted to let you know - I am now 34 days clean, thanks to Chantix and the decision to not want my children to witness my early demise as I did my mother's.

Thanks also to Patrick, who encouraged me and recommended the Chantix. If it can help a 37-year smoker (I started when I was 16), it's nothing short of a miracle.

Now, I need to work on this extra 8 pounds I've added!

OKCisOK4me
04-24-2008, 07:41 PM
I'm on Day 845 of quitting smoking cigarettes. I smoke cigars from time to time but even a friend of the family (she's a nurse) told me that smoking a cigar on occasion is much healthier.

I found during my process of quitting that before I even ever quit, I daily affirmed myself "you will never smoke again after **th date". Every day when I got up and every day that I went to bed, so that when it came to my first quit day I was good to go (I did this for about a month and a half).

Second thing...if you go out...DON'T. Especially if it's to a place where people smoke...IT WILL NOT HELP YOUR EFFORT. I did not go out to any place other than 'non smoking' places with any of my friends during the first 2 months. Physically, your system will kick the nicotine in about two weeks but mentally, that's a much longer game. If you, say, see a character in a movie light a cigarette then you have to reminisce about it as opposed to think about wanting to actually do it.

Also, it helps to associate the smell of smoke on your personal objects. Your senses are knocked down a lot when you smoke but you gain them back after quitting. When you're really locked in to not smoking and you go out in an environment that allows it--it does get into your clothes and when you go back home you smell that nastiness on your clothes and it just makes you want to puke.

And if your friends test your will while you're in the process of quitting...just play back with them. A buddy offered me a cig about 4 weeks in, I put it between my fingers and pretended I was going to break it in half and he got so worried I gave it back to him and told him never to offer me again. Never did he either, lol.

Last but not least. MONEY. What's the average pack now? $5? A pack a day for a week $35...for a year...$1685....could be more, could be less depending on the life you live. That's a lot of money down the drain. Money that could go to other places more important. You're paying nearly two grand a year to kill yourself when, in all actuality, you could be spending it on your family or yourself in a positive fashion.

Oh and one more thing...if it's a hand to mouth thing, try this: Take a 'bic' pen cut it to the length of a cig...and just carry it around with you...if you feel like you need to hold it between your fingers, then do so...put it to your mouth if you have to & by god, suck if you have to. I didn't even have to use this method for very long. If you're having trouble with that then try this: Get a Foldger's coffee can, pour all of your old 50 cigarette butts and ashes into it with some old left over beer, mix it together, seal the lid and then let it ferment. THEN, when you get that good old feeling for a puff, instead of lighting one up, go lift the lid and take a wiff cause that's the good ol' gold you're puttin in to your body!

Karried
04-24-2008, 08:10 PM
Congrats to you!!!!!!!!!!! And to everyone who makes the courageous effort to quit smoking.

After talking to a heart counselor for a few hours yesterday, it really became more clear to me how important a healthy lifestyle is and how horribly dangerous smoking really is.

kevinpate
04-25-2008, 05:37 AM
four years clear yesterday. It wasn't until this morning that I recalled yesterday was the mark date, which actually felt really good that it passed with zero fanfare and more importantly, with no count down so i could say I made it another year.

7 years the first round, 18 years the second. I doubt in those 25 years there were 10 cigs I did not enjoy thoroughly, but I don't miss it.

Lauri101
04-25-2008, 06:38 PM
Thanks OKCisOK for tips.

I'm going to try the bic pen thing. I was thinking about that while watching "Boton Legal" when Jerry has his fake ciggie. I need something to do with my hands, especially while watching tv or catching up on email and stuff at home. It never bothers me at work, because we can't smoke in the office and I just don't go outside.

I do miss smoking a lot, particularly with my significant other in hospital for 7 weeks and counting. But this was also best time - he's smoke free now and so am I.

I keep telling myself "You're a non-smoker now. You can eat out anywhere. You can visit with friends indoors during winter. You can keep your grandson overnight (the best one!)" Those work well.

My new project - paint every room in house to get rid of discoloration and odor of 25 years of indoor smoking. Kaboom! also seems to work well!

Oh GAWD the Smell!
04-27-2008, 04:31 PM
I'm going to try the bic pen thing. I was thinking about that while watching "Boton Legal" when Jerry has his fake ciggie. I need something to do with my hands, especially while watching tv or catching up on email and stuff at home. It never bothers me at work, because we can't smoke in the office and I just don't go outside.


Here you go...Work on these :D

oP-iLsbZ_RY

Lauri101
04-27-2008, 05:28 PM
Thanks, OGTS - now I can be a non-smoking klutz throwing pencils around the room!

:laughing_

Oh GAWD the Smell!
04-27-2008, 05:48 PM
I've got that pen-flip thing down to an art now...I'm now working on doing it with my left hand...As well as doing it backwards with my right.

Graveyard shift makes you do silly things sometimes.

Thunder
07-12-2008, 04:41 AM
I started smoking back in June of '05 when I couldn't be given any more Ativan, because of overdose history. I needed something to help me relax, to get thru, so I started smoking. I know, it is bad and poor decision, but it just happened.

At first, it was a carton a month, then it gone to 4 cartons (plus few packs more) a month. Now, it kinda went down, but still a pack and half a day, sometime less.

I grew up hating the cigz and dad was heavily smoking for years. Now, look at me, I'm smoking, so is my brother. We want to quit, but finds it hard and our jobs is stressful.

The longest I've gone without smoking was about two weeks. I still do try to quit. Sometimes it is easy to quit and then I start smoking again. Sometimes it is hard to quit after a few hours.

I did try the patches. It helped me greatly, but it had an effect that was quite scary. When I started on it, my dreams was so vivid and dangerous. I stopped using it.

Another reason of not being able to quit is no solid support. I don't have anyone there for me to get thru whatever happens, so I turn to cigz.

Yeah, I'm stupid for even starting smoking and still an idiot for buying more and more. One day, I will quit.

OKCisOK4me
07-19-2008, 03:07 PM
Thunder,

You can't rely on anybody but yourself. It comes down to will and empowerment. You have to bear each of those against yourself. It'll make you feel awesome when someone congratulates you for keeping off of them but to know that you did it yourself with no help from the outside using only your inner strength is the most rewarding feeling!

Stay away from the patch or gum. The only way to do it is go cold turkey.

Lauri101,

If you're still online how is it going? Used the bic pen thing?

I wish only the best for anyone that takes on the task of quitting cause it's so easy to pick it right back up. Makes my stomach cringe when I imagine myself doing it.

Lauri101
07-20-2008, 05:27 AM
Lauri101,

If you're still online how is it going? Used the bic pen thing?

I wish only the best for anyone that takes on the task of quitting cause it's so easy to pick it right back up. Makes my stomach cringe when I imagine myself doing it.

I am 122 days "clean" and consider myself a non-smoker! I did use the bic pen for a while and it helped. Red vine licorice, cut to about 4 inch lengths, helped also.

I agree about not using gum or patches - as my doctor told me - "we don't treat alcoholics by giving them a beer, why give nicotine to people addicted to smoking?"

I did use Chantix, though - and it was wonderful! I'm lucky that my health insurance covered all bu the $20 co-pay, because it is expensive.

I'm using the money I saved and plan to save for a really nice vacation this fall. More on that in another thread soon.

LIL_WAYNE_4_PREZIDENT08
07-21-2008, 08:57 PM
I blow smoke all day every day

Ben Coffman
01-23-2009, 10:43 AM
:bright_idTry this! Go purchase the very cheap nicotene patches from your local drug store slap one on before bed. After about 3 night you will feel as if you are in a night mare on elm street movie. The patches are known to give some people very disturbing hallucinations. I know of two people that quit just because of the hallucintaions. Apparently it can't get so bad you think you are asleep when your awake and vice versa. Make quitting fun.

Thunder
01-27-2009, 12:38 AM
I tried it. It was CRAZY!!!!! It only took one night.

Here I am...still smoking.

Luke
01-27-2009, 11:29 AM
Why does our government allow cigarettes to be produced at all? I've always wondered that. If I tried to market a food that killed people, I'd never get to first base. You don't suppose our government cares more about tax revenue than the health of its people, do you?

Well, if it's that obvious, then why doesn't everyone stop smoking? People need to be responsible for their own actions and not rely on the government to "help" them.

Thunder
01-27-2009, 11:50 AM
Luke, for me, I seriously wish the government help me quit! How can they help? Ban it all together. It is that simple. No way to buy, I'll quit.

Look at it this way... Government can save millions (or billions) in health care costs from smokers. They can benefit from that.

Luke
01-27-2009, 12:27 PM
Luke, for me, I seriously wish the government help me quit! How can they help? Ban it all together. It is that simple. No way to buy, I'll quit.

Look at it this way... Government can save millions (or billions) in health care costs from smokers. They can benefit from that.

Look at it this way, if the government minded their own business on both fronts they wouldn't have to pay for our health problems AND they wouldn't have to ban smoking.

It would be up to us.

And, Thunder, if you need someone to help you be held responsible for your smoking habits, please don't make me pay taxes to the government to do that for you. Pay someone else to keep you accountable.

fuzzytoad
01-27-2009, 12:49 PM
Luke, for me, I seriously wish the government help me quit! How can they help? Ban it all together. It is that simple. No way to buy, I'll quit.

Look at it this way... Government can save millions (or billions) in health care costs from smokers. They can benefit from that.

They'd actually lose billions in lost tax revenue from current smokers.

Anyone who quits today is basically stealing tax money from the government.

NativeOkie
01-27-2009, 01:30 PM
The answer may be with Oklahoma Legislature.
Pass the laws California did.
It is illegal to smoke most anywhere here.
No smoking sections in food establishments including bars.
It did not hurt the businesses here people still go out.

OKCisOK4me
01-27-2009, 01:43 PM
The government allows smoking because it's population contol---CONSPIRACY THEORY....ha hahahhaha!

Lauri101
01-27-2009, 05:40 PM
After smoking for 30 years, I have now been smoke-free for over 10 months.

It was, truly, the hardest thing I've ever done but has made a huge difference in my lifestyle. Besides the money savings, I also can travel anywhere and not wonder when my next smoke break will be. And I can walk stairs without gasping.

Thunder - the cost of Chantix is roughly equivalent to what a pack-a-day smoker pays for cigs. Plus, I don't have to freeze my a$$ off and can have a real coffee break!
I bet your favorite Target pharmacist can even find you some coupons (ask Kristie)

kevinpate
01-28-2009, 05:43 AM
Congrats Lauri101

Thunder, not sure if this will be helpful for you, but it worked for me. It takes about 72 hours to process out all nicotine in the body. After that, it becomes a matter of desire to succeed and bolstering that desire by avoiding personal 'reach for one' triggers.

But even three days can seem daunting to some. However, 3 hours isn't. You can not smoke for the next 3 hours.

When the time passes, make another three hour decision. Not some it's the first 3 hours of the rest of my life pledge. Just a plain old 3 hour decision. If you can, do it again, then do it again.

If you can't commit to three hours, well, go have 1 smoke, not 4-5 to make up lost ground. Then make a new 3 hour decision, and hopefully another one after that.

If nothing else, you've gone 12 hours on one smoke. If you can't go another 3, have a second smoke and then go the three hour route, and try for another 3

Again, the idea is anyone can make it three hours. Most do that all the time. the difference is at three hours, commit to another 3 instead of rushing outside or fogging up the place.

Hope it helps.

angel27
01-31-2009, 10:10 PM
I tried to quit several times and I've had people go buy me cigs and beg me to smoke while trying to quit. I was up to 3 pks a day and it was a hard thing to do. But when the prices got up there a little over 11 yrs ago I decided it was time. I also recognized they were going to kill me if I didn't do something.

I used Zyban, wherein I set a date 6 wks out and took the Zyban. When the time came to quit, I was no longer getting the buzz off a cigerette and it was comparatively easy. the Zyban also took away the nervous aftermath. After a month or so I quit the Zyban and was fine.

I used things like cinnamon sticks for the hand to mouth fixation, and that worked for a while. My hats off to anyone who accomplishes this. I know I cannot ever smoke another one because it would only take one and I would need another, and then only one more pack to be done, and then maybe a carton and then it would be over - but its way too hard to quit to ever go that route again. This happen once when I had been quit 2 yrs and going thru a hard time my dad handed me one. It was 9 yrs before i quit again for the last time.

DaveSkater
02-02-2009, 03:51 PM
It'll be a year for me in a couple weeks.

I took a cig butt, wrote the date on it, and thumbtacked that bassturd to the wall, and then marched my two kids in to see it. I told them, "That's the last cigarette your dad will ever smoke."

No problem.
It has affected everything. I don't cough and hack anymore, I have tons more energy. My Cardio and stamina are off the chart (I'm an aggressive inline skater) and I save a couple grand $$ per year.

My house doesn't stink, nor do my clothes. My breath isn't foul, and I haven't had to worry about where my lighter is.

Do it for your family, if not for yourself.

mcgrawsdad
02-05-2009, 11:05 PM
They'd actually lose billions in lost tax revenue from current smokers.

Anyone who quits today is basically stealing tax money from the government.

Actually if you look at if from the standpoint that non-smokers live longer, than the government would actually gain revenue from banning smoking. If people live longer, they will earn taxable income longer, purchase goods and services longer, etc.

That being said, I do not think it is the governments business to regulate my health. I need to be personably responsible for my actions. I do not smoke, but do enjoy a weekly (sometimes a little more often) cigar. Cigar's (good aged cigars) are actually less damaging than cigarettes. As a cigar ages it loses its nicotene. It still produces toxic second hand smoke however. My preferred cigar is Cohiba Cubana Churchills, but I typically smoke Henry Upman vintage cameroon churchills.

DaveSkater
02-06-2009, 10:48 AM
I enjoy cigars, I just don't light them. I'm currently gnawing on a Punch Gusto.

HeatherDawn
05-05-2009, 12:01 AM
Why is all the fun stuff bad for you? I want to quit but I am so dang scared I'm going to gain weight. I really can't afford to pack on one more pound. I'm trying to exercise more so that I'll be in a little better shape when I do kick the habit for good.

PennyQuilts
05-05-2009, 09:40 AM
Why is all the fun stuff bad for you? I want to quit but I am so dang scared I'm going to gain weight. I really can't afford to pack on one more pound. I'm trying to exercise more so that I'll be in a little better shape when I do kick the habit for good.

Good luck. I hope you get to a good place and go ahead and quit. If you want some inspiration, go hang out at at Quest laboratory and see the smokers come in once things start hitting the fan, healthwise. You'd gladly exchange a few pounds for the frequent alternative - hacking, shuffling, bad color and horribly aged faces of smokers. They look to be in their 80s, frequently, when they are just in their late fifties. Smoking is hell on women's faces.

At my last highschool reunion, I was shocked at the faces of some of the "girls" I used to run with. It was our 30 something reunion and some of us had skin that wasn't all that different than it was in our twenties. Lord have mercy, though - the women who were long term smokers looked like grannies. It was frightening to see former cheerleader types look so gruesome. Honest to god, the lady who was greeting us at the door - I swear to you - I thought she was her grandmother and when I realized who she was, it was really freaky.

Thunder
05-05-2009, 10:37 AM
I think I'm gonna give this another attempt to quit. The other day, a friend caught me smoking. He wasn't aware during the whole time I was working there and didn't smell anything from it. The expression on his face was priceless. Later, on YIM, he said that he was disappointed in me and demanded that I quit. Sadly, I was smoking while we was chatting online and I didn't tell him. I'm on this last pack and will try not to buy another. People at work, one by one, are being shocked when they discover me smoking. It is just that something they don't expect from me.

Stan Silliman
05-05-2009, 10:44 AM
Second hand smoke can do you in just as well. I haven't smoked in 35 years but when I'm doing comedy in clubs, I'm very conscious of their ventilation system. My comedy buddy, Roger, hadn't smoked for twenty years but had two heart attacks. When they did a triple bypass on him the doctors said his lungs looked like he was a pack a day smoker.

TOWNHERO
05-05-2009, 11:12 AM
After smoking for probably 40 years. Tomorrow it will be 8 weeks that I have quit. Believe me, in the past 8 weeks I have had thoughts, but I got through them. Now when I smell cig smoke, it really stinks. When I get around someone that smokes I can really smell it. I'm putting the money that I would have spent on cigs in my savings, I going to save up the money and maybe take a trip to England.

Lauri101
05-05-2009, 12:07 PM
WTG, TownHero! You can do it!

I've now been smoke-free for 14 months after a 30 year, 2 pack a day habit.

I gained 30 pounds, but have lost 10 of those. I'm working out and have the stamina to do 20 minutes of step aerobics every morning on WII-Fit, plus yoga and toning. It sucked that I had to buy new "fat" clothes, but overall it was worth it to have clean lungs and better skin.

After watching my mom die of lung disease and my significant other gasp for breath in the ER, I wonder what took me so long to quit. I vowed I wouldn't make my kids and grandkids go through what I went through.

I've saved enough money to go to Las Vegas, Costa Rica and soon - San Francisco.

ronronnie1
05-08-2009, 01:24 AM
I started smoking to lose weight, not to look cool. Now I just wish I could quit. As someone mentioned earlier, the whole one-cigarette-an-hour for the first week, then one every 90 mintutes, and so on worked for my aunt. I'm using the nicotine lozenge (i dont feel like looking up the spelling, so rag away if you must.)

Another thing that helps is to start running. After a 5 mile run, the last thing you'll want is a cigarette.