Oy. Here we go. I have quit a few times, but always seem to either pack on the pounds or succumb to the habit before I get a chance to. Last year, however, I managed to quit for four months when I got back into running. I came to my parents' house to visit, and they are indoor smokers, so I caved and had 'just one' here and there. I was fine, though, not having any real cravings, just having a hard time with the smell of it all around! Then while I was visiting, my ex dropped the bomb that his mother had died and he was going to have to go to his home country for the funeral... And only bought a one-way ticket. That sent me into an (obvious) emotional tailspin, and back to smoking I went... Full time.

Wellll it's nine months later and I'm sick of it. I'm getting back into my old running habit and the cigs have me winded and gasping for air. I decided today after this pack ran out that I was done. I didn't want any more. Wellll now it's 4 hours later and I changed my mind. I want one. NOW. And not giving myself one brings on the carb cravings like you would NOT believe! Worse than day 2 of phase 1!!! I would settle for a bag of Munchos and a pint of Sbux ice cream right about now!!!

Sooo what advice do you have? Any helpful hints for quitting smoking while doing SBD? Any dos or don'ts? I'm losing it over here!!! Thanks in advance!

Honey, I just want to say that I feel your pain and I hope you succeed!

I smoked for 18 years (started when I was 12). I finally quit. It was so hard but it was the right time. I completely threw myself into exercising (hey, I was younger!) and I danced, jazzercised, stepped, jogged and treadmilled my nicotine cravings away. Keep aerobically "busy" is my best advice.

Seems like you are going through so much right now! I applaud you for wanting to quit. Don't over load yourself. If it feels like the right time - GO FOR IT. I have never used Nicorette but I know people who have and they did quit!

Here's the steps I took to quit a year and a half ago:

1. Prayer
2. Drug Store Brand Patch (only ended up using 4 patches over 4 days)
3. Hard sucking candy (sugar free jolly ranchers are my favorite!)
4. Not being around people who smoke - if you are serious, you just can't...anyone who loves you will understand and respect this...

Ok...I'm not gonna lie...I gained 30 lbs when I quit because I replaced cigarettes with Laffy Taffy...by the BAG! I also believe your metabolism may temporarily slow down as nicotene is purported to slightly elevate metabolism.

Now here's the good news...gaining 30 lbs to quit something that had total control over my life and how I spent my time, energy and health for the past 30 years was a small price to pay.

NOW..here's the SUPER good news...I lost the 30 lbs + another 20 lbs in less than 6 months. I started here at 3FC when I started my journey so my entire journey is well documented.

NOW don't try to be "superwoman"...there are many aids that can help you once you've really made up your mind to quit. But they only help with the "physical" aspect of the addiction...not the mental..and can be harmful if you try to continue to smoke while taking them.

Good health to you. Oh and to give you further inspiration (since I read you like to run)...I started only running 30 secs...and now I run 21 miles/week! Now GO GET EM!!!

I smoked for 12 years. Time of biggest temptation for me when trying to quit? When I drank beer. But I don't drink all that much anymore, especially not beer, and if I do, I don't go for a cigarette. I tried several things to quit smoking. Patch worked (the first time,) but really the thing that did it for me was the RESOLVE to not pick up a cigarette again. I didn't bum them, I didn't go to the gas station and buy them (who could afford to???) and I just said DONE.

I was tired of being the "dirty smoker." I was tired of stinking, my stuff stinking, or having family/friends cringe when I came within sniffing-range of them. I was tired of being sick all the time. I was tired of struggling to catch my breath, getting winded from walking from the car to the house. I was tired of having to sneak outside to have a cigarette after they put smoking bans into place. You know, because my kind wasn't allowed indoors anymore.

So I finally (with a few slip-ups along the way) just stopped. Good luck to you. It's DEFINITELY doable if you put your mind to it. I wish you success and will pray for you!!!!

Lisa

Chantix worked for me. Others experienced bad side effects; I had none. I just stopped wanting to smoke, it was incredible. I had smoked for over 20 years, a pack a day, every day, more if I was drinking. My first cigarette was NEVER more than an hour after I woke up, sometimes as little as 5 minutes. I can't stress enough to you that I was a totally committed smoker. I quit a couple of times for a few days (will power and the patch) and a few months when I was pregnant (Smoke-enders) but Chantix was the only thing that worked for me. You start taking it, keep smoking and a couple of weeks later you just don't want to smoke any more.

It works because it goes and sits in the recepters in your brain that get "turned on" when you have nicotine (know that nice feeling I'm talking about)? So when you smoke while you are on Chantix, you don't get any kind of physical reaction - you don't feel bad, you don't feel good. The whole process is unconcious and for me, I felt I "unlearned" that cigarettes made me feel good - they just made me feel nothing. I knew I was going to quit and one day I just did, about 2 weeks after I started taking it.

You'll need to discuss this with your dr., but I couldn't recommend it more highly. I don't even remember exactly when I quit - I know it was an August but I'd have to do some hard figuring out exactly whether it was 3 or 4 years ago - that's how little cigarettes mean to me now.

Yes, drinking totally makes the cravings unmanagable! I got pregnant! That worked! LOL! I knew I wouldn't smoke while pregnant and I wouldn't smoke in front of them or outside and say, don't do what Mommy does so I found it remarkably easy to quit...for the one growing! Good luck. It's hard!!!

Thanks for the advice ladies... Unfortunately there are two things predetermined for me that I can't change:

I am going to HAVE to go cold turkey. I have no money and no insurance. I don't have a doctor to prescribe me Chantix (although when I did, we discussed it and she said she wouldn't prescribe it due to my background with depression and adverse reactions to meds. I had tried 5 antidepressants at that point, all of which caused me to have suicidal thoughts.) or the resources to pay for the patch or lozenge... Thanks for your pointers and success stories in that department!

I will be around smokers. It seems kind of unfair to say that 'anyone who loves me will understand' and not smoke around me. I'm at my parents' house and they have both been pack a day smokers for over 30 years. They are opening their doors to ME. I have no right to chase them out of their own home to smoke, and there's no way it would happen. They still love me though... Plus, in this apartment building alone I have 7 friends... Also smokers. In any social situation here, I'm going to have to be around it. Until I am employed and have enough money to completely support my son and myself, I'm stuck in this situation.

Koo-I'll take that to heart. Better to move instead of stuffing my face!!! And thank you for the ego boost... Yeah, it definitely feels like the right time. Woke up with 4AM withdrawals, really nasty heart burn (I always get it when I quit) and the most horrible vertigo to the point where I couldn't focus on anything and couldn't sit up/stand. It made me nauseous! It's all done for now and other than a little remaining dizziness I feel great... Even with a carton of cigs sitting across the room and the smell of the smoke in the air!!! The thing is, when the carb cravings hit, they hit HARD. Both carbs and nicotine have been found to have antidepressant qualities... I think the problem is that I took away one, but had the other and was fine. Now I've taken BOTH away and my brain is spazzing out!

Joyful-I'll have to check out the sugar free candy!!! Congrats on the quitting and losing the weight... Go, miss 5k a day!!! I aspire to your greatness!

Lisa-Thanks for the advice! Yeah, drinking was a big trigger for me too. In fact I gave it up last year when I quit smoking for that reason and never really picked it back up! I guess it does all just boil down to being in a place where you're resolved enough to just not reach for one! I seem more resolved than ever before, so let's just hope that I don't fal off the smoke free wagon OR the SBD wagon!!! Haha!

Mmckellen - Congrats on your success with Chantix! Unfortunately for me, it's not an option for me though. Thanks for the advice!

Kristen - LOL! Good going! When I got pregnant with DS, I quit and my BP went way too high for their liking. They said I was too hooked to put baby through the stress of withdrawals, especially with a high risk pregnancy (I had two m/c before my son) so they got me smoking again. How odd to be told by your OB to smoke!!! And ya know what? There's NO WAY IN HADES I would get pregnant right now, my situation being what it is, lol!!! Contests again on quitting! Your little one was an even better blessing than could be anticipated!!!

Thanks again all for the helpful advice! I'm going to do some more working out and see if I can find some suitable candy... I've been having sips of water too instead of drags every time I have a craving. Here goes!

I smoked for a very long time. Now I can't stand being around smokers. I didn't stop cold turkey, I cut down until I finally stopped. In retrospect, that method took far too long. I should have just quit cold turkey.

Sugar free chewing gum, sugar free hard candies REALLY helped. Amazingly I didn't gain any weight. I gained years later, because of other reasons.

You can do it!

I quit a habit that I'd had since I was 16 (I'm now 41) in July; I'd ramped up to three packs a day and I felt like crap, had no money, and was just...DONE. I did it cold turkey. It cost me about ten or fifteen pounds gained--I ate like I thought I'd never see food again--but I feel SO much better. If it helps to know, I now find it neither difficult nor gross to be around smokers; it just plain doesn't affect me. (I have no idea why.)

I think you do need to give yourself permission to eat or chew stuff. Your mouth is so used to being busy with a cigarette that you'll really feel the psychological cravings if you don't keep your mouth occupied. Activity is also good, preferably activities that you don't associate with smoking--swimming, for instance, which you sure couldn't do with a cig in your mouth.

I wish you all the best; it is NOT easy to quit, but it's also not impossible. Once you quit, look hard for the positive effects and focus on them; it'll really help remind you why you're doing this.

Oh, incidentally - I lost weight when I quit. Not sure why. Maybe because I could be more active since walking 10 steps didn't make me wheeze and gasp for air. But I agree with the above - sugar-free gum and sugar-free candy will help (just be careful how much SF candy you consume.... gives some people tummy troubles.) Don't use quitting smoking as an excuse to eat more. Replace your smoking habit with your South Beach habit, putting all your focus there, and see how you do.

I crashed and burned. Lit up today. I'm under the most immense stress of the past 9 months, and until I find out if I get this job on Monday, I'm simply too jittery to handle it. Quitting smoking under regular circumstances is tough, but while I am waiting for the answer to an opportunity that will change my life, I can't take it. This time next week I will be smoke free. I just can't swing it now. I hate that I caved... =( Ugh.