okay , has anyone here succesfully gotten the smoking monkey off there backs? i did so good for the first couple of weeks, and if i am by myself i am ok, but whenever i get around smokers, i find myself cheating, " oh i will just have one" and then boom i am smoking like a freight train. since everyone i know hubby, friends, family all smoke, and noone wants to quit this is hard on me.. any advice ladies? how did you do it?
i am leary of the whol suck candy routine,d on't want to trade one habit and then get ( ok not as bad of one, but still) habit...
well this is a bit long winded for me, but i want to be 100% smoke free..

I wish I could help, Heather, but I only smoked casually in college.
How about developing a "superior attitude" with the smokers? Not verbally, but just look at them and think, "That's DISGUSTING! I don't do THAT! And they STINK, too!"

I quit smoking when I was 21 - I went cold turkey so I am afraid I don't really have any advice. I just cut it out - sometimes smoked on the weekends only, then switched to cigarillos for a while then stopped altogether. No tricks to it except chewing sugar less gum. They do have special gum on the market that helps - I think it is called Nicorette or something like that.

Hi there,

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS on choosing to quit smoking! It is the BEST thing you can do for your long-term health.

I quit in 1990, and have been a BLISSFUL non-smoker for 14 years. All of my family smoked too. I started smoking when I was 15 and smoked about a pack a day. Then I had an epiphany...I was 23 and became winded walking up a short flight of stairs--and I knew there was something seriously wrong! I quit cold turkey through the American Cancer Society--they have GREAT resources available to help quitters quit for good.

The best thing to do so you don't feel like smoking is to not be around smokers, but that doesn't sound like that is an option for you. Can you ask your friends, family and DH to go outside to smoke? Or refrain from smoking around you? If you explain how important quitting smoking is to you, and that you would like all of their help and support so you can succeed, they just might be willing to comply.

Right down all the reasons you want to quit on an index card and post them somewhere you can see them often. It helps to stay focused on what is motivating you.

I also recommend you remove all evidence of smoking from your environments: remove all ashtrays, clean your house, detail your car, etc.

It helps to change your routines and habits. If you always smoked in a particular area of the house or at a particular time, change those patterns. I avoided going out to bars and parties and drinking more than a couple of drinks for the first couple of months after I quit because that was when my weaknesses kicked in.

Drink a lot of water! This helps flush poisons out of your system and is a great thing to do with your mouth when you get a craving!

Another thing that helps is to journal your feelings. Remember, they say that quitting smoking is tougher than kicking heroin--but it can be done! I enjoyed smoking right up until the last one I stubbed out, and I have NEVER regretted quitting, and I NEVER get desires to smoke.

If I can do it, so can you. Stay focused on WHY you want to quit, ask for help from your loved ones, forgive yourself if you backslide, and BREATHE IN clean, fresh, healthy air!

If you ever need any help, please let me know.

Jo

Ellis : I try and then i feel guilty as all get out ( cuz i am right there puffing with them), and my DH refused to stop, slow down or anything. is his god given right , lol til i bean him in the head with an ashtray


Jo : thank you, will try searching thru the link . hopefully something will click for me. cold turkey just didn't work.
thing is if i am by myself i am fine. no cravings, no sneaking. but i really want this to work. i will find a way.

Heather I want you to know that I am right here with you. I "quit" a week ago and just when I started getting used to it I lit one up.. ...at a bar of course and now I'm back puffing away again. I'm going to keep trying until I get it right. Maybe we could support each other. Good luck!

Dinamichelle. would love to give /get support!! is always a good thing. i started out doing so well.. had to stop drinking after the new year. because for me beer/wine go hand in hand with smoking. then i started sneaking 1-2 whenever i was visiting my smoking friends.. ok still not so bad. then about the 3rd week of january i think i bought my first pack instead of bumming. this past weekend i got buzzed with hubby and smoked a whole pack in like 3 hours. so i am starting over one day at a time.. it is just the triggers that cause me problems. you ever noticed if you are in a room of smokers, watching a movie, in the movie if someone lights up look around the room in about 3 min. and everyone is smoking? lol well stuff like that.. and how to enjoy a glass of wine without a cig in hand? can that even be done?
well good luck to you and me.

Oh, I can certainly relate to that. I went to "the bar" the other day, bought a pack, and within 3 hours had smoked the entire thing. I've decided I'm going to have to avoid smoking environments for a while. I am so weak.

you know i think this is a good idea, and maybe if it is around everywhere!!lol wallpaper maybe? then i will see it for what it is.
the thing is i have 2 kids, and i am smart enough to realize that being around our 2nd hand smoke is dangerous. so i was thinking last night. and i have lots of reasons to quit. unhealthy, stinky. and so on. and then i got to the why i smoke. the only reason is because i am addicted, after 15 years, it had hooked me. the funny thing about nicotine i am noticing is that you will rationilize anything to smoke. "oh i can quit when i am ready" but really that is the addiction keeping what should be a normally smart lady from stopping.
so dina you are not weak!! and i am right with you on avoiding enviroments. so i think not drinking for a little while is just i have to do. and really talking to my hubby and seeing if we can work out some compromise.
good luck today dinamichelle

I used to be a heavy smoker, and quit in '88. The way I quit may not be for everyone, but my addiction was very strong, and this is what worked for me.

I had smoked very strong cigarettes, called More Menthol. They were long, thin, and brown. I don't know if they still make them. I tried to reduce the damage by smoking the very low tar/nicotine cigs, but it felt like I was sucking on a straw with something blocking it, I would suck and suck and couldn't get anything out of it. What I did then was to read the labels and find out how much tar and nicotine was in each brand. Then I gradually stepped down a brand every week, getting less tar/nicotine with each brand. At the same time, this was getting my body used to less nicotine, so my addiction was reduced. I was eventually able to smoke the ultra low brands without noticing a difference. However, my body didn't need nearly as much nicotine anymore. From there, I was able to quit completely.

I wasn't exactly gung ho about quitting, so I didn't mind the slow approach

Gee, Suzanne... I want one of those More Menthols. They sound so cool.

My Dad quit cold turkey when he was 40. The cancer scares were starting to come out, and my Mom had just given birth to his first child. Me. So he bought a little sports car that they couldn't really afford at the time. He was no longer able to buy cigarettes. (okay, I think he also has willpower of steel...)

Hello
Just had to add something here because I want you to know I quit 14 years ago and it was the hardest thing I ever did. I tried many things to stop but finally vowed to God himself I would quit and my husband felt compelled to make the same vow the very SAME day..................and we were not together when this happened...................!!!!!!SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOO needless to say we truly believe GOD put this on our hearts! That is not to say it was easy. After being married 19 yrs at the time...I almost thought it was the only thing we had in common(.liking to smoke that is!)...The first year we both felt miserable.........I wont lie!

As a Weight Watcher Leader I gained 15 pounds and was in trouble..........my Dr. said he would rather I be heavier than a smoker..I was worried about losing my job.so I lost 5 pounds and changed my goal to a Doctors goal and have stayed within 2 pounds of that weight since that date.

To be a NON SMOKER is now the thing I am most thankful for.It is a wonderful thing to be FREE of......but it takes prayer & guts!I finally feel truly FREE of it but still have great compassion for people trying to quit.I have never forgotten how hard it was! I would also like to say in April we will celebrate our 33 anniversary..so we didnt divorce over it...but it was a "testy"year!

So my advice is.............................GO FOR IT! PRAY!BELIEVE!

HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEONE!

Sincerely,
Cin

O.K., tomorrow will be my 2nd official try at ditching the monkey on my back. I'll be nuts in the morning but it will pass. Wish me luck!

Well, I'm not going to be able to offer any help here. I smoked a bit at university and one day I woke up wanting a cigarette. That's when I quit. I'd had the odd one since then during my early twenties but never really started up. I know part of what stopped me is also the fact that I can be really cheap. Maybe if you do the math that might help.

Anyway, I just wanted to wish you luck and lend my support because I know how hard it is. And congratulations on a good but tough decision.

Here's a piccie, I think I did smoke them because I thought they looked cool

Yuck, those things had 15mg tar per cig! No wonder my lungs were like tar every morning. I used to have to drink hot coffee in the mornings to melt them so I could breath. I smoked them from age 19 to 26, at which point I was ill and had a touch of ovarian cancer. I've not smoked since. However, I do still crave them, I don't think that will ever go away. We pay steep prices for our stupidity, whether it comes in the form of smoking, drinking, or even overeating.

My dad also quit cold turkey and never thought twice about it. I don't know how he managed. Mom, on the other hand, had a hard time quiting, but she finally was successful. She turned to the sugarless candy tricks to help, and I think she gained a little weight, but not much.

We can all do it, but we have to find what works for us, just like weight loss. Good luck, blugirrl1