One year, no smoking

[Spivonious]

we're guys, face it, we wreak.

...havoc?


<Ron>
I think perhaps you meant "reek".
</Ron>

[Strangletooth]

...havoc?

That should go without saying... :ROTF:

[slashrox]

I wish I never took up smoking. I took it up (socially) when I was 14 (Year 8). I didn't start to look cool or anything, I guess back then I enjoyed having a cigarette every now and then. Since then I was smoking occasionally on and off (although I stopped for a year and a half when I left school..I was 15 then) up until Last year. I turned 18 (so of course, legal to go to pubs & clubs, to drink and to buy smokes). I started going out to pubs to watch my uncles band play and I liked having a few cigarettes when having a few drinks, so I started buying packets (a pack of 30 would last me for 3 weeks at least!).

One day I was bored and decided to sit in the back yard and have a cigarette because I was bored. So everytime I was bored thats what I would do, and just from that I now smoke nearly a packet a day! (I was smoking a packet a day but I have cut down a little bit).

I'm 19 now. I've only attempted to quit once and I only lasted 25 hours :ROTF:

[Tetsuo]

Yeah been 2 years or something like that for me. I never smoked for a long period of time... In high School and college then quit for 10 years picked back up for 2 years when I was 30 because I was in the bar every night. Man I don't miss it at all. I really don't like being controlled by anything though be it a chemical or a philosophy. My health is soooooooo much better haven't been sick in that time

[jdr94]

now thats dicipline. i have none. i quit every year and it lasts about a month.LOL

[SEEGERMANY]

Wait till you get a severe sinus infection and your "honker" is discharging orange, pussy snot. You'll quit.

[Tetsuo]

now thats dicipline. i have none. i quit every year and it lasts about a month.LOL

Really common actually. The first 72 hours are the grin and bear it time which most can will through that is all physical addiction. A lot make it a week but then get overwhelmed. A month is the time period that messes with a lot of peoples heads... All the chemicals in cigarettes are so addictive that you never stop craving them but after a month or so it really does get easier IMHO but that one month mark is a real mental hangup for a lot of people. It seems like the time period you want to reward yourself for your hard work or something in that vein.

[jsuttjackson]

I've been smoking now for 24 years.I have heard(and agree)when you quit, you need to quit other things you asociate with smoking.Every morning I get out of bed, pour a cup of coffee and walk outside for a smoke.Every break at work I run outside for a smoke.Every Friday night I drink a few beers while playing a guitar,and smoke like a chimney.My life revolves so much around smoking it almost scares me to think what life is like without them.

[nhspike]

I hear ya man.
Seems an impossible hill to climb, but it's not.
Part of what I did with the cold turkey self-torture was substitution, so I wouldn't have too many holes in my life after the ciggys were retired.
I still went out at break time for some fresh air, I just took a walk instead of stand there and puff with my buddies.
Now I have my favorite bagel with my coffee, or the best fucking blueberry muffin I can find in town.

Also, I've purchased quite a few guitars this past year with my ciggy money. It helps to have that motivation.

Another strategy that worked for a good pal of mine: "I only smoke when I have to".
That got him from a couple packs a day down to a handful, then after a while, only at partys, then, after a while, he's not "had to" for years... kinda the exact opposite of how he started.

Any method takes confidence, a bit of inner strength, and a lot of "I'm ready to quit... I fucking hate these things having control over me anymore".

Good luck.

Never quit quittin'!

[jsuttjackson]

I don't know how many times I've crunched the numbers on how much I spend on cigarettes.With the price going up to almost $50 a carton(around here anyway)I'll be spending close to $200 a month on cigarettes.If I quit, in 10 months thats a brand new USA Jackson.Now that is some fucking motivation.

[SEEGERMANY]

My motivation centered around the fact that I wanted to stick around as long as possible to make as many people miserable as possible. How am I doing?

[rjohnstone]

My motivation centered around the fact that I wanted to stick around as long as possible to make as many people miserable as possible. How am I doing?

Excellent job so far!!!


Oh wait... gotta do this right.

[SEEGERMANY]

... ... ...

[john.w.lawson]

Good for you! I quit for a year or so and then started again! Just outstanding

[GinSonic]

Good on ya', Nhspike!
A big ass congrats to you and all of the former smokers in JCF.

I'm a half decade+ old and am a lifetime non-smoker. Had a little stint in grade 7 to look cool to some girls, but I didn't inhale. The only smoker in my family was my dad. My mom, and my siblings never took it up.

I think the fact that I had major asthma issues growing up help make up my mind not to as well.

So, with all that being said, I will never experience any sort of kinship with the plight of the, "quitting smoking," society. However, I do have friends who are former smokers. They're going on 10 years now and through them I get a glimpse of their experience.

A, "lifestyle," change is what I notice most. Usually quitting smoking is the first step, and then other healthy lifestyle choices begin to infiltrate the daily routines. It's all good.

I realize this doesn't always happen to most and truth be told, my buds attempted quitting many times before this. 3rd times the charm, man!
Way to go, all!
G.