Anyone else giving up smoking?

coxj2901

Hi All,

I've now gone 4 days in total and I still haven't had a ciggarette :j

The nicotine withdrawl should be out of my system by now so I should just have the mental battle to go :eek:

I've kept myself very busy this week with budgeting, running, gym, eating
healthy, cooking etc..... Anything to stop thinking about ciggies

Good Luck Everyone...........We can do this :beer:

Rgds, John

Polovski

I'm going to attempt to give up on Sunday night which is the last day i will be able to smoke in a pub. I'm not a heavy smoker, just social so the ban will help me lota i think (although i was dead against it in the begininning:rotfl: )

Good luck to everyone:beer:
....and well done to everyone who has already started!

Ragtimeplayer

Hi all, as you can see from my signature, I stopped smoking on the 4th of January 2007 and I now see myself as a non smoker!

I stopped via the Allen Carr book on my first ever attempt after 23 years of 40+ a day.

I originally read about 5 pages of the book and got interrupted but I knew even then that if I finished the book, It would stop me smoking.

The book then languished on the bathroom shelf for another few weeks until hubby moved it and I decided I had to face it and read it through properly.

The book really opened my eyes and also my mind, I feel like such a fool for being so stupid.

I had always been brainwashed into thinking it was going to be a nightmare stopping smoking and that the withdrawal symptoms would be horrendous, if only I had read that book 20 years ago!

Once I understood that the actual nicotine withdrawal symptoms would be very mild, I found that they indeed were mild. Whereas my brother who tried stopping at the same time as me, read the book but didn't take it in properly, he still thought it was going to be hard, and for him, it was.

I guarantee you that if you have the right mindset and you get rid of the brainwashing that smoking is somehow doing you good/relaxing you etc etc, you will find it very easy to stop smoking.

I found Allen Carrs book a mini miracle but I also read a few others along the same lines that really helped me.

The one major thing they all had in common ( and you won't agree with any of this until you have stopped smoking a while) is that cigerettes do absolutely nothing for you.

If you are imagining that you are enjoying it, that it tastes great etc etc, its all false.

The truth of it is every time you smoke a cigarette, you are just trying to get back to the state you would be in if you had never smoked in the first place, to get rid of the nagging feeling and the slight irritation that tells you you need a cigarette.

I would hate to sound preachy! but I am just so full of happiness that I escaped the cigarettes and the absolute freedom I have at the moment to go anywhere and do anything and never have to think about smoking ever again.

My advise to everyone trying to stop is read a good stop smoking book, Allen carr etc and if at all possible, try and do it without using any nicotine aids as in my opinion (and Allen Carrs), it just makes it harder to stop as you are still putting nicotine into your body.

Good luck!

Ragtimeplayer

Just thought I would add, a motivational tool I use once a week or so is the Silkquit meter.

It tells you how much you have saved, how many cigarettes you haven't smoked and also how long since your last cigarette.

It helped me immensely in the early days, you can download it for free here:

Silkquit

Belfastfemale_3

Hi everyone.

Just want to tell you all my story of how I stopped.

I too had tried reading the Alan Carr book but with no luck at all. I then remember reading an article on these tablets that take away the craving, which we all know is the hardest part.

I went to see my doctor and she had never even heard of these tablets but she asked another doctor who had and she gave me the prescription for them. They are called Champix. I started taking them but still continued to smoke for about 2 weeks - I set myself a date (31st Jan) to be honest I didnt feel any different when taking the tablets and smoking so I was wondering how these would work. I dont know how they did but I am still proud to be a non-smoker!!!!!

I no longer require the tablets - you can get a course of up to 12 weeks with a further 12 weeks if required. My OH is still smoking and it really smells which is what I used to smell like (but obviously could not smell it myself). I did have a couple of puffs of his ciggie at the start but it actually made me feel sick and did nothing at all for me.

Thats my little word of advice for ya all - go see your doctor and get them tablets.

Good luck.....

FrugalJo

Ragtimeplayer wrote: »

Once I understood that the actual nicotine withdrawal symptoms would be very mild, I found that they indeed were mild. Whereas my brother who tried stopping at the same time as me, read the book but didn't take it in properly, he still thought it was going to be hard, and for him, it was.

I guarantee you that if you have the right mindset and you get rid of the brainwashing that smoking is somehow doing you good/relaxing you etc etc, you will find it very easy to stop smoking.

I found Allen Carrs book a mini miracle but I also read a few others along the same lines that really helped me.

Hi Ragtime,
I felt the same way - almost word for word. I just slipped as Allen says into the trap again, thought I could have 'one'. Getting my mind round it again is my only stumbling block.

Doing okay today.
Really impressed with everyone else's preparations. I don't want to be sitting here in a years time still trying. I'm going to blog about it.

Jo

coxj2901

Thanks for the message Ragtimeplayer. It was your posts that made me see sense. i have just downloaded the silkmeter and here are my stats so far:

"Smoke free for 4 days 16 hours and 12 mins, saving £25.95 by not smoking 93 cigarettes and adding 7 hours 45 mins to my life expectancy" :beer:

Jesus, kind of hits home :eek:

Good luck everyone and well done Jo for sticking at it. Blogging is the way forward :T

Rgds, John

In_Search_Of_Me

Hi all, just wanted to pop in & say hi! My quit ometer tells me I've quite for 2 months, 2 weeks 2 days, saved over £200 and feel 100 better! I had one lapse when I had a gin &tonic (but was ok with wine!) and then only had two puffs! Yuck! How did do it?!! To be honest still cant believe I have after smoking 10-15 a day for about 21 years!! I just decided that it was a waste of money, fed up of house smeling like an ask tray & just got angry with mysef for doing it! Set a day & then got nicorette lozenges & away you go! Forst few days was sheer hell but I didnt relent! Then it just got easier! Makde myself busy & recognised "fag times!" & tried to change routines for a bit & after a while it just became easier! Have now become one of those awful "ugh smoke yuck" people but I hope not in a nasty way!! Just cant stand the smell! Feel physically better for it & slept alot better plus its give me the confidence to loose weight - cos if I can give up smokig I can do anything! Lost 1/2 stone so far (extreme not eating diet called lighterlife - not for everyone but I have 6 stone to shift!!). I hope this helps inspire people who are at the start. It is tough but you CAN do it =. One thing I did was to try & visualise cigarettes as a gun, cos it was killing me & that oddly helped!! Good luck all & bug hugs from me & remember f you lapse just start again!

FrugalJo

Belfastfemale
Thanks for that advice, I've not heard of them before. However this is frustrating for me because I know I can do it the Carr way.

coxj2901
John - how are feeling ? I'm know I'm feeling a little light headed now and again, trying to get used the excess (normal ! ) oxygen levels. 93 cigarettes, just thinking about that for a second and it just dawns on you, all those wasted minutes. Really impressed at your success.


fishface-69
You are - as always - an inspiration to me, I remember at the beginning of the thread you were feeling panicky, just look at you now.

It is a beautiful if breezy day in Dorset. The children are out, DH is channel hopping, so I am going to re read the last cigarette chapter in AC, get this into my head, either I want to be a smoker or I don't.

Ragtimeplayer

FrugalJo wrote: »

Hi Ragtime,
I felt the same way - almost word for word. I just slipped as Allen says into the trap again, thought I could have 'one'. Getting my mind round it again is my only stumbling block.

Doing okay today.
Really impressed with everyone else's preparations. I don't want to be sitting here in a years time still trying. I'm going to blog about it.

Jo

I think you will do it this time Jo, like I have said before, get your mind set right and you will succeed!

I know what you mean also with the "just one" thought, I have had it myself but then I pulled myself up and thought about what it would actually do for me if I smoked it, and you know what, it does nothing!

Keep it up, you are all doing so well :T