The Giving Up Smoking Thread!!

TOBRUK

Hi BigEars, I actually said on here last night what my quit date was .... meant to keep it quiet just in case!!:D It's Saturday 1st Arghhh! Just saying it now is making me panic! Anyway, I shall have to see how I go :rolleyes:

BigEars_2

:beer: Sorry Tobruk, must've missed that - but well done for picking a date. I'll be sending good luck vibes to you on Saturday!

BE x

TNG

Hi all

Flying visit, but..

JoeHel - wise words, as ever :T

Tobruk - good luck. Not around at the weekend, but will be thinking of you :A

FrugalJo - Neil Casey?

yellowmonkey and mumzy - keep an eye out for postie

BigEars wrote: »

TNG hope you enjoyed your night in bonding with the kids, is Mrs TNG feeling grumpy this morning?! Hope she managed to resist the fags while her resistance was lowered. :cool:

Mrs T is grumpy EVERY morning - just not a morning person. Have no idea if she resisted. I know better than to ask :eek: (reckon she did resist, though )

BigEars wrote: »

Right well I’ll be back soon, hope everyone has a fab day, I have resisted fags for 26 days and curly wurlys for 2 days :A (ok ok I might have replaced them my new obsession – baby bels. Damn! :mad: )

mmmmmm baby bels....

Hope we're all well

Tx

JoeHel

Mumzy - been sat here thinking about your situation with lack of support at home. The only thing I would suggest is to not expect the day to be different to any other day, to be honest. I just got up on day one and did exactly the same as every other day ... without the smoke breaks! The trick is to learn to do all the things you usually do, but without the ciggies. Once you've done it a few times your brain soon "unlearns" it. I used to have certain ciggies on my walk to the train station, then from the station to work, etc. I'd go out for a fag break at 10.30am and then again at 12.30... In the first week I looked at the clock at those EXACT times - my body was still thinking about it's old routine! But I barely notice now (and I'm only quit 4 weeks so I'm not exactly miles down the road from where you are time-wise...!)

I have now successfully been to the pub and sat outside with all my smoking mates and not wanted one at all. I've got drunk and not wanted one. And I sit at home every evening with two smokers and I don't want one. That is the part of the book method over the NRT method that I like the best - not just that I've stopped smoking but that I'm so amazingly HAPPY about having stopped - I don't feel deprived of anything.

Sending the Paul McKenna book to you today chick. If you feel you need the Allen Carr one too after that, let me know.

Hel.

silverbullit

Hi everyone, i hope you're all doing well.I was a bit chuffed recently to learn that my younger brother is now also in the process of giving up the weed following my example. I gave him some advice about how to cope with the cravings and, thankfully, he is still managing to stay on the wagon. It goes to show that if other family members are also smokers, then one person giving up can have a very beneficial domino effect on others. Even if my brother does not succeed this time, he will have at least some experience of what it is like trying to give up so that the next time he attempts to quit he'll be better placed to finally do it. I take this as encouragement never to return to the weed.Stay strong everyone!***Four months, three weeks, six days, 9 hours, 54 minutes and 22 seconds. 2256 cigarettes not smoked, saving £499.88. Life saved: 1 week, 20 hours, 0 minutes.***

JoeHel

PS - mumzy - I seem to remember you saying you've smoked for about 4.5 years, yes?

I know you feel like you've got in the habit and you're now in a routine that you'll never be able to break. That just isn't true. If you do things differently for just a few days you'd be amazed how quickly you get used to it.

I had been smoking for 22 YEARS. 30 a day, for 22 years. I have worked at this particular office for 15 years, so that's 15 years of the same ciggie break time, the same walk round to the side of the building, etc.

What you need to think about is this. Do you want to smoke for the rest of your life? I am guessing the answer is no! So, how much easier do you think it will get the longer you leave it to quit? Do you think another 4 years of the same routine will make it easier?

JoeHel

WOW - well done you Silverbullit!! That's fantastic that the smokers in your family are thinking of following your example!! I wish my OH would!

TNG

JoeHel wrote: »

WOW - well done you Silverbullit!! That's fantastic that the smokers in your family are thinking of following your example!! I wish my OH would!

Couldn't you declare your house smoke-free so he has to go outside?

mdj1

Good luck quiting guys,

Im a nightclub DJ and i used to smoke between 20 and 40 a day, sometimes as many as 60. I could smoke and drink at work.

I had always promissed my parents i would give up by the time i was 30. and on the 25th May 2004 about 3 months before my 30th i decided to quit.

Cold Turkey, no patches, no gum no nothing. I thought it would be really hard, but infact it was relatively easy, i got cravins, everybody does, i even get them now occasionally. BUT i have NEVER smoked since, not even a DRAG. I did read the allen carr book many years ago and there were things in there that stuck in my brain.

Its all in your head, ignore the cravin and it will go away. Don't beat yourself up. For every type of cravin there is an answer for it, you don't need the fag you survived x amount of years without it!

When you feel down and angry, you don't need a fag, it's just your brain telling you that you do, its not going to make a blind bit of difference to the situation if you smoke it or not!

I remember this, I use computers ALOT, and when i got frustrated programming or doing something i would light up a fag, which made you stop working and gave you 5 minutes to collect your thoughts. When i gave up and this situation arrose, i wanted a fag, BUT i didnt give in, i left the room, made a cup of tea or a sandwich and realised it wasnt the fag that was making the situation better, it was the 5 minutes away from the situation. The fag was just the excuse!

Everyone is different, but if you put your mind to it it's much easier than it sounds, personally i think the patches, gum etc are a complete waste of time and all they do is prolonge actually giving up! There still feeding your brain nicotine.

I gave up cold turkey and i can honestly say after the 5th or 6th day i woke up and it was a good couple of hours before i realised that i didnt fancy a fag. That was a big turning point for me.

ANOTHER plus side is the MONEY. and not to mention the smell! I cant believe i used to smell like that. Disgusting. Food tastes so much better and I actually eat a lot healthier now becuase food i thought was disgusting actually tastes nice! Although i won't lye, I have put on weight.

BACK TO THE MONEY.

Since giving up ive had much more money. My situation hasnt changed, i earn and pay out pretty much the same now a month as i did then.

In fact I've just booked 2 holidays next year. 8 days in a four star hotel / suite in grand canaria.

And a two centre holiday to the USA (in the summer holidays so not cheap) consisting of 3 nights in New York and 14 nights in Orlando. There is NO WAY i could have afforded this type of holiday when i was a smoker!

GOOD LUCK ALL YOU CAN DO IT!

JoeHel

TNG wrote: »

Couldn't you declare your house smoke-free so he has to go outside?

Er, not really TNG.... OH and his son both smoke, plus I obviously used to smoke in the flat too. I can't just suddenly declare it a smoke-free zone because I'VE chosen to give up... We live in a 1st floor flat and there is NO WAY my OH is going to cart himself down stairs every time he wants a ciggie. If I suggested it I have no doubt at all he would leave. He has quite a serious mental health condition that comes and goes but he panics if his routine is messed up too much...

mjd1 - fantastic post and agree 100% with everything you said!!! Tried patches before but they just didn't work for me. Dragged out the quitting process and because I was still an addict I just rolled straight back on to the fags again... Cold turkey has been fantastic. If you're in the right frame of mind, the phyiscal stuff is so slight you can easily ignore it!