08-10-07 12:29 PM - Post#335382    

Fell off the wagon a few months ago after 16 months of non smoking. Now finding it much harder to quit (again) and really affecting my w/o.

I know, I need to take the bull by the horns, but...

Ron

Re: Quitting Smoking: Who did and how did ya;
08-10-07 12:32 PM - Post#335384    

• RonL Said:

Quit in 1987. Haven't even touched one since.

You need a diversion such as physical activity. I started skating.

Good luck, you can do this.

Dennis

Quitting Smoking: Who did and how did ya;
08-10-07 12:41 PM - Post#335385    

I used the patch to quit three years ago.

In my opinion, the most important thing is desire though.

If you don't have it...you will fail.

08-10-07 12:59 PM - Post#335400    

This is something Im dealing with right now.

Im pretty young (Revised: pretty AND young, so Im not suffering any of the bad symptoms YET (thats a big yet), but I still wanna quit. I've been smoking for 8 years (Im 21,do the math).

I think Foster is right, no amount of patches or NRT will help without the desire and willpower. Discipline yourself and be diligent, we can do this.

I share a house with 3 buddies, all of whom smoke. Our house becomes party central every Saturday night as well. Neither of these help. Myself and the guys are negotiating about quitting together, and making a smoke free house. Parties will stop for a while too.

I think this is necessary. Separate yourself from cigarettes completely for two weeks, use patches, gum, powder whatever for as long as it takes to integrate yourself back into your old social life without cigarettes. Be good to yourself and do things you enjoy while you quit (you should be doing this anyway). Eat more fruit and veg as you quit to clear impurities faster. Drink more water.

Pick up Alan Carrs books too. A good friend of mine quit first time, after 5 or 6 years, with no problem. He swears by this book.

Of all the things ive lost,I miss my mind the most. http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals .html?Owner=jamie%28IRL%29

Re: Quitting Smoking: Who did and how did ya;
08-10-07 01:27 PM - Post#335417    

I quit cold turkey on Halloween of 1978. I'm not sure why it took, but it did. No special way to do it. You gotta want to quit real bad though. I think that is the key. Bob.

08-10-07 01:28 PM - Post#335419    

here was another place we talked about quitting smoking. http://www.davedraper.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/9952/post/240949/ hl/smoking+quit/#240949

BEAST MODE. NOW.

08-10-07 01:33 PM - Post#335421    

RONl, TOOK ME 3 TRYS BEFORE I FINALLY QUIT, AND A WHOLE BOX OF GUM BALLS, 7 CAVITYS LATER! BUT, YOU REALLY HAVE TO BE FED UP WITH IT. ITS BEEN 20 YEARS NOW, I WAS A LITTLE SHAKY FOR THE FIRST 5, PICKED UP ONE EVERY NOW AND THEN, BUT NOW I'M GOOD. GOOD LUCK!

08-10-07 01:34 PM - Post#335422    

In college I was up to nearly 2 packs a day. I got a job after college and continued to smoke. Moved to marlboro lights after being stuck on reds and mediums. Shortly after moving to lights the smell started to get on my nerves, I became self conscious about how I always smelled like smoke. I just up and quit one day. I can still just have one as a social thing once in a while, but I haven't bought a pack since that day I quit.

I read that the chemical dependency is over in like 3 days. After that it's mental. You just have to know you don't want it anymore.

Diablo Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth- MT

08-10-07 01:35 PM - Post#335423    

I stopped the cig's about the same time i quit everything else. I think two things helped; 1] living in a smoke free home with lots of support from the people around me. 2] praying. (not that i want to get all religious on the forum but you did ask..) lol.

Best thread ever! :)

08-10-07 02:03 PM - Post#335431    

I quit in 1981 while working at US Steel's Homestead (Pa) Works Open Hearth. Used to stop at Last Chance Bar by the gate for a shooter and a pack of Luckies. One day the guy who filled the machine was there and he was changing the price to a buck a pack. I was and am a cheap guy. I figured I had enough junk going into my lungs without going broke on top of it. Quit that day. No sweat. The other bad habits lived on for some time.

As you get older it is harder to have heroes, but it is sort of necessary. Ernest Hemingway

08-10-07 02:03 PM - Post#335432    

The last time I quit was 1991. I had no internal desire to quit, no drive in my heart or gut. I knew it was the smart thing for me to do, but I had no real desire. There was nothing I didn't love about smoking.

I used nicotine gum, maybe patch too, I don't recall. What I do remember was that it wasn't easy because I had no real heartfelt desire. However, I was determined. My wife was very supportive. I craved for a solid year and now I NEVER have a craving. And it doesn't bother me to be around it either. I haven't turned into an anti-smoking Nazi.

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Prov 4:23 "I'm not a doctor just someone that gets injured a lot." irondawg "Confidence - the absence of doubt - is a distillation of hope, faith and knowing." Dave Draper, BISS, page 65 "Few things are more fulfilling than personal progress." Dave Draper, newsletter of 4/2/09 100 Day Burpee Challenge 08 Survivor squatting makes me sleepy

08-10-07 02:10 PM - Post#335435    

I've quit twice...once with pipes, once with cigars. Would get started into the habit while smoking for my various cowboy characters...because a lot of the cowboys smoked...big time! Nothing tricky, nothing exotic...I just decided to quit.

Didn't take much for me to realize the value of quitting. My Dad had smoked 3-4 packs daily since he was 13. He died at 60.... I'm sure I've smoked quite a bit just being around his second hand smoke. Used to dig the smell of it...perverse, I know.

Just quit.

Wicked

"I'm in good shape for the shape I'm in." "Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me." John 14:6

08-10-07 02:12 PM - Post#335437    

• Wicked Willie Said:

Especially after catching a six pack of lead....in the chest....

Re: Quitting Smoking: Who did and how did ya;
08-10-07 02:16 PM - Post#335441    

I quite cigs cold turkey in 1979. Since then, I've smoked cigars off and on but I haven't even touched them in at least 8 years.

Peace ~ Bear

Edited by Barney on 08-10-07 02:24 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

08-10-07 02:46 PM - Post#335487    

Just quit! Don't buy another one. Don't stick one in your mouth. It's just a habit. That is, unless you find yourself getting up in the middle of the night for a quick fix. If you can sleep for 6-8 hours without a smoke, then why don't you go that long during the day without one? Habit.

For he today that sheds his blood with mine, shall forever be my brother.

08-10-07 03:06 PM - Post#335507    

I started smoking when I was 13 with the homies on the corner where I grew up. Nasty addiction that! The last 10 yrs of my habit I was smoking 2 packs a day, everyday. I was the proudest of smokers, "No one likes a quitter" I'd say...looking back...what an idiot!

My then 7 yr old daughter pushed me over the edge, she loved me into quitting! I quit 2 yrs ago this June. I had never tried to quit before so I went to get some help. Went to a doc who prescribed Zyban and patches, I used both for a month. I never broke a sweat, had a craving or felt ill once. It was the best experience.

I've since never once thought about going back. Things have never smelled or tasted better and I've never felt better.

-Mike

"If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee

08-10-07 03:28 PM - Post#335535    

Ron,
You can do this. You have to do it for yourself and commit to it. Don't get suckered into macho thinking on this either, if you feel an NRT option will help then use it. It is one of the best choices you will ever make. Also, be fully aware that it will more than likely be hard to do, some "just put them down", most of us fight. But the fight can be won. Don't fall for the thoughts that you can have just one or you will be back here with the same post down the road. Understand it is an addiction,not"just a habit", and treat it like one. Find support and work hard. You can do this.

Quitting Smoking: Who did and how did ya;
08-10-07 03:37 PM - Post#335550    

I smoked about 1 to 2 packs a day of Camels for about 15 years (ages 16 to 30). The first little Dark Ferrous Metal child was becoming aware of her surroundings and asked me what I was doing. I enjoy smoking but that was a big wake-up call. There was no way I could honestly smoke and then tell her not to so I decided then to set a non-smoking example for the little DFM's. I quit cold turkey over 7 years and I haven't touched them since. Curiously I still enjoy the smell of cigarettes and miss smoking. I don't think there is a single day I don't briefly think of having a smoke.

I also echo everyone here who has said it's mental. If you can change your mind you can change your habits.

I lift, therefore I am.

08-10-07 03:38 PM - Post#335552    

Thanks to all of you for your replies..I know it needs to be done (again).

I'm going to have to treat it like an alcoholic treats liquor. The occasional smoke or cigar with a beer and I fell back into the habit.(Tom)

yoyo-I was a smoke Nazi, couldn't stand to be around it..

dh-I am very active. Hunting, fishing, water/snow skiing etc. Until recently never bothered me. Now noticing shortness of breath, slow recovery from heavy workouts.

I'm gonna set a quit date and just do it. It's really stupid because I know how bad it is, yet continue.

BTW- been lurking for months maybe a year reading and learning. Thanks for all the information and helpful advice. You guys are the best...

Ron

Quitting Smoking: Who did and how did ya;
08-10-07 03:40 PM - Post#335554    

• TomP Said:

I agree, my Dad smoked for over 35 years and simply quit 25-30 years ago, and quit cold-turkey. He gained about 10-15 pounds (ate too much for a few months, due to the need to have something to do), but then lost the weight after 1 year.

Not saying it was easy, he would be the first to say it was not.

"It is not an uncommon experience for people to talk and argue a great deal about something without anybody bothering to define precisely what it is." - Ross J.S. Hoffman I would like to see the truth clearly before it is too late. - Sartre We must begin by a definition, although definition involves a mental effort and therefore repels. - Hilaire Belloc

Edited by Steve C on 08-10-07 03:41 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

Quitting Smoking: Who did and how did ya;
08-10-07 03:42 PM - Post#335558    

• RonL Said:

That is a big mistake. Why wait and have a countdown? If you know you need to change do it NOW! Take the smokes you have and crush them into the garbage can. Throw away all your lighters and ashtrays. If it is worth doing it's worth doing now. Don't put it off because that's when people falter.

I lift, therefore I am.

Re: Quitting Smoking: Who did and how did ya;
08-10-07 03:48 PM - Post#335562    

• Steve C Said:

I gained quite a bit of weight in the first six months also. Probably cuz I could finally taste my food.

Peace ~ Bear

08-10-07 04:06 PM - Post#335571    

• RonL Said:

Ron, I'm willing to bet a bunch that there are other lurkers (we call you guys stealth bombers around here) who are reading along and will be motivated by this post. You've got others right alongside you, no doubt about it.

08-10-07 04:28 PM - Post#335594    

Never smoked cigarettes. I do LOVE a good cigar once in a while, 1 maybe every 2 weeks. I feel it is what you do or don't do on a daily basis will kill you.
Greg

08-10-07 04:29 PM - Post#335597    

• Gregthebody Said:

good... I won't die from sex then.... or will I??? Hmmm

08-10-07 04:36 PM - Post#335606    

Laree, I won't take that bet for it's a sure loser.

I don't post much because I'm learning. But if I see something I can help with I will chime in. Everyone here is so knowledgeable and eager to share that knowledge that I keep my mouth shut and ears (well in this case, eyes) wide open. I sometimes feel selfish that I am able to gather this information and use it for my (and my wife-
finally got her to start working out) benefit without giving anything in return.

If I can do anything for anyone please don't hesitate to ask...

Thanks again
Ron

ps. DFM - you are absolutely correct. Why delay the inevitable. TODAY is my quit day....

08-10-07 04:39 PM - Post#335608    

Feel the pride come to you for being strong enough to make that decision, and let it stick. Our minds are more powerful than we know. It's the greatest muscle of all.

Diablo Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth- MT

08-10-07 04:48 PM - Post#335613    

• RonL Said:

WHOO!!

We're with ya, Ron.

Report in every day for the next five and then we'll decide if you can freefly. :~)

08-10-07 04:51 PM - Post#335615    

lol...thanks Laree.

Uh mam, can I start my reporting Monday..Gonna be on motorcycles all weekend.

08-10-07 05:03 PM - Post#335625    

Advice: Suck it up and quit doing it, how's that for advice. Cold turkey is the only way to go and when you get right down to it its all a mental game. Been there and done that.

-- JMac's Web Design

Quitting Smoking: Who did and how did ya;
08-10-07 05:34 PM - Post#335644    

My father quit cold turkey at age 56. He had a stroke, from cigarette smoking(and heriditary heart disease)became confined to a wheelchair and my mom refused to buy his cigarettes and beer for him. Now "Thats" a way to quit! He's still around, 21 years later, and still doesn't smoke or drink.

For he today that sheds his blood with mine, shall forever be my brother.

08-10-07 05:37 PM - Post#335645    

• RonL Said:

Excellent! Good luck Ron.

Peace ~ Bear

08-10-07 05:45 PM - Post#335647    

Sorry, had to leave for a smoke break....kidding...

Thanks....

08-10-07 07:00 PM - Post#335668    

• RonL Said:

Go for it, man! You can do it. It may not be easy, but you can do it.

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Prov 4:23 "I'm not a doctor just someone that gets injured a lot." irondawg "Confidence - the absence of doubt - is a distillation of hope, faith and knowing." Dave Draper, BISS, page 65 "Few things are more fulfilling than personal progress." Dave Draper, newsletter of 4/2/09 100 Day Burpee Challenge 08 Survivor squatting makes me sleepy

Re: Quitting Smoking: Who did and how did ya;
08-10-07 07:21 PM - Post#335675    

• Barney Said:

I'm only just in the process of losing what I gained. Quite a bit of weight and yea a lot of it is that things really start to taste good after the first 30days.

The flip side of my great story is my dad, also a very heavy smoker quit cold turkey a year ago. Bad news is that it was only after he had a pair of heart attacks and triple bypass surgery.

No better time than right now Ron! Good Luck!

"If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee

Edited by Alpha-rettaMale on 08-10-07 07:22 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

08-10-07 08:17 PM - Post#335689    

Hey, Ron, stick your money saved in a glass jar every night. We wanna know how much it totals on September 10th.

Re: Quitting Smoking: Who did and how did ya;
08-10-07 08:38 PM - Post#335694    

RonL,

I know of 2 folks who were successful at quitting... each had a different approach/mindset: one (an ex-Marine) merely desired to purchase things & not smoking allowed him to save big enough to get what he wanted; the other bad-mouthed everything about smoking & anyone who he saw smoking while in the Corps... had he gone back to smoking those singled-out for insults would have kicked his ___ hard & often thereafter, so he didn't dare light-up again... both Jarheads ended-up not missing the butts because they past the craving-stage with their will & actions intact & on course.

2009 Motto: Thinking Positive, Being Positive "Start out easy & don't compete against anyone but yourself." -- Steve Reeves "...work up to the number of repetitions that you feel necessary to do the trick. Don't hold yourself down to any hidebound number of repetitions." -- George F. Jowett "Weight training is successful when you perservere." -- Mike Dayton

Edited by Marooned Mike on 08-10-07 08:40 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

Re: Quitting Smoking: Who did and how did ya;
08-10-07 09:05 PM - Post#335706    

This is how I quit. When I craved a cig, I
#1-reminded myself that I had made the decision to quit.
#2-distracted myself from the craving by asking myself, "if I were not a smoker, what would be the next thing I would do in my life?"
#3-I started doing the "next thing."

Re: Quitting Smoking: Who did and how did ya;
08-11-07 07:24 AM - Post#335818    

• joan t. Said:

Great advice. Simple, action oriented, focused.

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Prov 4:23 "I'm not a doctor just someone that gets injured a lot." irondawg "Confidence - the absence of doubt - is a distillation of hope, faith and knowing." Dave Draper, BISS, page 65 "Few things are more fulfilling than personal progress." Dave Draper, newsletter of 4/2/09 100 Day Burpee Challenge 08 Survivor squatting makes me sleepy

08-11-07 08:12 AM - Post#335828    

ok, I never smoked at all, but I do have a story that could be looked at as abuse, but in retrospect it was one of the best things my dad ever did (and he was a smoker at the time).

When I was around 5 yrs old, I used to imitate my dad with what he did and yes, even smoking. I went around picking up cigarette butts my parents discarded in the yard and pretended like I was smoking them. Well, after several attempts at telling me to quit, my dad took me to the garage, lit one up and stuck it in my mouth ordering me to take a puff. Well.....I can still taste that aweful smoke burning fire tasting ash breath in my mouth to this very day. Ive never messed with a cigarette since. I quit before I started.

"no hell, no high water, no drama, just preform your art." Kim Frazier Desire, Dedication, Discipline

Re: Quitting Smoking: Who did and how did ya;
08-11-07 09:45 AM - Post#335857    

I had my last cigarette four years ago around the beginning of June sometime . . . I know this may sound strange, but after years of "trying to quit", I woke up one morning and never had another again . . . and as some have mentioned here, I never really wanted one again either (at least not in a craving kind of way).

I have been training since I was 14-years-old, so often the first thing I did after getting off the stairmill at the end of my workout was go home and have that cigarette. Ah, the paradoxes of being a human being.

At the end of this month I will have been sober 19 years . . . Those "meetings" for that problem are non-smoking now in California . . . But, back in "the day" we'd all sit around smoking cigarettes, drinking coffee, eating doughnuts and talking about how "clean" we were.

Well, the reason that I bring that up is that for the first many years of my sobriety I used to tell people that I had "tried to quit" drinking and drugs MANY times before I finally "got it". Now I realize that I never REALLY did "try to quit" . . . When the "rubber hit the road" and abstinence got difficult for me, I just really wasn't ready. I had to want being sober more than I wanted a drink . . . And, although I thought that was the case, in 20/20 hindsight it just wasn't true.

The smoking was the same thing for me . . . I guess I hit some point, where I truly wanted to be a non-smoker (not just lip-service and self-deception). This, I found is a question that you can only really answer for yourself and you need not convince anybody else of it. It has to be a desire/decision that exists in one's innermost self. Then, oddly enough, the "quitting" is fairly easy.

- Joel

Re: Quitting Smoking: Who did and how did ya;
08-11-07 11:04 AM - Post#335876    

• jxb Said:

So true.

In my work at a drug rehab i speak to a lot of guys who tell me they are ready and that they need to come in for our programme. I tell them to call back the next day (as a test of willingness). Only about five to ten percent actually make that second phone call.

Best thread ever! :)

08-12-07 06:51 AM - Post#336160    

I quit chewing tobbacco, did not want it to be the boss of me anymore. Just did it on will, and each day gets better as you go. Airborne nicotine from from other smokers can give you a bad nicotine fit, stay away from those people. There are little rituals that need to be broken, certain times that you will really want to sneak back into it. Avoid setting yourself up in those situations.

It may sound corny, but everytime you feel like doing something bad do something good for you instead. Eat something healthy, grab up the dumbells and crank out a few good sets.

Exercise your will on a daily basis.

I quit right around New Year, and it is neat to look at the date on my watch and know its been 8 months.

You can do it.

A.G.

08-13-07 08:44 PM - Post#336857    

I'm a smokaholic as well. Training has been the one thing that has kept me off the booze and the cigarettes. If I stop lifting within weeks I start smoking again and next thing you know I'm frumpy looking again. That's the word my mom used to describe my physique 4 years ago. I train hard so the least bit of smoke will effect me. It's tuff in my house. My wife smokes. I'm hoping one day she will try to help herself and quit. I bought air cleaners to keep it out of my lungs and she only smokes under the range hood so the house does not smell like smoke. I really don't mind the smell of the stuff I just don't want the health effects. Smoking will cripple your ability to add lean muscle. The patch worked well for me to quit. Just follow the program. It's fairly easy.

08-13-07 09:38 PM - Post#336888    

I smoked a lot from age 19-26 and tried to quit many times before finally quitting for good at age 29.

Part of being ready and able to quit was that I was sick of being a worthless piece of former-athlete crap. Part of it was that I was watching my grandfather die a long and painful death because of emphysema. Part of it was that I was living with a good woman who wouldn't tolerate it (she's my wife now btw).

I don't miss it at all and I would never start up again, but sometimes smelling someone who's just finished a cigarette makes my mouth water...

http://squatrx.blogspot.com/

08-14-07 11:46 AM - Post#337081    

• Boris Said:

Yeah, that'll do it. :~)

Yo, Ron, since you didn't report in, we'll guess the weekend didn't go so hot. Can you interest you in a re-start?

08-14-07 02:16 PM - Post#337132    

Hi Laree,

As was said in "My Cousin Vinnie, You were serious bout dat"?

Actually the weekend went fine, awfully hot....

This is Day 4 and no smokes....

Thanks,
Ron

08-14-07 02:18 PM - Post#337134    

• RonL Said:

Rock On!!!!

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Prov 4:23 "I'm not a doctor just someone that gets injured a lot." irondawg "Confidence - the absence of doubt - is a distillation of hope, faith and knowing." Dave Draper, BISS, page 65 "Few things are more fulfilling than personal progress." Dave Draper, newsletter of 4/2/09 100 Day Burpee Challenge 08 Survivor squatting makes me sleepy

08-14-07 09:11 PM - Post#337277    

WOO HOO!!! Ron, that's OUTSTANDING! Of all the things we talk about, this is the absolute best thing you can do for your health. Numero Uno.

I'm really glad to hear this because when we didn't hear from you yesterday, it seemed like, er, bad news.

Re: Quitting Smoking: Who did and how did ya;
08-15-07 12:04 AM - Post#337335    

There's a really great online program at www.stopsmokingcenter.net. I quit using their program five years ago, along with my husband. Check it out and good luck to you!

Jen