Breaking the habit...

[Mantor]

I reduced my cigarette smoking from bout thirty a day to bout thirty a month a couple of years ago thanks to houndin by sister for months that I quit altogether. To ease the slight withdrawal and working overtime like crazy I smoked one once in a while and have kept that average since. I hadn't planned on keeping that level fore keeps but, I found the advantages and here we are. Sis is gone but not in spirit and so I am presently looking to see if I can go just as cool with bout five a month, thinking of her and another special lady.

Qs1/2: If I keep that level do qualify as a non-smoker? If not, do I with five a year?

Q3: Any tips?

 

[GNTLGNT]

...any smoking, is smoking...I smoke, and I'm a nurse....how dumb am I?...quit and keep quit...

 

[HollyGolightly]

Good for you on the quitting. I had a bad month and smoked a few day for about 17 days straight. But I was able to put them back down, haven't had one in a week now - haven't bought any for emergencies either. I'm hoping to keep up the cessation. My father in law is battling lung cancer right now. My dad died at 42 from lung cancer. Smoking's a powerful relief at times.

 

[Kurben]

My mother smoked 40 a day. then she quit cold turkey. it was a health necessity but still. Better to do it before you absolutely must. Otherwise i agree with the Giant. Any smoking is smoking.

 

[HollyGolightly]

I suppose smoking 5 a month is not exactly quitting, but still a major improvement from 30 a day.

 

[blunthead]

Kudos on your major progress. I've always felt that people who face their addictions and deal with them are the bravest people in the world. I doubt that most cannot stop an addiction cold turkey, but I say that not exactly having my own total objectivity.

 

[Lepplady]

I quit more than 15 years ago after more than 2 packs a day. I did it because my (then) 12 year old son asked me to because he didn't want me to die. I put 'em down and haven't smoked one from that day to this.

I played a head game on myself. I left the pack right where I usually kept it. And I told myself that they're right there. I can have one any time I want. But wait fifteen minutes. If I still wanted one after fifteen minutes, I could have one.
I'd make the fifteen minutes and consider it. You can believe I picked the pack up many times, felt it in my fingers and even smelled from it deeply. But I put it back down, telling myself that I could have one in fifteen minutes if I really NEEDED one.
It went like that for a day or two, and I jumped up to twenty minutes. It wasn't easy, trying to find things to do to keep my mind off it. I don't think my house has ever been cleaner.
Every day or so, I'd bump it up another five minutes. By the time I got to 45 minutes, I didn't think about them as much, and keeping myself otherwise occupied wasn't as hard.
At some point, I stuck 'em in the kitchen drawer and there they sat until a neighbor asked if I had a smoke they could bum. I gave 'em that whole pack. It had to be insanely stale by then, but I know from experience that when a smoker is jonesing, it didn't matter.

I know that if I'd put them away, I never would have quit. I would have moved heaven and earth to get my hands on a smoke if I felt like I couldn't have one. Having them where I could see them aided my resolve. They're right there. You can have one if you want one. But how badly do you really need it?

They say that if you can make it 3 days without a smoke, the addiction isn't physical anymore. After that, it's all in your head. And that really is the hard part. I won't lie, I sometimes still miss 'em. I smoke in my dreams, upset that I started again. But then I wake up, and I'm relieved that it's just a dream. So you might never shake it completely, but you can own your own body, your choices and your fate.

You can do it!

 

[mustangclaire]

Firstly, well done on what you are doing.

I quit smoking cigarettes....let me see now, it will be 2 years come March.

I use an E-cig.

I know a lot of folks won't agree with it. However, it has been outstandingly successful for me, hubs (quit cigarettes a year ago this month) and my sister (quit same time as me). Over here in the UK, there's been quite a discussion about it, but a lot in the medical profession reckon they are saving the NHS millions and saving lots and LOTS of lives

I've noticed such a difference. No longer coughing. AT ALL. My skin is brighter. It has seriously been the best thing I've ever done.

I don't use the "cheap" disposable ones you often find in supermarkets.

I use the re-chargeable ones. Although they still cost, the price/expenditure is incomparable to when I smoked (roll-ups).

Best of luck with which ever way you choose.

 

[Riot87]

I started smoking cigs back in Jamaica and i quit in 2008.


Congrats on making that progress Mantor Its a very hard thing to quit.

 

[Grandpa]

I've never smoked, because my parents and other relatives did enough for me, so maybe I shouldn't take a voice here. But......

Way to go! Congratulations! You've done a huge benefit both for yourself and those around you.

As to what to say, if a person has one every now and then (i.e., less than one a day), I would refer to them as an "occasional smoker." If they're at a party and go out and have one, I can tell when they come back in *sniff*, and it's hard to think of them as a "nonsmoker" at that point.

My relatives who smoked had their quality of life wrecked and shortened by it. It's given me a longstanding grudge, not against the smoker, but against the purveyors. I'm so glad you picked a path that takes you off that road!

 

[BeverleyMarsh]

I'm a stupid smoker. There's clearly no intelligent way to pick up the smoking habit but the way I did was particularly stupid. At 15 I was entirely against smoking and kept nagging my dad to quit smoking as I was so worried for him (he had just lost his best friend to lung cancer) then I decided to bargain with him, I said that if he didn't care that I worried for him then I'd start smoking. I did, and he stopped for 6 month but I never quit.
Now I'm on 15 to 20 roll ups a day and I wish I would have the will to quit. Problem is I like it too much. I practice boxing as well which make my habit even more stupid as I know I would have far more endurance if I did quit.
Anyway, congrats to the quitters, it certainly is food for thought.

 

[nate_watkins]

I gave it up over 3 1/2 years ago, and I don't miss it. I haven't necessarily been nicotine free that whole time, but usually a drag is enough to remind myself that I don't really enjoy it anymore. And it's a rare occurrence when I actually light one up. The last time was last December, and it wasn't a very pleasant experience...

 

[ghost19]

Quitting smoking was, is, and always will be the hardest thing I've ever done. I don't know if it's my obsessive/compulsive nature or what but over ten years later, I still want a smoke every morning when I wake up, all throughout the day, and after I eat. I put on a lot of weight when I quit smoking that I haven't been very successful getting off over the years. I wish I could tell you it gets easier, but for me, at least, it doesn't seem to. I absolutely love the smell of a Marlboro Light all these years later and I always feel like I'm one more stress point in my life away from buying a pack. My wife? Complete opposite. She quit at the same time I did and has no problem staying quit. I understand the health risks of smoking but I'll be damned if my tired old brain gives a rat's ass...lol

 

[Sigmund]

My family and in-laws know I smoke. Yet, they have never seen me smoke. My co-workers have no idea I smoke.

If/when I smoke it is in the evening at the end of the day in my study.

I do not have cigarettes or even a lighter in my purse.

There have been times when the weather is dangerous and we (My son and I.) go stay at my family home (Sometimes for up to seven days.). I never smoke there. (Or at anyone's home.)

Sometimes, I get a wild hair (sorry) and decide to stop smoking. It may be a week, a month or even a year. No problem. I don't cranky (My son would be the first to tell me if I did. Ha!) and I don't over eat.

I'm weird.

Peace.

 

[nate_watkins]

Quitting smoking was, is, and always will be the hardest thing I've ever done. I don't know if it's my obsessive/compulsive nature or what but over ten years later, I still want a smoke every morning when I wake up, all throughout the day, and after I eat. I put on a lot of weight when I quit smoking that I haven't been very successful getting off over the years. I wish I could tell you it gets easier, but for me, at least, it doesn't seem to. I absolutely love the smell of a Marlboro Light all these years later and I always feel like I'm one more stress point in my life away from buying a pack. My wife? Complete opposite. She quit at the same time I did and has no problem staying quit. I understand the health risks of smoking but I'll be damned if my tired old brain gives a rat's ass...lol

My family and in-laws know I smoke. Yet, they have never seen me smoke. My co-workers have no idea I smoke.

If/when I smoke it is in the evening at the end of the day in my study.

I do not have cigarettes or even a lighter in my purse.

There have been times when the weather is dangerous and we (My son and I.) go stay at my family home (Sometimes for up to seven days.). I never smoke there. (Or at anyone's home.)

Sometimes, I get a wild hair (sorry) and decide to stop smoking. It may be a week, a month or even a year. No problem. I don't cranky (My son would be the first to tell me if I did. Ha!) and I don't over eat.

I'm weird.

Peace.

I didn't notice an increase in appetite until over a year after I quit smoking. And any increase of appetite may be a coincidence I think. Just my experience. I know this isn't the case for everyone.

 

[Terry B]

I quit in 1999 after my Dad begged me to. He actually started hounding me about it 2 years earlier when he found out he had lung cancer. I lost my Dad in 2000 to lung cancer but he knew before he died that I had quit and that made him happy. Unfortunately I didn't quit soon enough I guess since I found I had lung cancer myself in 2007. After losing part of a lung, my hair and several rounds of chemo I've been cancer free since. So far so good. I'm happy to say that due to my illness, my son quit smoking. If you can't quit cold turkey get help or just join a support group. That's how I did it. Like GNTLGNT said - any smoking is smoking.

 

[morgan]

My family and in-laws know I smoke. Yet, they have never seen me smoke. My co-workers have no idea I smoke.

If/when I smoke it is in the evening at the end of the day in my study.

I do not have cigarettes or even a lighter in my purse.

There have been times when the weather is dangerous and we (My son and I.) go stay at my family home (Sometimes for up to seven days.). I never smoke there. (Or at anyone's home.)

Sometimes, I get a wild hair (sorry) and decide to stop smoking. It may be a week, a month or even a year. No problem. I don't cranky (My son would be the first to tell me if I did. Ha!) and I don't over eat.

I'm weird.

Peace.

I used to be an occasional smoker. Here and there, at a bar or at a party. Could take it or leave it. Really!! Several years ago I had a boyfriend who detested it, even though it was not a regular occurrence (and even though he chewed tobacco.). I got sick of him nagging me about it and quit completely. I think I tried to have a few drags several years back and found it disgusting. Even though it was a horrible relationship, I am grateful that I quit my sporadic, every now and then smoking because of him!

 

[Sigmund]

I mean no offense here but (Dahmit, there is always a BUT.) when I see commercials showing lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease etc. due to smoking... it makes me nervous. So nervous, in fact, that I just wanna light up. Bummer.

Peace.

 

[blunthead]

I mean no offense here but (Dahmit, there is always a BUT.) when I see commercials showing lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease etc. due to smoking... it makes me nervous. So nervous, in fact, that I just wanna light up. Bummer.

Peace.

The very definition of irony.

 

[HollyGolightly]

I quit in 1999 after my Dad begged me to. He actually started hounding me about it 2 years earlier when he found out he had lung cancer. I lost my Dad in 2000 to lung cancer but he knew before he died that I had quit and that made him happy. Unfortunately I didn't quit soon enough I guess since I found I had lung cancer myself in 2007. After losing part of a lung, my hair and several rounds of chemo I've been cancer free since. So far so good. I'm happy to say that due to my illness, my son quit smoking. If you can't quit cold turkey get help or just join a support group. That's how I did it. Like GNTLGNT said - any smoking is smoking.

So glad you're cancer free!

I mean no offense here but (Dahmit, there is always a BUT.) when I see commercials showing lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease etc. due to smoking... it makes me nervous. So nervous, in fact, that I just wanna light up. Bummer.

Peace.

I know exactly what you mean.