Three Weeks Without A Cigarette

[lovenim]

Planning to start again after 6 months time.

Why?

Either Im so fat and untrained, I need to get back to smoking.

Or, Im in so much better shape (physical condition) that I can take up the delicious smoking again, for a while, before I stop again.

I have a few more things to say. Hope you don't take this the wrong way; I do not know you;

I merely go by what you are writing and I am trying to help you.

OK, here goes...

Your addiction appears to be entirely in the mind.

I think you are setting yourself up for failure because you have obviously not actually really quit, mentally speaking.

The statement that you plan to start again in 6 months' time sounds odd - then why bother stopping in the first place?

If you really mean that (wanting to start again in 6 months) then it is quite natural that right now you are having a hard time.

It would seem you are merely making a half-hearted attempt at quitting, since you are giving yourself some opt-out-later leeway.

Hence it's become a tedious 'doing time' thing to be gotten through with willpower rather than a resolve to be proud of and then persisted in with motivation.

That in itself is a recipe for failure.

Your reasons for starting again also seem somewhat defeatist/cynical:

1) You seem to see yourself getting fatter and lazier and so it is what happens. You allow yourself to drink more and eat more because you perceive that you are now lacking in some way. And the more you eat/drink the lazier you will be and so you will find it harder and harder to exercise.

2) You say that if you do get into much better shape (which seems unlikely unless you undertake a major attitude shift) you might as well start again because you have some health credit in the bank, metaphorically speaking. That is quite simply preposterous. Suppose you did feel so much better in 6 months and you did start again - you would so regret it, I can assure you. Because all the benefits would just go quite quickly again. Anyway, if you do feel so much fitter in 6 months I doubt you will want to start again - you will probably be proud of yourself and feel way too good to spoil that with the cancer stick.

One more thing you are saying there strikes me: you call smoking "delicious" - I would like to question the reality of that statement. What exactly, if anything beyond the immediate relief from craving that only lasts for so many minutes, is delicious about it? Remember your first ever cigarette and how that tasted/felt... and realise that your body merely adjusted over time to gradually accommodate a poison that you persistently fed it when you were determined to keep smoking, way back when... yeah, you might say it's an acquired taste, like oysters or what have you. But I don't think there is anything delicious about it -. that's all in the mind as well! But as long as you think of it as delicious you will feel like you are denying yourself a pleasure and you will continue suffering while you do not smoke. You are going to have to make that cognitive shift and re-evaluate the smoking experience.

Like somebody recommended already, Allen Carr's book (there's a video as well) are well worth taking the time to read/watch. Quite the eye-opener.

[lovenim]

Yep, I can agree with all of that, so logging off now and having a ciggy. Good night.

is winding someone up the only pleasure you get out of your addiction, or is this a covert cry for help?

[transam]

Yep, I can agree with all of that, so logging off now and having a ciggy. Good night.

is winding someone up the only pleasure you get out of your addiction, or is this a covert cry for help?

No wind up. . I gave up smoking over 25 years age and now started again cos l like it. There's a health risk in anything we do, and l mean anything. The only thing with ciggs is others can be bothered by the smoke but l stay well away from folk when having a puff.

Live your life how you want, race cars, sky dive, have sex with a stranger, become a soldier or even cross a road ALL risky but we do it.

[Travel2003]

Planning to start again after 6 months time.

Why?

Either Im so fat and untrained, I need to get back to smoking.

Or, Im in so much better shape (physical condition) that I can take up the delicious smoking again, for a while, before I stop again.

I have a few more things to say. Hope you don't take this the wrong way; I do not know you;

I merely go by what you are writing and I am trying to help you.

OK, here goes...

Your addiction appears to be entirely in the mind.

I think you are setting yourself up for failure because you have obviously not actually really quit, mentally speaking.

The statement that you plan to start again in 6 months' time sounds odd - then why bother stopping in the first place?

If you really mean that (wanting to start again in 6 months) then it is quite natural that right now you are having a hard time.

It would seem you are merely making a half-hearted attempt at quitting, since you are giving yourself some opt-out-later leeway.

Hence it's become a tedious 'doing time' thing to be gotten through with willpower rather than a resolve to be proud of and then persisted in with motivation.

That in itself is a recipe for failure.

Your reasons for starting again also seem somewhat defeatist/cynical:

1) You seem to see yourself getting fatter and lazier and so it is what happens. You allow yourself to drink more and eat more because you perceive that you are now lacking in some way. And the more you eat/drink the lazier you will be and so you will find it harder and harder to exercise.

2) You say that if you do get into much better shape (which seems unlikely unless you undertake a major attitude shift) you might as well start again because you have some health credit in the bank, metaphorically speaking. That is quite simply preposterous. Suppose you did feel so much better in 6 months and you did start again - you would so regret it, I can assure you. Because all the benefits would just go quite quickly again. Anyway, if you do feel so much fitter in 6 months I doubt you will want to start again - you will probably be proud of yourself and feel way too good to spoil that with the cancer stick.

One more thing you are saying there strikes me: you call smoking "delicious" - I would like to question the reality of that statement. What exactly, if anything beyond the immediate relief from craving that only lasts for so many minutes, is delicious about it? Remember your first ever cigarette and how that tasted/felt... and realise that your body merely adjusted over time to gradually accommodate a poison that you persistently fed it when you were determined to keep smoking, way back when... yeah, you might say it's an acquired taste, like oysters or what have you. But I don't think there is anything delicious about it -. that's all in the mind as well! But as long as you think of it as delicious you will feel like you are denying yourself a pleasure and you will continue suffering while you do not smoke. You are going to have to make that cognitive shift and re-evaluate the smoking experience.

Like somebody recommended already, Allen Carr's book (there's a video as well) are well worth taking the time to read/watch. Quite the eye-opener.

It is actually very encouraging reading what you write, and I thank you for that.

I really mean that.

It makes me think and reflect over things I never did before.

However, one think I respectfully disagree, and that is your view of the delicious smoking.

Smoking is, with all its dangers and issues, indeed deliciously wonderful to do.

Ahhh, the cig after a meal, or sex.

The cig after stress, or during stress.

The companion the cigs are while bored.

The good feeling after a drag.

In spite of all those good things, I decided there must be some long term benefits down the road, if I quit.

I really hope you are correct about my attitude change 6 months from now, and that I will continue to not smoke.

Problem is that absolutely all of my smoking colleagues started again after 6-18 months.

But I am not them. I am me.

[GarryP]

I quit 16 months ago or thereabouts after smoking for about 25 years. It never entered my head that I may start again in a few months or so. I just knew when I threw away my few remaining cigs that I would not smoke again.

I just wish I had not waited for so long before actually quitting, but I had been brainwashed into believing quitting was so difficult, when in fact, for me, it was not.

I was lucky in that I did not get a cough when I quit and the only negative physical effects have been recurring mouth ulcers. However, even those are not as frequent. I have much more energy now and took up exercise since I quit. I feel so much better than I have in years.

My sense of smell has returned as has my sense of taste. People smoking in front of me does not bother me, but I no longer like the smell, which was something I never noticed before.

I printed out all those info sheets that said such and such benefits will happen in such and such a time. None of them were accurate for me. It took longer but eventually the benefits did kick in.

One of the benefits of quitting which I have not seen written anywhere was that I no longer get cramps in my feet when it gets chilly. I assume this is due to improved circulation.

Keep at it. If I can do it (someone with the willpower of a gnat) anyone can.

[transam]

I quit 16 months ago or thereabouts after smoking for about 25 years. It never entered my head that I may start again in a few months or so. I just knew when I threw away my few remaining cigs that I would not smoke again.

I just wish I had not waited for so long before actually quitting, but I had been brainwashed into believing quitting was so difficult, when in fact, for me, it was not.

I was lucky in that I did not get a cough when I quit and the only negative physical effects have been recurring mouth ulcers. However, even those are not as frequent. I have much more energy now and took up exercise since I quit. I feel so much better than I have in years.

My sense of smell has returned as has my sense of taste. People smoking in front of me does not bother me, but I no longer like the smell, which was something I never noticed before.

I printed out all those info sheets that said such and such benefits will happen in such and such a time. None of them were accurate for me. It took longer but eventually the benefits did kick in.

One of the benefits of quitting which I have not seen written anywhere was that I no longer get cramps in my feet when it gets chilly. I assume this is due to improved circulation.

Keep at it. If I can do it (someone with the willpower of a gnat) anyone can.

Well done, achieved your goal which l did decades ago. Started puffing again now but all my functions etc are normal except my grey cells.

[lovenim]

Smoking is, with all its dangers and issues, indeed deliciously wonderful to do.

Ahhh, the cig after a meal, or sex.

The cig after stress, or during stress.

The companion the cigs are while bored.

The good feeling after a drag.

Point taken. Just consider the possibility that it is merely a habit and that you feel at a loss if you don't have it, simply because it's so familiar as a ritual. Seems you mention the word 'delicious' not as a flavour or taste at all but actually exclusively in conjunction with activities you associate smoking with, as if somehow it provides a framework , a buffer of some sort... Meals, sex, stress, boredom. With stress and boredom it's obvious - cigarettes somehow provide relief. But have you considered that after a meal, like after sex, there is a moment of "aah... what now?" - a certain emptiness, a sense of being at a loss, not knowing how to continue, to make the transition to something else... which is boring, or stressful, an anti-climax after the orgasm or the dessert... hence the sudden need, the void to fill, the need for the drag that will provide the "good feeling" as you say. Which is in fact merely a relief from tension/boredom/neediness... It's all in the mind. Triggers, associations... I really do think so.

I used to be unable to do any task for any length of time without smoking... for instance reading, or writing... but now that I have reprogrammed my mind and have changed my responses to triggers, I cannot even imagine smoking in the situations where I used to. Why? because i can do everything better without them, they would just get in the way. Of course, that is also all in the mind, and I am sure (were I to want to start smoking again) there are plenty of smokers who would love to help me and show me how i can successfully integrate my cigarette into any activity ;o)

I have full respect for your current belief that they are 'delicious' for you but U can assure you that as long as you think that it will be hard for you not to feel deprived while you do not smoke. Stopping for good without feeling deprived entails flicking that mental switch... you also mentioned hope... Do not merely "hope"... have faith, imagine, believe! Hoping entails the possibility for failure - if you allow for that to happen, it probably will.

hang in there in any case! the switch might just flick by itself one day.

[lovenim]

Live your life how you want, race cars, sky dive, have sex with a stranger, become a soldier or even cross a road ALL risky but we do it.

Ah all good things there ... not sure about becoming a soldier though?

[sanook2me]

It is actually very encouraging reading what you write, and I thank you for that.

I really mean that.

It makes me think and reflect over things I never did before.

However, one think I respectfully disagree, and that is your view of the delicious smoking.

Smoking is, with all its dangers and issues, indeed deliciously wonderful to do.

Ahhh, the cig after a meal, or sex.

The cig after stress, or during stress.

The companion the cigs are while bored.

The good feeling after a drag.

In spite of all those good things, I decided there must be some long term benefits down the road, if I quit.

I really hope you are correct about my attitude change 6 months from now, and that I will continue to not smoke.

Problem is that absolutely all of my smoking colleagues started again after 6-18 months.

But I am not them. I am me.

Dude i quit after smoking for over 20 years...it was not easy and in fact the hardest thing i have ever done but boy am i happy..you wrote probably in jest..

Ahhh, the cig after a meal, or sex. ... yeah i enjoyed these but my girlfriends at the time did not... but i was to selfish to notice

The cig after stress, or during stress. ...i don't get stressed like i did when i smoked..see a connection...the nicotine demon calling..very clever

The companion the cigs are while bored. ...i dont get bored like i did when i smoked and i dont put jobs off or think deep about them..just do it now

The good feeling after a drag. ... i just feel normal now all of the time..because i don't have nicotine cravings so i don't have that stupid command to smoke that your mind tells you is a good feeling but you know deep down its a command to smoke to make you feel normal..but its not normal its your nicotine addiction being fed.... it took me a while after quitting to fully understand this one....it must be a eureka moment for all ex smokers when they can look back and laugh at the fact that those drags felt good...when once you stop smoking you just feel good all of the time...bizarre but true.

good luck...try quomen tablets if you really want to quit....

[MHM]

Sending good vibes to those trying to stop. Here's my tale.

My habit had crept up to 60-80 a day when I was diagnosed with bladder cancer in March (cause? you guessed it). After surgery I was so drugged for weeks & weeks that cold turkey was actually quite easy. Couldn't even think what cigs were. Now, 4 months on and my course of patches finished, I think of them a lot, still get rapidly aggressive, pat my pocket to check for packet & lighter, react strongly to passing smokers. I'm still not out of the woods, still get the flinches more than I should at 4 months.

But I don't want to go back to smoking.

I find it so disabling to be a smoker. Sitting outside at bars & restaurants when all my friends are inside. Terrified of long-haul flights. Unable to go shopping in malls as I spent most time in the car parks huddled round the ashtray (if any). Unwilling to ever visit Singapore (!). I bought cartons (10 packs) & got twitchy when I was down to 3 packs left. I'm glad to be free of that.

I'll never be a non-smoker, but I'm quite proud to be an ex-smoker of 4 months. Like others here, it took major surgery to make me stop (says a lot about the strength of the addiction). Guess this thread shows we're all different & followed different paths to getting to the same place. So here's raising a glass to all on the edge and thinking of taking the plunge. It's worth it, so jump.

[bernadette35]

A semi-old thread, but I'll throw in my 2-cents worth. I smoked for 18 years and gave it up over 16 years ago. Smoked about 40 cigs/day, probably more when I was out at the bars.

Coughing became worse, hacking up brown-mucous balls in the shower wasn't very pleasing, shortness of breath and stinking like an old ashtray were some of my motivations to quit.

I quit cold-turkey because I really didn't want to rely on anything or anyone else but me. One psychological ploy I did use, was to remind myself that I was a non-smoker for the first 18 years

of my life and I would remember what it was like not to smoke back then. That helped tremendously.

Probably the worst part of quitting for most people is the fear of the withdrawal symptoms. Be not afraid! I fear a head-on crash, but I still drive every day.

If fear is holding you back from quitting smoking, you might as well curl up into a ball and stay in bed. If you truly want to quit, then do it!

Good luck.