speedymonkey

Well, after 14 years of smoking, ive decided to try my hardest and give the little buggers up.
The missus has been asking me for ages to give it a go, to just try, but ive never really wanted too.

Ive not had one since new years eve, yes i know its only been a day and a half, but by god i could murder one right now
I feel so irritated thinking about it its almost like if i could just have one last one, id feel ok, but i know the feeling would only return in the next few hours
Fec*kin hate ****e like this, dont like being moody, think im goin to go for a drive or walk to get outta the house for a bit, goin to be walking the walls if i dont do something

Just wondered if anyone else was trying to stop smoking
If you are, good luck too you, you can always post on this thread if your feeling like a good rant

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

il be honest, ive never smoked, ive never even tried one, doesnt interest me, plus i have nasty asthma attacks sometimes...

thing i think of (and im well prepared for a flaming on this one) is that, you dont actually need cigarettes/tobacco to live. i think of it as being not a necessity to survival, if you get which angle im coming from. so if you try think, 'well, yeah i have smoked, but i dont need to, to either survive or do my day to day things in life' that may help more. sort of giving your body and mind a reason to stop rather than just saying 'theyre bad, i must stop'...

almost like self reasoning, explaining to your subconcience that whats the point in spending £4.50?ish on 20 little sticks that dont really do much for you, give you bad breath, potentially shorten your life span, and potentially shorten your subaru ownership span too.

my tuppence. flame suit on.

Dream Weaver

I'm giving up end of this month, just signing up for the NHS quit smoking thing with a months worth of patches etc.

Good luck, and keep it up - remember it's killing you smoking and it stinks

Neverguess

I'm reading the Allen Carr book so I'm still allowed to smoke

I'm reading it very, very slowly though

Scooby Snacks 23

I gave up a few years ago, and whilst it's really tough at first, with a bit of will power you'll do it. Set yourself a goal - perhaps something you'll be able to buy with the extra money you'll have.

Good luck fella

SiPie

....and there's where your problem lies.

She has placed a demand on you. You really need to want to stop and you aren't there yet.

Suggest you read the book below, it will make the struggle alot easier for yourself and put you in the correct frame of mind to stop successfully. You are fighting a losing battle with your current attitude towarsd stopping.

Amazon.co.uk: The Only Way to Stop Smoking Permanently (Penguin Health Care & Fitness): Books: Allen Carr

PS I know plenty of people who have stopped with willpower alone, or nicotine patches etc but the above worked for me when all other methods had failed.

Good luck

Si ............ stopped 9th April 2005 after smoking for 21 years

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Never read the book.

At the moment all your focus is on smoking - take that focus elsewhere

The best way is to start to focus on the things you can have by being a non-smoker,

with the money you now save
or with the extra health
or perhaps the health of those around you
or sharing your experience with others who want to give up.

I stopped 30 a day overnight and apart from one day shortly afterwards have never thought about smoking since! Someone else on here with the same approach cut from 60-80 a day overnight!

As Yoda says, "Do, or do not, there is no try only do!"

miss*scoobygav555*

hey Ric, keep at it, you'll feel great for giving it up!! If I see you smoking on Thursday you're in big trouble!!..

Carla..

D.K.1

I gave up when I was pregnant with my first child who is almost seven

I started again when I had my son, then stopped again when he was a few months old and haven't had one since... He is almost five now.

I have to admit, there ARE still times I really want one, mainly when I have had a few bevvies (which isn't that often) but I don't. THere have been times when I have been SO close to buying a pack or pinchine one off *Sonic* but I haven't and I am glad I haven't!

So even after almost five years I do still get cravings and they come and go. I never want to smoke again and I am glad I gave up

I decided enough was enough annd had half a pack left in the house at the time, in the end I gave them to my neighbour who smoked just to get them out of the house, rather than throw them away because I didn't want the temptation in the house.

If I am honest, it drives me nuts if I smell smoke now, I HATE it!!! Not because it makes me crave one, quite the opposite! It can make me feel queazy I hate it when someone lights up and it all goes in my face, I hate smokey places and I hate it if someone's smoking in the same room as me, I end up with a sore throat and a cough! I usually avoid these situations (if I can)

Odd really but there you are LOL

I didn't have patches or gum, just decided I didn't want them any more

EDIT to say Good luck to anyone trying to quit, you will get there if you really want to quit Just don't give into those cravings!!

cookstar

iTrader: (6)

I gave up New years eve at midnight































Smoking again by 7pm New years day (after my second pint)

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

Bloody Druggies!!

speedymonkey

Emmmmm, i like the sound of that, think i'll go buy a tomtom if im still not smoking by the end of the month
I agree with all the comments so far, it is a ****ty habit, it does stink (my missus wont go near me when ive had a ***, she cant stand it) and it costs a fortune too
Cant understand why some people say its really easy to give up, it bloody isnt for me

SiPie

Hmmmmmm the old 'distraction' technique......great in principle but seldom works with smoking. You can distract yourself all day, then you relax at night and the trouble starts !!

However, well done to you Rannoch, it doesn't matter how the **** you stop, just as long as you do

Tripple'O G

Quit in July like the rest of us.....no point standing outside the bar/pub/club then.....plus drink and snouts to go well hand in hand....

D.K.1

Buy a pack of pencils to chew instead

*Sonic*

Thats ok as long as they havent been in the pencil sharpener first

Neverguess

I don't want to be a leper anymore

RMA26

I used to smoke like a bitch (30+ a day, now 8-10), then cut down, quit a few times, started again etc.

I know I have the will power to stop, its staying stopped that’s always caused me problems, still – least in a few months smoking will be banned in pubs etc. so that’s gotta help me (my intention is to quit – permanently) , more so as I spend a lot of time in the pub

RMA26

Tripple'O G

I know what you mean...

I know I can stop but I'll stop when I want to stop?
if that makes sense?
No point in me saying I will stop when I know I won't.....I do put it on hold for months at a time when I compete anyway (plus your lungs repair themselves in about 7 years) so **** it......

I know plenty of oldies that are still here and they used to smoke pure ******* camel **** i'm sure....

Funkii Munkii

Hi

I'm in a similar boat, cut down from 15 a day to 3 or so a day about 3 years ago, gave up for two weeks at a time and kept slipping back into social smoking, I enjoy it but want to pack it in, it's a vicious circle

try reading "C" by John Diamond, it wont tell you how to give up but it might **** you up enough to stop, I could only manage cutting down, lightweight I know...

Link to the book - Amazon.co.uk: C: Because Cowards Get Cancer Too...: Books: John Diamond

SiPie

Yup....and I knew plenty that are no longer here......

Quit all the pathetic excuses:

Now's not the right time
Not before Christmas
Just about to go on holiday
I could stop anytime
I'm only a social smoker
I'm not a heavy smoker
I'm still young
My grandad lived till 90 years old and he smoked
I'm not addicted anyway
It doesn't cost me much as I only smoke roll ups
I smoke lights/low tar anyway
I enjoy it

and instead just quit, the sooner the better.

PS For those in England, the smoking ban will make things a lot easier when it comes into force. Sure helped me

mart360

I gave up in 2000 on NS day..

havent smoked since... first two weeks were the hardest...


It can be done, it depends how hard you want it...

If your doc said unless you stop, you,ll be dead in 6 weeks, you,d stop there and then.

What many on here fail to see is its not just the stopping you have to do its eliminate the needs and high risk areas...

so if you smoke when you've had a pint, STOP going to the pub... that way you wont smoke...... it takes willpower!!!! and if you don't know what your in control of after a pint, it aint just the smoking you should stop

the only person who looses when you start again is you, the only person who wins is the government who tax you for the privelidge.

Just fix a reason in your mind why you want to do it, and keep that in mind all the time

Mart

Trout

iTrader: (1)

And that's all about you!

What I describe is nothing to do with distraction per se, it is to do with how the sub-conscious mind works. Basically you get what you focus on. And the subconcious cannot differentiate between do and don't.

Tell a child not to spill their drink and they are far more likely to spill it. Tell them to carry it carefully and they are far less likely to spill it. They are getting what they focus on and in the first one they are focusing on the 'spilling'.

Same with smoking or dieting. The worst thing about a diet is literally focusing on 'not' eating makes you think of eating all the time. Same with 'not' smoking.

If you focus on something else the mind is not focusing on smoking and it has the added benefit that the mind 'likes' to move towards things not away from them.

I am pretty sure that Allan Carr uses similar elements in his work (from talking to people who have used it) and others like McKenna definitely use what I am describing above. All the coaches I know use elements of what I describe and like myself believe it has a VERY HIGH success rate with smokers when understood properly.

For me - I literally got up one day and had no idea why I had any cigarettes and never smoked again apart from one afternoon about a month later. That was three years ago. All other 'techniques' for stopping smoking all failed.

This time I started 'doing' other things which worked out pretty well.

Rannoch

mart360

You forgot

I only smoke when i drink.
When ive had a few pints, its hard to say no

mart

2000TLondon

Good luck to you mate, I'm giving up in May of this year, so am on a slowly slowly cut down type approach!

I gave up before after I had pneumonia, quite a motivator, and made it quite easy as I was unconscious most of the time!!! Can't remember why I started again three years later........

If you're struggling cold turkey, do try the patches or inhalers, and get yourself down to the doctor or ring the NHS quitline, as it is recognised as a very tough thing to stop.

Some may be lucky enough to stop and never think of it again, but the couple of times I did try and give up that were unsuccessful it was very difficult and my flat mate didn't like me much!! My wife has all of that to look forward to come early summer!

Keep up the good work fella, the first six weeks are the hardest!

Paul3446

I've never understood why anyone even starts smoking, unless they are 60 and started smoking when it was cool to do so and no-one knew the risks.

What did people think when they had their first cigarette and is anyone now glad that they started?

richie001

iTrader: (3)

i give up about 3 years ago using the cold turkey method and the first 2 weeks sucked but it got easier and the money i've saved at the end of the month i bought myself a treat.

v5 man

iTrader: (4)

I started smoking properly when aged 26 (im now 35) for all the wrong reasons.
It was discovered my dad had cancer, and I was distraught and stressed, so started smoking!!!! Yep, thats right, my dad gets cancer and I started smoking!!! Pathetic I know, but now im hooked and haven`t got the will to stop..........Im weak...........and pathetic

D.K.1

I never mentioned the cat....

Your turn to quit now