Posted on 09/07/2012 1:20:27 PM PDT by Randy Larsen
I’m at that point!
Did it in the mid 90’s for 12 years and now I’m ready to do it for good.
Less to carry and worry about!
I start to freak when I get below 1/2 a pack!
OK, here’s my pledge...
On 9 September 2012 at 12:00 am I will not smoke another cigarette for the rest of my life. I will post my results on this thread until 10 November 2012, at which point I will give occasional updates of my progress.
I hope others will join me but if not, it’s ok.
1-2-3...
That should work, this is my weekend off so I can smoke myself into disgust. I have been thinking about the losing weight thing and decided to go vegetarian till garden harvest is done. Only fresh veggies till we get the deer in the freezer as a start.
Awesome!
See my post at 103 above.
I LOVED being a non-smoker, it was wonderful! Not having to worry about where they were, not having to worry about the kids getting into them, not having to think about what I smell like to non-smokers etc etc etc.
I was joking with my Dr. one day and told her I wanted to be a non-smoker again I just didn’t want to quit smoking to do it.
“Our objective should be 2 months or 10 November 2012.”
==
Good date,USMC birthday.
.
A twofer!
2 months pretty much gets the smoker well on her/his way to being smoke-free.
Exercise may may be my major problem. I have two bulging Discs and and one ruptured disc to contend with.
Not operating a piece of equipt. daily may help eventually.
Randy, I have L4/L5 and S1/S2 disc herniation that cause sciatica, which as you probably know is very painful and can be very debilitating, but I go for a walk nearly every evening after dinner.
An Inversion Table has helped with my sciatica and with proper diet and moderate exercise, I can keep my weight down and within a normal “BMI” for my height/weight.
Keeping my weight down also puts less weight and less pressure on my spine and discs as well.
I also practice good “back hygiene” by being very careful when lifting, bending, twisting and by do stretching exercises as well. The above mentioned Inversion Table helps a lot as it takes a lot of pressure off of the spine and I will get on the Table 2-3 times a day for 5-10 minutes.
My sciatica occurrences have dropped significantly by doing the above.
A good weight loss tip is the old saying: “Eat breakfast like a King, lunch like a Prince and dinner like a Pauper”
Examine your diet and get rid of the bad stuff - sugar and carbs will put on the weight like crazy, so go with more protein and veggies.
Add more Salmon, Chicken, Turkey, Tuna Salad, Egg Salad, Red Meat, Bacon and Eggs etc... and most veggies to your diet and less sugar and simple carbs like bread and pasta.
I would avoid going “cold turkey” on the cigs as that method has the highest failure rate and will make you miserable and want to smoke to relieve the stress and to curb the sudden nicotine withdrawals.
It took a while to become addicted to nicotine, so it will take a while to undo the addiction to nicotine, just like any other addictive drug.
While ‘cold turkey’ may work for some people, I found it to be brutal and didn’t last more than 48 hours without a cigarette.
I would say in my experience the major factors to success are the ones I outlined in my earlier post.
Taper off of nicotine using the Nicotine patch and then use Nicotine gum to further taper and to deal with any cravings.
Avoid alcohol as that will derail your efforts.
Exercise, even if it’s just a short walk after dinner.
Change to a healthier diet that will keep you from putting on weight.
Avoid self-rationalization to have “just one” as that will lead you back to being a full time smoker.
Start putting the money you would spend on cigs in a big glass jar so you can see how much money you were spending on smokes and use the money to reward yourself with something nice. One poster mentioned being able to afford a nice car on what they spend on cigs per month.
I quit during the summer, and when winter came around and I put on my warm coat for the first time of the year, I couldn’t believe how terrible it smelled from smoking while wearing it the previous winter.
I don’t know how much you smoke or how much a pack costs in your state, but here in California, they are about $4.50 a pack and there is talk of adding yet another .50 cent tax per pack.
In NYC, cigs are nearly $10.00 per pack.
Taper off gradually, exercise in moderation, improve your dietary habits and you will feel 1000% better in both mind and body in a short time, especially once your lungs clear up and your breathing and oxygen intake improves.
I believe the post I wrote and the post that “sockhead” wrote in post #72 give you the best advice on quitting.
Again, good luck to you and all others wishing to quit this terrible addiction and if you follow the advice given by myself and by “sockhead” in this thread you will succeed.
Yes, it takes some work, but the payoff and the end result is well worth the effort.
I know you guys can do it.
I did it as I had my last cigarette in 1997 and I posted how I did it and truly believe that my success in quitting and staying smoke free can be duplicated by any current smoker.
Bottom line is that there isn’t any shortcut to successfully quitting and it’s a process that takes time and effort.
Set a date, set goals, buy the patches, put that big glass money jar out there, shop for healthier food next time you go to the store. Start getting the “tools” you will need together.
No excuses. No rationalizing for not doing it. Go out and do it.
It will be one of the best things you will ever do in your life and just might save it as well.
Is your life worth the effort? Of course it is, so do it!
found this...link at bottom
[YEA] 05/29/2011: Jc (siafulinux) from Savannah, Georgia, Usa: “Hi guys. About six and a half years ago I quit smoking in a very short period of time. Prior to this I had been trying off and on to do the same with the regular methods, but it never did work for me.
What happened was while working my overnight job I was looking to increase energy by eating apples and oranges during my very strict two fifteen minute breaks. I also had to try and smoke a cigarette of course. I ate the fruit first and then tried to smoke; disgusting! I couldn’t handle the taste and could only get through a very little bit of that cigarette.
The taste stuck with me and I found myself smoking less and less over the next couple of days and then, no more.
I don’t know if there was anything else going on there, but that’s all I remember doing at the time. So I don’t know if this would actually work for anyone else, but I thought it was worth mentioning. I am curious to see if anyone else gives this a try though.
Take care and good luck with the quitting!”
http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/quit_smoking.html
found this...link at bottom
[YEA] 05/29/2011: Jc (siafulinux) from Savannah, Georgia, Usa: “Hi guys. About six and a half years ago I quit smoking in a very short period of time. Prior to this I had been trying off and on to do the same with the regular methods, but it never did work for me.
What happened was while working my overnight job I was looking to increase energy by eating apples and oranges during my very strict two fifteen minute breaks. I also had to try and smoke a cigarette of course. I ate the fruit first and then tried to smoke; disgusting! I couldn’t handle the taste and could only get through a very little bit of that cigarette.
The taste stuck with me and I found myself smoking less and less over the next couple of days and then, no more.
I don’t know if there was anything else going on there, but that’s all I remember doing at the time. So I don’t know if this would actually work for anyone else, but I thought it was worth mentioning. I am curious to see if anyone else gives this a try though.
Take care and good luck with the quitting!”
http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/quit_smoking.html
I have to get the wife on board. We’ve been talking about it a lot lately. If she is ready, I am ready.
You forgot one. If you smoke after having sex with your Girlfriend, get another Girlfriend.
If you smoke after having sex with that Girlfriend, get another Girlfriend.
By the time you go through about 20 Girlfriends, you won’t have any money left to buy a pack of Cigarettes.
Problem solved.
If you change Wives for the same reason, I’m guessing it will only take two or three Divorces to Bankrupt you.
I think the first thing to recognize is that you are an addict, chemically addicted to nicotine and behaviorally addicted to the smoking routine. The second thing to understand is that the desire for a cigarette never, never goes away. Over time, the desire will fade but it never completely goes away. After about a month of no cigarettes nicotine will be flushed out of your body and your cravings will subside. That is when you must concentrate on the behavioral addiction; a cigarette with your first coffee, smoke break in the morning, etc. Its all the patterns you have built up in your daily life that include cigarettes. If you can change your daily habits that included cigarettes it will go a long way towards helping you completly quit. After I quit smoking I found I was drinking more coffee, sort of substituting one drug, cafine, for another, nicotine. Over the years I’ve been ablt to drink less coffee and having gone back to a smoke, tis been 35 years. Anyway, I know you can do it because I did it.
I know I can, and now it’s more important to me than ever.
Just want to wish you luck!
Two things I know about helping fight cravings of anything you are addicted to:
Low dose (not what bipolar patients tke but teeny doses) lithium, a natural salt of the earth. Can be purchased as in lithium orotate online at www.iherb.com, a very reliable, safe, and quick supplement / vitamin house.
Cutting DRASTICALLY down on your sugars. For instance, no beverages that are sweet, stick to water. Save your special treats (healthiest: fruit, organic full at ice creams) for after a nice meal. Add more animal fats to your diet while cutting the sugars. Butter, eggs, good meats, and organic coconut oil (cook with it and put it in your smoothies, aim toward 3-4 tbsp daily). Do your best to avoid sugar you don’t appreciate, like breads, cereals, starches. That way your daily sugar grams can be spent on special treats for after meals when you were used to having a smoke. Have ice cream or a half bar of good chocolate instead.
If you drastically reduce your sugars (best would be no foods with grains in them at all, but you can get there as gradually as you like) and ADD HEALTHY FATS, which will satisfy you more deeply in the long run than sugars, YOU WILL NOT GAIN WEIGHT. Your meals will be more deeply satisfying and you might even find you go longer between meals.
Someone I know quit alcohol without AA cold turkey this way, by believing in the healthy paleo lifestyle and starting it first, then quitting alcohol. It’s been two years. Your brain is addicted, and brains are always starving for healthy animal fats.
Good luck!
Thanks for the tips and well wishes.
Keep us posted on how you are doing.
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