You made it through a day!!
One day at a time!!
Exercise like a crazy bastard. Get your adrenaline pumping and dopamine levels up after workouts by having a few mixed drinks. You'll be too exhausted to smoke, and you'll train yourself to be able to drink and not crave a cig. Social drinking is where I always relapse.
Nearly the same age, smoking as long, quit in Nov., have had two packs since then(when out drinking). Can run a mile in under 8 minutes for first time since I started smoking.
Cardio exercise is the answer. Bike, jog, swim, martial arts, boxing, exercise with the wife, get to the point you're hacking up lung as soon as possible.
Also, a heavy bag helped with the need to punch stuff instincts.
You made it through a day!!
One day at a time!!
I quit over 3 years ago, when my children disappeared! I promised God that if he would bring my children home, I would quit!
2 hours before I picked them up...I smoked my last cigarette (I still had 8 packs out of a carton that I gave away). I quit cold-turkey. I was really motivated...but I found this easier than the other times I had tried using gums and patches.
I will keep you and your wife in my prayers! Good luck and keep us updated.
Good for you!
Good luck!
Stay out of the bars and lay off the booze for a week, after the third round after softball was when I always gave in.
Hope you make it
Hey good luck. I've never smoked, though I've spent years and years making a living in bars breathing everyone else's smoke.
Take care of your marriage, though. I'm more concerned about your not speaking to your wife. Don't let the detox wreck your home. Maybe when you get the urge to smoke, kiss your wife till you get a different urge. Heh! Seriously, don't fight when you're both chemically challenged. Talk it out.
Hope it goes okay!
It's okay to use a crutch, if you think you must; but it's possible to quit cold turkey. IMO, you just have to be really ready to quit. I mean: I did so--after more than 50 years. I learned (among other things) that kicking the smoking "addiction" is 99% mental and 1% physical; and that the "urge" for that next cigarette passes within 3 minutes. Go to the following URL for some real help:
http://www.quitsmokingonline.comHang in there!
good luck. no booze+walking off the cravings worked for me. walk no matter what the weather. this helped keep the weight down, too.
ping
In all seriousness, I would suggest exercise in conjunction with quitting. It really does help.
In order for you to give up something you love, you must hate it. Hate it with burning passion. The very thought of smoking must make you bitterly ill. Otherwise, you will return to the habit.
I find the most ardent anti-smokers are former smoking addicts. I never smoked but grew up in a smoking family. I am more tolerant than the anti-smoking SS.
Oh yeah - watch that peanut butter cup ice cream...or you'll end up having to quit that too. Take it from someone who knows. :)
I decided to quit while I was planning my wedding. I was sooo stressed out and fixated on the wedding, that I didn't have time to think about the fact that I had stopped smoking.
After the wedding, I would tell my husband everytime I wanted to light up. Just saying I wanted a cigarette seemed to get me past the craving. Almost 3 months smoke free!
Good luck and God bless.
I have read this, but never had a need to try it:
Calculate how many cigarettes you smoke in an average day. Each day, smoke one fewer cigarette than the last time.
You're quitting, but more slowly.
Best of luck to you.
I started smoking when I was 15, quit when I was 29. It was tough. I bought a bag of cherry Lifesavers pops and sat on the sofa, curled in fetal position, putting the pop in my mouth and yanking it out in stiff, jerky motions, with my left arm curled tightly around my knees. A week into quitting, the cravings were still so bad that I went and bought a pack, but I bought menthol since I never liked them. I smoked two or three, threw away the rest, spent more time on the sofa with the pops, and, eventually, the cravings eased. I did gain weight--I was already overweight at the time--and get a few cavities, but my teeth have been fixed, and I'm back to my high school weight (not thin, not fat).
The hardest part of the addiction to overcome is the nicotene one--I think the gum and patches help you get used to not performing the physical actions of smoking, but they still feed the nicotene addiction.
Some aspects of smoking still stay with me, though. I admit, when I walk past smokers, I breathe more deeply than usual--I love that smell. I don't mind if people smoke around me, I'm way beyond ever being tempted to light up again. Sometimes, though, I dream that I am smoking again, and then, in the dream, I get upset at myself for cheating, since I already told everyone I quit...
You have to be determined, and stick it out. There is a life on the other side, where you aren't burning your money in cigarettes and you don't think about it or crave it anymore. You'll get there. You can do it.