>>Have a cigar/smoke now and then to top it off.<<
That part is the problem.
Trust me, for a regular smoker, a single PUFF, much less an entire cigarette, is the path back to smoking.
If I sound like an AA person, it is because I am THAT afraid of going back to smoking. It took 30 years to get hooked and I have been off them over 10. I can’t take the chance — nor can most “ex-”smokers (we are all smokers — we just won’t do it now)
Not required... I know how cigarette smoking can be from others I’ve seen who need one to get out of bed !
Smoking is an optional part of that whole rant - to each their own.
At some point, I started inhaling a little here and there. Fast forward a few more years and I had a cigar habit just as bad as cigs. I would smoke a 3rd of a cigar, put it out smoke some more later, etc. I was basically dosing myself with tobacco just like a cig smoker.
I tried cutting down to 3 or 4 a day, couldn't do it. So I finally decided I had to give em up. They were giving my bronchitis. They were giving me problems with my gums. Anxiety about cancer. I believe they were aging me too--skin and hair, etc. I quit 7 months ago.
I'm like you--a junkie. Don't ever forget you've got a monkey on your back. And don't compare yourself to people you see who somehow manage to have an occasional smoke. We're not like them. It's all or none. If we could regulate it, we wouldn't have quit. But we can't, so we did, and you don't want the hassle of having to quit again. My two cents.