Day one of my stop smoking resolution....

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

So one of my resolutions this year has been to quite smoking. I really do enjoy it, but that damn cough has been killing me so i decided now is the best time to try and get off the crap.

The patch is on my left arm, and today hasn't been too bad (YET), but i feel the craving starting to come from the pit of my stomach.

any success stories? something to give me encouragement? thanks in advance DU....

[northzax]

1. drink lots of water

everytime you want a smoke, drink a glass of water. the first week is the worst, so avoid any place where you smoke all the time. find something to do anytime you get the urge, (water worked for me in the past)

don't be alone, if you can avoid it, boredom leads to smoking.

good luck.

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

4. Thanks for the advice northzax

water is sorta helping through the work day, but the real challange will be when i get home (where most of my smoking is done)

Everytime i get the urge there I plan to do situps and pushups (the other half of my resolution is to get fitter) so i figure they both should go hand and hand...

[ima_sinnic]

6. yes, good--and remember the cravings last only about 1-2 minutes

--when you get a craving, "postpone" giving in to it, it will go away.

take the attitude right from the beginning (like today) that you are simply not a smoker--not "quitting," you just don't do it. try it!

after a few days or a week (whenever you feel strong enough), go to a laundromat, bar, or other place where you can see people smoking. watch how dumb they look sucking smoke into their lungs, and how bad they smell--and feel proud of yourself that YOU don't do that!

I quit after 30 years of smoking by using the patch--best of luck to you!

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

15. thanks ima

if you could do it after 30, i think i could do it after 6....

[ima_sinnic]

19. it would've been a whole lot easier to quit after 6 . . .

I "quit" several times over the years but finally this one stuck (11 years ago). It had never seemed as difficult in earlier years. One thing that motivated me was that my father and brother had paid for the patches so failing would have been very humiliating (but they did ask me to pay them back later). The other factor was that I had just gone through "change of life" and so could expect osteoporosis and other illnesses--not to mention very ugly wrinkles and skin sags--to become much bigger risks.

[Dr.Phool]

20. That kills my plan

I usually smoke a lot around the computer, and when I'm on DU. Today is my first day, and I've had a couple, but I can beat it as soon as that last pack runs out.

edited to correct spelling through cloud of smoke.

[BurtWorm]

2. Keep a straw handy

to puff on whenever you get a craving until the craving subsides. It's very comforting.

PS: On February 14, I'll have gone a year smoke-free. I've even spent several days and a weeklong vacation with my identical twin brother who is still smoking nearly a pack a day. He has helped by removing himself from my sight when he goes out for a smoke. He even left his cigarettes home when we went out for something at the store the first time I saw him after I quit.

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

congrats on almost 1 year

good to know it can be done (c:

and i do now have a staw in hand, lol

[BurtWorm]

11. Thank you!

You know what else you have going for you? You live in a city where the price of a pack of cigarettes has gone through the nose. Might as well be a coke head. ;)

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

12. that will be another advantage of quiting, lol

the ability to afford coke now! j/k

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

8. delete

[qwertyMike]

3. Sorry, no

I turn 60 this year, just had the dreaded chest X-Ray and all was clear (phew).
I love smoking. I'm not quitting. Never tried. Never will.
The quack says I seem to be one of the lucky ones.

Friend who went cold turkey told me if he had to do it again he'd use the gum for those intense (short-lived) cravings.

Another friend told me the rule of Three's:
Three days, Three weeks, Three months. Seems if you get over those humps you're well on your way.

Good luck.

Benson & Hedges

[woofless]

5. Hang in there.

I haven't had one since the night after Christmas. Remember, you only have to not smoke right now. Just beat it for the moment by saying "I will not smoke right now." Soon the moments will become farther apart. It is always right now. Live in the moment and don't light up. Good luck, you can do it.

Woof

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

10. thanks woof, and you can too

you have some more time on me, and if saying i will not smoke right now works, it may have to become a new mantra of mine too

[Racenut20]

7. Today begins week 5.

My only real problem has been finding something non-fattening for the oral gratification bit. Life savers, etc. can realy put it on fast if you are older. And my new workout program to combat that is killing me.

But the smoking thing, that was after a thousand thought processes, just deciding the other day that that would be a good thing to do. Same way I stopped drinking 15 years ago. Did it and one day looked around and it had been a year so I continued.

The water idea is a better idea than my rabble. Besides it is healthy to drink the water.

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

16. 5 weeks is impressive

congrats....and any rabble is good rabble to me

[mongo]

9. Good luck!

I will be following your lead this Thurs, but I have the added benefit of having 6 teeth removed that day so I will not be able to smoke.

I'm going to do it cold turkey. Tried the gum, the patches, etc. I just think that I need to detox for me to be able to stick it out.

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

13. good luck with your oral surgery

The pain killers they'll give you may help the detox process a bit too. Just hunker down for a few days in a drug induced coma and wake up with no nicotine in your system anymore

[Miami Liberal]

14. Good luck to you!

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

17. thanks Miami Liberal! n/t

[kwassa]

18. I am now quit for twenty years ....

I was a heavy smoker for 14 years, smoking 2 1/2 packs of Marlboros every day ..... and to quote the old joke "Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it hundreds of times".

I didn't quit cold-turkey, but gradually phased out of it. I'll explain the method, if you are interested, but most people say that it wouldn't work for them. The advantage in my method is that I never had a craving after I completely quit; I was smoking one cigarette a day for several months before I finally stopped. I had an unopened box of Marlboros sitting in a drawer for a year before I finally tossed it out.

Best thing that I've ever done for myself.

[pretzel4gore]

21. i quit because they banned it

in my favorite coffee shop....the city outlawed smoking, so i quit. i stopped reading newspapers, books, drinking coffee, anything that relaxes. No tv (this was in clinton era) or music. Just reading things like the bible, tech books, things that were like work. I went for 2 weeks and suffered until basically i forgt that i was a smoker! I felt free of the addiction and began going out...Then i found out the city had relented because apparently there's been a big outcry by bar owners, coffee shops etc.....Smoking was legal again! I seriously considered suing the bastards...that was 8 years ago. Also, i found out princess Di had gotten run over by a drunk frenchman, something to do with MI5! :(