giving up smoking and my mind is playing tricks on me

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guitarted

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Has anyone here given up smoking?

I am on day 2 at the moment and some of the mental tricks my nicotine addiction is playing on my mind are these arguments:

1- My brain says that I will be a boring person.
2- Its your one of the few pleasures in life. Why give up?
3- You will go back to it? why not have one now?
4- You will gain pounds and stones. You will be a fatty.
5- great, just what we need, another health freak, playing it safe.



What mental attitude should i take to combat these thoughts? What are the benefits of giving up smoking?
 
if the health isn't important....what else could you buy with the money?
 
One gun nut friend gave up smoking but put aside the same amount of money .He found he could buy another gun each year ! The health benefits are numerous - talk to people who have lung cancer and emphysema !
 
Tell yourself that you are a real big wussy if you give in to the urge.
 
It's tough as hell for the first week or so because you have to deal with the actual physical addiction along with the psychological cravings.

(segue to short, hopefully inspirational, story)

I had a neighbor I grew up around that was a very heavy smoker but, man-o-man, this guy had the nicest little spread in the area. He poured a ton of time and money into it and it was a real show-piece. Had a bar in his basement that was nicer than a lot of high end clubs I've been in. I did a bunch of work for him over the years and we got to be pretty good friends - did I mention the incredible bar? Toasted a few to his health over the years, that's for sure.

Anyway he was always telling me how many months, years, days, hours and minutes he had until retirement (headed a state agency) and how he couldn't wait to retire so he could just sit back and enjoy all the things he'd built and accumulated over the years. I was jealous as hell 'cause it looked to me like he had every toy known to man. Always the best of everything. Was a big hunter and we both loved to talk guns and knives. Of course, his collection of steel was something to behold and everything was beautifully displayed in the bar/pool room.

Somewhat predictably, he retired, was diagnosed with lung cancer within a year and was dead within two. Last time I saw him he said he really regretted taking care of everything in anticipation of retirement except his health.

So, here's to a long life! Good luck, my friend. It's a freakin ball-buster of an experience but worth it in the end. :thumbup: :)
 
I quit January 10th. To give myself some motivation, I put $4.00 in a money pouch every day. That is what I would pay every morning at the gas station for a pack of Marlboro Lights. I now have $120.00 for a new knife or anything else I want. Two or three months of this, I can get a pretty nice knife. The health benefits are pretty nice too. I won't harp on those though, because I know there is nothing worse than a reformed smoker. I quit cold turkey. I think it is all in your mind. If you are not ready to quit, no patch or gum or anything else will work.
 
I smoked my last cig on June 1st ,2006 after trying to quit since Sept 05. I used the patch, started with the 21mg for 6 wks, then the 14mg for 2 wks, then the 7mg for 2 weeks and then started smoking again. Finally in June 06, I used the 21 mg for 6wks, went to the 14mg for 2 wks, then I bought the 21mg patches and cut them in half as 10.5mg for 2 wks, cut the 21mg in 4ths as 5mg for 2 wks, then ended up with a sliver of 2.5mg for 2wks and finally quit. The first month gets rid of the physical addiction but the rest of it is purely mental. I had been smoking for 30 years and can breathe better and have started walking and lifting weights and feel better that I have in a long time. By the way, I also started collecting Puma, Case, German eye, Hen and Rooster, Camillus since I quit. I now have about 2 grand, give or take in my collection. I feel good about it. Good Luck
 
Yeah, I quit. I walked into the base exchange to buy cigarettes and found they had gone up to 50 cents per pack. I decided right there that that was too much money to spend on smokes, so I quit and never looked back. ;)
 
I used to dip cope until I started to get pre-cancerous lesions on my inner lip. That scared the crap out of me so I quit cold turkey.........for two days. Then I tried the nic patches ($$$) which were completely worthless. Finally I found out about Swedish snus which is non-carcinogenic, better tasting and one third the cost of domestic dip. Ten years later the gums are perfectly healthy.
 
1- My brain says that I will be a boring person.
2- Its your one of the few pleasures in life. Why give up?
3- You will go back to it? why not have one now?
4- You will gain pounds and stones. You will be a fatty.
5- great, just what we need, another health freak, playing it safe

1. Not true. I work with smokers, they go outside every 30 mins or so and smoke up...stand around...smoke...smoke some more. BORING! It's a routine you easily get used to, but for someone who doesn't smoke, I find better things to do with my time and still have fun. Like make more money, bwahahaha.

2. Because it can kill you. That has always been a good enough reason for me. I then think about my GF, possible wife and kids, my family, etc. Do I really want to die on them early in life? No. It's not completely preventable, but I am going to do everything I can to make sure I have a long happy life with the people I love.

3. If you can fight off NOW, you can fight off LATER. And having one cigarette doesn't mean you FAIL and you should start smoking again. If you give in, smack yourself and keep trying to quit. More often than not quitting "slowly" works, other people can cold turkey, it just depends on you.

4. Completely not true. If you're like alot of smokers I know, you could stand to GAIN a few pounds. Start a healthy food choice, work out to your current abilities...you will feel great with the added fact of not smoking. Definetly talk to your doctor, he/she can provide you with great health advice now that you want to stop smoking. If you don't want to chew nic gum or use a patch, make it known they will understand.

5. "health freak"...or just a normal person? i choose not to smoke, but i wouldn't consider myself a "health freak". If living a full and free life makes me a "freak"...well I'll just enjoy gettin' my freak on. Maybe I'll get hit by a car tomorrow and die...but at least I wasn't intentionally playing in traffic. If that makes sense.

That is all I have right now. Good luck, I hope you find what is right for you!
 
I've never smoked, but I do have a problem with food. My father told me this worked for him, and when I really push myself to not have snacks or sweets, this works for me too. Basically, its all about willpower. He just quit smoking cold turkey one day, and told himself he would have a smoke the next day. He just kept on telling himself that for years. He would fall off the wagon occassionally, but he kept at it, and I don't think he's smoked for the past 15 years, that one time 15 years ago was to take a few puffs of a cigar, after that, he hasn't touched anything. No gum, no patches, nothing but willpower. Of course, I am a big tubbo, but I have cut out fast food and greasy take out food by telling myself I would get some the next day. After several months of this, my usual weekend bingeing has severely lessened. Its worth a shot.
 
guitarted said:
What mental attitude should i take to combat these thoughts? What are the benefits of giving up smoking?
Click to expand...

First of all you're not giving up anything, you're gaining; more money, better health, cleaner smell, no more being a slave to slowly poisoning yourself...etc...etc.

It's the things we say to ourselves that control our feelings.

I quit smoking on Dec 13th 2003, that's because I read the book "The Easy Way To Stop Smoking" by Alan Carr on Dec. 12th 2003. That's right I quit forever the day after reading that book. It was the smartest and easiest thing I've ever done. The book will put you in the right mental attitude. If you're really ready to quit this book will work for you. If you're not ready to quit and if you think you're giving up something nothing will work, at least not for long.

PS. I learned about the book right here on BFC.

http://www.allencarrseasyway.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Stop-Smoking-Allen-Carr/dp/0572028512
 
Giving up smoking is the one single most important thing you can do for your own health. Imagine - you can make a major impact on personal health without even exercising or paying health club membership fees!

It's amazing - major health gains with no work or cost; in fact you will be SAVING money. I quit smoking around 6 and a half years ago and figure I have saved around $8500 on cigarettes and who knows how much on health care had I continued to slowly kill myself.

Giving it up is not an easy thing to do so you will also gain in personal pride and confidence in knowing without any doubt that you can take charge of your own life. The first couple of weeks are the toughest and after that it gets easier each week. You will notice the improvement when you don't wake up feeling like crap in the morning because of all the nails you smoked the night before. You'll notice the improvement in your wind too. You won't believe how much better food will start tasting too.

There is no down side to quitting. Dude, just quit and you will never, ever, regret having done so.
 
guitarted said:
Has anyone here given up smoking?

I am on day 2 at the moment and some of the mental tricks my nicotine addiction is playing on my mind are these arguments:

1- My brain says that I will be a boring person.
2- Its your one of the few pleasures in life. Why give up?
3- You will go back to it? why not have one now?
4- You will gain pounds and stones. You will be a fatty.
5- great, just what we need, another health freak, playing it safe.



What mental attitude should i take to combat these thoughts? What are the benefits of giving up smoking?
Click to expand...

Best thing you can do is to get mad. Listen to some Stright Edge music like Hatebreed or Throwdown and pump wieghts.

Worked for me for a couple of years until the siren sang its song again.......
 
It's one of the hardest things you will ever do!
But....

You will not believe:
How much better you feel.
How much more productive you can be.
How much money you save.
And the biggest thing I noticed:

Food tastes so much better!!!!!!
 
This is a true story about a guy whom just retired from my job a year or so. I swear to God it's true. He quit smoking back in the late 70's or early 80's, but kept on putting the money away like he was spending it on smokes. A pack of smokes a day for 25-30 years added up to a nice retirement present for himself. He bought himself a Jaguar with cash. Blows my mind when I see him driving by with that car. Not to say you need to save for 30 years, but that money can be well spent on a lot of other goodies if you had the discipline to save it.
Find a reason that works for you and keep at it. Good luck!:thumbup:
 
Hang in there!! Quitting smoking isn't easy. I have been quit for 5 1/2 years. It is worth it!!
 
thanks much folks for the support and great mental tips.

Today is day three. Will take it one day at a time and see how it goes.

Hopefully, I will post in this thread one year from now being one year smoke free.

I try to go for a run or eat some sunflower seeds when i have the cravings. I got a bunch of nicotine gum as well.

As I said, When it gets really hard, my mind starts playing tricks on me but I will try to beat that one day at a time.

Cheers
 
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