Smoking

[j williams]

Doh, youre right!! :foot:

 

[Hawkings]

I smoked for around 15 years, give or take a little.

I was still living at home, I think I was around 18 at the time, my mom found out I was smoking

She started to give me hell about it, the second she found out
I stopped her by saying something along these lines:
Mom, you smoked till you were 31 ! Don't you think its a bit of a double standard for you to lecture me about smoking ?

All of a sudden she just stopped giving me hell and asked, in a calm and friendly voice:

Well are YOU going to stop when you are 31 ? (Should have knowed something was wrong right there )

Being 18, I said : Hell yeah, if it'll get you to stop yelling at me .
She said : Okay .........and that was it.

I walked away feeling like I came out ahead :thumbup:

Ever since then, on my birthday, my mom would quietly ask me : Do you remember what you promised me about you smoking ? (Like she would ever let me forget :foot.
The day before my 31th birthday, at 21:45 I smoked a cigarette and went to bed, when I woke up I threw the rest of the pack in the trash.
I just stopped smoking right there.
3 month later my wife got pregnant, maybe a coincident; maybe not ?

In 2 month or so I'm turning 35 and have not smoked in 4 years (Except for new years evening, I smoke ½ a cigar and get sick as a dog. I do this every year ).
I don't crave a cigarette any more, but a few times a week, I still feel like smoking a cigarette. But the feeling passes in a few seconds and I don't give it much thought.

Hang in there, it will be worth it !
And remember, stopping is the easy part, not starting again is what really gets most people.
If you do smoke a pack after a while, don't beat yourself up about it. and don't give up. Just don't smoke the next pack.

I think this is the most important thing I can say, So I will repeat it a few times.

If you do smoke a pack after a while, don't beat yourself up about it. and don't give up. Just don't smoke the next pack.

If you do smoke a pack after a while, don't beat yourself up about it. and don't give up. Just don't smoke the next pack.

 

[j williams]

I wish I had never started. I started when I was 18. Smoked for about a year and quit for 4 years when I was in the Army. Started up when I came home, smoked on and off ever since(5 years). When I was traveling and working, I never smoked. Now that I dont travel for work and work EMS I smoke all the time. Missouri sucks. Seems like everyone smokes, and you just cant get away from it. One good point is I do jog and ride mountain bikes quite regulary, and hike. Im active, but I wanna get back into racing mtn bikes, so the smokes have to go.

I dont know why I smoke. I dont like it, and watched both of my grandfathers die from lung cancer, and my father had to have tumors removed from his sinuses from smoking. pre disposed to it maybe, I dunno. My mom cried for a week when she found out I was smoking. I also run ambulance calls on the copd, chf, cancer patients all the time.

Its Time To Break The Chains!!!!!!!

Thanks for the great tips and motivation guys. You probably saved my life. I know my family thanks you too.

 

[desmobob]

Be positive about quitting; tell yourself you are giving yourself something by quitting, not denying yourself your cigarettes. In other words, don't say "I'm not going to let myself have a cigarette." Rather, say "I'm going to give myself better health. I'm going to give myself more spending money. I'm going to be able to hike Devil's Lake Bluffs. That kind of thing....

Good luck, and I hope you do it. You know you want to... just get tough about it!

Stay sharp,
desmobob

 

[KuRUpTD]

After reading all these stories I've decided to try and quit too.

*starting tomorrow

Keep in mind the first couple of days are the TOUGHEST!

 

[smcclown05]

Guys I'm so glad I found this thread! I am all in! I am 27 years old. I have been smoking now for 11 or 12 years. I've been putting off quitting for a long time and I think about it every day but every day something drives me to the 711 to get my fix. It's awful.

I too will quit beginning tomorrow morning. My 1 1/2 hour commute to work and then back again is the hardest time for me not to smoke. But tomorrow I will do it. And the next day and the next.

This is a great thread and I hope that having some folks going through the same thing as me will be a real motivator.

 

[Rupestris]

Guys I'm so glad I found this thread! I am all in! I am 27 years old. I have been smoking now for 11 or 12 years. I've been putting off quitting for a long time and I think about it every day but every day something drives me to the 711 to get my fix. It's awful.

I too will quit beginning tomorrow morning. My 1 1/2 hour commute to work and then back again is the hardest time for me not to smoke. But tomorrow I will do it. And the next day and the next.

Jump on is smc! The water's fine.

Sirius/XM helps on those long commutes. I have a free 6 month trial subscription. I've only had it a week and I already know where some of the cigarette money will be going in 6 months.

~~~~~

If Anyone quitting needs some help or just to vent, drop me a PM. I've gone through it. I know its rough but its better than the alternatives.

BTW, I smoked about 3/4 pack a day. A pack + on weekends when drinking. After 8 days I feel better already. No more hacking/caughing/phlem/gaging in the morning 'til I get coffee and a smoke in me.

Here's to a smoke free future for all trying to quit :thumbup:

Chris

 

[stabman]

For those of you who have kicked that habit once and for all, how did you do it?
How has your lung capacity increased after you stopped?

I ran out of money for a month.
It was hard buying FOOD, so cigarettes weren't an option.
Had some Nicorette sitting around from a failed quiting attempt, and that helped a bunch.:thumbup:
My lung capacity is a bit better now, but I'd only smoked for 11 years, so I wasn't experiencing too many bad effects yet.

 

[m48shooter3]

i was a two pack a day marb red man... if u asked me 6 years ago what was for breakfast i would tell u a cig and a cup of joe.... i tried to quit three times... the first two were for my first wife.. i did but it was short lived thing... the thrid time i quit becuase i wanted to. i used the step down patches at first then moved on from there... i can tell u this... if u want to quit u can, if u want to quit because u should.. then it dosn't matter what help u have it will not work.... it is your mind u can do it....

as for cardio bounce back about eight months after quiting i put in a 5k (3.3 miles) in about 24.5 mins.. not lightspeed by far, but your cardio will return

it is all about wanting to quit.... i now enjoy smoking cigars, which i do not inhale.. but do enjoy the smoke... there is my half nickel... i hope it helps..

 

[WesinND]

I smoked for about 27 years, and I tried to quit many times. Being active duty military I had to pass a PT test every year, and although I ran at least a few times a week, it got tougher and tougher.

I caught a chest cold in about August of 2005, and it got worse until September. I ran the PT test on September 29th, 2005 and passed, but it hurt so bad I quit smoking that very day.

The next two years I decreased my time in the run significantly. You will get your lung capacity back with time and effort.

Some of the other posters are correct, sometimes I smell a cigarette and want to smoke. But remember the money you'll save, the smell, (you'll notice this after you quit), the smoke in your clothes, in your vehicle and house, and the health risks to you and your family. That's motivation to stay smoke free. Good luck!

Wes

 

[smcclown05]

Jump on is smc! The water's fine.

Sirius/XM helps on those long commutes. I have a free 6 month trial subscription. I've only had it a week and I already know where some of the cigarette money will be going in 6 months.

I've got XM! Got 3 months free when I bought my Colorado a year and half ago. Now I can't live without it.

I know the market sucks right now but if anyone wants to buy stock in Wrigley's nows your chance. I'm sure I'll be purchasing the equivalent of a crate of Juicy Fruit in the next couple of weeks.

 

[northern1]

one word to quit smoking.CHANTIX.

its a miracle drug that for some reason that actually has made me suspicious no one ever hears about.its not some info-mercial scam or some herbal remedy.its prescribed by your doctor and is made by one of the major pharmaceutical company's.

i smoked for 10 years.the lady i worked with smoked for 30.we where both done within a week and havnt smoked since.that was almost 3 years ago.

you will try to smoke while on it but you'll take 3 drags and chuck it.there are zero cravings and the thought of a smoke grosses you out.it works by blocking the receptors in your brain the crave the nicotine.

my doctor listened to my lungs and said "some people can smoke until there 70.your not one of them and your lungs sound like a 70 year old mans".........i was 26 at the time.

he said he had a new drug that so far had a great success rate and no real side effects and i tried it.the rest is history.

google search it yourself and talk to your doctor.

before that i had quit so many different times,sometime for up to year at a time.i had tried cold turkey,the patch,the gum and welbutrin all at least twice.

this CHANTIX is in a league all its own.it is a miracle drug but for some strange reason you dont hear much about it but you sure hear plenty about the boner pills and sleeping pills and anti depressant pills all over the TV every commercial break.

 

[Darbyfett]

I am 22 and luckily have only been smoking for 4 years. I have tried to quit about 6-7 times now. The last time was the day I found at that my aunt who I was very close to(I owed her my life twice: For introducing my parents, and saving me when I tried to breathe water) died of lung cancer, that lasted about a day. Now I live in a apartment 2 houses down from the house my uncle lives in. So when ever I go outside for a smoke, I see the house my aunt died in and its a great reminder to quit, but its so damn hard. I want to, but my fiancee smokes too and she says she still enjoys it. So i go about a day or two then the smell becomes to much and I fail. Luckily she has been grumbling about wanting to quit, so maybe I can get her to try with me.

Walking is not a chore at all for me. But the 5 mile bike ride to work is, then climbing the 3 flights of stairs to get to my job.

I could save $150 dollars a month(currently at a pack a day). That is $1800 dollars a year, and considering I make 7.75 an hour...that is a lot of cash!

 

[Fox Creek]

good thread guys. I smoked for 25 years, started around 12 years old, bumming cigs from tenant farmers, smoking cigars, loving chewing on a King Edward (Cheap cigar with a natural wrapper over the crap tobacco paper) Quit for a while and then in college started up again; smoked a pipe for ever (my dad did), loved it, craved it., inhaled it. Finally when i got married, she smoked and I found it distasteful. We made a deal that I would quit if she did. (I went first.)I had a hard time, was reduced to buying the cheap generic non-filters; eventually the pain associated with breathing helped make the break. I have come to believe that the emotional component is key. YOU HAVE TO DIE \AND AND GRIEVE. Have a funeral, cry and moan; there is a very real emotional process. You have to get over smokiNg like you got over your Grandma dieing.

 

[kdstrick]

Damn you quitters!!! We need you to keep smoking (and paying excise taxes) in order to bail out more companies like AIG. Those poor executives need their BONUS!

My grandmother died of Emphysema. It was enough to keep me away from smoking all my life. Now granted, I do enjoy a cigar or 5 every year.... but cigarettes have never been an option for me. I've seen the damage they do. It is more than I am willing to bare.

Good luck to all of you who wish to kick the habit. I used to dip Copenhagen. I started in 7th grade and quit in the 12th. My motivation was simple, my girlfriend wouldn't kiss me if I'd been dippin'. Gave it up cold-turkey. No regrets. :thumbup:

Still, I find this thread very relevant to the Wilderness & Survival skills community. What could possibly be more important than physical fitness in a either situation???

 

[Bumppo]

Never smoked, my parents and my stepmother did. My parents are in their seventies, my step mom died after three
battles with lung cancer. she was a three pack a day smoker and proud of it, as was my dad. He quit cold turkey after his quadruple bypass surgery, and we never head him say his signature phrase " It takes a brave man to face death every day!" when someone would comment he should stop smoking. My Mom just liked to smoke, and even her grand children, Grand nieces and nephews avoiding her kisses and hugs because of her oily skin and odor didn't deter her puffing away. Nobody knows why she finally quit cold turkey at 72, and she felt really good until about a year later when she was diagnosed with some kind of lung hardening disease cause by the years of gunk in her system. She can't walk too far anymore, but the plastic oxygen hose constantly strapped under her nose is long enough to reach anywhere in the house. She even has a fetching purse with a little oxygen bottle so she can go outside without being too self conscious.

 

[LMT66]

I'm going to read this every night. I need the mindset to quit before I do this otherwise, it won't work.
One thing about me is I never smoke inside, by non-smokers even if outside, and i chew gum all day. The habit has always disgusted me and I have never owned an ashtray. I won't even put one in the garage. I have a smokers outpost all the butts go in. I field strip my ciggies when hiking and they go in a ziplock.
I need to think of my game plan. Maybe change the brand of gum I chew because I associate this current flavor with smoking. I don't drink so no worries about the urge there. I drive for a living which is the hardest part to me. I light up one after another at work.

I hate hiking just a short 5 miles and feeling wiped out afterwards. All along the way, lighting up to feed the monster.
The last time I climbed the Devils Lake bluff in Baraboo was in 2007. When I got to the top, 300+ feet straight up, i felt like I was having a grabber. Ironically, there was an emergency phone at the top. I basically laid next to the phone for about 20 minutes with rubber legs and heaving lungs. Then i lit up a smoke . DOH!
In my 20's, we would scoot up that bluff in no time.

This thread has been a great topic and maybe it should get stickied ?? Good moral support for many of us. Any Mods think this could be done?

 

[KuRUpTD]

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

 

[shangchi108]

If you could have bought knives with all the money you've spent on smoking, how many knives would you have by now?