Well, I survived my first day of not smoking...

[Falkner]

So, yesterday morning I started my first attempt to stop smoking and smoked what I’d like to be my last cigarette. I decided that the last cig of that pack would be my last. I mustered my strength, went to the store after work and bought a box of Nicoderm and a bunch of regular gum, and prepared for my first day smokeless.

Oh. My. God. Nothing anyone ever told me could have prepared me for what it would be like to stop. It’s truely indescribable. I probably should have waited until my time off work over the holidays to get over the initial shock. Today was the longest, most stressful, most tiring, most agitating, depressing, and horrible day I’ve ever had in my life. All day I couldn’t focus. I got angry at anyone and anything, then immediately felt like curling up in a ball and crying. The only nagging thought in my head all day was how wonderful a cigarette would be and how I knew I couldn’t have one. I think I understand what it’s like to be insane now.

I’ve been smoking for as long as I’ve had a job, so the concept of doing something other than smoking on break/lunch is new to me. I have an hour each day to do absolutely nothing. I ended up just pacing around the breakroom today with that one desire in my mind the whole time. Chewing gum throughout the day didn’t do a thing to help me. I know maybe three people I work with who don’t smoke, and watching them go outside to light up drove me insane.

Now, sitting at home, all I can think of is how close the nearest 7-11 is. I could walk there in 5 minutes and be all done with this horrible feeling. I could be right back to being OK. I’m too agitated to do much, even music is out of the question to sooth my nerves. I can’t wait for this to be over. I don’t know how I’m going to last at this rate.

Well, one day down.

Wish me luck guys.

[shackled]

It is hard! But it's also possible.

Hang in there. It's been 5 months for me and I still chew on toothpicks all freakin' day long. Good luck!

[electracoyote]

Originally Posted by Falkner

So, yesterday morning I started my first attempt to stop smoking and smoked what I’d like to be my last cigarette. I decided that the last cig of that pack would be my last. I mustered my strength, went to the store after work and bought a box of Nicoderm and a bunch of regular gum, and prepared for my first day smokeless.

Oh. My. God. Nothing anyone ever told me could have prepared me for what it would be like to stop. It’s truely indescribable. I probably should have waited until my time off work over the holidays to get over the initial shock. Today was the longest, most stressful, most tiring, most agitating, depressing, and horrible day I’ve ever had in my life. All day I couldn’t focus. I got angry at anyone and anything, then immediately felt like curling up in a ball and crying. The only nagging thought in my head all day was how wonderful a cigarette would be and how I knew I couldn’t have one. I think I understand what it’s like to be insane now.

I’ve been smoking for as long as I’ve had a job, so the concept of doing something other than smoking on break/lunch is new to me. I have an hour each day to do absolutely nothing. I ended up just pacing around the breakroom today with that one desire in my mind the whole time. Chewing gum throughout the day didn’t do a thing to help me. I know maybe three people I work with who don’t smoke, and watching them go outside to light up drove me insane.

Now, sitting at home, all I can think of is how close the nearest 7-11 is. I could walk there in 5 minutes and be all done with this horrible feeling. I could be right back to being OK. I’m too agitated to do much, even music is out of the question to sooth my nerves. I can’t wait for this to be over. I don’t know how I’m going to last at this rate.

Well, one day down.

Wish me luck guys.

Good on ya, mate!

Now, don't give up. Be creative. There is a ton of support and strategies out there for guys like you. Be strong, be smart, you CAN do this, millions before you have done it!

[Fassa Albrecht]

Good on you for quitting smoking. A few days and you'll feel great.

[McHaven]

I just passed the one year mark of not smoking. The first few days are insanely tough and you'll feel like smoking again every minute of the day. Try and break some smoking habits. My hardest part of was that smoking was associated with certain activities. If I was driving home, or going to class, I'd want a smoke. I'd have to find something else to do in that time frame. Sometimes just taking a different route would help.

Best of luck!

[warwick.hoy]

If you're bored and pacing on your hour lunch at work,...maybe you should try,...I don't know,...eating lunch?

I quit smoking on April 15th. It was easy for me. I just decided that I hated cigarettes and found something to occupy my time/mind when I had a craving (Wii Fit actually). Try doing pushups, stretching or going for a walk. Make it through a few more days and then you start to realize that all your work and "suffering" goes down the drain if you backslide.

I still get cravings albeit few and far between. They only last about as long is it takes to physically smoke a cigarette. It get's easier to fight through them. Pretty soon you'll get a craving and you'll just be like,....meh :/

Stick with it; it's a wise move both in terms of health and for economic reasons (seriously,...seven dollars a pack,...that's highway robbery).

[your idol]

i start next year. getting nervous already but its for the best. good luck to you too. stay strong. if you can get on chantrix (sp?) thats what im doing. ive already cut down to a carton per pay period (less than a pack a day) to soften the blow and am increasing how long i go in between smokes trying to make it less and less. chantrix supposedly does real well as several of my friends have used it to quit successfully. it kills the craving and takes the edge almost completely off you...downside is realistic zombie apocalypse nightmares.

as for inspiration. pack a day habit= $2200 a year. imagine the tones you can get under your fingertips for that kind of dough EVERY YEAR!

[Falkner]

Thanks for the support guys

Originally Posted by McHaven

My hardest part of was that smoking was associated with certain activities. If I was driving home, or going to class, I'd want a smoke.

Same here. I always smoked while driving, and now the ride seems much longer. I still have some cigarettes in my ashtray and I was eyeing them today, wondering how much they still had in them. Gross.

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

If you're bored and pacing on your hour lunch at work,...maybe you should try,...I don't know,...eating lunch?

I'm never hungry at work and I don't feel like forcing food down if I don't have to. I could stand to loose a bit of weight as it is. I just need to find some productive things to do during downtime.

I can't believe how much money I've spent this year alone on smokes. That's a main reason I decided to quit - when I looked at how much money I made in total this year and wondered where a huge chunk of it went off to.

[Fassa Albrecht]

A good thing to do would be to set yourself a 'treat' you'll get yourself after saving all the money you'd normally spend on smokes. A trip somewhere, bass gear, something. It'll be an incentive as much as anything.

[warwick.hoy]

Originally Posted by Falkner

I'm never hungry at work and I don't feel like forcing food down if I don't have to. I could stand to loose a bit of weight as it is. I just need to find some productive things to do during downtime..

Fair enough,...although quitting smoking and loosing weight don't often go hand in hand,...perhaps use some of the money you will be saving for a membership to the YMCA.

My biggest issue with smoking came up when I found out about the OTP (other tobacco product) tax hike. I was rolling my own to save money and getting a really good shag tobacco and getting 3 packs of smokes for the price of one pack of American Spirits. Then the OTP tax hike hit raising the price of this tobacco from 6 bucks per 2oz to over 15 bucks per 2oz. I had heard rumors that Phillip Morris lobbied it heavily because OTPs was cutting into their profit margins. It was then that I realized that these mainstream tobacco companies would eat their young if forced to.

My main reason for starting smoking in the first place was to be rebellious. When you realize that all your doing is feeding into an evil empire,...the rebellion argument becomes moot.

[Falkner]

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

My main reason for starting smoking in the first place was to be rebellious. When you realize that all your doing is feeding into an evil empire,...the rebellion argument becomes moot.

I can't even remember why I started smoking. I was never the rebellious sort, I never tried to "be cool" or anything. I wasn't even hanging around with many people who smoked at the time. It just sort of happened

At some point I started smoking filterless cigarettes and, for the past year or so, settled on unfiltered American Spirits. I don't even want to imagine what my insides look like.

[your idol]

Originally Posted by Falkner

I can't even remember why I started smoking. I was never the rebellious sort, I never tried to "be cool" or anything. I wasn't even hanging around with many people who smoked at the time. It just sort of happened

At some point I started smoking filterless cigarettes and, for the past year or so, settled on unfiltered American Spirits. I don't even want to imagine what my insides look like.

im with you on this..i never did it to be cool. everyone just smoked..my folks my brothers their friends aunts uncles. started snagging packs of camel filterless from the bar down the street as a kid and never smoked around anyone ..never tried to show off. i just smoked.

i absolutely HATE the fact that i smoke. when people come around me and stink like smoke i hate it and yet i still keep smoking. just think about how much you hate smoking and hate paying for it and keep your head up brother

[McHaven]

Originally Posted by your idol

im with you on this..i never did it to be cool. everyone just smoked..my folks my brothers their friends aunts uncles. started snagging packs of camel filterless from the bar down the street as a kid and never smoked around anyone ..never tried to show off. i just smoked.

i absolutely HATE the fact that i smoke. when people come around me and stink like smoke i hate it and yet i still keep smoking. just think about how much you hate smoking and hate paying for it and keep your head up brother

Yup, I started smoking cause I worked at a venue where you only got smoke breaks. No lunch or normal breaks, just smoke breaks. Well, time to start smoking then. Started smoking American Spirits (least it was additive free though right? )

Never did it to be cool or rebellious, never thought I was "that smelly smoker" either until my girlfriend hugged me and told me I reeked like an ashtray. Never thought my smoking was detrimental or anything to my appearance at all. I didn't even smoke a pack a day, but its amazing how hard quitting was.

[Jimmy Bones]

Here's how you quit:

Join the Navy, go to boot camp.

You're too busy to smoke for three months.

[stratovani]

Best of luck to you, Falkner. I quit 3 1/2 years ago after smoking a pack a day for 33 years. Best move I ever made. It was a little tough at first (Thank God for the patch!) but it got easier as I went along. If you need some inspiration then just think of how much money you're denying the Government and the jackals at Big Tobacco. Not another dime out of us!

[pedulla-2007]

I went to my doc with chronic asthma problems, in which he treated me with breathing treatments. He told me if I didn't stop that I would be walking around with an oxygen bottle till I died. He told me that every cig took 7 minutes off of my life. I love big chested women too much to go to my grave early, so he prescribed CHANTIX and I stopped in 4 weeks. That was sept.14. I have been coughing up GREEN LUGEE'S, that look like GRISTLE, and could crawl away. THINK ABOUT THE WAY IT AGES YOU PREMATURELY! GOOD LUCK BASS SROTHER!

[Falkner]

Well, day 2 went much easier. I wasn't a complete mess like I was the other day. My mind is still nagging me fairly constantly for a smoke, but I've been ignoring it pretty easily so far. I think I can do this after all.

[electracoyote]

Originally Posted by Falkner

Well, day 2 went much easier. I wasn't a complete mess like I was the other day. My mind is still nagging me fairly constantly for a smoke, but I've been ignoring it pretty easily so far. I think I can do this after all.

That's the spirit.

How about giving those lungs a little healthy exercise? Nothing too demanding, brisk walk, shoot some hoops, something like that. Breath in that (relatively) clean air. Feel your lungs expand and contract. Be aware of the huge favor you are doing for your respiratory and cardio-vascular systems and general health and well-being.

The thought of mucking up the insides of my healthy pink lungs almost makes me want to puke.

Celebrate your newfound health!

[BullHorn]

Most smokers quit quitting, it's just too hard.

I suggest you get your hands on Allen Carr's book, EASYWAY To Stop Smoking. I've read that book 2 years and 3 months ago and haven't smoked a cigarette since!

Shameless pimping, indeed. I'm just one of MANY people that read that book and achieved exact results!

[IotaNet]

Hang in there, Dude.

Today is my 8th day and believe it or not, it hasn't been nearly as hard as I thought it would be. To be honest, I've been mentally preparing myself for about 6 months but so far, it's been okay. (I smoked a pack a day for 29 years).

I have kinda turned it into a personal pride thing (i.e."I refuse to let a habit rule me.") so my ego is involved. At this point however, I don't want to have to start over so that keeps me from succumbing to the cravings.

One word of advice:

When you talk to people about this, don't say, "I'm trying to quit smoking." or "I'm quitting". Instead, say,

"I quit smoking."
Period.

That's a very powerful statement to yourself. Instead of saying, "I'm trying to do something but I'm afraid I won't be able to pull it off", you're saying, "I did something that was very good for me and I feel good about it."

It makes a difference about how you feel about yourself.