Trying to be smoke free!

[atc300r]

I quit several years ago.Still once in awhile get a craiving. My dad past away in 98 .He had emphazema,TB and a few other problems.He was a life long smoker.In 06 lost a brother to heart failure he was in his 40s .He also was a smoker.Plus found out I have a family history of heart disease and high cholesteral.To you guys trying to quit. Keep tying its not imposible. You can do it. Each of us has our own reason for quitting .God Bless.

[El Camexican]

I smoked 22 years, got up to 75+ cigarettes per day plus the odd cigar. I didn’t need a lighter much as I would always use the current smoke to spark up the next one. I tried to quit a bunch of times when I was younger and made it 11 months once. My failure (and the stupid thing that got me started again) was so demoralizing I didn’t even try to quit again for another 15 years. As I neared 40 I had a long mental talk with myself and quit cold turkey over 6 years ago. The first three days are always the worst. I still puff cigars, but I don’t inhale them and can go for months without. It is sooooooo worth it to quit, but it can take a couple years to truly appreciate the results and at least three years before cravings turn to disgust at the notion of sparking one up. Not that anyone asked, but here are a few tips that worked for me:

1. Have a plan and a goal before you quit. Don’t just decide to quit because you have a bad cold and skipped a few smokes, or because you saw a photo of a black lung on the Internet. For me the key was deciding I wanted to play ice hockey again. I knew I’d need to shake pounds and quit smoking to do it, so that was my motivation for both. (the first time I tried to quit I gained 20 pounds) I tied my quitting to a positive goal, something that would make it next to impossible to smoke while I was participating in it and something that would be enhanced by a lack of smoking. Pick something you truly want to do that you can’t do as a smoker and commit to it 100%. I was practicing twice a week and playing three games a week to stay focused. Hard to contemplate a smoke when your lungs are on fire.
2. Don’t try to quit when you are depressed, stressed or sick, it doesn’t work and makes your other symptoms even worse lessening your will to try quitting again in the future. You want to quit when you are at the highest physical and mental state possible.
3. Don’t tell anyone you are quitting. This is between you and the smokes, no one else. Telling someone you are ”going to quit” makes you look and feel like a loser if it doesn’t work out and this too makes you less inclined to try again later.
4. Think about what triggers your current need to smoke and try to avoid it. For me it was coffee and booze. I NEEDED a smoke to go with either, so I skipped the coffee for the first few days and avoided the booze for a couple weeks, BUT as soon as you feel you can have a coffee or a drink without needing a smoke, DO IT! Having conquered the urge to smoke you will feel like Superman when you have a beer without a smoke and this will help a lot over the next months. Just make sure you have something else handy that you like to replace it with at the start i.e. have some O.J. on hand in the fridge to replace that coffee, don’t wait till you are fighting the urge of thirst and a smoke at the same time. Have a Coke with a twist of lime instead of a rum and Coke at night.
5. Watch what you eat. Anything goes the first few days, eat raw sugar if that’s what it takes to keep from lighting up, but ASAP start eating healthy things that won’t pack on the pounds. Celery, carrots, apples, etc.
6. Keep and unlit smoke in your hand and mouth for as long as you feel like it (for me it was over a month and a few times after that). The addiction has as much to do with the feeling of it in your hand and mouth as it does with the chemicals in your blood. An added bonus is that everyone that you know who smokes will ask if you want a light to which you can politely say no to (and silently think F/U, you chain smoking looser if you wish). It is an extremely empowering feeling to do this and it allows you to combat the loss of the drugs in your system separately from the physical withdrawal of having nothing in your hand or mouth. Keep a pack of smokes in your pocket too, the unlit ones get a little gross after a few hours. Believe me, it is far more empowering to have those unlit smokes in your pocket and knowing that YOU choose not to have one than it is to pretend that throwing out all the ashtrays and getting rid of your “last” pack will keep you from giving in. Hiding dangerous things is for protecting kids. YOU are an adult, YOU decided to quit smoking, YOU are ultimately in charge of quitting. PERIOD. Tough up, man up, suck it in and make a commitment to YOURSELF.
7. Don’t make excuses, or blame others for YOUR addiction. Its all on YOU! YOU started of YOUR own free will and YOU are the ONLY one that can stop. If you are one of weak whinny guys those who thinks a billboard with an image of the Marlboro Man is what makes you need to smoke, you may also want to explore other aspects of your sexuality lest you be missing something else you subconsciously crave. I quit with my wife and friends blowing smoke in my face constantly. Rather than crying about it, or giving in, I used their weakness it to remind myself that I was in charge and that my ability to endure their smoking made me one tough SOB that could do anything I wanted to.
8. And finally try to focus on all the changes that are for the better whenever possible i.e. the taste of food, the smell of perfume and leather, less crud in your eyes in the morning, more cash in your wallet etc.
My stages were:
- The first three days (the hardest part), once past this it seemed easy, at least for a couple weeks.
- A few weeks later I found myself letting my guard down and craving a smoke. I had to remind myself constantly of what I had invested to get through the first three days and ask myself repeatedly if I was willing to let it go to waste
- For the next year I still loved the smell of cigarettes, again, remembering what it took to get me to this point was what worked.
- Two year as a non-smoker I found the smell of cigarettes a little gross, cravings were gone.
- Three years and on I can smell a smoker in a crowd of people and it disgusts me. I can tell the difference between someone who just had a cigarette and those who have so much tar in their lungs that they permeate like a wet ashtray. I can tell if a car has EVER been smoked in as soon as I open the door. Just like when I was a kid, my senses and intelligence are recovered as well as my health.

I’ve never written this down before, so I hope sharing it helps someone quit someday.

[atc300r]

I also can smell a smoker a mile away. Iv caught people smokeing pot near my house and I was inside. with the windows shut. Good luck to you guys and girls that are trying to quit .Iv talked to people that tried to quit and some say "I Quit " then when someone ask them about it . The person says well i saw you 3 days ago smoking and they get shamed back into smoking . What I tell people that are quitting .It starts with 1 day .Then 3 days .Next you will notice a weeks gone by. then a month. then 3 months. Then six. And so on. Next thing you notice its been 1 1/2 years.

[badass350x]

Very good EL Camexican!! Pretty much the way I did it...

[El Camexican]

As they say in Spanish we quit: "a huevo" Literally that means “by the eggs” (slang for balls) which is how they say "the hard way". Peace Bro.

[atc007]

How are our quitters doing????!! Eric,Dave,and Badass, PLEASE pm me your current addresses. I know 1 or 2 changed,and all my Pms were lost in the crash. I want to mail out goodies, TOMORROW,,grip color,what pads and address is what I seek. Thanx all !

[badass350x]

Doing good bill, pushing 10 months now I think more or less, Its really nice not depending on those Dam things! Will pm you .

Dean

[ATC-Eric]

Same here, almost 6 months! Like I said before quiting cigarettes was harder then booze............

[fabiodriven]

Smoking like a chimney here. Got the truck, trailer, trikes, and camper to get ready for Trikefest, got my dad in town from Hawaii, and got my girl being a total b!tch right now. Smoke 'em if ya got 'em!

[atc007]

Smoking like a chimney here. Got the truck, trailer, trikes, and camper to get ready for Trikefest, got my dad in town from Hawaii, and got my girl being a total b!tch right now. Smoke 'em if ya got 'em!

Ok,,It is NOT funny that you're still smoking... So,Why am I ROTF, LMAO.!! Sorry to add more to your mix this morning : ) Thanx again.

[badass350x]

Bill, Got the freebie's you sent out, very Awesome of you and will be using every bit of it! Thanks for the support you have given to me and everybody on here that has stopped smoking or trying to stop.

Hope all are still smoke free and feeling well, nothing better then a good hard ride and not winded while doing it!!!!

[atc007]

Glad to hear it Dean. Thank you for everything and really sorry it took so long. I still owe Dave.I need your address man! I lost it in the crash. I hope everyone is still on the straight and narrow.

[kb0nly]

Quiting is a PITA.. But i did it too. Smoked for years and when i wanted to quit i was stressed due to bills and the impending birth of my first son.. So i quit because i didn't want him exposed to it, but only with the help of meds from the doctor. Forget those gums and patches they don't work for... The key to quitting is to get rid of the Nicotine, putting it in using another product only weens you off the smoke but not the underlying cause. I went on Wellbutrin at the encouragement of my doctor, after a week of smoking and taking the pills the smokes starting tasting horrible and i quit, that was almost 12 years ago now!

The money got channeled to bills and next thing you know i was caught up, funny how that happens.

[badass350x]

Dave where are we with the smoking buddy? Hope its all good and smoke free! Your probably at TF , let us know when you get back. Hope everybody else is doing well no matter what the habit might be.

Dean

[Swinger]

I quit then pick it back up then quit again. I am at the smoking stage now but after TF I am gonna give it hell. I got a close friend that we are gonna jump on the wagon together. I sucks and cant wait to walk away forever!!! TF bound in a few hours....wooohooo!!