How did you STOP smoking?

At 18h00 today it will be 7 full seven days since my last cigarette - I really want to quit badly, so many times this week I wanted to go buy some - but I stood strong. I am not taking anything as a substitute - I just stopped ... After 7 days of being smoke free... what are my chances guys... ?
 
zulucat said:
At 18h00 today it will be 7 full seven days since my last cigarette - I really want to quit badly, so many times this week I wanted to go buy some - but I stood strong. I am not taking anything as a substitute - I just stopped ... After 7 days of being smoke free... what are my chances guys... ?
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You should carry on smoking. :p
 
zulucat said:
My cousin is a nurse - the stories she tells about cancer sufferers send shivers down my spine - so I do not want to die young!
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Still surprises me that fear of cancer is everyone's primary motivation when it comes to quitting.

The number one killer from smoking is actually heart disease. Of course, it's a much quicker way to go than slowly being eaten up from inside.

You can quit smoking, and stop yourself getting (lung) cancer or emphysema, but the damage to your heart is probably irreversible. So if you've quit, stay quit.

Old me wishes he could beat the **** out of young me at the moment he decided to light that first cigarette at age 12. Probably would've prevented or at least delayed my 4 heart attacks 26 years later. Of course, there were hereditary factors, but my cardiologist confirmed that while diet, physical activity, family history, race, etc, are all contributing factors, smoking is the only one that contributes 100% of the time, every time.
 
My wife asked me, if not now, when? We were both smokers, she quit a year before I did (after 23 years of smoking). It's a mind thing. It's almost like a switch that was flipped. It sounds cliche, but believe me, the decision is the hard part, once you make it, it's easy. Just do it, and don't doubt yourself. Use Champix or Zyban if you need to, but do it. What helped me is, I kept EVERYTHING the same: my routine, habits etc. And DO NOT replace your smoking with anything else. Not even mints or chewing gum or anything. Then you are just replacing one bad habit for another. Rid yourself completely.

Make no mistake, it's hard initially, but it's only for a short while. You won't be sorry. Best decision I ever made. Today it's around 6 years later, and I don't even think about it anymore.

Be like Nike. You really can.
 
zulucat said:
At 18h00 today it will be 7 full seven days since my last cigarette - I really want to quit badly, so many times this week I wanted to go buy some - but I stood strong. I am not taking anything as a substitute - I just stopped ... After 7 days of being smoke free... what are my chances guys... ?
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Well done on starting the journey to kick the habit. If you want to, see if you can source an online version of Allen Carr's Easy way to stop smoking.

I honestly didn't believe it will help but after smoking every day since I was 14 years old and one day I just decided its sht, acquired the book and have never touched a cigarette since although there were multiple opportunities along the way.

I dont know if it was the book or just my final decision to just stop but if you have time and you want to, read the book. It explains why you want to smoke, and that it won't really please you, you just think it will etc etc.

Was an easy read and I never really got bored of the book.
 
It certainly helps if you have supportive people around you and a supportive environment, that's most of the work done. Having to contend with endless sht storms and have cravings tapping on your shoulder every 5mins can make a ciggie look rather attractive.
 
Stopped for a few years, champex helped.
yeah...
 
What's worked for me in the past (and I'm being dead serious). Drink and smoke myself into oblivion. Wake up the next day feeling like absolute crap!! That at least buys you 24 hours where there is no craving, just deep seated repulsion. I find if I can get through the first 72 hours, it's fairly simple to carry on...

But smoking isn't actually an issue for me. I've given up half a dozen times or more and have probably smoked in the region of 5 000 cigarettes in the last 13 years.

Wife smokes so there are always fags in the house which is a bit of a pain.
 
zulucat said:
At 18h00 today it will be 7 full seven days since my last cigarette - I really want to quit badly, so many times this week I wanted to go buy some - but I stood strong. I am not taking anything as a substitute - I just stopped ... After 7 days of being smoke free... what are my chances guys... ?
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very good, the first 4 days are the worse and then every single day just keeps getting better
well done bro, proud of you :thumbsup:
 
I landed up in hospital with tick bite fever and then had serious complications from the IV antibiotics they gave me. I didn't smoke for the 7 days I was in hospital feeling like I was about to die. Came out and decided that I had given up a 30 year habit. That was 3 years ago and I still would love to smoke. I just enjoyed it. I ended up going to Makro and buying a shrink of chewing gum. Also put 30kgs in weight on in a year.

I was very depressed for about a month. From the no smoking and being so sick. I have just told myself NO more cigs. I can handle people smoking in my office but I just won't take it up again.
 
thats hectic @Dairyfarmer - glad you are on the right track now
i quit cigarettes after 27 years of smoking 2 packs a day
i put on about 5kg max since then
what helped for me is i went out hiking almost every single weekend, some hikes up to 33km long up and over and all around Table Mountain

Tough work out but so worth every single step just been around awesome people and feeling alive !!!! Other hikes are just a cruise of flat ground and only 6km long. Just stay busy is the key point
 
The_Mowgs said:
Well done on starting the journey to kick the habit. If you want to, see if you can source an online version of Allen Carr's Easy way to stop smoking.

I honestly didn't believe it will help but after smoking every day since I was 14 years old and one day I just decided its sht, acquired the book and have never touched a cigarette since although there were multiple opportunities along the way.

I dont know if it was the book or just my final decision to just stop but if you have time and you want to, read the book. It explains why you want to smoke, and that it won't really please you, you just think it will etc etc.

Was an easy read and I never really got bored of the book.
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Thank you - will check it out.
 
zulucat said:
At 18h00 today it will be 7 full seven days since my last cigarette - I really want to quit badly, so many times this week I wanted to go buy some - but I stood strong. I am not taking anything as a substitute - I just stopped ... After 7 days of being smoke free... what are my chances guys... ?
Click to expand...
The physical cravings should be over by now, but it's the mental ones now. I've been 7 and a half years now, the first 3 weeks were hard but take it day by day and it gets easier.
 
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