Just quit smoking

[mweitz]

I sorta hate to say this, but found it to be true for me. Stay away from people that are smoking while you are quitting. I used to work with a bunch of smokers. We would all go out on break together and smoke. Makes it very hard to break that habit. I then got another job and there is only one smoker there and she doesn't really smoke during the day.

Even seeing people smoke on TV would trigger it. Don't watch classic movies or shows where you know someone smokes...
Suggestion is so strong. Think about seeing a fast food ad when you have missed dinner. They are on at exactly all the right times when you are hungry. Looks sooo good.

After a few months I found that I could be around smokers again, but seeing someone light up on TV still makes me want one.

 

[Kennedydive]

mweitz is right. You have to change your patterns and resist the urge.
Jason

 

[Linthorn]

I quit my pack-a-day 22 year habit this past May. It is tough, but there are lots of little "helpers".

I tried the patch, it works ok, but too passive for me. I relly liked the lozenges. Gives you an action when you want a cigarette, and something to do with your mouth. Actually makes you feel like you just had a cigarette. After a couple of weeks, I tapered them off by substituting Altoids (similar size and shape, but dissolve much faster). By the time I ate up two tins of Altoids, I didn't need them any more.

I also quit at what many think is a very stressful time. I quit the day I started a new job. Although stress was high, habits hadn't formed. I was not a "smoker" in the new company, and I had no "smoking buddies." The habit part is the hardest.

Now, I only want a cigarette after certain triggers, such as a particularly filling dinner.

Focus on the improvements you feel, they actually come fast. I noticed the coughing improved almost immediately.

Now I need to focus on improving cardio and losing the 20 lbs that mysteriously showed up. I was surprised by this because I haven't been nibbling instead of smoking. The two tins of Altoids notwithstanding, but they were gone in July. Metabolism changes with nicotine. It actually helps you lose weight, so for long-time smokers, you will likely start to gain if you aren't careful. I wasn't careful.

I started my OW classes in July, and am now AOW (PADI). I was surprised at how much trouble I had for the 200m swim (didn't pace myself well, started too fast, got winded and couldn't catch my breath since I couldn't stand in the pool). I have always been a good swimmer, so this was troubling.

As an out-of-shape, recently smoking, newbie, I suck air like it's, well, air. Here's a whole new reason to improve cardio and stay off the smokes.

Good luck to all of us Quitters.

Four months, five days, 2 hours, 16 minutes and 41 seconds. 2561 cigarettes not smoked, saving $486.76. Life saved: 1 week, 1 day, 21 hours, 25 minutes.

 

[mloe]

Yeah, the little helpers (Altoids, toothpicks etc) are not habit forming - you´ll stop needing them without noticing it!

I also quit during stressful times, during the last weeks of a particularily annoying long-term project. Now I´ll be in a new job, I am moving to a new appartment and will be travelling to the uS for the first time. My little "reward" for the first 4 weeks has been my AOWD course...

michael

 

[mweitz]

Oh, this is another thing that helped. I bought a new car in April of that year (I quit in mid June) and decided I wasn't going to smoke in it. Must have cut at least half a pack a day since I drive a lot and always smoked in the car. Maybe try to have some "smoke free" zones in your life for a while before quitting.

Mark

 

[Garyra]

Focus on the improvements you feel, they actually come fast. I noticed the coughing improved almost immediately.

That is so true. I bought an exercise bike the other day to start working on my Cardio. I can't believe that after the short time that I have not been smoking, my cardio has improved so much! I actually have a hard time keeping my heart rate above 150. My legs get tired way before I get winded now days! It was strange to get done with a work out and not be huffing and puffing for air! Exercise used to be a trigger for smoking for me, I was one of those that would get done exercising and immediately smoke a ciggarette. After exercising with better lungs the last thing that I wanted was a smoke.

 

[drbill]

Congratulations! I hope you are reaping the benefits of such a wise decision. I quit for good nearly 30 years ago and it was one of the best decisions of my life. I figure at $5 per pack now, and one pack a day, I'm saving enough to do an extra dive trip every year (hmmm, where did the money go).

Dr. Bill