I gave up smoking a year ago today.

The primary reasons for giving up were to do with the increasing risk of damage to my health and the fact that I was rapidly approaching 40 and I did not want to be a smoker at 40 and older.

I have stopped quite a few times in the past and I have tried patches and gum, but this time around I did it through will power alone. I hadn’t really planned a stop day, but in the time leading up to stopping I had sort of conditioned myself mentally as I had grown to hate smoking and everything about it. Another thing that has really helped me not start again has been the ban on smoking in public places. I rarely see smokers nowadays and when I do see them they tend to hidden away in not the nicest of places.

I know that I can never call myself a non-smoker, but I am pleased to be able to call myself an ex-smoker.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TylvUGJIi_w[/video]

Bloody well done dude…excellent.

But don’t let your guard down. I went back to smoking after 18 months, and within a week it was like I’d never been away. I have been off them now since 82, though sometimes if I catch a second hand drag it calls to me!!!

SB

Well done!

but in the time leading up to stopping I had sort of conditioned myself mentally as I had grown to hate smoking and everything about it.

Definitely the point I reached before quitting…hated it but was addicted to it. I quit just before I reached 30…6 years ago now. Stupidest thing I ever did was to start smoking but then that’s hindsight for you 🙄

Brilliant – well done! How do you feel a year on?

Well done if its what you want to do. Personally I dont see the problem with smoking and I’m yet to be convinced of the negative impact it has on your health.

Look at the true greats: Clarke Gable, Clint Eastwood, James Bond, Kate Moss – They all smoke and it doesnt do them any harm. My auntie smoked 20 a day and she lived till she was 87!

yeah but if she hadn’t smoked she might have made it to 97 😉

well done Ho Hum, another ex-smoker here, I gave up by will power alone one day in ’97 simply because “I didn’t want to do it any more”

Haven’t had one since.

on the downside, I wasn’t fat when I smoked 🙁

Well done Ho hum and other fellow quitters; can’t beat the will power method in my opinion. Although my first giving only lasted a few years, I went to work in a department where everyone smoked! I’ve now been smoked free for five years I should think. Hated it at the end, felt dirty, and was smoking 40 a day. So glad to have given up when I did.

The weight gain issue is actually a bonus to me! I was the 9 stone weakling at school, which with my 6ft height made me the prime target. I’m a far more pleasing (to me) 16 stone now.

I was the 9 stone weakling at school, which with my 6ft height made me the prime target.

😯

By Christ you must have bin skinny!!!!

Even I would’ve bullied you.

I’m a far more pleasing (to me) 16 stone now.

Not as pleasing to your heart though, perhaps.

Pipe smoking is good … 😈

Well done if its what you want to do. Personally I dont see the problem with smoking and I’m yet to be convinced of the negative impact it has on your health.

Look at the true greats: Clarke Gable, Clint Eastwood, James Bond, Kate Moss – They all smoke and it doesnt do them any harm. My auntie smoked 20 a day and she lived till she was 87!

Perhaps you’d like to discuss this with my father who was diagnosed with tracheal cancer at 47. James Bond isn’t real, by the way.

Well done man! I’m an ex-smoker of 7 years. The first week is the worst, then the first month, then the first 6 months, then the first year, then…..

If you’ve got this far and are still thinking about it – I dunno – but have you got some other stresses / issues in your life?

Well done Ho hum, past 40 and you would be looking at hooked for life/impossible to quit I bet and end up looking like those sad-sights in pj’s stood outside hospitals puffing away whilst holding a drip.

Congratulations, I’m on day 4 off the fags, happy to report no relapses yet.

momo- even if you relapse, regroup and vow to beat your previous best by +1 day.

Second thing- remember smoking is not a choice, lifestyle etc. The only say you had in the matter is when you picked up your first cigarette years ago. After that a substance controlled you.

Congratulations mate.

I always class myself as a non smoker yet when I think about it, I’ve been smoking on and off for about 10 years and when I do smoke I seem to do it a fair bit so it probably balances out the off times.

Sucks balls it does but its also mega awesome super wicked.

I’m in the process of cutting down and can do about 4 days happily but the week feels pretty hard going – sometimes I can do weeks/ months and not even care.. think its the company I keep.

Moving to the Alps in May so no better reason to stop!

Can someone ban Davidtaylforth for outrageous trolling please?

alexxx is there a smoking ban in France yet?

Well done!
The good news is that the relative risk of you dying of lung cancer due to smoking is now 3% as opposed to 18% at 75 years old if you had continued. Your body has an incredible ability to heal itself and by now you should have cleared most of the gunk from your lungs.
As Mr Spock says “Live long and prosper” 🙂

Thank you for the comments chaps.

Since stopping I have had the usual coughs and colds, but no more than I would expect to get and to be honest I think that most of them come from having 3 young children who pick them up from school and then pass them onto me, grrr! 😉

After stopping last year I did put on half a stone, but I am slowly getting rid of that now.

The health benefits for me are great. I am definitely fitter as a result of having stopped. Also, I used to smoke 10 a day and in a year I have saved roughly £1100 🙂

I remember talking to my GP last year about giving up smoking and he said that many people try to quit and because it is a difficult thing to do they measure if you have been successful or not at quitting is whether you are still stopped a year on from quitting. I am quite looking forward to seeing my GP again at some point and telling him about my success.

Even though I am pleased I am not going to get complacent about things and I will remain vigilant going forward.

momo – Member
Congratulations, I’m on day 4 off the fags, happy to report no relapses yet.

Keep up the good work mate, it does get easier 🙂

Good on you Ho hum.
I gave up shortly after a nice big breakfast on dec 4th 2005. Havent been back since, dont want to.

Not sure on the smoking ban in France. I was there a couple of weeks back and didn’t see anyone smoke indoors so I’m guessing its in effect.

More to do with the lifestyle I think is why I’ll end up quitting not out of pure choice.

Since 2007, Alexxx.

Accept that you will have wobbles and events may shake you.

When hora jnr was born I was sat in a room thinking ‘I need a cig’. I then immediately thought ‘oh **** right off’.

Perhaps you’d like to discuss this with my father who was diagnosed with tracheal cancer at 47. James Bond isn’t real, by the way.

And Kate Moss is 37 and has her off days when not benefitting from a professional makeup artist (or Photoshop…)

Oh yes smoking makes your face look like a leathery old bag..

Mossy’s looking hot. Can’t just put that down to smoking. I reckon that face has seen more sun, sea-salt and man-salt than most. The crack probably doesn’t help either.

Just about breaking the routine. After meals, after drinks, after having not had one for an amount of time…

Bottom line is you know it makes sense