Smokers – on and off and back on the wagon for 2011 – motivation thread.

Prompted by a comment from one of our furry posters.

How’s everyone getting along?

I’m at somewhere between two and three months. Still sucking bloody sweets though 🙁

About 3 months, no problems. Thought about it a few times when on the beer but managed to persuade myself how the thought is so much better than the reality. Cripes, smokers wreak! Non-smoking members of the opposite (or even the same) sex must have the patience of Job to go anywhere near them.

Hit 5 years last August. It really does get easier…..around the 4th year I found 😉

Seriously….hardest bit is getting through first week. Do that and your good to go. If anything it is probably easy to quit these days due to the smoking ban as I found going to pubs a friggin’ nightmare.

One thing I did do to help was print this off and stick it around the place so I would see it:

20 MINUTES

Blood pressure drops to normal.
Pulse rate drops to normal.
Body temperature of hands and feet increases to normal.

8 HOURS

Carbon monoxide level in blood drops to normal.
Oxygen level in blood increases to normal.

24 HOURS

Chance of heart attack decreases.

48 HOURS

Nerve endings start regrowing.
Ability to smell and taste is enhanced.

2 WEEKS TO 3 MONTHS

Circulation improves.
Walking becomes easier.
Lung function increases up to 30%.

1 TO 9 MONTHS

Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath decrease.
Cilia regrow in lungs, increasing ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce infection.
Body’s overall energy increases.

1 YEAR

Excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker.

5 YEARS

Lung cancer death rate for average smoker (one pack a day) decreases by almost half.
Stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker 5-15 years after quitting.
Risk of cancer of the mouth, throat and esophagus is half that of a smoker’s.

10 YEARS

Lung cancer death rate similar to that of nonsmokers.
Precancerous cells are replaced.
Risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decreases.

15 YEARS

Risk of coronary heart disease is that of a nonsmoker.

today is the end of christmas and my first day smokeless. This is the year I do it!

It’s the reason that I would never touch Cheryl Cole.

zulu 😆

Quit September 2009. Still have the occaisional ciggie with a beer though, but don’t crave them anymore.

The hardest thing for me was Xmas and NYE. Had my last rollie on Monday am, spent most of the day being a little twitchy but feel ok again now. Just chewing one bit of gum in the morning when I get up and keeping as busy as I possibly can in the evenings.

Wait a min… does Cheryl Cole smoke??

Gave up several years ago, seriously I don’t know when I gave up and it doesn’t matter. Counting gives the idea that your missing something. I would recommend getting hold of the Allan Carr books The Easy Way[/url], even if you’ve been off them for three months it’s worth a read. That’s the only motivation you’ll need.
You smell better already and have money for bling. 🙂

Make me laugh, how much is a pack of 20 Marlboro now?

TSY – yes she does indeed smoke.

Explains the ‘singing’ or not

how much is a pack of 20 Marlboro now?

I dunno, I reckon getting on for 6 quid or something… 😆

Stinky-boys binners and elfin will tell us.

TSY – yes she does indeed smoke.

She’s dirtier than I thought. Now now, lets stick to the topic.

The first of January marked fourteen years of non-smoking for me.

I’ve probably spent more on bikes per year than my annual spend on Benson & Hedges though, even adjusted for inflation and duty increases.

I’m contemplating jacking them in at the moment. I’ve avoided the knee-jerk “Right! I’m never smoking again!” NYE’s thing.

I was going for the quietly packing in some time in January approach.

The one thing that’s stopping me is that I’ll no longer have the satisfaction of waiting for Hora at the top of climbs, then sitting there casually smoking as he pants into view. It’ll be a major loss that

6X2X5=60
6X3X2=36

And then the beer on top…

96 quid per week on fags if I hadn’t given up, look on the bright side though, with that quantity I’d probably be dead now! 😯

Joking aside binners, I hope you give it a go. Knee-jerk quits are often not successful. It requires a bit of contemplation and setting an end date.

Okay, okay, I won’t make anymore comments on CC.

Nice one for starting this thread Darcy. Have you tried substituting every other sweet for a similar tasting ‘normal’ sweet?
That’s how I cut down on the gum before. This time I’m just trying to tough it out.

Anyone else notice how much stronger coffee seems (caffine wise) when you quit? Got the sweats and shakes today!

Malbora are about £6.40 a pack now I think. Hora used to smoke them. But only because he enjoyed dressing up like the blokes in the adverts

He still does. Even though he stopped smoking years ago.
🙂

The one thing that’s stopping me is that I’ll no longer have the satisfaction of waiting for Hora at the top of climbs, then sitting there casually smoking as he pants into view. It’ll be a major loss that

Maybe try heroin? Imagine how he will feel when he sees you have had time to cook up and get your needle out. Very demoralising.

But only because he enjoyed dressing up like the blokes in the adverts

You say that like you think there’s something strange/wrong. 😈

What about beating him up the hill whilst you’re in a ketamine hole?

Jamie, that timeline stuff you posted is very motivating. Cheers.

Jamie, that timeline stuff you posted is very motivating.

Absolutely. Now THAT’s what I’m talking about.

Anyone else notice how much stronger coffee seems (caffine wise) when you quit? Got the sweats and shakes today!

Not just me then 🙂

You say that like you think there’s something strange/wrong.

Yeah… but he started forgetting the jeans and the shirt and just wearing the leather chaps and the hat. It’s quite a disturbing sight

Imagine how he will feel when he sees you have had time to cook up and get your needle out. Very demoralising.

😆

That timeline is really good stuff…

I rode Cwm Carn on Sunday, made it round the Twrch in 1hr 8mins and it felt like my lungs were going to fall out, I did smoke most of the way there. Promised myself, on the final bit of climb, that I’d quit and then go back within the next 6 weeks and break the hour mark. Timeline says it should be easy… 😀

Just over 10 months for me now 🙂

I won’t be getting complacent about it though as I know how easy it is slip back into the habit.

For all of those who are struggling one thing I found useful was to write a list of pros and cons about smoking and every time I felt like a smoke I read the list.

The only pros I could write down were keeping the weight down and keeping me regular in the morning.

Ho Hum – you forgot “looking cool” on the Pro list!

Cons – Cheryl Cole smokes and when she realises that she wants a white middle class mtber I’ll not be able to stomach kissing her.

18 months for me now

I really struggled in a house full of smokers over new year – but last year I am sure I would have cracked. This year I did not

Motivation? Well I am clearly fitter than I was when I smoked

4 years for me. Had several longish stops before, but not made it past a year. This time seemed really easy (even doing it cold turkey), though I did have a good reason for stopping which really helped. I didn’t smoke a lot, but had been smoking for nearly 20 years so I was very habituated.

Just make sure you find something to fill the gaps, the times when you would go for a fag, do something else – make it a habit and slowly you stop thinking about the fags.

Good luck to the stoppers, you can do it 🙂

Yeah… but he started forgetting the jeans and the shirt and just wearing the leather chaps and the hat. It’s quite a disturbing sight

Err! OK………. 😐

even doing it cold turkey

Same here. My reasoning being I wanted the nicotine out of my system as soon as possible, and chewing the gum etc still meant I was addicted to it and possibly more liable to slip up and have a smoke.

It seemed to make sense to me at the time.

For anyone contemplating this, go to the doctor and get some Champix, quit after 7 days and have no cravings. It works very well (apart from the tendency toward suicide as a side effect).

After several unsucessful attempts I tried Champix and it worked well for me.

I tried giving up once whilst on honeymoon with patches and I left them on overnight and they gave me some really vivid dreams.

Thankfully there are quite a few different options available to people wanting to give up rather than just going cold turkey (although that is what I did this time).

Good luck to anyone wanting/trying to give up. It is so worth it, honestly.

I was at the Edinburgh winter wonderland before new year with my children and an old bloke sat down close to us and sparked up and his breathing and coughing frightened me and made me so glad that I have stopped.

i did it cold turkey andit is bioth hard and easy.
I did not smoke for about 5 years I now smoke occasionally couple a month?- but will never be a smoker again.

I now smoke occasionally couple a month?- but will never be a smoker again.

❓ 😕

I have neighbours on either side of me who all smoke like chimneys.

They do not sound in any way like I’d like to sound in the mornings. I’m convinced sometimes they actually have had to put their lungs back in. 😯

JunkYard – that sounds like a slippery slope 😕

That’s where I’ve fallen down previously, start to get confident and say “it’s only one”, or “it’s the weekend” etc – then next thing you know, you’re back on it.

Stop means stop – if you smoke every now and then, you’re still a smoker IMO.

It seemed to make sense to me at the time.

Whatever works. The NHS is paying for my lozenges. I find I’ve just naturally gone less and less each week with them. They have helped with irritability (especially reading Jamies pisstakes 🙂 ) at times so if they do that, then fair enough.

In a few weeks, I’ll probably just take a few to the pub when I go.

The way I look at it, the sweets, while still being a crutch, help break the cycle of the traditional nicotine delivery system.

for clarity the slippery slope wont affect me as the addded ingredient is the main reason I smoke I missed the after dinner jazz cigarettes but not cigarettes.

Cheers for your concern guys but I have not had a cigarette since I stopped hence I class myself as a non smoker but I see the reason for emocicons and how daft that sentence appears.

I do occasionally go months as well without just to prove a point as I dont want to end up a smoker again