http://whyquit.com/
Today is the 6th of January. I had my last cigarette during the night of Dec. 31/Jan. 1. I was a smoker for almost 16 years.
I quit once before, for a year and a half, when I was 26. I quit by chewing tobacco. It wasn't hard to quit then, but, as you can guess, the chewing tobacco merely replaced the cigarettes. I don't know really if chew is any more or less dangerous than smoking, but it is generally considered nastier. I really didn't mind it. I didn't smell like smoke any more. I used to smoke in the apartment, all my friends smoked, and I worked as a bartender at one place and a pizza delivery driver at another...smoking is what people DID, and where I was, probably 80% of the population smoked. There were smoking sections in restaurants, and of course, in the bars you just smoked anywhere. When it was too cold outside, you smoked. When it was too hot outside, you smoked. Drinking, playing video games, standing around the keg, eating a fucking burrito, you smoked. You just couldn't get away from it.
I couldn't even really tell you why I quit then. I think it was just to prove a point, like I had a chip on my shoulder. When you are a smoker, the smell really doesn't disgust you. In fact, you usually don't notice it until your ashtray is overflowing with stale butts, or you wake up in the morning and smell your shirt from the day before. If you wake up with someone, you smell the smoke in her hair that you didn't smell the night before. You clear it all up by having a smoke, though...just empty the ashtray and take a shower; as a smoker that's enough freshening up. To a non-smoker it's different, I know.
You also don't taste the smoke. To a non-smoker the cigarette taste is fucking rancid, and it is completely impossible to comprehend why someone would suck on those things. The truth is, when you smoke, you seriously do not taste that shit. The taste is something different, almost flavorless, just a warm or hot draft going down like silk.
As you become more experienced, you can smoke more in a day and you don't wake up with a sore throat or crap in your lungs. You just get used to it and enjoy it.
I do find it amazing that so many people, including myself, became smokers when you have to go through such hell to do it! Seriously, it is not easy to start smoking. It tastes like ass. You stink. You start to feel like shit, and your chest starts burning, and you cough. Why the FUCK do you get to a point where you consider yourself a 'smoker' for real, and feel like you get a little merit badge for it? Some people may have had pleasant experiences right at the beginning, but for me, I didn't enjoy it for at least a year.
So, I became a full-time smoker. I never really got to be more than a pack a day, but that's plenty. I mean, how much fucking tiome do you want to devote to this? I paid for every one of those things dearly later on in the day. By the time I went to bed, I always felt nasty. I kept smoking, though. I liked it. Maybe, when I quit, I hjust felt like it was time.
It wasn't THAT hard quitting smoking the first time. I had been smoking for 6 or 7 years, I don't even remember exactly. The chew gave me the nicotine. And, if I really wanted a smoke, I would get one from my friends...not too many, just an occasional enjoyment. I seriously did not consider myself a smoker for a year and a half; I had that shit beat.
Hooo, boy...it came back. I had a guy move in with me who smoked 2 packs a day. Within a week, I was back to smoking. I felt horrible about it; very guilty. Mainly, I felt like I let my parents down...keep in mind, I was a grown man of 28 years. What a stupid thing to feel! They were never smokers, though.
This time, the smoking was better. Maybe it is because I switched from Marlboros to Parliaments, but the smoking just felt better, more natural. Yeah, I was a smoker again, and it made me happy. Since I have been living by myself, though (is in: without roommates), I have tried on a few occasions to quit. I wasn't successful for various reasons...I tried the patch, and that was just stupid. Made me sick and made my arm itchy, or wherever I had that retarded thing applied. I even put that shit on my butt to see if it would not itch. Didn't work. There were the girls, too. All the girls I have dated since I was in high school are smokers. When I say DATED, I mean I didn't go out on A SINGLE DATE AT ALL with a girl that didn't smoke. It's not that I prefer it in a girl...I really didn't care. But, when you are a smoker, YOU are the one that is limited...non-smokers really don't want to kiss you. Smoking was also a social activity. I would take smoke breaks at work with whatever girl wanted me to go with her down the elevator, and there we would be in front of the building smoking.
I moved to Florida. At that point, I stopped smoking in the apartment. Best thing I ever did...if anything was going to smell nasty, it was going to be ME, not my couch. The walls wouldn't turn yellow and burn marks wouldn't get on the carpet. I was smoking a lot less, then I started dating JJ. We worked together and snuck out to smoke as often as we could. Then, of course, when we would go out drinking, or staying at home drinking and smoking, or whatever. I seriously didn't want to quit smoking because I thought I wouldn't get to spend as much time with her. So, I kept smoking away. Even after we split I couldn't let go of smoking.
I got a new car and decided I wasn't going to smoke in it. Another great move on my part. That was about 20 months ago. I was down to about 1/2 pack a day because I didn't smoke in the house, I didn't smoke in the car, and I didn't have some goofy girl around. Now, I have quit altogether. I don't know if cutting back on smoking then is making it easier to quit now, but it is a possibility. I DO know that I am OK with all this. It wasn't that tough. I still want to smoke real bad, but I can deal with it. So far. Like I said, it's only been 6 days.
So, by the time most of you read this, it will be a week. It can be done.
I will make you a promise: if you are a smoker, I won't become one of those militant non-smokers. I don't look down on you. I know why you smoke...whether you think you are 'addicted' and can't quit, or not...you WANT to smoke. I get it, and I understand. You don't have to quit. I will never lecture you about it; frankly I am not sure exactly why I want to quit, because I enjoyed smoking. So...that's my promise.
Do me a favor, though, in return...if I fall off this wagon, don't rag on me. Trust me, I will be getting enough grief from myself that anything you could say will only hurt.
I'm really doing this shit, though. I'm on it.
I am 35 and I am in the best shape of my life. I have lost a total of 80 pounds and am only about 6 pounds heavier than I was when I graduated high school. I have been smoke and nicotine free for a week. I get regular exercise. I'm back on track from a lot of bad things that I may or may not have told you. I'm in the game.
Share your own stories...love, support, encouragement, whatever...and remember me kindly
I will do my best.
Today is the 6th of January. I had my last cigarette during the night of Dec. 31/Jan. 1. I was a smoker for almost 16 years.
I quit once before, for a year and a half, when I was 26. I quit by chewing tobacco. It wasn't hard to quit then, but, as you can guess, the chewing tobacco merely replaced the cigarettes. I don't know really if chew is any more or less dangerous than smoking, but it is generally considered nastier. I really didn't mind it. I didn't smell like smoke any more. I used to smoke in the apartment, all my friends smoked, and I worked as a bartender at one place and a pizza delivery driver at another...smoking is what people DID, and where I was, probably 80% of the population smoked. There were smoking sections in restaurants, and of course, in the bars you just smoked anywhere. When it was too cold outside, you smoked. When it was too hot outside, you smoked. Drinking, playing video games, standing around the keg, eating a fucking burrito, you smoked. You just couldn't get away from it.
I couldn't even really tell you why I quit then. I think it was just to prove a point, like I had a chip on my shoulder. When you are a smoker, the smell really doesn't disgust you. In fact, you usually don't notice it until your ashtray is overflowing with stale butts, or you wake up in the morning and smell your shirt from the day before. If you wake up with someone, you smell the smoke in her hair that you didn't smell the night before. You clear it all up by having a smoke, though...just empty the ashtray and take a shower; as a smoker that's enough freshening up. To a non-smoker it's different, I know.
You also don't taste the smoke. To a non-smoker the cigarette taste is fucking rancid, and it is completely impossible to comprehend why someone would suck on those things. The truth is, when you smoke, you seriously do not taste that shit. The taste is something different, almost flavorless, just a warm or hot draft going down like silk.
As you become more experienced, you can smoke more in a day and you don't wake up with a sore throat or crap in your lungs. You just get used to it and enjoy it.
I do find it amazing that so many people, including myself, became smokers when you have to go through such hell to do it! Seriously, it is not easy to start smoking. It tastes like ass. You stink. You start to feel like shit, and your chest starts burning, and you cough. Why the FUCK do you get to a point where you consider yourself a 'smoker' for real, and feel like you get a little merit badge for it? Some people may have had pleasant experiences right at the beginning, but for me, I didn't enjoy it for at least a year.
So, I became a full-time smoker. I never really got to be more than a pack a day, but that's plenty. I mean, how much fucking tiome do you want to devote to this? I paid for every one of those things dearly later on in the day. By the time I went to bed, I always felt nasty. I kept smoking, though. I liked it. Maybe, when I quit, I hjust felt like it was time.
It wasn't THAT hard quitting smoking the first time. I had been smoking for 6 or 7 years, I don't even remember exactly. The chew gave me the nicotine. And, if I really wanted a smoke, I would get one from my friends...not too many, just an occasional enjoyment. I seriously did not consider myself a smoker for a year and a half; I had that shit beat.
Hooo, boy...it came back. I had a guy move in with me who smoked 2 packs a day. Within a week, I was back to smoking. I felt horrible about it; very guilty. Mainly, I felt like I let my parents down...keep in mind, I was a grown man of 28 years. What a stupid thing to feel! They were never smokers, though.
This time, the smoking was better. Maybe it is because I switched from Marlboros to Parliaments, but the smoking just felt better, more natural. Yeah, I was a smoker again, and it made me happy. Since I have been living by myself, though (is in: without roommates), I have tried on a few occasions to quit. I wasn't successful for various reasons...I tried the patch, and that was just stupid. Made me sick and made my arm itchy, or wherever I had that retarded thing applied. I even put that shit on my butt to see if it would not itch. Didn't work. There were the girls, too. All the girls I have dated since I was in high school are smokers. When I say DATED, I mean I didn't go out on A SINGLE DATE AT ALL with a girl that didn't smoke. It's not that I prefer it in a girl...I really didn't care. But, when you are a smoker, YOU are the one that is limited...non-smokers really don't want to kiss you. Smoking was also a social activity. I would take smoke breaks at work with whatever girl wanted me to go with her down the elevator, and there we would be in front of the building smoking.
I moved to Florida. At that point, I stopped smoking in the apartment. Best thing I ever did...if anything was going to smell nasty, it was going to be ME, not my couch. The walls wouldn't turn yellow and burn marks wouldn't get on the carpet. I was smoking a lot less, then I started dating JJ. We worked together and snuck out to smoke as often as we could. Then, of course, when we would go out drinking, or staying at home drinking and smoking, or whatever. I seriously didn't want to quit smoking because I thought I wouldn't get to spend as much time with her. So, I kept smoking away. Even after we split I couldn't let go of smoking.
I got a new car and decided I wasn't going to smoke in it. Another great move on my part. That was about 20 months ago. I was down to about 1/2 pack a day because I didn't smoke in the house, I didn't smoke in the car, and I didn't have some goofy girl around. Now, I have quit altogether. I don't know if cutting back on smoking then is making it easier to quit now, but it is a possibility. I DO know that I am OK with all this. It wasn't that tough. I still want to smoke real bad, but I can deal with it. So far. Like I said, it's only been 6 days.
So, by the time most of you read this, it will be a week. It can be done.
I will make you a promise: if you are a smoker, I won't become one of those militant non-smokers. I don't look down on you. I know why you smoke...whether you think you are 'addicted' and can't quit, or not...you WANT to smoke. I get it, and I understand. You don't have to quit. I will never lecture you about it; frankly I am not sure exactly why I want to quit, because I enjoyed smoking. So...that's my promise.
Do me a favor, though, in return...if I fall off this wagon, don't rag on me. Trust me, I will be getting enough grief from myself that anything you could say will only hurt.
I'm really doing this shit, though. I'm on it.
I am 35 and I am in the best shape of my life. I have lost a total of 80 pounds and am only about 6 pounds heavier than I was when I graduated high school. I have been smoke and nicotine free for a week. I get regular exercise. I'm back on track from a lot of bad things that I may or may not have told you. I'm in the game.
Share your own stories...love, support, encouragement, whatever...and remember me kindly
I will do my best.
I have never been a smoker, but my husband was. He tried to quit several times like yourself, and he always went back. He tried just going cold turkey, smoking himself sick, and hypnotiism, but nothing stuck. Then....finally one time he decided to quit and it was different that time. He was totally quitting because he wanted to for himself - not for anyone else. He quit, took well-butrin for a while, and has never gone back. It has been 5 1/2 years now and he doesn't even think about it anymore. You certainly sound like you are in a good place and you definitely aren't doing it for anyone else, so I know you can do it!!!!
That's great you lost all that weight too...did you change your diet, or just start exercising? Be careful with your diet since you are quitting smoking - that is an unfortunate side effect! My husband also became more focused on healthy eating and exercise when he finally quit and that really helped him a lot because he could feel the effects of smoking so much when he was exercising.
Good Luck!!!