Yep, been smoking since a very young age
and it's time to try and quit it.
Im getting pretty unhealthy. But one of
the main reasons to quit for me is not
only health, but money. I'll be able to
do alot more with my time because i will
have the cash to do so. Im going to get a
cheap electric practice guitar. What do
ya think of dem apples. You have probably
already heard this before huh?
So wish me luck man!
P.S. any advice is welcome.
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EklipseX
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 15 Jun 2007 Posts: 102 Location: Dallas, TX
Thanks: 1
Thanked:0
Posted: 06-21-07 15:37pm
I'm right there with ya Im working on
quitting right now too. The hardest thing
is to decline the urge to smoke "just one
more". That's what messes it up for me
every time. You feel like your going to
crave that 1 last cig for the rest of your
life, but after you smoke it you'll just
want another. If you have the will power
to decline it, the urge will pass, and you
will feel good about yourself. Keep us
updated on how you are doing, I will too.
Good luck to you.
Eklipse
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sillyakchick
Supporter
Joined: 12 Apr 2007 Posts: 2688
Thanks: 5
Thanked:0
Posted: 06-21-07 15:55pm
Agreed! for me cigarettes are like
alcohol to an alcoholic. I used to
rationalize it by saying, Oh I can just
have one, it's been such a difficult day,
week, month, year, life, last two hours,
but that was all it would take to send me
off to the store for another pack. This
might help you to stay focused. Here are
some health effects the cigarette
companies don't tell you about:
Smoking causes
Osteoporosis
Lung Disease (of course)
Cancer (quite possibly)
COPD
Circulatory problems
Possibly Gangrene
Early wrinkles
Difficulty breathing and exercising
Brain cancer
Asthma
Allergies in children
Increased ear infections in children
Complications with Diabetes
Yellowing of the skin and nails
Dental problems
Oral and pharyngeal cancers
Chronic sinus infections
Chronic bronchitis
Aleep apnea
Bad breath
I hope this will help to keep you thinking
about why you want to quit.
Here are some tips:
Put your cigarette money in a clear glass
jar every day. Reward yourself with your
saving
Re-invent a "healthy you". Try a new
exercise program, but start slowly.
Substitute your cigarette breaks with
short walks or healthy snacks. Try a new
vegetable every week.
Try supplementing your diet with B-complex
vitamins. they can help battle some of
the depressive feelings when we deny the
body chemicals it has become accustomed
to.
Drink lots of water.
Try a short detox diet.
Remember that even if you screw up, you
can start right over again. "Falling off
the wagon" so to speak does not mean you
failed. You can just vow to make the next
day better.
Best of luck! Keep posting here and we
will gladly support you!
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goldiestar
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Jun 2007 Posts: 124
Posted: 06-21-07 16:00pm
Congratulations! Way to go! You can do
this! Keep us up to date on your progress.
I know this will work out for you
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HappyHappy
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 41
I Do That To. Posted: 06-22-07 06:26am
Just one more. or maybe I could just cut
down to five a day. It's daunting when
you think these things. But if I get
pissed enough ill surely be able to quit.
Maybe I should go visit the hospital word
where there are sick people who got sick
from smoking and then I could have a very
clear and real picture about what can
really happen to me.
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UCanQuit
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 109 Location: SEATTLE
Posted: 06-22-07 08:26am
Hey Gudaz,
I don't want to discourage you, but I
have seen a lot of people (including
myself) try to cut down or try to quit
using the gradual withdrawal method. I
don't know how much you smoke, but I
smoked 2 packs a day and I tried to cut
down and it felt horrible, because I was
in constant withdrawal. Like just about
everyone else that's ever tried this
method, I went back to my old consumption
very quickly.
If you want to see what smoking does to
a person. Go to the homepage of
WhyQuit.com and look on the left hand
side. There are plenty of stories there to
see and read about the horrors of
smoking.
Before you consider trying this gradual
withdrawal. Here is a post I wrote a while
back about doing this. Maybe it will
help.
A common method that a lot of smokers try
at one point or another when they want to
quit smoking is the gradual withdrawal
method. Basically meaning that if their
regular consumption was around 20
cigarettes a day. They would gradually
start stepping down from 20 to 19. From 19
to 18. From 18 to 17 and so on. On paper
this sounds like a method that just might
work. The problem though is when the
person starts getting down to around 6 a
day or 5 a day or lower. They are going to
start feeling like they are depriving
themselves of smoking, instead of freeing
themselves from it.
To have a successful quit,the most
important thing that a person quitting
must do is change how they perceive
smoking and this is where the problem
with the method of gradual withdrawal
lies.
When a person is an active smoker. Most of
the cigarettes they smoke are smoked
automatically. Meaning that the person is
not really thinking too much about the
cigarette. The smoker usually smokes out
of habit and trying to keep their nicotine
level up to a comfortable level so that
they feel " so called normal." The only
time a smoker truly thinks about smoking
is when they are being deprived of
cigarettes.
When a smoker starts cutting down their
consumption at first they start removing
some of the habit cigarettes. This isn't a
big deal at first.
When the smoker starts getting down to low
numbers of cigarettes smoked a day, what
this does though is actually starts to
bring focus on the actual cigarette and
not just maintaining nicotine levels. Once
their nicotine level drops below that "
comfort zone", they are going to start
thinking about smoking. Now what tends to
happen to a smoker trying to cut down is
that the smoker starts to fixate on when
they are going to be able to have that
cigarette that they are holding out for.
Once they finally do smoke that cigarette
that they have been holding out for,
they'll relish it. Instead of just being
an automatically smoked cigarette to
maintain nicotine levels, that cigarette
is going to turn into a reward for the
smoker, because they "did so well" holding
out smoking for a lot longer period of
time.
You can see that this tactic not only
doesn't change how a smoker views the
cigarette, but it is probably actually
working against them, whether they realize
it or not at the time. They are going to
start to see the cigarette in a more
positive light. They'll start thinking on
"how good that cigarette" was instead of
realizing all they did was put a stop to
an overdue withdrawal that the cigarette
before that one created in the first
place.
The person is going to be in constant
withdrawal and this can reinforce the
thinking that the cigarette brings relief
instead of realizing it is the previous
cigarette that leaves the anxiety.
If you really want to stop smoking, that's
what you have to do. Stop entirely. Just
like an alcoholic, you have to just cut it
off completely.
Educate yourself. Realize a large part of
the problem people have quitting smoking
isn't just because they are addicted to
nicotine. It is also because they have
preconceived notions about smoking,
quitting and life after quitting.
After years of feeding the addiction. The
smoker starts to believe that cigarettes
actually do something for them, like
relieving stress or help them cope with
their emotions or any other life issue
that might come up.
Smoking doesn't relieve strss. It actually
creates it. It doesn't help people cope
with their emotions, it masks them and
also just takes the focus off them.
Cigarettes actually cannot do any of these
things.
The fact is, a cigarette can only do one
thing. It can only relieve an anxiety that
the previous cigarette created in the
first place. That's all it can do. It is a
one trick dog. Without that previous
cigarette it can't even perform this one
trick.
Remove the previous cigarette and you will
break the cycle of addiction.
