Mr.Duck on 20/12/2006 at 05:45
Shut the fudge up, Scots, me old son...you're shitting me.
You've never seen a Bill Plympton cartoon or -that- one in particular? :)
Good stuff, eh?
:D
suewan on 20/12/2006 at 10:27
Good luck with the quitting smoking. I quit cold turkey many moons ago and I don't miss it one bit. However, I am now the worst anti-smoker and I can't even stand to be near anyone when they light up. Has anyone else here experienced this? I mean I can't even believe I ever smoked! I just can't stand anything about it now. I just find the whole thing so offensive now. I feel like such a hypocrite. Mind you, I think you replace one addiction with another. I noticed that I drank considerably more coffee when I quit and I now drink decaf in my home. That's just my personal experience.
Vivian on 20/12/2006 at 12:01
Yeah, I've noticed that. I caught myself sneering at someone at a gig for daring to BLOW his dirty SMOKE somewhere near my back, and then I realised that I have done same about four gamillion times myself. However, I do find the idea of breathing in stuff thats been in other peoples bodies pretty disgusting as it is, and when you can actually SEE the contents of other peoples lungs being puffed out into the room as little white clouds of lung-snuff, just waiting to go up your nose, it does make me feel a little queasy. Urgh. But It didn't used to bother me at all when I smoked, funny eh?
What? Oh yeah, cancer.
Thats bad too.
RGL on 20/12/2006 at 13:21
Quote Posted by Shayde
So you can see that christmas in the Shayde household is going to be tense. Any advice from those who have successfully quit?
Wait until
after Christmas!
Seriously, you have picked one of the most difficult times of the year to decide to quit. When you have distractions such as work it's easier to put smoking out of your mind. At home with both of you moping around thinking about ciggies it won't be very easy for you. Also the world feels like it's missing something when you first quit, this is amplified by situations such as holidays and even more so by Christmas. I
still[/] want a smoke at Christmas after having a drink even after 4 years of quitting. It doesn't completely ever go, urges are just very rare and short lived.
Do you or your husband like going out walking? I have to say that this one thing really helped me more than anything else. I am now a proud weekend rambler :-) Whereas before I'd sit home all weekend smoking and playing games and a short 2 mile walk would leave me knackered, now I can go for 10 mile hikes up a mountain and not feel tired at all.
PS: I quitted 4 years ago after 14 years smoking.
Things that helped me were.
Getting a new hobby that broke the routine of my old one (games / smoking, writing music / smoking) - Now it's going out for a hike on the weekend and short walks in the evening. I am also back to playing games and music but without the smoking :)
Eat/drink something healthy when you get the urge to smoke, like a carrot and a glass of water, go outside and take deep breaths of the air.
Don't go out drinking for a while. If going out to pubs is causing you to want to smoke then don't go until you know it's safe.
I started eating bags of mixed seeds to give my hands something to do (I used to roll my own) when the urge came.
Avoid smokers. Like the plague! Even if they are your friends just tell them you'll contact them when you are over the smoking.
Throw out all those ashtrays.
Don't quit drinking tea or coffee at the same time thinking it will help. You just end up with two urges instead of one.
Put the money you would have spent on boxes of cigs into a jar. At the end of the month get it out and treat yourself to a present. That's your reward for managing to stay off the cigarettes for a week. That and being able to breath, better fitness, good circulation, a hugely decreased risk of cancer and emphysema and not sounding like a bubbly wheeze monster when you talk.
Quitting smoking is one of the hardest things to do but it gets easier every day. Three weeks is all it took for me to break the addiciton. The rest was a battle of wits with myself.
Good luck!Shayde on 20/12/2006 at 14:25
Quote Posted by Scots_Taffer
Congratulations and commiserations - what did you win out of the tournament?
Money honey. \0/
Things are going much better. I told my husband about my relapse (I have guilt issues) and I haven't had a craving in 2 days.
Caught myself eating more though so I must watch that carefully.
We went out to lunch today and sat in the beautiful garden, non-smoker section and it made a lovely change from the glass, smokers cupboard we used to sit in.
We are walking around a lot by default due to christmas shopping. 4 hours in christmas rush is better than the comrades I swear. And I actually think it's better that we are together all the time through this, it's a built in support system.
Gillie on 20/12/2006 at 16:28
Quote Posted by Shayde
Money honey. \0/
Caught myself eating more though so I must watch that carefully.
We went out to lunch today and sat in the beautiful garden, non-smoker section and it made a lovely change from the glass, smokers cupboard we used to sit in.
Sounds like you are getting there/:) It is hard I am the only one who smoke/d here. I find it a little difficult still. I smoked quite heavy. I can not give up on the caffeine mainly "Tea". The eating is the thing that is hard,but I am eating more fruit though,instead of sweet things.
Now so many places are smoke free. When I lapsed I went out side for one,but it is too cold and damp so the Winter is making it easier.
Healthier as well. It seems that you will do it.:thumb:
SD on 20/12/2006 at 16:49
Silly question maybe, but why do people start in the first place?
Ecstasy and cocaine and booze I can understand, cos there's a tangible high with those, but tobacco? I mean, don't get me wrong, I can appreciate a good cigar like I can appreciate Dom Perignon or Woodford Reserve, but that's a long way from the kind of addiction that people in this thread are literally fighting to escape. So what gives?
Carini on 20/12/2006 at 16:54
When I smoked in college it was a social thing, lots of people smoked. It's not as foul when you're all liquored up too. I never really got addicted addicted smoking socially.
When I was going through my divorce it was full on addiction pack a day kind of thing but that was because a cigarette is a powerful stress reducer.
quinch on 20/12/2006 at 17:24
It's a form of meditation. There's a heightened sense of moment as you puff on a tab. Look at the expression on people's faces stood outside offices. It's kind of like a cigar (think Hamlet adverts) but more intrusive, more penetrative. You shouldn't inhale cigars so you don't experience the joy of them going down. French Gitanes were good for that. I also enjoyed smoking with a sore throat for similar reasons. Stupid i know, but hey, it's smoking.
Nicotine controls your adrenaline levels and so heightens awareness and clarity. You get the same kind of buzz you would get if you were in danger or if someone gave you a fright.
Aerothorn on 20/12/2006 at 17:46
The local champion of the Mechwarrior circuit smoked a fair bit. One day he switched to toothpicks, and used those for about a month before he didn't need them anymore. Then he just didn't smoke.
Course I think after a year or so he fell back into the habit.
But yeah, I don't get starting smoking. I get why people KEEP smoking - but my understanding is that it's an acquired taste (i.e. few people really enjoy their first ciggerette), and why the heck would you want to acquire the taste? I'm not an anti-smoking zealot like most of my fellow Seattlites (who passed the famous "No smoking within 15 feet of a doorway" law, forcing smokers to stand in the middle of the street) - I think people can do what they want, generally - but I still don't get it.
