I ceased smoking

[Money Saver 1]

Truthfully, addiction to cigarettes seems pretty damn stupid.  Smoking is very unhealthy, becoming expensive and makes you stink.

As a smoker the advantage of smoking is the chemical stimulation within my brain, a nicotine rush and it goes so good with coffee and late night owl pursuits.  Smoking may contribute to specific brain functions but theres no studies on these claims, but that isn't a good enough excuse.  Some say they like the taste and flavor but no matter what anyone says, not smoking at all is your best choice.

So now is the most difficult and critical part, getting through the next few days without a smoke.

[Lomonossov]

Congratulations!

I quitted like a year ago after almost 20 years of smoking, and it was easier than I thought. For me it was easier to carry around a pack of cigarettes for a few weeks, even if I did not plan to use them at all. At some point I even forgot that I used to be a smoker. You'll be surprised when you get your smell back and start detecting smokers from kilometers away.

Keep pushing.

[Papa bear]

Good luck!!!!


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[3Mer]

Congratulations! 

Tomorrow is actually my 10 year anniversary of quitting smoking. 

It isn't easy to quit, at all - but it is well worth all the effort to quit and stick with it (as you already know...)

[soulpatchmike]

It might not be helpful now, but maybe in the future.  I quit about 25 years ago and after the first couple years, I started having some bad cravings.  I was telling my boss at the time about it and he said "I am a non-smoker now, I don't think about how long it has been since I have had a cigarette or about cravings.  I am a non-smoker."  It seemed kind of a strange and inconsiderate response since I felt so proud of my 2-3 years of not smoking and being stuck having these strange cravings for a smoke.

Over time, the more I thought about it, the more that sentiment has taken root in me.  In the past 10-15 years, I have smoked the occasional cigar(for a couple years pretty consistently) with a buddy and actually have smoked and inhaled a cigarette during a couple of rare occasions I end up near someone who still smokes those things after a few cocktails.  There is nothing left of me that would think about going to purchase a whole pack of cigarettes.  After all, I am a non-smoker...

[Visitation]

Congrats!  I smoked for 19 years, and quit 18 years ago!  Best decision my wife and I ever made.  We've been much healthier and saved a ton of money on smokes since then!

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[Kris]

Smoking killed both of my parents. I am always so overjoyed to see people quit! Good for you!

[Sibley]

Whoo! Keep it up.

And then please get my mom to quit smoking.

[Zamboni]

Nice! Sounds like a good day.

[rosarugosa]

Good for you, and keep up the good work!  I quit just over 10 years ago, and it was the best gift I ever gave myself!

[iris lily]

To OP: please find a substitute activity these next few months.

When I quit  some 30 years ago, my substitute activity was going to the mall. I lived in Northern Iowa
Where it was cold and snowy, so walking the long shopping mall got me out of the house and active. During that time I spent $1,000 on clothes. But that was my activity…walking, shopping, more walking.

I did not gain weight (although if you gain weight it’s not a big deal. You can take it off later.) That $1,000 was money well spent.

So many Hollywood people smoke, it keeps their weight down,  but you don't hear about that. One time when I posed  with a photograph with a celebrity who came to town for a charity promotion, she was smoking and she put her cigarette behind her back for the photographs. She said oh we’re never photographed with a cigarette!

[okisok]

Congratulations! I quit a long time ago, but up until about 5 years ago I'd still bum one occasionally. It does help to think of yourself as a non-smoker, someone who does not buy cigarettes, someone who does not spend time with smokers (while they smoke).

[englishteacheralex]

I quit over twenty years ago after having been a pack-a-day smoker for five years. I used this website: www.whyquit.com extremely heavily to help myself fight cravings and understand what my addiction was really about. It's a very, very old looking website. But it helped me a lot. This guy, Joel Spitzer, made a major difference in my quit journey. He has hundreds of articles--when I read them it was like he was speaking directly to me. For the first couple of months of quitting, I'd just sit and read these articles over and over. I've never looked back and never had another cigarette.

Here's a link to his e-book:

https://whyquit.com/joel/index-ebook.html

[cool7hand]

Kudos! How's it going? How can we be supportive?

[moneypitfeeder]

Truthfully ... not smoking at all is your best choice.

100% Congrats and good job just walking away from them. We took several years vaping and reducing the nicotine level of the "juice" till it was zero and we could walk away from nicotine for good, just over 1 year ago now. Spent roughly 30yrs smoking and probably half of those thinking I should quit.

[jnw]

Congrats!

I quit smoking back in early 2008.  I was very addicted and I had tried to quit multiple times.  Finally I just went cold turkey and did it.  First month was really hard.  Started getting better after that but cravings come back often. 

After a few months you only get cravings every so often and if you can ignore them for 5 minutes they go away.  They also come back even years later out of nowhere, but just 5 mins and you wont' be bothered with them for many months later.

Finally after like 7 years the cravings very rarely ever come back.  Except maybe 1 or 2 times in the past 5 years.  The craving passes fast and never bothers again for years even.  But my brain hasn't 100% forgotten about :)

I was shocked to find packs of cigarettes selling for $10 a pack recently.. I jsut shook my head. I thought $4 per pack was horrific way back in 2008.  I wasted so much money on cigarettes.

My lungs feel so good now :) As if I never smoked.  I feel so much better not smoking.  It was so rough on the lungs and made me feel awful all the time.

[marty998]

@JenniferW try $30 a pack in Australia. We tax the bejeezus out of it here.

@Money Saver 1 please check back in here. You have a lot of people cheering you on here.

Even if you've had a relapse, no one is gonna knock you down for having a go. We'll support you to try again.

[regenaeb]

I am so happy when I hear someone quits smoking. Especially after my 38 year old niece had a heart attack last fall, she is a very heavy smoker. She is super thin and does not drink, but she smokes at least a pack a day. She hardly eats and drinks Mt. Dew at least 2-3 times a day. Luckily she is a nurse and recognized the symptoms on the heart attack and was able to get the ambulance called before she passed out. When she woke up the next day her doctor told her she was lucky to be alive, she had the widow maker. My sister in law (her mother) was just a wreck over the entire thing. I saw her at Christmas about 3 months after it happened and she is back up to the same pack a day habit, not eating and drinking Mt. Dew again. She will have to be on blood thinners the rest of her life and she doesn't look well. I am 46 and her mother is 56. She looks older then us. I told my husband I have a feeling we will be at her funeral within 5 years and that makes me so sad.

So please keep up the fight in quitting. Even if you fall off the wagon and start again, make a plan to quit again. You can do it!

[sonofsven]

I am so happy when I hear someone quits smoking. Especially after my 38 year old niece had a heart attack last fall, she is a very heavy smoker. She is super thin and does not drink, but she smokes at least a pack a day. She hardly eats and drinks Mt. Dew at least 2-3 times a day. Luckily she is a nurse and recognized the symptoms on the heart attack and was able to get the ambulance called before she passed out. When she woke up the next day her doctor told her she was lucky to be alive, she had the widow maker. My sister in law (her mother) was just a wreck over the entire thing. I saw her at Christmas about 3 months after it happened and she is back up to the same pack a day habit, not eating and drinking Mt. Dew again. She will have to be on blood thinners the rest of her life and she doesn't look well. I am 46 and her mother is 56. She looks older then us. I told my husband I have a feeling we will be at her funeral within 5 years and that makes me so sad.

So please keep up the fight in quitting. Even if you fall off the wagon and start again, make a plan to quit again. You can do it!

That sounds terrible. I wonder which is worse for your health, the smoking or the Mt Dew?

[jnw]

@JenniferW try $30 a pack in Australia. We tax the bejeezus out of it here.

@Money Saver 1 please check back in here. You have a lot of people cheering you on here.

Even if you've had a relapse, no one is gonna knock you down for having a go. We'll support you to try again.

That's insane, that's like twice the price of cigarettes here in the U.S.  $30 Australian is about $21.71 US. So a pack of cigs here is like $15 Australian.  Or was the $30 you mentioned converted to US dollars for me?  If so that's nuts!  Three times price.

[shureShote]

I am so happy when I hear someone quits smoking. Especially after my 38 year old niece had a heart attack last fall, she is a very heavy smoker. She is super thin and does not drink, but she smokes at least a pack a day. She hardly eats and drinks Mt. Dew at least 2-3 times a day. Luckily she is a nurse and recognized the symptoms on the heart attack and was able to get the ambulance called before she passed out. When she woke up the next day her doctor told her she was lucky to be alive, she had the widow maker. My sister in law (her mother) was just a wreck over the entire thing. I saw her at Christmas about 3 months after it happened and she is back up to the same pack a day habit, not eating and drinking Mt. Dew again. She will have to be on blood thinners the rest of her life and she doesn't look well. I am 46 and her mother is 56. She looks older then us. I told my husband I have a feeling we will be at her funeral within 5 years and that makes me so sad.

So please keep up the fight in quitting. Even if you fall off the wagon and start again, make a plan to quit again. You can do it!

That sounds terrible. I wonder which is worse for your health, the smoking or the Mt Dew?

I had a similar question pop in my head. That’s a nice one two punch. Sorry it’s your niece regenaeb, but geez.