How many of u have quit smoking because of diving?

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pakman

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Need some inspiration... Spent over 20 yrs of my life puffing away... How many of you have quit smoking thanks to diving? I'm just about to embark on a path into tech diving and have decided diving and smoking don't mix. It's about time for me quit this nasty habit and start taking better care of my health... Given myself the rest of the week to puff my hearts content and then its cold turkey... well with the exception of some nicorette gum for the time being... wish me luck... hope I'll be able to fit into my wetsuit in a month's time :11: ...
 
I didn't quit bc of diving, though that was one of the reasons. Due to circumstances I wasn't actively diving when I quit.

But, you're right. Your ability to dive will be gone if your lungs won't allow it. So in the long run, they really don't go together. That is, unless you're willing to not dive in your old age & retirement years.

I for one don't want my diving, hunting or whatever cut off over the damn things, so I quit.

Quitting smoking is like doing time in prison. If you live through the 1st 3 days you know you can make it.

One thing I did to motivate myself was to actually pay myself the cash I would've spent on smokes. I took an empty bullet box & once each week I put cash in for the week that I didn't spend on smokes. I also kept a written log of the dates & amounts.

I had rules for this money: It was not to be spent on any consumables. It was to be spend on guns & gun related items. For example, gun powder & primers could not be bought for my reloading, but a gun, a gun safe, or a reloading tool could be. Also, the item had to be paid for at the time of purchase. I either had to pay cahs locally, or if it was ordered & charged to a credit card, the cahs to pay that off on the next statement was taken from the box.

I bought several guns, tools & a fireproof gun safe before I stopped keeping track of it & doing that.

You could do the same thing with diving. Decide what your reward will be. A new regulator? How about a nice new E7-100 steel tank? Whatever, make the 1st one something substantial but not too expensive. You want something you can reach in a reasonable amount of time, then buy it & set your next goal. So I would suggest modestly expensive gear items over, say, a dive vacation that would cost $3500 and take 2 years to pay for, for example.
 
I quit partly due to diving, but mainly for fear of cancer and poor health as I get older.
Good luck quitting, I did it after 25 years of smoking.
 
pakman:
Need some inspiration... Spent over 20 yrs of my life puffing away... How many of you have quit smoking thanks to diving? I'm just about to embark on a path into tech diving and have decided diving and smoking don't mix. It's about time for me quit this nasty habit and start taking better care of my health... Given myself the rest of the week to puff my hearts content and then its cold turkey... well with the exception of some nicorette gum for the time being... wish me luck... hope I'll be able to fit into my wetsuit in a month's time :11: ...

I quit a little over a year ago after 17 years of smoking and diving was what pushed me to quit. I used wellbutrin for a couple of months to ease the transition and that was that. Because it pretty much kills the cravings I didn't gain weight while I was quiting. (you eat to substitute and distract yourself from wanting a cigarette, with no cravings I didnt have the need to replace food with cigarettes)
I am very happy that I did it and it didnt take that long to notice a difference in my health.

good luck!
 
Hey Pakman -
Good luck on your decision. My boyfriend and I quit cold turkey one day 2 years ago, best decision ever made, though at the time I was not very excited about it! Every day is a challenge, but boy do you feel good knowing you didn't smoke today.
Make sure you have a way to spend your time when you'd normally be smoking - ie...continue to take your 10 minutes breaks at work, just don't smoke, instead maybe read the paper, or take a quick walk. Also - I chew a LOT of Orbit gum! Keep talking to other people who did it.
It's not an easy transition, but I think cold turkey is the way to go.
Congrats and Best of luck!!
 
thanks guys...

wayward son, good suggestion... too bad cigarettes are lot less expensive here than the states!!! But anyways, I'll start making a wish list of scuba goodies..

david - I see we share the same passions... sushi and asian women? lol
 
lisa_j:
Make sure you have a way to spend your time when you'd normally be smoking - ie...continue to take your 10 minutes breaks at work, just don't smoke, instead maybe read the paper, or take a quick walk. Also - I chew a LOT of Orbit gum! Keep talking to other people who did it.
It's not an easy transition, but I think cold turkey is the way to go.
Congrats and Best of luck!!

thanks for the words of encouragement. Agreed, cold turkey is the only way to go. I had forced myself over the past year to not smoke during the day in the office. But sadly I've found myself smoking like a chimney right after work and all thru the nite. And the social smoking... argh... drink= need a cigarette.
 
pakman:
And the social smoking... argh... drink= need a cigarette.

Well - I solved that by substituting that cigarette with another drink! And then another drink to celebrate that cigarette I didn't smoke!!
 
pakman:
Need some inspiration... Spent over 20 yrs of my life puffing away... How many of you have quit smoking thanks to diving? I'm just about to embark on a path into tech diving and have decided diving and smoking don't mix.
That sounds exactly like what I went through. I have been smoke free for 3 1/2 yrs now.
 
pakman:
thanks for the words of encouragement. Agreed, cold turkey is the only way to go. I had forced myself over the past year to not smoke during the day in the office. But sadly I've found myself smoking like a chimney right after work and all thru the nite. And the social smoking... argh... drink= need a cigarette.
Cold turkey may or may not be the best way. My friend did it that way. I was always unable to do it.

I used the patch to lower the physical cravings while I dealt with the behavioral cravings (smoking while drink, after a meal etc etc). After I got that under control, I just slowly lowered the patch level until I no longer had the physical cravings.
 
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