Back in the ring for another swing...

[Rick Inman]

PeoplesayI'malreadysohyperthatIdon'tneedcaffeine, so I'm cutting way...back....on.....the......coffee...........in..............take.................

only.................... one...................... cup................................t o d a y ..........................

Quit smoking already (along with a bunch of other bad stuff).

Good luck. They say that every attempt at quitting smoking has a better chance of being successful.

 

[pennypue]

Good Luck FW!!!

dlndavid also quit fairly recently......if he can do, so can you!!! LOL
And there are hidden benefits as well.......ask david about the tip I gave him....

 

[johnnyseko]

Good luck Frank!!! Just always have a bottle of water nearby....drink tons of water when you have the urge. Also having a huge bag of carrot sticks around might help! I did it about 10yrs ago, after several failed attempts. It can be done and life is sooo much better without the nasty addiction. SAC rate should get better too.....

 

[Vtdiver2]

Smoked my last cigarette a couple of hours ago.

"....and so it begins..."

(And hey, since misery loves company, anyone else want to join me in dropping these things?)

Frank, I gave them up Sept 8th of 2004. The first 4 days are the worst. Good luck pal, we're here supporting you in this.
C-Dawg

 

[bcleveland]

Good luck to you!!
A friend at the office just started also, I reminded her just one patch at a time and no, she can't fold one up and chew on it!

 

[jwvanno]

Fish Whisperer,

We can do this together!!!

I've smoked for 18 of my 36 years. I only tried to quit once in all that time, and that was over 10 years ago.

I work as a construction supervisor and spend all day driving by myself and outside at job sites. As a result, I can smoke all day long and I have been. I've been at 2 packs a day for 5 years or so...

My stragegy is this:

I believe 75% of breaking this habit is breaking the MENTAL habit, so since Sat 12/30, I've been breaking all my "associations" with smoking.

I stopped smoking at the job sites or in my work truck and I stopped smoking in my house. I force myself to go outside at home, and stop in a non-specific store parking lots while driving at work. The actual change in routine makes it cumbersome enough that I tend to "put it off" just a bit longer. These two tactics have been he** this week. I feel like I wanted to kill something a few times this week. But I think it's working well.

I've also been forcing myself to not smoke for a minimum of 30 minutes after I eat.

But in all the situations, I force myself to reach the milestone (getting up and going outside, stopping the truck, waiting the 30 minutes, whatever...) Then I "reward" myself with that thing I want the most. A cigarette.

But already, I can tell the "get out of the truck and light up" habit is leaving. The "have a smoke while browsing scuba board" habit is leaving. The "light up as soon as I finish eating" habit has actually been the easiest.

Last week I averaged 40 cigarettes a day. This week I've smoked 45 since Sat. (5 days)

My target is to drop all of them by Feb 1.

Why now?? In November, I scheduled 10 days in the Galapagos for Aug 2006...

I KNOW I'll have better dives then if I quit now...

Peer pressure on both of us. I'll talk to you Feb 1, when I'm as smokeless as you are!

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Wow! I'm... Well, damn... I think I might have got something in my eye...

I'm downright teary-eyed at the support and good wishes from you fine folks. Thank you!! *BEAMING!*

Oh, I am sooooo going to kick this nicotine-beast's azz!!!

 

[plankspanker]

I quit about a year and a half ago after smoking for 24 years and I'm still going strong. I tried to quit several times and pretty much agree with you on those times prepping me for this last time which worked. The worst thing you can do is start thinking about the times you failed and using that as an excuse to give up. ("why should I even bother, I'll just start again anyway") of course you think this when you want to smoke really bad and it's amazing how you can trip yourself up.
I quit for 6 months once and then started back (I was amazed how quickly I relapsed) and that made this last time suck as I didn't really start feeling like I had accomplished anything till around the 8 month mark. Because of how easy it was to relapse I don't even entertain the idea of having one regardless of the circumstances (drinking, celebrating something etc. all the times that "just" one cigarette would be pretty damn cool)
I still find self righteous non-smokers to be pretty damn annoying still so I don't think I am out of the woods yet. Only when I feel completely superior to smokers will I be totally free.... (kidding I honestly hope that never happens)

now if I could just kick this heroin habit I would be set. I just can't resist heroic women though.....

 

[Kevfin]

Frank... wow, good for you, I know you can do it...

Gives me incentive to give up alcohol, cocaine, sniffing glue, and sex... um wait, x-nay on the last one...

This is my wife, she's only 25:
View attachment 26703

 

[almitywife]

FW, good luck!

my dad died of emphesyma and was a very heavy smoker all my life - he died just after my 21st birthday and never got to know his 5 grandchildren (like the guilt there?).

my mum gave up smoking overnight after 30 years of smoking.. of course she had to fall down, break a hip and lie in hospital in pain for 6 weeks but she hasnt touched a ciggy since.

dont beat yourself up and give up if you fall down a little bit, just keep on trying

i wish you luck - i wish you strength.