Training & Nutrition - Quitting smoking.

I thought this might be the best place to ask, so I need some tips on quitting smoking. Tired the gum and patches, and when the whole step program is done, I am still wanting to smoke. Is it more of just a, "I want and have to stop, so I just have to deal with the **** that comes from quitting", or is there something that can really help? Anyone that has quit after smoking a lot everyday (8 years at a pack and a half a day) have any insight?

I want to quit bad, but everytime I try I always end up smoking again. :(

I was a chewer for 15-20 years. At one point, I was up to a can of Copenhagen a day. That's roughly the equivlaent amount of nicotine as three packs of cigarettes.

I tried the gum and the patches several times. I tried cold turkey a bunch of times. I tried to slowly cut back. I tried accupuncture. None of it worked.

When I was finally ready to quit...absolutely sick and tired of being a slave, I just put it down. I told myself that the craving would go away if I chewed, but it would also go away if I just waited it out. Guess what? It did. After a few days of that, I haven't had much of a desire to go back. What was different this time? Two things. First, I was truly ready to quit. No part of me wanted to continue using tobacco. Second, I have something spiritual in my life now that I never had previously. Your mileage may vary.

Good luck.

Thats what everyone is telling. Just quit when you are ready. Which is awesome advice and I thank you, but what if i'm never ready to quit? I feel like i'm "wanting" to quit because it is 1) people say not to smoke, and 2) because it makes my cycling really ****ty. But I don't feel like I really want to quit because it hurts me down to the core that I am wasting money, fitness and my life on this ****. I just can't feel completely destroyed by the fact that I am a slave. It sucks.

I quit nearly 10 years ago. Like everyone else, I tried several times before I got sick and tired of being sick and tired.

What worked for me was this. I just looked at the moment. I refused to have that one cigarette that will inevitably drag my butt back into the vicious cycle all over again. No way, no how was I going to have that single smoke. I didn't quit a two pack a day habit. I just quit having that one cigarette.

One day turned into one week, now I had an investment, and by god no way was I going to make myself go through that again. When the going got real hard, I just Googled "lung cancer".

You have to want to quit. Until then, it's all BS.

I quit nearly 10 years ago. Like everyone else, I tried several times before I got sick and tired of being sick and tired.

What worked for me was this. I just looked at the moment. I refused to have that one cigarette that will inevitably drag my butt back into the vicious cycle all over again. No way, no how was I going to have that single smoke. I didn't quit a two pack a day habit. I just quit having that one cigarette.

One day turned into one week, now I had an investment, and by god no way was I going to make myself go through that again. When the going got real hard, I just Googled "lung cancer".

You have to want to quit. Until then, it's all BS.
+1

Patch alone just made me a real pain to be around. People were asking me to start smoking again.Cold turkey didn't work. I used the patch in combination with the pill. Cravings were next to nil, and a month later they were gone. Two years and no backsliding. Good luck.

Cold turkey is the way to go. Forget the patches, gums and all that BS. The nicotine is gone from your body after 72 hours if you go cold turkey. Those things just prolong the agony.
You have to learn to replace the cravings and learn to deal with them. Deep breaths and lots of water helped me. After 2 weeks or so, the cravings start to go away and by 6 months, they are almost non-existant.

I smoked a pack a day for 27 years, and quit for the last time 2 years ago.

Everytime you want a cigarette, wait one minute. Sure you can do it! Every minute counts as a victory. Soon the minute becomes two, then ten, then in a few weeks you'll notice that you have extra money. In a year you could buy yourself a new bike!

One minute at a time.

I went from smoking three packs a day (smoked eight years) to smoking zero packs a day in one day. What helped me the most was not taking my cigarettes with me "just in case" like I had done on all of my previous attempts. I quit cold turkey with the help of cinnamon toothpics. Everytime I wanted a cigarette I grabbed a toothpic. By the time I considered myself a non-smoker I had pretty much burned off all of my toothpics. Now I can't stand even walking past a smoker.

If you aren't serious about wanting to quit it just isn't going to happen. You have to want it for yourself, not for anyone else.

I am still a smoker now, but the only time I've quit for any substantial period of time (almost two years without a cigarette) was when I did it cold turkey.

The gum, the Zyban, the inhaler, all didn't really do it for me. As everyone says, you just have to want to stop at some point. I've set my date for this fall, and am scared as hell of it.

I thought this might be the best place to ask, so I need some tips on quitting smoking. Tired the gum and patches, and when the whole step program is done, I am still wanting to smoke. Is it more of just a, "I want and have to stop, so I just have to deal with the **** that comes from quitting", or is there something that can really help? Anyone that has quit after smoking a lot everyday (8 years at a pack and a half a day) have any insight?

I want to quit bad, but everytime I try I always end up smoking again. :(


When I stopped smoking I did it cold turkey, and I picked the weekend getaway with the boys to do it. This was supposed to be the hardest time to quit because we drank like fish on these getaways. The trick that worked for me was sort of in the semantics. All my life I was told that if you "quit" anything you lose (quitters never win and winners never quit). So instead of "quitting" I told myself that I was not a smoker, or that I do not smoke, so why would I smoke if I did not in the first place. I also made sure that I did not tell a soul of my plan. I did not want to deal with the guilt of falling of the wagon, which in the end would drive me to smoke because of the added stress, that it would add to staying on the wagon. Plus non-smokers do not tell people that they are trying to quit smoking because they do not smoke to begin with. They will tell people simply that they do not smoke.

For me it was a case of getting in the mindset of a non-smoker. It worked for me, and it was easy. Of course this is my experience and I am not saying it is the best way for everyone, but it worked very well for me. I see it like trying to loose weight. If you go on a diet to loose fat and reach your goal, then go back to your old eating habits you accomplish nothing, but if you make a lifestyle change then you need to do nothing after your weight loss to continue on your healthy ways.

Get a bad cold, and when it is over keep not smoking. It gave me a good jumpstart!

I agree with folks saying go cold turkey. There is no way to make quitting smoking a pleasurable experience. The patch just prolonged the misery, gave me nightmares, and when it was done I still wanted a smoke. I sucked on Dum-Dums & licorice for a month. I avoided alcohol and bars for one month and refused to fall for the "you can have one" impulse. No you can't.

Finally, ride your bike like a demon. Excercise does help.

I gave myself a month to eat whatever I wanted to get me through the cravings. Twizzlers and shredded wheat did the trick. I avoided situations where I would want one (bars) and increased exercise so that I really wouldn't want one anyway.

Cold turkey is the way to go. Forget the patches, gums and all that BS. The nicotine is gone from your body after 72 hours if you go cold turkey. Those things just prolong the agony.
You have to learn to replace the cravings and learn to deal with them. Deep breaths and lots of water helped me. After 2 weeks or so, the cravings start to go away and by 6 months, they are almost non-existant.

I smoked a pack a day for 27 years, and quit for the last time 2 years ago.

+1, although I didn't feel "normal" for about a month and the craving decreases because the habit and the association you built up over time is broken like eating - smoking - drinking -smoking etc.... I only have a craving when I watch people smoke in old movies.... just have to remind yourself how much of a pain it was to quit when you get the cravings... so by all means try to quit as many times as you can.

Cold turkey didn't work for me. I smoked a lot for years. Started a few at a time when I was 9-10, got to smoking seriously in the Army. Smoked through college and 5-6 years beyond graduation.

For me, smokerism is like alcoholism. Once you are one you always will be one. I haven't had a smoke in over 15 years, but if my doctor told me I had 6 months to live I would smoke them two at a time till the day I died.

The way I quit (the last three times) was to put off my first smoke of the day till later and later in the day. I reasoned that I didn't have to get up at night to smoke due to cravings, so I should be able to put off that first cigarette 15 more minutes. Once I met the goal, I could smoke all I wanted for the rest of the day.

So one day, instead of lighting up as soon as my feet hit the floor, I waited until after my shower; then till I got to the car to drive to work, then till I got to work, then till first break, then till after lunch, etc. One day I woke up, had a day without a cigarette, then tried to do it again.

I fell off the wagon more than once. After a few weeks or months I would think "hey, I've got this thing beat. I think I'll have *just one*".

Then I would start over.

That whole cigar smoking fad almost sucked me in (pardon the pun:D ) but I'm still doing OK. The dreams have almost completely stopped, but there are times, man, when a good adult beverage and a smoke would sure be good!:beer:

Just remember, you're all you got, and there ain't gonna be any upgrades or new models in your future. You'll get enough wear and tear just living a full life, so there's no sense in tearing up the equipment just for the fun of smokey burnouts (another pun?). If I could control it I would have an occasional smoke, and some people can do that, but I can't, so I don't.

Good luck, and try again tomorrow.

I was a chewer for 15-20 years. At one point, I was up to a can of Copenhagen a day. That's roughly the equivlaent amount of nicotine as three packs of cigarettes.

I tried the gum and the patches several times. I tried cold turkey a bunch of times. I tried to slowly cut back. I tried accupuncture. None of it worked.

When I was finally ready to quit...absolutely sick and tired of being a slave, I just put it down. I told myself that the craving would go away if I chewed, but it would also go away if I just waited it out. Guess what? It did. After a few days of that, I haven't had much of a desire to go back. What was different this time? Two things. First, I was truly ready to quit. No part of me wanted to continue using tobacco. Second, I have something spiritual in my life now that I never had previously. Your mileage may vary.

Good luck.Sounds just like me except it was Skoal. It was simply a matter of wanting to quit bad enough. The only time I had a real problem after a week or so was when I drank beer. The two just went together. So I would make sure if I had beer there was no Skoal anywhere around.

SB

I quit 17 months ago.Used the patches for about 6 weeks and,contrary to what some are saying,they helped.The patches only took the edge off though.I tried and failed several times in the past and only succeeded when I wanted to quit worse than I wanted to smoke.It was a real B#####.I started riding when I quit.The first ride was about 4 miles and I felt like calling 911 when i got done.That was in March and by about Sep. I could do 40 mi. in a day.I'm hoping to ride a century next month.I'm 42 and can look at some folks i know that are 52 and see some whose health is permanently ruined by smoking.I didn't want live like that.I wanna be the guy who takes a 6mo. bike tour in his 70's.

Cold turkey + running. That's it. Prepare to lose weight.

The way I did it was slow - the cold turkey didn't work for me. The process was in a large part mental, that is, you have to want to quit. So what do you do? Chart out how much money it costs you per year (probably a new bike, maybe more). Read up on how smoking affects you (all the chemicals, aldehydes and such). Ask yourself if you enjoy coughing up Titleist-size goobers in the sink every morning, or if you like getting winded going up a flight of stairs.

Once you re-orient your mind, it's not so hard. And again, I did it slowly. If you smoke a pack a day, aim for one less. Then gradually cut back. When you're doing 15 a day, cut back to 14, and so on. Recognize the times you want a smoke - with coffee, after a meal, etc., and see if you can go a few more minutes before you light up. Like cycling - one day you do 20 miles, the next 21.

When you get to the point where you're smoking just one or two a day, then it's a matter of "Why am I still doing this?" You'll have cravings for a month or two after that, but if you substitute something for a smoke, say, do 20 pushups, and maintain your attitude that you want to quit to get healthier, it's not so hard.

Also, tell everyone you know that you're quitting. Once you make it public, it's a bit easier mentally.

30 years of a pack a day.
Cold turkey was the ONLY way it worked for me.

Takes 3 days for your body to clear iteself of nicotine.
If your addicted to it, it takes 1 teeny tiny bit in your system, for your body to know its there and demand a full recharge of it.
Thats why patches and gum dont work for squat, they keep adding a bit to your system, which means your body constantly wants a complete refill.

Go cold turkey, 3 days later your done. After that its just habit that needs breaking, the chemical addiction is actually broken. But take 1 puff, 1 gum, 1 anything that adds some back into your system and.........

As others have been saying, cold turkey is the best way; see: http://www.whyquit.com for the finer points of why, but yeah, in 72 hours, your body will be nicotine free (nicotine is a pesticide, BTW), and your brain will be well on its way to re-wiring to its previous non-smoking network (when it didn't have to deal with the pesticide cruising your bloodstream). Oh, sure, it's tough, there's no getting around that, but if you just soldier through it (distract yourself with new activities, etc.) for the first couple of weeks, your investment in your new self becomes priceless...

I quit on May 28th of this year, after 24 years, smoking around a pack a day. I had a doctor tell me that one can pretty much get away with smoking for somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 years, but after that, it's like walking closer, and closer to the edge of a cliff. I've not smoked 1,718 cigarettes since then, and have saved $429 - this is only after 73 days; not to mention all of the other benifits:

Better tasting food/drink
Better sense of smell
My clothes/hair don't smell like sheet
Better cardiovascular system (bloodflow, baby, bloodflow! ;)
No need to stop on the way home to buy smokes ($5.50/pack)
[...the list is truly endless.]

As others have been saying, cold turkey is the best way; see: http://www.whyquit.com for the finer points of why, but yeah, in 72 hours, your body will be nicotine free (nicotine is a pesticide, BTW), and your brain will be well on its way to re-wiring to its previous non-smoking network (when it didn't have to deal with the pesticide cruising your bloodstream). Oh, sure, it's tough, there's no getting around that, but if you just soldier through it (distract yourself with new activities, etc.) for the first couple of weeks, your investment in your new self becomes priceless...

I quit on May 28th of this year, after 24 years, smoking around a pack a day. I had a doctor tell me that one can pretty much get away with smoking for somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 years, but after that, it's like walking closer, and closer to the edge of a cliff. I've not smoked 1,718 cigarettes since then, and have saved $429 - this is only after 73 days; not to mention all of the other benifits:

Better tasting food/drink
Better sense of smell
My clothes/hair don't smell like sheet
Better cardiovascular system (bloodflow, baby, bloodflow! ;)
No need to stop on the way home to buy smokes ($5.50/pack)
[...the list is truly endless.]

Watch out though. The first three days are the bad physical withdraw. That sucked, but I could recognize the cravings for what they were. It was around the two month mark, when I was confident I had it whipped, my brain started playing tricks on me., "You have done so well not smoking, you deserve a reward", it said. But what? "A cigarette" my brain replied, and it sounded reasonable as odd as it may seem. For some reason, those impulses were the hardes to resist.

Two years after quitting, I still have not had a single cigarette. I feel great about it, but about once a month I still have a dream about smoking.

I smoked hand rolled cigarettes for about 15 years and ready rolls for a few years after that, probably a pack a day. It took me several years to quit. I used the pills which made cigarettes taste bad but I always ended up smoking anyway after a month or two. Boredom while on business trips was my biggest reason to restart.

What finally worked was to change my routine by starting to walk outside every day for a half hour at lunch time. That gave me something else to focus on when I felt like smoking. Part of the attraction of smoking at work is getting to go outside periodically. When you're quitting the urge to smoke is strong but it doesn't last. You need a way to get through that 2 minute period every hour or two. It does get easier.

I've been off for about 4 years now and I think about it very rarely. 2nd hand smoke gives me a nostalgic feeling but it's not a problem.

try to associate nasty images of what WILL INEVITABLY HAPPEN TO YOU IF YOU KEEP SMOKING with cigarettes -

-walking slowly down the sidewalk dragging an oxygen tank while people ride their bikes by you
-lying in a hospital bed, mouth full of tubes, in incredible pain from the cancer destroying your lungs
-etc.

I smoked a pack + aday for 12 years. I am in the Army, and everyone around me smokes in my face constantly. I love smoking, I love everything about it, but I want to be able to breathe when I'm old, I can't imagine being a weak, old man because I smoked and drank too much, so I quit, and I'm not so much of a sissy that an inanimate object can make me do things I don't want to. My commander and wife do that enough, so I'm just not gonna let cigs and whiskey do it.

I never smoked, but my grandmother did for 30 years. She quit 33 years ago. She did it by counting the number of cigs she smoked, then started cutting out one per day. Eventually she was down to just one, then figured, why am I smoking one cigarrette? Then just quit. I have no idea how hard this was. It just worked for her. Good luck!

What worked for me was this. I just looked at the moment. I refused to have that one cigarette that will inevitably drag my butt back into the vicious cycle all over again. No way, no how was I going to have that single smoke. I didn't quit a two pack a day habit. I just quit having that one cigarette.


This is truley a great way of looking at the act of quiting. I am going to use this.
-John
2006 TREK PILOT 2.1 s.p.a.

Wow, I didn't realize there were so many previous and current smokers out there. I have smoked on and off for 20 years with the longest break for four years. I never got heavier than 10 cigs a day, (never smoke at work, in the car, in the house or in front of my kids). Currently I still smoke 2 maybe three cigs a day, typically right before bed. My wife only lets me smoke American Spirit Organic Lights...no Marlboros for me. She hates when I quit. I driver her nuts.

I will quit some day...My doctor still shakes his head at me and my wife cannot understand how I am disciplined enough to get up almost every morning at 0530 and ride twenty miles but not strong enough to put down the cigs...

I made some not so smart choices when I started attending college and left home for the first time. One of them was smoking. Since then (many years) I have all but quit. I am down to 3 a day, and very soon that will be 2, then 1 then none. For the longest time I felt that smoking a little was a better alternative than gaining a bunch of weight. But the smoking is so bad for the heart muscle. You constrict the veins in the heart muscle when you smoke, and it also will deposit plack on the walls of those veins. That's why heart disease is so prevalant among smokers. So "Live Strong" and give em up for good. Riding will become easier, and I guess the added time on the bike will counter act any weight gain tendencies.

I will quit some day...My doctor still shakes his head at me and my wife cannot understand how I am disciplined enough to get up almost every morning at 0530 and ride twenty miles but not strong enough to put down the cigs...

Two questions Greg, why do you drive the wife crazy when you quit? And your riding, you ride alone in the morning?

Two questions Greg, why do you drive the wife crazy when you quit? And your riding, you ride alone in the morning?

I am high energy and high intensity. For some reason when I stop smoking it increases both. Mywife, (for 25 years now), doesn't appreciate the higher energy level or intensity. She is an artist and they tend to be more mellow. I am a capitolist and tend to be goal driven. It is a wonder that our marrige made it this far...except for the fact that I am totally in love with her.

Yes I ride alone...Only been on one group ride, (it was okay), but I like to ride alone.

I've been smoke-free since July 1st of this year (well...July 2nd I had one in the afternoon but was disgusted with myself and haven't smoked since). I'm going the cold route, and it do sucketh, but the cravings are dwindling with each passing day. A couple of years ago I read someone's post here who stated that the urge to have a cigarette passes whether or not you've had the cigarette. I've found that to be true. I distract myself for ten minutes and the craving subsides. Other than that, water and exercise is key.

So let's do some math!

Roughly sixty cigarettes per day for thirty years = 657,000 cigarettes smoked!

I haven't lit a cigarette for 43 days, so I have avoided 2,580 cigarettes, at a savings of about $450.00 US.

It can be done. So I'm doin' it.

Keep trying, and Best Of Luck! :)

I smoked 2 packs a day for 30 years. I was hooked in every sense of the word and cigarettes were my best friend. It took me 2 years to quit after I had a heart attack and started exercising big-time. What helped me the most was cognitive therapy--retraining my thoughts about smoking--combined with Zyban and the Nicotrol inhaler. I haven't smoked in over 4 years. That's pretty damn good! I do wonder how much damage I did to my body, and realize it could still come back to bite me in the butt.

I smoked 2 packs a day for 30 years. I was hooked in every sense of the word and cigarettes were my best friend. It took me 2 years to quit after I had a heart attack and started exercising big-time. What helped me the most was cognitive therapy--retraining my thoughts about smoking--combined with Zyban and the Nicotrol inhaler. I haven't smoked in over 4 years. That's pretty damn good!

Damn good. Inspirational in fact. I need to read stuff like this.



I do wonder how much damage I did to my body, and realize it could still come back to bite me in the butt.


I've had the same thoughts. Coming down with some smoke-related illness after I've quit -- Man, that would tick me off!

I've had the same thoughts. Coming down with some smoke-related illness after I've quit -- Man, that would tick me off!
But of course quitting drastically reduces the risk of those illnesses, as I'm sure you know. And the quality of your life is MUCH better after you quit, almost from the first day.

I was so hooked that I honestly believe that if I could quit, just about anybody could, as long as they are honest with themselves and keep trying. Of course the hardest part isn't quitting, it's staying quit. Never let your guard down--not for one second!

But of course quitting drastically reduces the risk of those illnesses, as I'm sure you know. And the quality of your life is MUCH better after you quit, almost from the first day...


DoshKel, you readin'? Good stuff here! :D Thanks, Roody.

I am high energy and high intensity. For some reason when I stop smoking it increases both. Mywife, (for 25 years now), doesn't appreciate the higher energy level or intensity. She is an artist and they tend to be more mellow. I am a capitolist and tend to be goal driven. It is a wonder that our marrige made it this far...except for the fact that I am totally in love with her.

Yes I ride alone...Only been on one group ride, (it was okay), but I like to ride alone.
Your post made me smile. I had to take up running just to knock the edge off all my excess energy, and it was years before I was able to approach the amount of reading I used to do when I smoked, it's just harder to relax and fall into a book without smokes. :(
Of course, the benefits outweigh the stuff you miss, like not dying of lung cancer, for one. I may have led a sheltered life, but quitting was one of the hardest things I ever did, so I applaud anyone going through the same thing.

I really, really wanted to quit smoking, so I decided to quit when I had my wisdom teeth taken out. Since I knew I'd have to stop for a couple days to avoid dry sockets, I figured why not make it forever. I motivated myself to resist by realizing that if I ever have another cigarette, I will probably quickly become a full time smoker again. As sick as I was of always smelling like smoke, of my poor health, of all the money I wasted, of having to interrupt activities for a smoke, it helped me overcome my cravings. Next January 16 is 5 years without a single cigarette after 4 years that was half to 2 packs a day. It helped to have other pain (my jaw) at first, and the pain medicine, and I used the patch. Obviously it would be tough to orchestrate all that, but when it was all gone, no more patch, no more meds, that motivation was all I needed. The motivation that having made some progress, I didn't wanna waste that effort only to end up in a way I had hated. Eventually the cravings finally got to be less like cravings and more like memories of something I once did that I don't anymore.

Oh yeah. It really helps to avoid drinking for a little bit while you quit. The association I had between drinking and smoking was VERY strong and the alcohol lowers your willpower to resist.

I quit cold turkey, seemed to be the only way to actually quit. Seemed if I tried to smoke one or two, I would just keep smoking more and more. I quit after a good long 10yrs or so of smoking, and when I finally quit I was at 2 packs a day. SO it can be done. I think starting a hard core excersize routine helps too. Or train for a triathlon. You wont want to smoke because it hinders your performance. Also, avoid drinking and bars as much as possible. Its a hard thing to do, to quit... but the reward is definitely worth the agony of going through the quitting process.

And as further motivation... just before I quit smoking, I found myself unable to jog an entire mile without stopping to walk. I was out of shape, but more than just being out of shape, the smoking was badly clogging my lungs. Without any change in exercise routine, I became able to jog two slow, but non-stop miles and to run one mile in under 6.5 minutes. All just from the clearing my lungs experienced from quitting. I had thought I was just in bad shape, but the smoking was affecting me more than I realized.

Gorayeb Learning Systems at 101 Round Hil Drive, Rockaway NJ 07866 has a self hyponosis CD for about $30.00. You listen to one of the three tracks each day for 30 days. You start with light hypnosis (track 1) for a few days, then #2 for a few days, then #3. It took me off a 2 pk/day habit quickly and it stuck. The re4ason it works is that you have a hypnosis session every day. bk

Keep trying- don't give up quitting. Go cold turkey for as long as you can. When you break and end up smoking again, quit again. After you've quit for a few days at a time five times in the span of two weeks, it'll be alot easier to go for five days without smoking. Go longer and longer without cigarettes until you're ready to really quit. And remember, if you lose your willpower and smoke one cigarette, it doesn't mean you've failed and you're allowed to smoke again.

A good way to deal with the oral fixation is to drink alot of water.

I quit today for the 2nd time.

First time I quit was a bit over three years ago. There is a clinic in Atlanta that has some sort of special drug cocktail (one ingredient was phenobarbitol IIRC) that they'll give you for like $400. I don't know exactly what's in it, but, they won't let you drive home by yourself after getting it, and it took two diazapams (given by the clinic) to allow me to go to sleep that nite.

I will say, it worked. By the following morning, my only cravings were psychological. I experienced ZERO physical withdrawal symptoms.

This lasted for over two years until a particularly stressful period at work made me pick the damn things back up. Quitting is one of the major reasons I started riding again after a 15 year hiatus. I figured it would be easier if I experienced all the negatives - reduced lung capacity, slower HR recovery, etc. As it turns out, not really. I would routinely have a smoke while I aired up the tires before a ride, and have another in my mouth before I took my HR monitor off at the end of a ride.

About two weeks ago, I decided I'd had enough. I set today as my "quitting day" because I already had a junket to Vegas planned for the weekend. I KNEW I'd never be be able to sit at a blackjack table without a smoke. I had one cigarette left from my trip, and I had it right after I dropped my little girl off at school. I came home and rode 53 miles (new personal record for solo distance). Tomorrow will be a bit bigger test since I have to go back to work. Fortunately, nobody else at my office is a smoker, so the ability to bum one will not be a temptation. All I have to do is not BUY any.

I already had promised my wife that if I couldn't quit on my own by 1 September, I'd go back and get that shot again. I REALLY want to save my $400 and avoid what was a REALLY miserable evening.

Good luck to anyone / everone else trying to quit. And congratulations to everyone who has.

Dan

Smoking SUCKS.

Bike riding helped me to quite and kept me off of the damn things.

I started riding again... after a while I would not smoke for a couple hours before I rode.
Then I would wait for a few hours after words to have a smoke.
The harder I rode the less I smoked.

Once I was down to a few cigs a day I started chewing the gum instead of smoking.
I would only pop 4 - 5 pieces of gum a day. The gum only lasted for about a week to 10 days.
Finally I was done with the smoking crap.

Today I don't smoke, have not gained any weight and am a cycling adict.

Best of luck to ya

I smoked mostly but I dipped for many years. In total I used for 7 years. One day I looked up cancer symptoms for dipping and thought I had one and was scared like a little girl, which made me quit dipping cold turkey. Two months later I got broncitis and couldnt smoke. I bought a pack of smokes had 2 and quit cold turkey. What worked for me was to keep that pack of cigs in my car when I went to work so I always had them around and it was my choice not to smoke. After 7 years of hating tobacco finally quit and August 22nd was my 2 year 5 month anniversary of not using any nicotine.

I actually found that very pack of cigs in a box 3 days ago. I tried the patch which made me itch and Ive tried the gum which got annoying. IMO the best way to quit is cold turkey and making it YOUR option not to smoke, by just not buying them or not having them around you are only not smoking because it isnt available to you. I still crave a smoke, but so very very happy I quit and that alone is reason enough to never light one up again.

Good luck, it will be hard but well worth it in the end

cold turkey didn't work for me either... what I did was cut down to almost nothing and then, it was the gum. It was kind of gross but i wasn't a heavy smoker so I didn't want to use the patch.One thing that helps is cutting out those cigarettes that you have with 'triggers' like coffee, alcohol and yes, after sex! Once you stop associating it with those things then it really makes a difference. A lot of it is mental. Yes, you have to really be ready and your decision has to be made. Just be prepared for some discomfort. For me, the first week was the worst. I remember having this terrible cough but it's normal.After that one week, it's so much better. You'll notice a difference in your lung capacity almost immediately! That in itself is a big reward. Egbert is right. Drinking a lot of water really does help. It flushes the nicotine from your system faster. So you pee a lot... think of all the toxins leaving your body. And another thing - baby carrots! They really work on cravings, i swear. THen, when you notice your lung capacity improve, get on your bike and enjoy the difference.

I'm 58 and quit 4 years ago after 40 years of 1 1/2 packs a day of nonfiltered for the most part. Tried patch, gum, classes, hypnosis etc...was coughing so bad I could barely stand while smoking. Couldn't run 50 ft, couldn't bike a mile. One night while smoking and trying to stay upright I just got mad and threw the pack away. Had to stay in my den away from anyone for 3 days because I was in such a rage I couldn't even drive a car...after 3 months, no more cravings after 4 years, I ride centuries and run up to 10 miles at 10 min miles...I really believe you just got to cold turkey and go for it. I must have tried to quit 50 times before I finally did. Always had an excuse to taper back up or start again after a few hours. I was really addicted, 2-3 hours without a cigarette and I was going crazy. GOOD LUCK I wish you the best!!!!!!!

I quit cold turkey 8 years ago. I was smoking 1 pack a day. For the first couple of days I just stayed home, mostly in bed, trying to sleep as much as possible.

There is a cruel trick to stop cravings after you quit smoking. Do not smoke or use patches for at least ten days. Then buy your favorite cigarettes, sit down at your favorite chair. Then lit a cigarette and start inhaling smoke very deeply, enjoying evey bit of it, one quick blow after another. If you vere able to finish one cigarette, lit another immediately and continue smoking. That is a real pleasure!

Then fun suddenly stops. Blood pressure jumps; face turns green. You may even vomit. If you ever been sick? That's ten times worse. Don't even try that if you have heart or blood problems. Cravings not only gone, but even thinking about cigarette or smelling smoke was making me sick since.

i think that's called aversion therapy.

The moral of this story is that different people have success with different methods. In the end, it doesn't matter what you use, as long as it works.