Foo - Today is 10 years since I quit smoking

I quit smoking exactly ten years ago today. April 1, 1994. I chose that day because it was the next holiday on the calandar and I figured that would make it easier to remember the exact date (it worked!). At the time no one believed me because they all thought it was an April fools joke. But the joke is on them because I have been smoke free for 10 years!!!

I quit 'cold turkey'. No patches. No therapy or counciling. No special classes or hypnotizing. The only teqnique I used to wein myself from tabacco is that I carried a water bottle with me EVERYWHERE I WENT for about two weeks. Whenever I got a craving I took a hit from the water bottle. I also quit activities that I associated with smoking: bowling, drinking, dining out and fishing.

1994 was also the first time since childhood that I rode a bicycle. After successfully giving up cigarettes, I was looking for a way to get fit. First I tried jogging but didn't like it. So one day I walked up to Country Mart (a local grocery) to look at magazines to see if I might find something interesting. I picked up the August 1994 issue of Bicycling Magazine and read an article about something called a "century". The idea of riding 100 miles on a bicycle sounded insane! Before then I had never even imagined that such a thing was possible but I liked the idea. I subscribed to the mag and shortly thereafter bought my first adult bicycle- a 40 pound KHS road bike with stem shifters and biopace chainrings. I rode the snot out of that bike even tho it was a big heavy clunker of a thing- all year round for three years until I could afford a better bike.

Anyway, I guess the point of all this rambling is:
1. getting off tobacco is hard but you really can do it so don't give up.
2. any bike is better than no bike.

I know I will still be smoke free ten years from now. I hope I am still riding, too.

HAppy 10th I still have 7 years before my 10th, like you I picked a holiday (Feb 14) so it is easy to remember

I working on my first smoke-free year since about 1993...

Happy smoke free!

It is inspiring to read a story such as yours- may you have 50 more smoke free, healthy years ahead of you!

Koffee

good job, man!

I quit smoking exactly ten years ago today. April 1, 1994.
I got you beat, Bob. I quit 14 years ago, but I can't remember the date. I loved smoking until I began waking up about 3 in the morning with my lungs on fire.

I smoked for about 18 years. I started when I was 12.

Whatever it takes, it's worth it. I see people toting oxygen tanks around. That's gotta suck.

Free at last.

Good job. Way to go! I often think how the tabacco companies would fare if they were trying to bring their product to market in today's FDA climate. There's no way it would ever make it to the marketplace. But now that it's entrenched and has lobbyists, there's no way we'll ever get rid of it. It's a filthy, disgusting habit that continues to increase my insurance premiums because the public is too ignorant to stop it. It also frosts me that my tax dollars also subsidize tabacco farmers. It's insane. Congratulations on your milestone!

Smokes are now 5.35 a box here in Chi Town. What a joke. That should be ammo enough

It's also sad when you see these poor, cigarette smoking gimps at the hospital smoking area- one guy had an oxygen tank and was smoking! I guess they figure he's going to die anyways.

I don't remember my date either,but it was in March sometime.

It will be 3 years for me in june, smoking cost me a collapsed lung and a week in the hospital with a chest tube slipped a few inches into my body with the help of a long scary as rod thing.

I quit at 12:01 a.m. on January 1st, 1985 as a New Year's Resolution. It is the only resolution I have ever kept! I quit cold turkey, too. I thought it was easy, but that sure is not the way the kids remember it! My oldest said that I put them through two weeks of living hell after I quit.

I pulled an old coat out of a closet last winter to give it to Good Will. Even after 18 years, the smell of tobacco STILL clung to it! Yuck!

Congratulations to all that have quit smoking. Long life and good health to you!

I am quitting in the middle of may. I have picked my date, and i am in the process of mentally preparing for it. I picked May because, if you have smoked in college, it is nearly impossible to quit while dealing with such stress. Congrats man! I look forward to being smoke free, i just can't right now

My hat is off to you and ngateguy and all who have kicked that filthy habit.

The will power it takes is tremendous. I am fighting the battle now, having stopped and started multiple times since the Great American Smoke Out back in 1985. I am battling it hourly and I think I might make it this time as I am getting tired of aerobic failure on the really tough climbs.

Mark Twain said "Quitting smoking is very easy. I've done it dozens of times."

My hat is off to you and ngateguy and all who have kicked that filthy habit.

The will power it takes is tremendous. I am fighting the battle now, having stopped and started multiple times since the Great American Smoke Out back in 1985. I am battling it hourly and I think I might make it this time as I am getting tired of aerobic failure on the really tough climbs.

Mark Twain said "Quitting smoking is very easy. I've done it dozens of times."


Good luck to you. Think positive thoughts. Think control. YOU are in control. Not the tobacco company. And if you get a really bad craving, pick up your water bottle and take a drink.

Bob, I am proud of you. Congrats. Fortunately, (or luckily) I have never smoked, not even one cigarette. But I know that it is one of the most addictive drugs ever manufactured. So, to quit cold turkey is an amazing accomplishment!

Good for you! It's a nasty habbit! I wish more people were strong enough to quit.

Smokes are now 5.35 a box here in Chi Town. What a joke. That should be ammo enough

So if you smoke a pack a day that would come to $1952.75 in a year. I'm glad I only smoked for a couple of weeks back in junior high school.

It's good to pick a date. THe best thing is to try and cut down your smokes as you approach the date so it will be a little easier. That's what I did. If you need smokes now, fine, we've all had to do finals, we understand! It's only the first two weeks after quitting you feel bad. I felt like I was getting the flu, and found it hard to sleep. And you'll cough a lot, but that's normal. Just be prepared to feel crappy for a while. But get out and ride or exercise, and you'll notice the difference just days after quitting, your lung capacity will improve almost immediately.

My uncle quit cold turkey just over a year ago. I got him back into cycling (after 30 years off) then and he's feeling better than he has in ages!

Ten years, that is awesome!!

It will be one year for me on the 21st. Not an easy task after about 33 years of smoking, but it does feel good to breathe for a change. I guess the good part is that there was no real health reason to quit, other that eventually I would have a health reason to quit.

My hat is off to all who have won the battle against smoking!!

I've been smoking for about 4 years, how hard will it be for me to quit? I am 20 years old right now...

I've been smoking for about 4 years, how hard will it be for me to quit? I am 20 years old right now...

Some people quit easily some hard. My only suggestion for you know is to quit, not matter how hard it is. You can do anything you put your mind to with a little perseverance ad hard work. Go to your doctor and talk to him/her about it. There are many ways that can help you to quit. If you do quit let us know I know you will receive a lot of support (and probably way to much advice :D ) from BF members.
The sooner you do it the less damage you will do to your lungs.

I quit in 1992 after smoking 3 packs a day for thirty years. thats 32,850 packs...even at a $2 a pack that would have bought a really REALLY nice bike.

And no, I do not think that the smoking contributed to my asthma, or my 4 heart attacks :( ....yeah, right you look so COOL with all those tube stuck in you and a man in white standing over you yelling "Clear!!".

I've been smoking for about 4 years, how hard will it be for me to quit? I am 20 years old right now...
I smoked for 18 years. I'd quit several times along the way for a few months at a time, so I've learned something about quitting: it got harder with time and the amount I smoked.

So quit as soon as possible. If you fail the first time you quit, keep trying until you do. Use any trick you can. After you quit, never say, "I've quit for two years now. I can smoke just one tonight and handle it without getting back into the habit." That's how I always got back into the habit.

One year, three weeks, one day, 5 hours, 33 minutes and 5 seconds. 11646 cigarettes not smoked, saving $2,038.21. Life saved: 5 weeks, 5 days, 10 hours, 30 minutes.

Quit @ 11:35 P.M. 08/25/00 as my New Years Resolution for 2000. I had built a 2 pack a day habit over 25 years.

One year, three weeks, one day, 5 hours, 33 minutes and 5 seconds. 11646 cigarettes not smoked, saving $2,038.21. Life saved: 5 weeks, 5 days, 10 hours, 30 minutes.Congrats to all of us.
I quit for the 1,000th and last time when my wife got pregnant. I didn't want our kid seeing me smoke. I don't know the date, but our first born is 22 now.

Labour day will make five years off smokes for me. Congrats to all who have done it. Everyone else should quit. Cold turkey is the way to do it. I think anyone who is masochistic enough to contemplate riding centuries should have more than enough will power to quit smoking. Give it a try, what have you got to lose, aside from some phlegm?

Way to go, all! Now, we have to tackle the biggest killer since it's not smoking anymore. OBESITY! WE (as a society) have stopped smoking and started eating. And it's killing us!

I love it when you have someone rant on about the evils of smoking, while they personally never walk a block, eat junk food and area 50 pounds overweight. Yeah, good thing you live such a healthy lifestyle!

Way to go, all! Now, we have to tackle the biggest killer since it's not smoking anymore. OBESITY! WE (as a society) have stopped smoking and started eating. And it's killing us!

I love it when you have someone rant on about the evils of smoking, while they personally never walk a block, eat junk food and area 50 pounds overweight. Yeah, good thing you live such a healthy lifestyle!

Smoking is a personal addiction...obesity can be an hereditary thing.

In my effort to quit, I refused to buy manufactured cigarets. I began to roll my own. I figured if I was going to kill myself, I may as well do it as cheaply as possible. Not only did I save money, but the pain in the butt it was to roll every one cut my smoking way back. Where I was going through a carton a week, I found I was going through the same amount in two to three weeks. I still got the nicotine fix, but was more able to quit with less stress when I became ready to. But I refuse to say I have quit. Recidivism is a problem for me. Let's just say I am currently in remission.

And TrekRider - Good luck in your quest to quit.

My hat is off to you and ngateguy and all who have kicked that filthy habit.

The will power it takes is tremendous. I am fighting the battle now, having stopped and started multiple times since the Great American Smoke Out back in 1985. I am battling it hourly and I think I might make it this time as I am getting tired of aerobic failure on the really tough climbs.

Mark Twain said "Quitting smoking is very easy. I've done it dozens of times."

I quit 3/9/86. I was very fortunate, it was the first and only time I attempted to quit. I kept hard rootbeer and cinnamin candy around all of the time. Plus, a week after I quit, I started running, if you can call it that. Im not so sure it isnt more difficult to quit now than it was 18 years ago. I believe there have been so many ingredients added that make those nails more addictive. I would use any method available that would make quitting easier..patches comes to mind. Whatever it takes. Good luck.

That's partly true, body type, metabolism etc are hereditary. However, eating junk food, never exercising are personal choices. They may be influenced by environment, of course. Like smoking. If you grew up in a family where people smoked, like I did, you are likely to smoke- like I did.

If you grew up in a family where people smoked, like I did, you are likely to smoke- like I did.

Yep. Both my parents smoked. So did most of their relatives and friends. When I was in high school all my friends were smokers. This "culture of the smoker" influences our children every minute of every day.

I quit smoking exactly ten years ago today. April 1, 1994. I chose that day because it was the next holiday on the calandar and I figured that would make it easier to remember the exact date (it worked!). At the time no one believed me because they all thought it was an April fools joke. But the joke is on them because I have been smoke free for 10 years!!!

I quit 'cold turkey'. No patches. No therapy or counciling. No special classes or hypnotizing. The only teqnique I used to wein myself from tabacco is that I carried a water bottle with me EVERYWHERE I WENT for about two weeks. Whenever I got a craving I took a hit from the water bottle. I also quit activities that I associated with smoking: bowling, drinking, dining out and fishing.

1994 was also the first time since childhood that I rode a bicycle. After successfully giving up cigarettes, I was looking for a way to get fit. First I tried jogging but didn't like it. So one day I walked up to Country Mart (a local grocery) to look at magazines to see if I might find something interesting. I picked up the August 1994 issue of Bicycling Magazine and read an article about something called a "century". The idea of riding 100 miles on a bicycle sounded insane! Before then I had never even imagined that such a thing was possible but I liked the idea. I subscribed to the mag and shortly thereafter bought my first adult bicycle- a 40 pound KHS road bike with stem shifters and biopace chainrings. I rode the snot out of that bike even tho it was a big heavy clunker of a thing- all year round for three years until I could afford a better bike.

Anyway, I guess the point of all this rambling is:
1. getting off tobacco is hard but you really can do it so don't give up.
2. any bike is better than no bike.

I know I will still be smoke free ten years from now. I hope I am still riding, too.
with atll that money you save.....BUY A NEW BIKE! you deserve it!

I quit smoking a little over 11 years ago w/o patches or Nicorette. Cinnamon redhots and fake (not candy) cigarettes (from my neighborhood drugstore) were helpful. I picked up another substitute for smoking--namely bicycle riding! If I need to stop and smell the roses (as in that 60's song), I can. My congrats to all of you ex-smokers. Our wheels are also vastly superior to smoking for containing our waistlines.