WhaleOil

I confess.

Although April 2 I go for my VO2 test at the VA. If I have to get an inhaler to open my bronchial tubes then that is the final straw. Unlike some that smoke after a heart attack, that's enough for me.

Quitter stories are encouraged!

-eric

WhaleOil

Let's just expand on Tom's thread.

late

Second best thing I ever did was quit smoking.

garydogwood

only after sex. haven't had a cig in nearly 11 years. interpret that how ever you want.

gw

v1k1ng1001

^^^ Lol

Gaucho Mexica

I used to smoke 3 packs a day. I was a chain smoker. I had been doing it for more than 15 years (I was 31 when I quit). Quitting was the best thing I ever did to my body. I picked up cycling when I quit. It worked very well to keep me off (having any aerobic activity that helps you reap the benefits of not smoking is a huge help).

I had quit once for a couple of years and returned. Mainly because when I quit that first time I left with an image of the cigarette as a lost companion, a friend that had been with me most of my "adult" life. That's in a way what got me smoking again later on, I had idealized my life as a smoker.

This time around I decided to try something different. I went to an Allen Carr (https://www.allencarr.com/) seminar. It is a very interesting experience, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking about quitting but really can't do it on their own. His book might work for you too, and is both cheaper and more accesible to everyone (geographically and/or monetary). Basically it is a conference/read where the cigarette gets questioned. It is not about why you shouldn't smoke (we all know that), it is about why are you smoking (or think) in the first place. It is not a magical fix, altough the marketing for it looks like a big infomercial. It is just common sense, and once you realize that, you just do a bit of effort and quit.

Anyhow, what worked for someone might not work for everyone of course, but it might be worth a try for those that want a different approach. The best part might be that you don't end up missing the cig, an this is very important to have a cig free life after quitting.

I know I sound like a bit of a shill for Easyway, but it really helped me and again, it is just common sense applied to understanding how your addiction works. It helped me kick the habit, made me discover cycling as a sport (I am totally hooked now), and in more than way changed my life. If it can help someone else, then great.

v1k1ng1001

So you joined BF in 2006 but waited until today to post?

Welcome to forums!

Gaucho Mexica

[OT] Initially I joined to research my bike buy (my Lemond Poprad 06) and applied the "use & discard" method for the forum. Since that time, I became a bike freak and have been reading more and more of BF the last 6 months, and now I am addicted to BF, my bikes and more bikes to come in the future. That is the short answer to your Q. Thanks for the welcome. Now that I am not a posting virgin anymore I'll make sure to write a more detailed description in the appropriate subforum.

UncleStu

I smoked for almost 30 years. The last few years of that, I'd usually smoke about 4 packs a week. While fighting off another summer cold, I finally quit on July 23, 2004. No ceremony, no huggy-touchy-feely psycho-babble, no announcements, no group support, no nothing. I just finished a pack about 3 that afternoon, & thought I'd try to make it to bed that night without buying another pack & smoking another cigarette. Then made it through the next day. When Monday rolled around, I had the urge to get more smokes, you can bet- but didn't buy any. I've stuck with it to this day.

The one extra behavior modification you may need to make- if you spend much time hanging out with others who smoke- you may need to take a break from their company for awhile. For about 5-6 months, I had to stay away from a friend who smoked. It doesn't seem to bother me now, I certainly don't spend time obsessing over it. But a few months ago, when I was setting out of for a long day that would involve a lot of driving(I used to drive a *long* commute, did a lot of my smoking in the car)- as I pulled out onto the highway, I reached for that left shirt pocket! Old habits may die hard, but you can do it.

One little sidebar- About 6 months after I quit- say spring '05- I walked in on someone making tuna salad, & the smell of room temperature canned tuna almost made me throw up. It stunk something awful- at least to me it did. To this day I can't stand the smell of canned tuna. Get it ice cold though, & it smells like almost nothing at all.

Blacktri99

I also have smoked and still do or should I say did, It has been 2 day's for me, not for any glamerous reason I got the flu and a 102 fever, I haven't felt like smoking or eating or anything for that matter, Hopefully I will just stay away from them when I recover.

On a side note, before I got sick I had lost 3 lbs. So riding has become my favorite activity, but the flu has derailed that for now:-(

Jim

garydogwood

here's the deal. smoked for 11 years. started in 1985 at the age of 32 (stupid stupid). had always been pretty active jogger biker rider. even after starting still was fairly active in jogging / bike riding and was always thin (maybe even a little too thin at times). in 1990 had a pretty bad heart attack couple days before my 37th birthday and had angioplasty procedure done.

to show my toughness (stupidity), i refused to quit smoking. went pretty well for about 5 years then starting having problems. in 1997 i had 3 separate angoiplastys (stents had come into the picture by this time) within about a 9 month period of time. the night before the 3rd scheduled angioplasty (sept 28, 1997), i realized it was quit or die. of course i had tried quitting many time before hand but once faced with life or death somehow had the willpower to really quit. also the doc gave me a prescription for wellabutrin(?). kind of kept me in a daze for about a month but did make it through.

the crappy thing about quitting is i gained about 50 pounds over the next 2 years. still working on getting that down. making progress - just need to be consistent with the excercise and proper eating habits.

quitting was difficult an i still do have cravings sometimes. i even have an ocassional dream that i have started smoking again and right on the verge of being addicted. such a relief when i wake up and realize it was all a bad dream.

i know smoking does not effect everyone the same. my grandmother lived to be about 95 and she smoked all the time. she died of old age. to anyone quitting, i wish you success

gw.

CACycling

I started smoking at 17. Was up to 3 + packs of Camel straights a day by my early 20s. Backed off and pretty much stayed at 4 packs a week of lights for 30 years. Quit once for a year but stated back. Finally quit for good in late 2005. I was recovering from the flu and hadn't smoked for a week so decided to end it there. Haven't had a smoke since. It was hard for a while but I knew one cigarette would start me back so never let myself have that first one.

mrbubl

You should only smoke when you are on fire......smoked twice.

Artkansas 

Well, I tried a few ciggies when I was a teen. But my mother set a great example for me. When I was trying a few ciggies, she was coughing her lungs out from her tobacco habit. That made the choice easy. She died of lung cancer just before she got her doctorate. Pretty sad.

It'll be tough, but I don't think you'll ever regret quitting. Every day you don't smoke, pay what you would have spent on smokes into tne new bike fund. Pretty soon you'll have a sweet new machine.

Ranger63

Ok; Here's the good the bad and the ugly.
I didn't start smoking till my mid 30s. mid 70s.
I quit during a 12 day stay in hospital following some nasty surgery in late 1994
A competitive cyclist before I ever smoked I rewarded myself with a 1991 (but never ridden) Paramount the following year.
I still cycle...did 6000 miles last year.
But..I have COPD. The emphysemic version.
Were I you,I wouldn't wait for the pulmonary function test. I'd quit NOW.
COPD-E is terminal.

Bizurke

I'm one of the only cyclists I know that smoke and get treated pretty badly about it when around other cyclists. In the last few weeks I've been cutting back on how much I smoke a little bit every day and am down to about 4 or 5 a day from a pack a day. I need to quit before it gets too warm and I'm riding a lot so I'm hoping weening myself off slowly will help when I do make the plunge.

When I rode RAGBRAI the first time a guy on my team was an ex smoker and he told me I should wait to smoke until I climb the biggest hill of the day, then just sit there all relaxed smoking as all the people just making it up the hill that can hardly breath look at you like you are the most evil person they've ever seen. I did that a few times and found the responses, and language, to be quite hilarious.

sumguy

Same here. Got so sick of hearing mom coughing her lungs out every morning that I never wanted to start. Have tried smoking but inhaling really irritates me. She hasn't quit but a fixed income has her cutting back.

Pwnt

I smoke after sex too...depending on how fast I go.

john bono

I plan on buying a pack of Camel Unfiltereds and taking them with me whenever I ride. If I ever pass a skinny guy climbing a hill, I plan on stopping on the top of the hill, pulling out the cig, and asking him for a light when he gets to the top.

Viking55803

I have struggled with nicotine addiction all of my adult life, but only smoked for a short time and switched to Copenhagen to save my lungs. From that I went to Nicotine gum. Nicotine itself is not a carcinogen, and I would urge anyone who smokes and can't quit to switch to a nicotine replacement. There is also a product called Stonewall, which is real tobacco with the nitrosamines removed (the most dangerous element in tobacco. It is called spit-free or hard snuff. In Scandinavia, most smokers have switched to low nitro tobacco snuff and there has been a huge decrease in health problems and no evidence that this form of tobacco causes mouth cancer.

The point is, you really want to protect your lungs. My biggest fear about smoking was not cancer, but emphysema which, once acquired, cannot be cured. Emphysema would bring your riding days to an end or at least limit them seriously. I understand the need for nicotine, but smoking is the most harmful way of getting your fix.

P.S. When I smoked, I was 100% a Camel unfiltered smoker. I figured, why not go for the good stuff!

Black Shuck

I'm a pipesmoker, used to smoke cigarettes but quit 5 years ago. Haven't had a single one since but I missed smoking so much that i bought a pipe a year later, now i collect them :-)

I never smoke if I'm going out riding or running later in the day, but after a decent session sinking into a lounge chair with a favorite briar is something cigarrettes never can match.

I know it's bad for me and that I would probably be a better cyclist without it, but the relaxing moments and wonderful tastes keep me smoking. Not very much or even every day but I still *want* to smoke. I'm not recommending it to any non-smoker, but if you smoke cigarrettes and feel them harming you, why not give moderate pipe-smoking a try.

mrnicho

I am coming up on 4 years smoke free after 17 years of smoking. Best damn thing I have ever done. Now if I could just kick the eating like a pig habit....