I have a few smokes a week down from a pack a day or a package of rollies a week. And its damn good.

good luck and godspeed.

https://widgets.yahoo.com/gallery/?se...moking&x=0&y=0

the widget smoking thing

I'm coming up on 20 years since I last quit. I say "last quit" because it took several tries that failed because of the "I'll only smoke when I drink" mindset.

Before long I was a chain-smoking alcoholic.

I had stopped riding bikes for years... quit smoking nine months and five days ago.. it got me back into biking and saves me about $250.00 a month.
Amen.

I am 26 and smoked for 12 years... No bueno.

Do what I did, drink A LOT for the first week.. and second... and third...

Water
Fruit and fruit juice
Toothpaste
sleep
Avoid as many triggers as you can. If something makes you want a cigarette, then avoid that thing. Good excuse to stay home from work. But if working on your bike in your garage makes you want to light up, then you might want to put off any bike maintence for a while.

Don't be afraid to pig out. Your increased cardiovascular ability down the line will make losing weight easier. Besides, you'd have to gain like 100 pounds to offset the health benefits of quitting smoking.

I like how you think

i know where your coming from. i quit smoking a year and a half ago and i had smoke for 17 years. i realized that the last time i was a non smoker i was twelve. i had no idea how to be a non smoker. hang in there, you can do it.

I'm working on quitting too. I smoked for 6 years, and then quit for about 8 months, and then I started smoking while I drank, and then after meals, and then in the morning, and then I was all the way back in it. But not for long- only about 2 months this time. Eating and drinking are my biggest triggers, and it's not quite feasible to avoid them!

But, like other people, the biggest incentive was my riding. After I started smoking again I just got much, much slower, and I got much more winded. Now I've cut down to maybe one a day, and that will go soon too. Cold turkey is just unnecessary pain for me. But I already feel faster, and it won't be long before I'm back to my pre-relapse fit self.

We're lucky that we have such an obvious negative impact staring us in the face- being slower on our bikes- to make us quit. The real dangers- like lung cancer and obesity- are less proximal, and so easier to ignore.

Exactly.

I quit once before, years ago. It lasted about five years. Then a divorce got me smoking again. That lasted for a few years, then I quit again. I'm doing fine. But I'm hopelessly addicted to Nicorettes.

i'm down for the support group idea. i've been trying to quit (not with much gusto) off and on for a couple years now. i'll go a month where i hardly smoke a cigarette a day, and then go through phases where i smoke two packs a week and more. partying makes this worse, and as of late, relationship/school/life problems. i've gone on a couple long rides recently and really wished i didn't smoke anymore, but right now it's one of the only constant things in my life and i feel like i need it. it sucks. smoking is stupid as ****. i am weak.

Haha, I've going 5 years strong with that mindset. Unless I'm drinking, I can't smoke, its just too disgusting, I 've gone months without smoking, but if I have a few beers, the crave is unstoppable.

I think I'm addicted to forums. Even with the potential benefits of riding faster and the extra free time I would get from quitting, I just can't seem to do it.

Awesome B.A.B. Stick to it. I'm going on a year and half now on my third real attempt at kicking it. I'm a firm believer in the idea that it finally sticks when you truly want to stop. NOT for anyone else, only for you. Good luck. If you want some support, I'm here for you.

ALSO, if you haven't already, and it's still open (I'm not sure if it is), go to the Bodies exhibit at the southstreet seaport and look at the diseased lungs of smokers. It is a good deterrent.

J

Good for you ... I hope to be done with the commando death sticks this year as well

EnLaCalle, thanks. I think I remember having a chat with you awhile back about when you quit.

I re-read this thread a few times today and it has helped. I had to use a couple of the nicorette gums, but still feel pretty good.

Oh yeah, anyone in nyc know where I can get those mint (edit: Tea Tree) flavored toothpicks? I looked at a Duane Reade and they had the plastic ones you floss with but not the wood ones.

Oral fixation and all.

One of my most favorite things about the quitting process is when your lungs start working again, and you begin to hock up the most vividly colored lung butter. Tis a sign of progress.

I quit on January 30, 2006 after smoking 2+ packs a day for over 30 years. Haven't had so much as a drag off a smoke since. I don't have much in the way of cravings, and being unemployed the incentive of not having to spend ten bucks a day on smokes is pretty strong.

Keep it up! I'm also quitting today. I just finished my last final of this semester, so it should be easier now.

I've smoked for almost 10 years, quitting a few times for varying amounts of time, the longest being 6 months about 6 years ago. I also quit back in September, but that only lasted about 3 1/2 months. I have no withdrawal symptoms when I quit, but I like the act of smoking. Cigarettes taste like crap and feel like crap, but I'm so used to doing it that I still have cravings.

The problem is that pretty much everyone I know smokes (including my girfriend, who doesn't want to quit right now), so it's really easy to fall back into it. Anyway, good luck. Your post inspired me to do it today instead of waiting (again).

That's great. Good Luck.

I'm lucky that my girl agreed to quit along with me. She only has a couple a day and thinks it will be no sweat.

I heard something on the radio that if you live in NYC and smoke, you can call 311, they give you some sorta gum or something else for free...

I just got my free patches in the mail today. Small hassle, but them things aint cheap.

Yeah, I called for the patches last night and that led to quitting before they even got here. Maybe a back up? Maybe I won't need them.

If you get them within a week and dont want them, I'll take them off your hands. They only give a weeks worth.