I'm Quitting Smoking on January 1 - Anybody Wanna Join Me?

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lcorinth

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I've never confessed it online anywhere before, but I've been a smoker for 7 years. Nearly a pack a day. I got started during a relationship with a smoker. What started as a way to bond with her became a way to escape being near her for 7 minutes multiple times a day when the relationship went sour.

I used to be really opposed to smoking, but it was a dark time in my life. When she left, owing me a couple thousand dollars and breaking our lease, I was glad to be rid of her - it was worth every penny. But I still smoked.

And the problem was that I liked it. A lot. But it's gotten old. I'm tired of being out of breath, tired of having no money, and don't want to end up with emphysema like my grandfather did.

I've made a few half-hearted attempts to quit before, but always went back. I work a stressful job, and 3 weeks was enough with no cigarettes the last time. I caved, and went right back to it.

But I have a friend who quit using an app. I'm looking at either Get Rich or Die Smoking, or the one just called Quit Smoking. Both show not only the health benefits you're gaining, but the money you're saving. (Think of all the motors I could have bought if I weren't spending nearly 10 dollars a day on cigarettes!)

Now I'm also enlisting the help of public knowledge of my smoking and quitting.

Any smokers out there want to join me?
 
Good for you! I've never been a smoker ( my lungs are too weak to ever give it a serious go ) but I've so many friends current and / or former.

Do your best!
 
I quit back in 2001 when I decided to join the Army, and am so thankful to myself for doing so.
You won't regret it, and it might be tough at first, so find some motivating reasons to do so, and don't be afraid to reward yourself for your continued abstinence from smoking with things like sweets or ice cream.
you'll notice the difference in your wallet immediately. Back when I smoked, a pack was $2.25. Now they are like 8-10 bucks!!! I could not afford to smoke even if I wanted to!
All the best, and happy New Year to you.
 
Yes! My girlfriend and I are quitting as of tomorrow night. I've been a smoker for 20 years, but I've already downloaded an app as well and I'm pretty sure I'm ready. The motivation for me is the money saved. It'll turn into a pretty sweet little motor budget! Good luck!
 
Congrats on the decision.

If it helps, maybe you could post daily/weekly updates here so you're less tempted to go back for a day and possibly fall in again. Money and health benefits are strong motivators but so is not getting publicly embarrassed, TRF can help on that. Applause if you stick to it and (if you agree) a bunch of wiggling fingers otherwise.

Wish you luck!
 
Congrats on the decision.

If it helps, maybe you could post daily/weekly updates here so you're less tempted to go back for a day and possibly fall in again. Money and health benefits are strong motivators but so is not getting publicly embarrassed, TRF can help on that. Applause if you stick to it and (if you agree) a bunch of wiggling fingers otherwise.

Wish you luck!

I plan on posting updates. And I took a big step - I called my mother to confess to seven years of smoking. I did this because I'll be posting about quitting on FB and didn't want her to find out that way.

I also made it clear that it's nothing to do with my father, who smoked for decades until recently. His smoking isn't what started mine.

I am thinking of starting a video blog series as well, and perhaps a podcast. That might be too ambitious. But I need to put this out there. But I like the idea of documenting the process and making the quitting public, to keep me motivated to stick to it.
 
Yes! My girlfriend and I are quitting as of tomorrow night. I've been a smoker for 20 years, but I've already downloaded an app as well and I'm pretty sure I'm ready. The motivation for me is the money saved. It'll turn into a pretty sweet little motor budget! Good luck!

I'm sure I won't get through my last pack by tomorrow. Maybe not even a quarter of the way through. But I bought one today and kept the receipt so I could see how much it was. $10.59.

Think of the savings!
 
Hey GLB! Did you see this?

Any subtle hints here LW?

Daniel, if you wanna quit, the only best way to do it is to set your mind in motion. Smoke your last cig for the day and dispose of the few you have left. At least try to get your money's worth out of that last pack. Start your next day in cold turkey mode and DON'T TELL ANYONE! I can't stress this enough. It only creates added peer pressure if you do. This will save you from any ridiculing and cheesy remarks from your personal peanut gallery should you crash and burn. Plus, they aren't going to be able to say things like, "Aw, you can't quit. You might as well give up already"....yadda yadda.

OK. so, let's say you make it through the day without a cigarette. Look back through the day and see if anybody said anything or noticed that you hadn't smoked. Chances are, they didn't. Because people only recognize when you light up. They won't recognize when you don't. Funny, I too thought they would notice, but they didn't.

"OK, this is cool, how long can I go before someone notices?" You turn this into a game. Here are a few good pointers for that too. If someone asks you for a cig, pat your shirt pocket and say, "Huh! Musta left em somewhere". If someone asks you outside to burn one with them, just say, "Nah, maybe later."
You are trying to keep your quitting a secret because you don't want to loose the game. No matter what the question you are asked about your smoking, deny, deny, deny! Lie like hell if you have to. (dood) "Hey, I ain't seen you smoke a cigarette all day. You tryin" to quit?" (you)"No, I'll lite one up if I feel like it" (this actually did happen to me, once.)

This is how I quit back in the early 80's. Stayed quit too. Took about 2 weeks of nicking to get past the worst part. Then it was much easier to ignore them. One thing you will notice, is how damn stinky they are. Worst than before you ever started. After a while, you won't be able to share the same room with another smoker.

I could have stayed quit for the rest of my life had I not put myself through hell, moved 1/2 way across the country to shed old skins for new ones, and with the knowing that my musical career had been literally flushed down the toilet. I have many excuses for starting back, but truth be known, I was just stupid.

Bottom line, Cigarettes are as hard to quit as heroin. Although the addiction isn't the same. (no heroin experience here, just learned facts) I won't say it's easy to do, but playing the game makes it a fulfilling challenge. I finally broke down after 3 weeks of keeping it a secret and told someone. Only then, do they say, "I thought I hadn't seen you smoke" Truth was, they didn't really notice.
 
I'm sure I won't get through my last pack by tomorrow. Maybe not even a quarter of the way through. But I bought one today and kept the receipt so I could see how much it was. $10.59.

Think of the savings!

That's insane. I got a pack today for less than $5. Your motor budget will be twice as much as mine. Lol
 
Hey, that's a great decision!

I used to run some stop smoking groups...the basic idea was to address and approach the physiological addiction and psychological addiction separately. See this link:
https://www.quitsmart.com

My top advice is: Don't get discouraged. Find something to do to occupy your time when you get a craving (maybe build a rocket?), so you can endure those 20 or so minutes when you get an "urge."

Also remember, just because you may have a "lapse" doesn't mean you have to "re-lapse." Most smokers have to try a bunch of times before they finally quit, but, each try gives them new knowledge about how to better try again the next time.

Good luck!
 
Daniel, I wish you all the strength you can muster in quitting cigarettes. I quit cold turkey in 1997 after 37 years and many failed attempts. Had I quit sooner, I might not have developed the bladder tumors that have plagued me since they were first detected in 2008. Good on you, RocketN00b! Live longer and prosper!
 
Another approach is to switch over to a once or twice a week bowl of pipe tobacco or a cigar, that way you don't inhale and still satisfy the craving, cheap too, a thousands of flavors.
 
That's insane. I got a pack today for less than $5. Your motor budget will be twice as much as mine. Lol

I know! It just occurred to me that a HAZMAT shipping fee is less than three days' cigarettes for me. I have never ordered anything with a HAZMAT charge, because I figure it's too expensive. But while rocketry is worth the cost, smoking is not!

That's what led me to quit for about three weeks when I moved to Massachusetts. The cost is nearly double here than it was in Indiana.

I can't wait to be through the bad cravings phase and into the "Holy crap! Look at all this money!" phase.

And then blow it all on rockets.
 
While I can't join you... I have not had a cigarette since 1974... I can certainly support you and everyone else who is trying to kick the habit.
 
Hmmmmmmmmm... I've been smoking again for a few months. Maybe I should hop on the bandwagon?
 
You should! I stopped a 1+ pack a day habit while they were $2 a pack. Now I tally my status as $10/day I allocate to rocketry! Willpower for rocket power!
 
Props to you! Your health will thank you in the long run.

Hmmmmm.....Start a no-smoking rocket project in excel? Something pricier than you would normally get, but every week, you record the money you Might have spent on packs and see how long it takes to earn that cool project? Just a carrot-onna-stick idea that popped into the head.
 
Ok... Just smoked the last one in that pack. No point in buying another one. According to the app, I've got a lot more days smoke free to afford the M2000...
 
Props to you! Your health will thank you in the long run.

Hmmmmm.....Start a no-smoking rocket project in excel? Something pricier than you would normally get, but every week, you record the money you Might have spent on packs and see how long it takes to earn that cool project? Just a carrot-onna-stick idea that popped into the head.

I was thinking maybe you could assemble a rocketry wishlist or shopping list, then convert it to packs or days without smoking.
 
Good luck on quitting.

I am always a little distressed when I see young people smoking. I just want to go over to them and tell them they will be wasting a huge amount of money over their lifetimes and that it is terrible for their health. I know smoking contributed to the death of my mother. She smoked for years and eventually died of congestive heart failure.

Again, good luck on quitting. They say the health benefits of quitting start on the first day.
 
I smoked off and on around 96 and 97 then started full on around 98. Quit two years ago when my daughter was born. Had around a pack when she was born Nov 24, finished that pack after we got her home and was quit by Thanksgiving that year. Have some bad days at work where I want a cigarette really badly, but I just let that feeling pass. I would have one when we would stop at our local watering hole after work. Drink a crown and coke and bum a smoke. The bar closed and I haven't had a cigarette since.

The worst part for me when quitting was wondering what I would do when I wanted one but didn't have one to smoke. What would I do when the urge to smoke struck. Nothing, just ignored it. I've been told the cravings never stop fully and I believe that. I want one now. It's crazy how much they are now.

I do smoke a cigar from time to time and I have a pipe as well. Go way to unwind and just relax. Keeping an unlit cigar in your mouth, esp the nub, will get you some nicotine. Not as strong as smoking or chewing, but its there. And you look a little tougher with a half-burnt stogie in your mouth. Like Wolverine! (more like WC Fields in my case) LOL.

Good luck to you. It can be done, and it's not hard when you get it in your head you really want to quit.

I've been quit for two years and don't feel any better and still don't have any money, but that is about the time I really got into rocketry too. LOL.

Mikey D
 
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That's what led me to quit for about three weeks when I moved to Massachusetts. The cost is nearly double here than it was in Indiana.

I can't wait to be through the bad cravings phase and into the "Holy crap! Look at all this money!" phase.

And then blow it all on rockets.
When I quit at the turn of Y2K, I was paying $20 per carton. After a year, I bought a N2000 and burned all the money I saved in a few seconds :). I used patches which made it from "I gotta have a cigarette" to " I would like a cigarette" - much easier to resist. I did have cravings each time I reduced the dose of nicotine. With the higher cost - my brand is now almost $50 per carton, you should be able to afford a CTI O8000 or O3700.
 
I wish anyone trying to quit smoking the best of luck.
Before I got laid off in 08, several people tried all at once.
Only one claimed to have stuck with it, but I know he was smoking behind everyone's back.
They all said it was the hardest thing in life to do.

For me, I'm going to try and quit chewing...again.
20 years ago I quit cold turkey at New Years.
Went nearly 2-1/2 years, then on a dare/bet I proved it wouldn't make me puke.
Something I should have never done.

So at New Years again, it's going to be cold turkey again.
Last time it was easy, it was getting to the point I didn't enjoy it.
Not the same this year. There is just no money for.
Pop cans and scrap metal has to go for needed to live items.

I could use wish of good luck, it couldn't hurt!
 
Best of luck on quitting! I think you have a good approach. I think it is best to frame your choice in terms of what you are gaining, not what you are giving up. If every time you have a craving, you ask yourself, "Do I want a cigarette?" The answer will be "Yes." But if you frame the choice as, "Do I want to save money, save my health, have more energy, have non-stinky breath?" Then hopefully you can say "yes" to that choice instead. Just always keep in mind what you are gaining.

I'm not giving up smoking, but I am giving something up in 2017 which might be equally hard. I'm trying to follow the same advice I just gave you. We'll see how it goes. Good luck!
 
Somebody needs to paint a rocket to look like a cigarette.


Someone already did... A Nike Fake Smoke...

NIke+Smoke+Full+crop.jpg
nike+smole+shoes.jpg
 
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