I just quit smoking. I did it in such a way that I cannot justify buying more cigarettes. There were five left in the pack. That means that I smoked sixteen cigarettes today, since I had one left in the other pack.

I crumpled the pack with the five left. That was wasteful, so I can't buy any more. I also gave away my lighter, which is an extra dollar I would have to waste if I were to begin smoking again.

I've lost almost forty pounds, and my primary reason for doing it was my health. Mental health, primarily, lol, but physical health was a big motive as well. I can't justify smoking when I'm working to lose weight and build muscle in order to make myself healthy.

I've noticed a marked decrease in my lung capacity. After climbing five flights of stairs at a moderate pace, I have to breathe deeply for a minute or so. That is unacceptable, and a big deterrence when I'm excercising. Considering the fact that smoking contributes to every disease that runs rampant through my family, it has to go.

I have also noticed that it is incredibly unattractive. For the first time ever, I've noticed that the two fingers I hold my cigarette with are yellow from nicotine stains. My teeth are not the shade they should be.

I weighed the pros against the cons, and it's not worth it. If I can make it for a week, it will no longer be a problem for me. If I find myself walking toward a gas station, then I'm going to walk to the clinic and get gum or patches.

The real reason I'm making this thread is not only just as a poll for a bit of interesting discussion, but so that I have a concrete reminder of accountability.

Best way is to quit cold turkey.

I never smoked but, that's how other I know quit.

Jamie, you made the right decision. I just quit smoking after 10 years. Let me tell you that from my own experience, cold turkey seems to work the best. I actually tried the patches for a week, but they gave me a headache, so I ended up quitting cold turkey. I feel so much better since I quit. I have more energy. I can breathe. It is so much better this way. Anyone can quit if the determination is there. Congratulations Jamie! Now we'll see your cute face around here a lot longer.

Jamie,if you remember,that is the way I quit 26 years ago. I threw the pack I was smoking away and never touched a cigarett again. You can do it! yay you!

Jim

Congratulation, way to go,, I invite everyone that still smokes to do the same thing... look on all the positive things, it's way better for your health, you will save $$ and lets face it smoking is less and less trendy.

I'm still smoking and I cutted back on a lot, the only time that I smoke is in my home, the minute I step outside I don't have a lighter or ciggs on me... the only reason why I'm still smoking is mainly because my brothr smokes so quitting and sniffing smoke in the first few days is really but really hard to maintain a non-smoking attitude. I will be quitting smoking as of July first and the fact that I don't smoke anywhere else except in my appartment is a good step in succeding in stopping smoking

And for those who quit... Congrats!!! It's really a tough thing to do in the first few days, keep on not smoking

Jason aka Moonwolf

I quit smoking over 6 months ago, so I'm rather proud of myself. It still sucks because I have cravings like you wouldn't believe. *eyes ciggerette* No! Bad Rose! No ciggys!
Sorry.
But congrats on quiting there dear. Good luck with that.

I watched my grandfather die of cancer, he smoked all his life, and died probably a good 20 years earlier than he would have if he hadn't. When my dad got the call, it was the first time I ever saw him cry. Watching my grandmother and my aunt at his deathbed... and seeing the man who had always seemed so strong before in that condition...

I swore I would never do that to myself, and never put anyone I love through that.

My dad had an heart attack at 39 just from twenty years of smoking.
My grandmother died from heart attack after fourty years of smoking and I swore I wouldn't let that happens to me.


But here am I...finding myself in the same situation. I've been smoking for almost a year now. Honestly, I'll quit when I am ready to...either in a few months or a few years from now. I don't know....honestly. I don't feel I want to right now.

I guess saving $10.50 per week should've been my biggest reason, but I manage to live that way. :s

.............You survived high school without smoking from peer pressure and then picked up the addiction when you were 21?? The longer you smoke the harder it is to quit!!

It's true. I had been smoking since I was 16...It's so dang hard to quit. The cravings, the urges...the need to smoke after beating some one senseless...Sorry, wrong thought there.

I started smoking when I was 14 or 15, and I quit in January. It was hard to quit. That's for sure. I can finally breathe, and I can sing again.

..........HUH!....Singing Tiger!!........I thought it was crouching tiger!!!!

Well, that's good. For all those who have quit and hit the 1 year mark, I salute you! You are seriously strong and I wish the best of luck for you.

Haven't smoked a day in my life and never plan on it.

........Wish I could have made that statement!!

I took up smoking tobacco when they made me quit smoking weed. I was 21.

Let's see: sex is scary with new diseases. What's next? you stick it in and it explodes? The country is either at war or posturing for more war and the democrats are doing everything they can to self destruct. The economy has passed recession, hell in a handbasket and is now hanging in there at basket-case. Gas is going up so fast that only digital displays can keep up. Everything gives you cancer. Stress is at an all time high...

And you want us to quit smoking? WTF???

I've took a puff once, and really didn't care for it at all, so I never tired it agian. And I don't plan to. I know a lot of people use it to releive stress, but I have other cheaper ways to releive stress =D

Though gas is getting to be a real bitch so joy riding is gonig to have to be the next thing to go! lol

I'm proud of you Jamie!!!

I don't think a year is very long.

And I was 22 when I started. haha

......I see your coming up on your 23rd birthday, don't tell me you started smoking on your last birthday

I just had my birthday a month ago.

Somewhere in April last year I took up the habit because I was in a very shitty situation with the boyfriend. When I was at a gas station paying for the gas, I noticed the cigarettes and told them to give me a pack.

.......Well, it certainly doesn't take much to start... Hey how's Moving On going?

lol

I updated efiction a couple weekends ago and only Drewbie noticed.

........I don't visit this site on weekends, so I missed whatever it was that Drewbie caught.

If I remember well, we had already a topic or a poll about the same subject
I smoke pipe, as did one of my teacher :

Carl Gustav Jung !
I stopped smoking cigarettes 60 years ago, but I still like smoking one of my numerous pipes after lunch or in the evening. Tobacco wasnt the reason of my cancer (prostata), I have no heart or lung problem. Pipe is helping me to think and to write. I like all the busy work to keep my pipes clean. Why should I stop ?
Old Bob

Jamie you need an option in your poll that says 'I did, but I quit...repeatedly.'

I started smoking when I was 14 and I quit about three months ago.

(<------ points left - do the math yourself)

This is the eighth or nineth time I've quit over the years. I will admit to cheating a few times, but the three or four I might smoke in a week is much better than the pack a day I was smoking. I just take it one day at a time so I guess we'll see how long I make it this time.

Sharon

............You might even want to add in that 'option' "what's the longest you quit for"

I don't smoke.

About once maybe every 6 or 7 months I'll have one or two when I'm really drunk just for kicks, but I've done that maybe 5 or 6 times in my entire life so you're looking at about 10-12 cigarettes EVER. The last time was about 2 maybe 3 months ago and I really don't see myself wanting to do it again for at least another 3 or 4 months, perhaps never.

I always feel like crud the next day. Like I can feel something icky in my lungs, and it doesn't go away for awhile. So unlike 99% of the other things I do I actually regret it on the rare occasions that I do it. I'm big about not doing things I know I'll regret. My philosophy has always been, "get over it, or don't do it". So most everything else I do, even if it isn't really a 'good idea', I have no regrets about. I don't see not regretting the way smoking makes me feel, and I really don't enjoy it except as a really random drunken (come to think of it I've never done it sober) whim, so I certainly don't see myself ever becoming a smoker.



That's a very wise strategy


I'm kinda disappointed now, because that means I already "knew" you when you started. I always find it more disappointing when people take up smoking after I've met them than if I just meet them already as smokers.

Also, man, if I were your boyfriend you'd have had to quit by now or I'd have gone crazy from the guilt. I would find it almost unbearable if I were responsible for someone I love taking up such a habit.

Take care all and have a great day
Kevin

The attempt to put me on a guilt trip won't work because I'll use your smoking experience against you. 10-12 ciggies or 40 packs in your life, I'll find a way to use that against you to shut you up. Be warned. Same for my boyfriend. He did that when he was a teenager. f**K...even last month he told me he needed a cigarette. I so didn't see that coming and I managed to resist not taking out a pack out of my bag for him. He still doesn't know and it's bad enough for one of us to do it. If I have him doing that...damn, when I will be ready to quit, it'd be much harder to do so when I see him smoking. hehe

Plus, you wouldn't survive as my boyfriend to begin with. I'm so difficult to handle and I'm quite amazed my current and only one still managed to handle me well after five years of all of the shit he put up with.

My mom smokes cigarettes.
My dad smokes cigars very rarely (but still sometimes).

I will never.
It doesn't make sense to me. It is ugly, dirty, suicidal and expensive.

Congrats to all of you who have quit. It is a hard and long road. You are very strong.

Congrats on losing the weight Jamie! Although I can't imagine where you lost 40 from. Your older picks don't show you carrying that much extra.

Good luck on quiting smoking . Just like with you losing weight and getting healthier, your will power is going to get you through this. It's all you

Take Care®,

Vic

I used to smoke, quite regularly...But I quit a long time back as well...Haven't touched a sig for more than 2.5 years...

BeaStKid

For some reason you and smoking even in the past doesn't seem to fit... Glad to know you stopped

Jason aka Moonwolf

I started smoking when I was 19. I worked with a guy who was a chain smoker, and I'd go on smoke breaks with him. Then I watched my best friend's mom die of lung cancer. I couldn't do it anymore after that. I haven't had a cigarette in over two years now. :]

^_~

I'm glad you were able to give up the habit. I was stubborn. It took me 10 years. That is a lot of cigarettes. I don't even want to know how many cigs I have smoked. It's literally thousands.

...........................okay, let's try that again.....

As a matter of fact, I was quite into smoking and a few other things as well... I was fortunate enough to get my head outta them in time.



BeaStKid

Okay, try this!

Associate smoking a cigarette with the grossest thing you can think of, and EVERY time you get the urge, it'll pop into your head. Something really nasty that you don't want to think about. Something like Paris Hilton's soggy and disease-a-liscious panties.

^_~

Omg, that's disgusting. Seriously, I can't stand Paris Hilton, so associated cigs with her is enough to make them extremely unappealing.

...........You smoked!!!!

Four and half weeks and I'll be savouring my favorite US brand...

Ah mint-flavored Newport...

I should get a car this fall so I can drive 40 miles to the border to get a carton of Newport to live on per month. ¬¬

nah, not getting a car, for that. Just stop smoking, it would be better for you jack

Are cigarettes that much cheaper in Canada? Because I know in New York they're thinking of raising the cigarette taxes again. Unless I guess you are going to some Native American reservation in New York state, which doesn't pay state taxes I guess. But that seems a lot of work for cigarettes, .

On the contrary, they are more expensive,,, (tho I guess that was a lapsus) there's a good tax on it here in quebec. They're always raising taxes for cigarettes and alcohol

I've never smoked. I think I'm slightly allergic to the smoke anyway. I know I am affected when I go to parties and the rooms are filled with smoke long after I left.

I'm allergic to cigarette smoke. It gives me a nasty migraine fairly quickly. This, in turn, gives me some homicidal urges. (You don't want to be around when I have those)

Needless to say, I spend very little time around people that smoke. Even the smoke-smell that clings to clothes will trigger it on me. (just slower than actually being around the smoking)

Congratulations on quitting! My grandfather died at age 51 largely because of his smoking.

Me it's simple, when I'm in a place where people smoke, after a while my eyes will get itchy. Without saying that I get more headache when I'm in smoking places, I'll say that they come more easily. Finally, the most annoying is that after all my clothes smells like smoke

Price to smoke a pack of 25 the popular brand 8.50$ minimum it can go around 10$ even 11$ in Quebec

As for the cheaper brands it goes from 6.40$ to 7$

that's just one more reason as for why I'll be quitting on July 1 (for those of you that are thinking why not quit now??, the answer is simple my bro will not stop smoking so for now it's best if i wait till then, that way I can accomplish this feat)

Jason aka Moonwolf

I want a ciggy now....
I have discovered that ciggerate smoke will now aggitate my allergies now though. It sucks and it makes it hard to hang out with out with others.

Yeah oops I meant more expensive not cheaper. Yeah I had no idea they were that pricey. Yeah they keep raising the taxes in New York as well, I think they want to raise it in New York to at least $8.50 or $9 a pack.