If you are a smoker

[pipkin112]

I packed up smoking 18 months ago, the only downside is i think i now drink more because i'm spending more time in the pub than standing outside on the pavement smoking

 

[JonathanLivingstonSeagull]

Good timing. I woke up this morning ready for another crack at giving up.

 

[00snook]

I have gone for option 3. It seems to me it is a physical impossibility to have a drink and not have a fag. I want to cut down but this year thats not happening at all at the moment.

It is possible to not smoke when drinking mate, as I have managed it, and I bloody LOVED smoking whilst having a beer.

 

[JonathanLivingstonSeagull]

Drinking is a tempter. I would say buy the electric cigarette for exactly those times. Willpower should be strong enough (with other aid like patches) for the rest.

Beware the 'random' super-strong urge you may get a while down the line (3-4 weeks) it is a KILLER because you think you are out of the woods... and then...

 

[Tricky Dicky]

It is possible to not smoke when drinking mate, as I have managed it, and I bloody LOVED smoking whilst having a beer.

Yup, I used to think I'd have real problems drinking without a smoke, but I stopped cold turkey, never tempted again - must be nearly 10 years now, so long I don't think about it (or know how long it's been).

 

[Tight shorts]

I have gone for option 3. It seems to me it is a physical impossibility to have a drink and not have a fag. I want to cut down but this year thats not happening at all at the moment.

I'm sure you can do this, don't give up trying. For me it's all about having your head in the right place. I was a "smoking" non smoker until May last year. I still get a very occasional temptation but it subsides within minutes because I do the self talk bit about how great I will feel in the morning, without having a mouth like the bottom of a bird cage.

I've tried and failed many times to stop smoking and actually did myself a "SWOT" analysis and spent a few hours talking it through with others. this helped me to come up with a strategy to keep me a non smoker.

I feel masses better, less guilt trips, more able to have a splurge cos I'm better off and I've had no colds this winter, not even a cough. And I have beautiful white teeth and healthier gums now, according to my dentist.

But best of all I have no dependency, no trying to find somewhere late at night still open to buy a pack of fags or standing out in the rain, coughing and having a fag and feeling like an idiot.

Don't stop trying to stop, I'm sure you can do it when you really want to. Good luck.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

i smoke and not that fussed about giving up

smoke roll ups so it doesn't work out that expensive.......i can usually make 12.5g last a week, so i'm spending between £3.50 and £4.00 a week (including the pro-rata cost of rizlas, filters, lighters etc.), and if i go beyond that pack i won't go beyond two........so £7-£8 MAXIMUM, which is basically the same as two or three pints, and i don't drink that often so that side of it is much lower than for most people my age

 

[jessiejames]

I smoke when im at work,stressed or when i go out for a drink but i never smoke when i am at home not fair on the wife or kids

 

[Max Paper]

I gave up smoking and went 3 months without touching one. I found myself REALLY not enjoying life so I decided to allow myself a fag or 2 if i'm having a drink. It's the perfect compromise for me. I used to smoke a pack of 10 a day, every day. I now buy a pack of rolling baccy which will EASILY last me 2 weeks. I sail through the day now, don't even think about cigarettes after food, a cup of tea etc but the SECOND a beer hits my lips that it! Giving up completely for me wasn't an option. Cutting down a lot works very well.

 

[Foster House]

I think when folk give up there is a void that isn't filled. This is what the smoking aid manufacturers don't tell you. It really is important to constantly remind yourself why you are giving up, rather than focus on how many days/months it has been. After I gave up I began a process of scaring my brain shitless about the effects of smoking and what I was leaving behind. It worked, because even now every time the thought of a nice smoke comes over me, my brain starts hurling intolerable abuse at such a prospect.

 

[Deleted member 18477]

I think when folk give up there is a void that isn't filled. This is what the smoking aid manufacturers don't tell you. It really is important to constantly remind yourself why you are giving up, rather than focus on how many days/months it has been. After I gave up I began a process of scaring my brain shitless about the effects of smoking and what I was leaving behind. It worked, because even now every time the thought of a nice smoke comes over me, my brain starts hurling intolerable abuse at such a prospect.

This is the one! You've got to drum it into you that it can possibly kill you, that it makes your clothes and skin f***ing stink and that it's quite literally burning a hole in your wallet! If you think that everytime you 'want' a fag I'm pretty sure it would change your mind! Obviously when drunk you aren't thinking straight and it is very easy to give in.

 

[Goodfella]

I gave up in 2000 when my daughter was born after smoking for 25 years

 

[Pat McCrotch]

smokers smell.

 

[Foster House]

I gave up in 2000 when my daughter was born after smoking for 25 years

I think life changing events are the biggest reason for success.

 

[Tight shorts]

This is the one! You've got to drum it into you that it can possibly kill you, that it makes your clothes and skin f***ing stink and that it's quite literally burning a hole in your wallet! If you think that everytime you 'want' a fag I'm pretty sure it would change your mind! Obviously when drunk you aren't thinking straight and it is very easy to give in.

I completely agree. It's about creating that default pathway in your brain that links the prospect of having a fag with all that misery you've desribed rather than a pleasurable experience.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

smokers smell.

True but I personally think people with bad personal hygiene are much worse. There is no excuse for that.

 

[luppers]

I stopped smoking 7 months ago after having smoked 30 a day for the past 46years. I dont like the smell of cigarettes on other peoples breath but could quite easily light up if offered one! Work that out if you can.I hope I am not turning into one of the reformed smokers brigade , but have a horrible feeling that I am.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

This is the one! You've got to drum it into you that it can possibly kill you, that it makes your clothes and skin f***ing stink and that it's quite literally burning a hole in your wallet! If you think that everytime you 'want' a fag I'm pretty sure it would change your mind! Obviously when drunk you aren't thinking straight and it is very easy to give in.

If you want to see the scars that cancer can leave you with - assuming you survive it, I will happily show mine.

 

[Commander]

True but I personally think people with bad personal hygiene are much worse. There is no excuse for that.

You wont think that if you give up smoking. Smokers smell f***ing rank, and I never realised how badly until I gave up myself, 7 years ago.

The thing with smoking is, if you don't 100% want to give up then there isn't any point in trying, because you won't succeed. You might as well just enjoy it. But if you get it into your head that you not only 100% want to give up, but you are 100% GOING to give up, then it isn't actually that hard. Set yourself a date in about three months time and build up to it, knowing that after that day there is zero chance of you ever having a cigarette again. That's how I did it anyway, and after the first couple of weeks it wasn't actually that hard. I did put on a shit load of weight though, so now I'll die of heart disease instead of lung cancer.

 

[pasty]

I really quite enjoy smoking, but know I really should give it up. Dad died of cancer and mum from heart disease so the odds are really not in my favour!

We're hopefully moving house in the next few months, so we've decided the new house will be a non-smoking house and give up for about the 37millionth time.