Quitting smoking. What works?

[zachm611]

what worked for my friend was showing him a list if he smokes one pack a day or whatever.. and he was like holy shit youre right.. he cut back more and more until he finally quit now he saves atleast 100+ a month. has money for video games i think that is another thing that helped him quit. he got so caught up in the game didnt even think about smoking. another friend of mine tried using some magnet things that are like earings or whatever. he said it seemed to work because all he could think of was the magnet pinching his ear and not wanting a cigarette lol.

 

[Dunckel]

Thanks for all of the advice guys. I am happy to say that today she only had one. It wasn't even a whole one. She just took three drags off of it and said, "Yuck, I can't believe I ever started". The craving is driving her nuts, (and me) but she is doing better than I thought she was going to. Honestly, I thought she would give up the day after she started. But she is hanging in there. Hopefully her cravings diminish over time.

 

[Topher E]

For me it was a case of the early morning runs. Not pooping so if you read that in you are sick. I mean getting out and going running, works on keeping weight in check and you just need to get passed the puking after a mile bit and your home free.

Sounds bad I know, I was determined not to go back to smoking, I have now been 6 months clean and free of smoke and tar while losing almost 30 pounds. To me the initial cost was high; the punishment I put myself thru for the sake of my own health, but im happy I have done it. Tried sunflower seeds, my jaw hurt, cold turkey caused me to gain weight so I gave that up, I started watching what i ate while smoking and saw the weight drop right off, then it just for some reason stopped. I Stopped cutting weight and only saw one option, work out. Cant do that as a smoker so something had to go. For the record, I went from throwing up and wanting to pass out after a mile to running a sub 7 mile for 3 miles, dont think it cant be done.

Get healthy, lose weight, get toned, keep more money. Those were all factors for me, its different for others but I can tell you it is one of the best things I have ever done.

-Chris

 

[mattsplat72]

Good that was how my last day was. I just got disgusted with the process of it . You Know what helped me . Wasabi soy almonds dont know why but it did. My wife told me that some cigarette makers put sugar on the tabacco and that the reason you get agatited was from a mild hypoglycemic reaction so maybe try some swedish fish or something like that .Just keep supporting her . Did you know the smoking kills 400,000 people a year

 

[zachm611]

thats really good news.. now your support is whats going to help her get through and be able to quit smoking.

 

[Dunckel]

Thank you for that Chris. I mentioned to her tonight that we should go walking or running together. She said she would like to do that. So tomorrow night, I think we are going to take a jog up our hill. It's a good half mile or so. I am in pretty good shape myself, and usually walk or run a couple miles per day. If I can get her hooked on doing that, it would be great.

Matt, I am well aware of the fact that smoking is responsible for many deaths each year. She is stubborn though. Those facts don't bother her. I told her that if she didn't want to quit for her own sake, to quit for mine. She told me that it isn't affecting me because she doesn't smoke around me. I told her it wasn't my health I was worried about, it was the fact that 20 years from now, I am going to have to help her carry around an oxygen tank, listening to her gasp for breath, and watch her die slowly.

Zach, supporting her is one thing I will always do. I will never give up.

 

[honestabe]

One of my college business classes had a discussion on this and we came to the best solution, quit very slowly. Figure out how many cigarettes a week she smokes, then have her smoke only 1 less cigarette per day (if she smokes 2 packs a day, she will smoke 133 cigarettes in the first week vs. 140), then at the beginning of the next week restart the cycle. So in the 2nd week smoke only 126 cigarettes that week. This way allows for a very slow reduction in the craving for nicotine. For someone like my dad who smokes 280 cigarettes a week (2 packs a day), the process will take about 40 weeks (10 months).

This is basically the theory of small wins vs. large battles. If you win small battles, winning a big battle is much easier since it is broken up into smaller wars. Small wins create momentum. Momentum creates final victory.

 

[annoyingrob]

Heroin.

 

[Pernilongo]

There are these tar removers that look like a clear plastic tip that you put on a filter. It traps tar pretty effectively and this tar accumulates in the clear filter. it just disgusting to look at it and it smells like hell. for me it was difficult psychologically to see and realize that this shit is going into my lungs. that what helped me.

 

[MkIII_Jeff]

It only takes a couple days to kick the nicotine habit. It is breaking the association smoking a cigarette with virtually everything you do that is the hard part.

 

[Topher E]

Jeff is correct, the chemical dependency is usually over and gone with in 5 days. (My own personal experience) The actions that have made their way into your life, habits for the most part are the ones that will lead you back into the beast. I found that by keeping a pen or pencil in my hand helped keep my cravings for in check. Call it what you will but it was one thing I found that worked.

The first month was the hardest, but the hour is darkest before dawn.

Oh! and please dont take this offensively but while easing her into jogging use the talk test, if she (or you ) is having a hard time speaking in complete sentences there is a good chance you are pushing too hard.

Good Luck to her for quitting and you for being her support.