non smoker

[devilwoman]

1st june and i've been a non smoker for just over half an hour, i'm determined this time, i mean it, my husband doe'snt believe me but cant blame him really, he's heard it so many times, this is it now FOREVER AND EVER . I DONT SMOKE

:0) :0) :0)

[~posy-jo~]

U DON'T SMOKE!! congratulations!! u can do it!! good luck xXx

[undercovers]

good luck - when i quit i found a complete change of routine really helps beat the cravings for those difficult first weeks, so the things that i used to associate with a ciggy i stopped as well - so for me it was coffee and alcohol that made me really want a smoke, had to stop my coffee breaks and avoid the pub for about a month until i had broken the connection between the two (though i still think longingly about ciggies when i have a few largers i'm not really tempted anymore).

good luck to you - be strong and you'll be so proud of yourself in a few months time

[unruliejulie]

devilwoman. i gave up 3 years gao now and i was a heavy smoker, 30 roll ups a day! (it was cheaper, i'm no chav!) lol, congratulations for taking the first step! Take one day at a time and keep telling people how you've given up! The praise will spur you on and make you feel very proud. I feel it is one of my major achievements in life. I feel better and certainly smell better. Just think aswell, you won't be coughing your guts up in the morning! WELL DONE, i am proud of you !!!!!

[aka pixi]

well done devilwoman :) wishing you loads of good luck :)

[Loosehead]

Here's a tip DW put �5 a day somewhere, a pack a day, and watch it build, I mean really do it, you spent it on snout right so do it. After 1 year you'll have enough for a good holiday, that's what you used to give to Gordon. Good luck never give up giving up, you can do it.

Oh and remember even 6 months, a year, 10 years from now, you cannot ever ever ever ever have another not even if you think you can control it, you can't, you can't smoke socially very few people can.

UnrulieJulie, 30 rollups? you must have smelt like a polecat! well done for cracking it.

[unruliejulie]

lol Loosehead, not exactly a polecat but certainly i must have smelt like a very full and overflowing ashtray! You don't notice it though do you! I can smell a fag a mile off now!!! YUK, i hate smoking now! |Been doing it since i was 15 too.

[gazzawazza]

Well done devilwoman, keep it up, you really will realise how bad other smokers smell, and to think, you used to smell like that!

You can do it!

[little coojy]

good luck devilwoman, i gave up smokeing for 7 years, i never stopped wanting one tho, and i don't live in a house of smokers either nobody else smokes so that wasn't a problem, i started again after 7 whole years (shame on me) when i lit up again it tasted nasty the first few puffs but the feeling was fab, i felt sooooo relaxed and calm, i was a mad woman for 7 years, had evey bug going, and my nerves were shot and ened up on anti depressants, i guess i'm just one of those people who are totally addicted, the price of them is mad but you always find enough when your desperate, my partner doesn't smoke and never has, but he drinks (only at weekends not a alcie lol) i dont touch alcahol fags are my only vice, but i know its bad for me,

good luck again, hope you succeed where i didn't, i probably didn't as i didn't want to stop, just felt pressurd to by society.

[devilwoman]

thanks for all your advice, its really really hard, you know how people say they enjoy a cig? well the truth is even though i smoked since i was 13 i dont enjoy it anymore but my body and mind are totally addicted, i am going the whole way now, trouble is all my family and friends are so used to me stopping and failling they dont believe me any more, i'll show em.

[unruliejulie]

Good for you!

[Ethmer]

Don't "quit" smoking -- instead become a "non-smoker".

There's a big difference. When someone offers you a cigarette your answer isn't "no thanks, i'm trying to quit" but "no thanks, i don't smoke!"

Psychologically it is difficult to "quit" smoking because your mind and body are accustomed to it and think that they need it. But, deciding and stating that you are a "non-smoker" tricks the mind and body by not letting them perceive that they are being denied something.

Find some kind of hard candy to keep around that you can put into your mouth when you have those oral fixation cravings.

i started smoking at 15 and, using the above method, became a non-smoker when i was 45. i utilized Gobstopper Jaw Breaker candies which are about the size of a marble and take about ten minutes to dissolve in the mouth.

i have been smoke-free now for 20 years. i will admit, however, that i still occasionally dream that i have broken my smoke-free status and end up disappointed with myself. (The dreams are so real.) Then i wake up and am so relieved that it was just a dream.

My benefits are that i no longer smell like smoke all the time or have holes burned in my clothes plus i feel better and have probably extended my life considerably and reduced the chances of contracting smoke-related illnesses later in life.

Good luck! And you do have the willpower -- you just have to exercise it.

[Ed Strong]

devilwoman, good on you. I've been a non-smoker now for 2-and-a-half years after smoking for nearly 40 years. It's never too late! I wasn't a heavy smoker (about 10 a day) but used it like a reward. "when I've done the ironing I'll have a coffee and a fag" sort of thing. Hubby (a non-smoker) said that I would never give up and after several abortive attempts I was inclined to agree with him. It took a visit to the docs for Zyban, but it worked, and I am now a fully-fledged non-smoker. After 4 months I had saved enough to go to Naples for a long weekend with my daughter and even now I am in credit at the end of the month. Keep on going, you won't regret it, just remember that the nicotine triggers a 'pleasure' zone in the brain, so even one puff will set the cravings off again. You cannot have "Just the one". I also only have to see my dad (a lifelong smoker) who is suffering from heart failure and is on oxygen amongst other nasty related symptoms to remind me why I'll never go back on the cancer sticks. All the best and let us all know how you are getting on.

[WendyS]

Well done. Keep it up! Any addiction is hard to give up but you may well be saving yourself from a horrible death from lung cancer Remember this every time you feel tempted and hopefully it will keep you motivated. Put the money you save in a moneybox (so you can't easily get it out) and count it at the end of the year. Then treat yourself to something nice as a reward.

[muppeteer]

putting aside �5 per day is a brilliant idea, but if like me you know you prob wont do it, then keep a jounal & keep a running tab each day on what you would have spent. keep it with you all the time & when you get a craving write in it (anything like what time it is & what you are doing). also find something really fiddly to do with your hands like making paper chains or something.

to make sure you dont put on weight you may want to joing weightwatchers now (unless you are already really thin!). it will give you something else to focus on & think about other than fags.

i found there were certain milestones like the 1st night out in the pub, the new years eve party & the 1st time abroad which i knew would be killers. book yourself a little treat (manicure/movie) before hand so you have a prize waiting for being so wonderful!

last word of advice- dont say its forever & ever- just today or this week. its too hard to think ''oh my god- i can never have a ciggie again'' as you are still in love with the habit. take it slow & one day at a time. keep reading back in your journey so you can see how its getting easier so you wont be tempted to put youself back at day 1.

best of luck again xxx

[unruliejulie]

good morning devilwoman!!! How did your first day as a non smoker go?????

[Loosehead]

How's it going then DW?

[Ed Strong]

DW, we were just wondering how the non-smoking was going and at 4getmenot's advice, please see attached post:

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Body-and-Soul/Question245110.html