Today is the Great American Smoke-Out.
I quit smoking on New Years Eve (more accurately, at about 2 am on New Years Day), and other than a few times this year when consuming adult beverages, I have kicked the habit after 15 years of on and off smoking. It wasn’t easy, and I promptly put on a shitload of weight I have still not lost, but I breathe easier, I feel better, and my doctors all say the weight gain is a problem, but nothing compared to what I was putting myself through health-wise as a smoker.
So do yourself a favor and try to quit. You don’t stink, you save money, you have more energy, you feel better, and you are healthier.
It isn’t easy. In fact, it will be damned hard. I stood down wind of smokers for three months, I missed it so much. And you will be a miserable bastard for a couple weeks, and there will still be times when you wake up, have your coffee, and are dying for a cigarette. I still do, eleven months later.
But dying is the operative word. The damn things will kill you dead.
So quit, already.
*** Update ***
I should probably point out that if you are trying to quit smoking and are under the assumption that smoking is simply a habit you have to kick, you are approaching things the wrong way.
The way I see it, smoking is not a habit, per se, but an addiction that manifests itself in a series of habit-like behaviors that are combined with other behaviors. What I mean is that it is just not the habit of lighting up and smoking.
It is the habit of making coffee and having cigarettes with the coffee.
It is the habit of lighting up right after a meal.
It is the habit of reaching for a cigarette whenever you are stressed or angry.
It is the habit of smoking while drinking.
It is the habit of wanting to take a break at the office, so you head outside for a smoke.
And so on and so forth- smoking has manifested itself in so many other typical or habitual behaviors, that it is pervasive. For months after Iquit smoking, I would pat my pockets to check for a lighter and cigarettes before leaving the house, only to realize I had quit. For months, when I went to a restaurant, I would get confused when asked for smoking or non-smoking seating. To this day, if I read something that infuriates me, I reach for the lit cigarette in the ashtray on my desk. Except, fortunately, neither the cigarette or the ashtray are there.
I hope this helps you smokers, and I hope it helps you non-smokers realize what people trying to quit are going through.
OCSteve
Congratulations John. I’ve tried to quit so many times I quit trying to quit. The cup of coffee or the second beer is where I always lose all will power. I know how tough it is so I know what you went (are going) through.
My wife and I both smoke. We smoke 2 cartons a week. Cheapest I can find is $30/carton out of state. We spend over $3,000 a year to slowly kill ourselves. Add in the extra life insurance premiums and it is more like $4,000.
Anyone can feel free to call me any of the names you have called me on other threads (for my opinions) and I won’t disagree with you :)
ppGaz
Way to go John. I also quit this year, on doctor’s orders.
OCSteve … and the rest of you smokers: Do whatever it takes to quit. If you fail, keep trying. It is worth it. The damned things can and will ruin your health in so many different ways. Don’t give up. Keep at it, and quit.
Al Maviva
Congratulations. It takes some grit to kick the habit and keep it kicked.
Mason
Good on you. I quit not long after my daughter was born (also after about 15 years). I didn’t want her growing up with a daddy that smoked and it was at times the only damn thing that kept me going.
Dave Ruddell
I’m curious John, was the weight gain from food tasting so much better? My uncle quit a few years ago, and he said he started gaining weight not because he was using food to satisfy some oral fixation, but because his taste buds worked so much better. He never knew how delicious lettuce and carrots were (this from a man who hates vegetables), and he just wanted to eat everything.
Boombo
Amen John.
Michael Demmons
John, I quit a couple months after you did. Congrats!
John Cole
Dave-
Both. For me it was not vegetables as much, because I have always LOVED evegetables. In general, all foods just tasted better.
One food that to this day does seem to taste better are apples, but I was already an apple a day eater before quitting smoking.
metalgrid
It might be the fact that I exercise (jog, bike, work out with weights, martial arts training), but after quitting smoking for 2 years, I didn’t notice a single positive difference. My cholesterol went up by 40 points (which probably isn’t causally related), but no positive change, I could still run up 5 flights of stairs without being out of breath, I didn’t notice any change in energy levels, although I did end up with several anger management issues due to the lack of a smoke to wind down.
John S.
I quit smoking (cigarettes) a couple years ago, and much like John, now only consume during the occassional bar outing (why does alcohol go so well with the damn things?).
My fingernails are in a dreadful state, but my health has certainly improved significantly.
don surber
Prosthelyzing about quitting cigarettes is an addiction that is harmful to one’s mental state. It is evangelism. Repent! Sin no more!
You need a 12-step program, John.
Been there, done that
don surber
Then you need to quit bragging about quitting the bragging about quitting smoking
Jane Finch
You mirror my thoughts and experience regarding smoking and quitting (especially the standing downwind…). I quit 20 years ago and it was probably 5 years before there were absolutely no smoking references in my life.
As for the link between smoking and drinking, even though I never smoke there’s nothing like the morning after a session in a lounge breathing second hand smoke to remember how my lungs must have felt 24/7 before quitting.
tzs
My father supposedly quit cold turkey when I was born, back in 1960. Supposedly went from 2 packs a day down to zero. Never lapsed as far as I know. So I have no memory of him as a smoker.
Nicotine does have a slight effect upon body setpoint, but all the literature I’ve read indicates 3-5 pounds. Never heard the “taste” arguement before, but it makes sense. If anyone wants encouragement to stay smoke free, I’ll post a recipe for a most heavenly, decadent, yummy cream cheese pie with a graham cracker crust. (It’s the reason I turn up my nose at cheesecake.) Say the word!
Are there blogs or other internet support groups out there for people trying to quit?
ape
Well congratulations on quitting. It really is not that long before your only thought about smoking is ‘Why the hell did I ever do it?’
Maybe about 2 years?
Once your sense of smell returns to normal you’ll find its physical properties utterly revolting.
My advice is to never back down in the face of the drunken evening with your old smoking buddies. that’s the hard one. they won’t mind crashing you one. you have to tell yourself: ‘no excuses’. why throw away what you’ve gained from quitting?
Steve S
For the record, I would like to applaud all those Americans who never smoked.
They are the ones with real courage and real strength. More should be said about them, to be held up as heroes to the nations children.
Steve
I’ll say it: Why do we never hear the good news about smoking?
rilkefan
Comrade lefties, don’t bait John too much or he’ll get lung cancer.
Seriously, congrats.
Jim
John, take heart. I quit 25 years ago and ballooned up to 350 lbs. Finally found a place called Quick Weight Loss Center and lost 150 over the next year. Kept it off too. Down side? I married the love of my life 5 years ago and started back (she smokes and I found it impossible to live with a smoker and not do so myself). But at 53 with serious heart probs I kinda think I’ll go out with a bang brfore the Big C gets me…
Krista
Yeah, it’s extremely difficult to quit if you’re surrounded by it. I quit over 3 years ago. I watched my boyfriend’s grandmother die a very painful death from lung cancer, and saw how devastated and angry her family was. And I looked at my boyfriend and my family, and thought “I do not want to put the people I love through that.” That was the mental flipping of the switch. The patch took care of the physical withdrawal. And I put on about 20 lbs. I didn’t worry about it, though — I figured “one thing at a time”. Once I had totally beat smoking, I started focusing on eating right and being more active, and have since lost those 20 lbs., plus an extra 45 lbs. I’ve only had half a cigarette since, when I was in Holland (we were surrounded by smokers). Just take one thing at a time, and you’ll succeed, John.
jg
I quit 4/1/94, yup April Fools Day. I did it by stopping. I was 23 and had been smoking for 10 years. The first two weeks sucked but after that no problem. Yes I still get cravings for smokes but its not too bad at all. I used to have a couple a night when drinking but I haven’t had one in 4 years now.
I also gained weight but I think it was just time for me to finally put on weight. My teenage years I was a bonerack but I was told I’d start to put on some weight in my twentys so I don’t know how much the quitting helped.
MC
Good for you. I’ll be at my one year mark in the middle of next month after 10 years. (Don’t really remember one specific day I quit – I just stopped smoking while I had the flu and never went back)
You’re dead on about the habits that have to be broken. For the last couple years, I was changing my habits by choice or by edict and it ended up helping me stop. First, I stopped smoking in the day (I was working at a pharma plant – that’s basically standard policy – too many chemicals close by) Once I was forced to do that, I moved to a new place with a nice deck and I stopped smoking indoors. I stopped smoking after dinner. I decided to not smoke on Sundays. By last Dec., I had stopped smoking under so many different circumstances, I was already at less than a pack a week, down from a pack a day in 2003, down from a pack and a half in the late 90s.
Cancer scares the living s**t out of me.
tzs: Please post that recipe? Sounds good.
kemk
Good for you, John. An occasional upate on your continuing efforts (successful, I hope) to remain smoke-free would be A Good Thing.
circlethewagons
Taking you up on your advice, I have decided to eliminate the following from my day to day life;
coffee, alcohol, stress and anger, sex, creative projects, eating meals, and work.
Quitting should now be a snap.
Another Jeff
I don’t necessarily recommend this quitting path to anyone, but I didn’t start smoking until i was 21. Basically, from the time i was about fifteen, i always dipped (I wrestled from age 8 through my first two years of college, and dipping is almost as common as the mats in amateur wrestling).
Anyhoo, ABout the time i turned 21, i realized it was kind of hard to meet girls in bars or at parties when you’re spitting into a cup, and the wrestling career was over, and i started smoking instead of dipping.
Ten years later (two years ago), I woke up one morning after a long night of drinking and way too many cigarettes and just decided to quit. When i’d get a nicotene craving, i went back to putting a dip in.
But, having not done it for so long, it made me sick and tasted like crap, so i stopped doing that too.
Like some others who have commented here, i’ll still have an occassional smoke if i’m drinking, but there’s no desire any other time.
SeesThroughIt
I’ll never forget the time I went to my friend’s house and found his older brother, Ken, sitting at the kitchen table, looking like he was so stressted out he was on the verge of stabbing everybody in the neck with a fondue fork.
“You, uh, look a little wound up, Ken.” I said.
“I’m quitting smoking,” he said.
“Ooooh, that would explain it. How long has it been?”
Through the most tightly clenched teeth came the classic reply: “Four. Fucking. Hours.”
aop
I smoked for about 15 years, probably a pack a day for ten. Over the last two years I’ve quit, and it hasn’t actually been that hard. My advice is to designate places and times you won’t smoke, one at a time.
For example, I started (and it was easy b/c I moved in w/ a non-smoker) not smoking inside. That one step cuts your cigarette intake in half right off the bat, because you have to actually think about having a cigarette instead of just lighting up where you are. After that, I stopped smoking at work–when I wanted to take a break, I’d walk around the block. Then I stopped having one with my morning coffee on the drive to work, then stopped smoking in the car altogether. By this point, I was only smoking at night with a drink, and over the last year I’ve been phasing that out, too. Actually gotten to the point where I can have a few drinks and not be dying for one (although I don’t beat myself up if I slip up and bum one).
I think one more piece of advice I’d give anyone looking to quit is to not worry about it if you have one. That kind of zero-sum mentality is a recipe for defeat. The goal should be to have less and less, and if you keep it up, eventually less will become none. And even if it doesn’t, having one cigarette every few days isn’t that bad.
Derek Flint
Good for you John, keep it up.
I quit cold turkey about four years ago and I still get cravings if I’m out having a few drinks. I put on a few pounds as well and I try to keep fit by cycling a couple of days a week.It’s a great cardio workout and low impact, works really well for me…
Off Colfax
I’ve tried to kick the habit a few times so far in my 13 years of inhaling the burning ashes of nicotine bliss, but each one has been an utter failure. In fact, my cigarette intake went up after each failed attempt.
And at one point in time, I was sitting at 3 packs per day over 20 months. Admittedly I was in one of the Top 5 Most Stressful Jobs via a 2002 US News & World Report article: driving a taxi. (Beat out by police officer, EMT, emergency room staff, and President of the United States. In that order.) But that was my intake.
Since then, I’ve dropped to the point of between 10 and 15 cigarettes per diem, less if I spend more time asleep. And the way I make sure I stay that low is by not smoking inside the apartment. Period. (Which has, by the by, the added benefit of not making my cats suffer for my weak-willed addiction.) By not lighting up inside, I force myself to wait for a preset length of time before scorching another one into ash.
Will my life be better overall if I’m able to actually kick the habit? Most probably. Will that improved life be worth the torture involved in quitting? The jury’s still out on that one.
Not only that, but I’ve limited myself to three addictions. With a genetic predisposition towards addiction, such a limitation is practically a requirement. Nicotine is one of them, in addition to coffee and chocolate. If I remove one, will I descend into alcoholism like a vast majority of my family has? Which is worse: habitual smoking or habitual drinking? Or will a worse drug invade my life? And if killing myself slowly prevents me from sliding down that slippery slope, is it a better thing?
It’s questions like that which make my situation a lot tougher than simply quitting.
But I’m not a complete loss. I still exercise regularly, eat relatively healthy, can still put 50 miles of road (or trail) behind me via cycling, rip apart the dance floor like I was still 15, and am in training for next summer’s assault on a few 14,000+ foot mountains. I’ve a few extra pounds on me from back when I ripped half the ligaments out of my right knee, but it’s not out of control. By a long shot.
But for now, I need a cigarette. Badly. But only after I finish my slice of chocolate paradise sitting in front of me.
tzs
Cream Cheese Pie, or Death to Cheesecake:
Graham Cracker crumb crust:
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs with 1/4 softened butter and 1/4 cup sugar. (Add pinch salt if using unsalted butter.)
Pour crumb mixture into a 9-inch pie plate.
Press crumb mixture firmly against bottom and sides of pie plate.
Bake in moderate over (375 F) 8 minutes. Cool
Cheese filling:
3/4 lb cream cheese (12 oz.)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup suger
Mix cream cheese and sugar, add eggs. Beat together extremely well, add vanilla. ABSOLUTELY NO LUMPS. Bake 20 minutes at 350 F.
Prepare topping:
3/4 pt sour cream
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
Can sprinkle with cinnamon or marblize with a tart jam or jelly. Put on topping and bake for another 5 minutes.
Serve chilled.
The family tradition says this was a recipe that was given free to any purchaser of a $100 war bond during WWII, which is how we supposedly got it. It is indecently delicious–you have been warned.
BIRDZILLA
How about telling the antismoking bunch that i will smoke in my home when i want to but not in your home how about screwing the LUNG ASSOCIATION, HEART ASSOCIATION and CANCER SOCIETY
MC
tzs:
Thanks a lot! I’m going to try this soon.
tzs
MC and others–
Thanks for your appreciation. The smoother you beat the eggs + cream cheese, the better it is–even small lumps ruin it. I remember my mother insisting the batter be as smooth as possible.
For those who want a traditional New England dessert:
Apple Crisp. Mixture for crumb topping: 1/3 cup butter, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour. Can also do 1/4 butter, 1/4 sugar, 1/2 flour. Mix butter into sugar and flour until there are no lumps at all left (I use my hands). When you want Apple Crisp, cut up sufficient amount of baking apples into deep baking dish–Granny Smith are good, toss in cinnamon, nutmeg, a little grated orange or lemon peel, juice of one lemon, then cover with crumb topping and bake at 350 until top turns golden brown, usually 30-40 minutes. Also can use frozen berries. I won’t dignify this as a recipe since it’s so mindless. I make the crumb topping in large batches and dump the excess in the freezer.
Mac
Congrats to everyone who has quit or is trying to quit. I have been a non-smoker for about two years now, after 30 of power puffing. Quit cold turkey. It’s still hard at times, but not worth starting again. Even having one when drinking worries me so I don’t do it.
I think using a technique of delay(not Tom) helped a lot. Everyone can wait another 5 minutes to smoke, no matter how desperate. I kept telling myself that in five minutes, I could smoke, if I wanted to. After five minutes, I did it again, making up as elaborate a story as needed to wait another 5, i.e. the plane is going to land then, the movie is almost over, church is just about out, the job interview is almost over, the insurance salesman is ready to leave soon, whatever. I had a fairly rich fantasy life involved in delaying the next smoke, and after a while, the urges dropped off. I had delayed for several months by then, and felt better about things. Do I feel that I have become a pain in the ass for other smokers? I don’t think so, I know how I felt about preachy ex-smokers and have vowed to not do it to others. I still worry about starting again, but I really feel that this time it will stick.
It is about breaking the little habits. Actually, its about replacing them with different habits. To this day I still reach for my pack, at least pat my shirt pocket. I did keep a big pack of just Doublemint in there for a while, till my jaws ached. Then I quit the gum. I also broke the habit of scrounging up cash for smokes, sort of. I would gather up the 7-11 equivlent of my daily fixes and stuffed them into a piggy bank. Shocking, really. I bought a killer new laptop the first year and next summer I retire and am taking the wife to Europe on what I have stuffed in there this year.
As Nike says, just do it.