How can I stop smoking? page 3

[Grafvitnir]

I smoked from age 15 to 28 and after the first year I smoked about a pack daily, 2 packs a day on weekends. Then I decided I didn't wanted to smoke anymore even though I liked to smoke, so I stopped. I finished my last pack one night and haven't smoked since. I analyzed why I didn't wanted to smoke anymore, I decided never to have even a small puff from anyone's cigarette (I know if I break this it will be easier to start again). It is hard the first time you do something you relate to smoking, i.e. in my case, my first beer without cigarette, my first long drive without it, my first dinner without it, etc. But after doing it without smoking you begin to loose that relationship with it. I know I still love to smoke, but just don't do it. I guess that is what made easier for me going primal. I decided not eating grains, legumes and sugar again, and almost done it for a year now. Almost because they've been social circumstances when I have had to eat a little of them but I haven't cooked them for a year now. And I know I like the taste of corn, wheat, oats, beans, chickpeas, etc; but I don't want to eat them, so I don't. The same with cigarettes.

Hope it helps.

Rubén

PS. I stopped smoking February 17 1996 at 11:30pm

[Grizz]

Ruben,

Congratulations - you must have a very strong willpower.

It was EXTREMELY difficult for me to quit, mainly because my job was intensely high pressure giving me terrible stress. Working under such high stress conditions without my nicotine fix every 20 minutes just made the stress worse ! That first week without smoking was a living hell. My arms were tensed up, and all I could think about was lighting up. I could barely do my job.

I went through this nightmare without any help, and this was long before the Allen Carr book came out. For those of you who read this book, why is it so successful?

Grizz

[Grizz]

traintolive,

Instead of following your friends ( and the Devil ) with their smoking & excessive drinking, you can become a LEADER to help them quit smoking and to limit drinking.

Be a good role model and others will follow YOUR lead. Explain to them why you won't have more than 2 drinks a day, teach them about Cirrhosis of the Liver. Explain to them how you were able to quit and the severe health problems ( including Erectile Dysfunction ) caused by tobacco.

This way you are doing God's work by saving your friends from severe health problems. So I say save yourself first, then work hard to save your friends.

As a last resort, you may have to find a new group of friends to hang around with to save yourself.

IMO, Drugs, Alcohol & Tobacco are the work of the DEVIL. Stay far, far away from them.

Grizz

[Solldara]

Stopping smoking is easy - don't put a cigarette in your mouth and light it.

The slightly more difficult thing is deciding that you have had enough of being an addict, you're fed of of smelling bad, you're fed up of being embarrassed in public as people move away from your smoke, and the thought of putting £100 in notes in an ashtray and setting them alight fills you with horror - which is what you will end up doing every week as a smoker.

Alan Carrs book and whyquit.com are great resources - and definitely worth looking at - but it worries me these posted saying that its hard to do, and that they really miss it.

Once you actually believe that its not achieving the aim you desire its so easy to stop smoking that its silly and your biggest hurdle will be not having a couple of puffs in the future because it was so easy to stop the first time - then there is no reason to smoke - and logically if it weren't for the actual drug addiction, why would you want to spend far more money than you can afford to make yourself look weak and stink.

My advice is:

1 - Check out whyquit.com
2 - Sit down and start being honest with yourself on what you think the cigarette is actually doing for you.
3 - Research the reality so that you can see that for every reason your smoking its actually a lie.
4 - Decide to never put a cigarete in your mouth again, cut down on your caffeine and be nice to yourself for a few days.
5 - Thank heaven every morning that you're no longer an addict and are finally free from the drug
6 - Forget about every being a smoker - its behind you and is no longer relevant to your life.

[dado]

It's easy to stop. This is how:

Realize that stopping will be uncomfortable and even psychologically painful for the first week or so. Understand this. Come to terms with it.

And then stop and just suffer through the pain that you knew was coming. Tell yourself that you are fighting through pain, and it will end soon if you keep fighting.

That's it, don't make it more difficult. You have to feel the pain.

[Grizz]

Can anyone tell me why the Allen Carr book, "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking" is so successful to getting people to quit smoking?

I have 2 friends that are HOPELESSLY addicted, and I need to convince these two people to get the book.

Sorry Solldara & Dado. but quitting smoking is NOT easy, and those who try to quit will suffer withdrawal pains for upwards of 2 years. The withdrawal spasms & pains do become less & less frequent each month. This is my experience & the experience of my friends who have quit. But you are right. SOME people do find it easy to quit, just not anyone that I know.

IMO, in my experience, women have a MUCH harder time to quit than men do. I'm sure there are exceptions, but that is my experience.

PS) About Allan Carr & his program, claims a 95% success rate:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Carr
http://www.wikihow.com/Quit-Smoking-...llen-Carr-Book

Thanks,
Grizz

[Scotty]

The thing with that is: I live in Germany and everybody is allowed to drink from age 16 (beer and wine) and 18 (hard liquor and cigarettes), basically everybody smokes and drinks, so it's impossible to go to a party where no one drinks. I mean I still want to party and hang out with my friends..

You have to take ownership of the decision making, part of growing into a happy adult. If you cannot control the urge to smoke when you go to a party, the decision is what is more important - not smoking or going to the party? Simple question, hard answer. Rather than look for reasons to avoid the decision, make the decision and live with it. If you decide that not smoking will have the overall greater improvement on the quality of your life, once that quality improves, it will be easier to control the urge and thus expose yourself to the smoking triggers. Difficult decisions to simple questions faced with maturity leads to improved quality of life.

[SugarBaby]

At 18 you don't have the depth of addiction that will come in a short number of years. Your name is traintolive, and that is not just weight training, but brain training. If needed, tell your friends you have developed a severe allergy to the cancer sticks (which we all do, ergo cancer), and I doubt anyone will give you a problem. You are stronger than your think. Traintolive healthily, without cigarettes, drugs, etc.

[traintolive]

Thank ya'll guys, there were some very motivating posts out there (if not all of them), even though I don't share some of your opinions, they really helped!
I did go to a party yesterday and smoked (but not a lot of cigarettes, maybe 4 or so, plus I decided to quit). I won't smoke anymore from today. It's too expensive, instead I will save up the money I'd usually spend on cigarettes and I will save it up for my dream(s). Smoking kills and makes sick.

Just one more question -- how to get rid of the slime faster?

[pyro13g]

Electronic Cigarettes.