Quitting Smoking

I know this is a tired, tired old subject but a thread over on Politics.ie has got me thinking again about how I really need to quit smoking.

Us smokers are a rather stupid lot at the best of times but I am in a particularly senseless category considering I didn't really start smoking properly until I was about nineteen. Since then I have developed a fairly steady habit of around 10-15 per day. I'm in a difficult position (excuses, excuses) in that most of my friends smoke and my frequent attempts to quit have become a subject of considerable amusement within the group!

I go through cycles of more of less ignoring the destructiveness of my habit followed by a period of self-loathing and renewed determination that I have to quit. I have made a decent effort to stop twice in the last year but I seem to have serious difficulty getting by the three-week stage.

My main difficulty centres on the social aspect of smoking - I find it difficult to imagine having an enjoyable few drinks with friends without having a cigarette.

Anyway, my exams finish at the weekend so I plan on picking a date next week and giving it another shot. Any suggestions for successful abstinence (that don't involve pictures of cancer-ridden lungs!) would be greatly appreciated!

[I had no idea where to put this so if a mod could move it to the correct forum that would be great]

unaligned wrote:

I had no idea where to put this so if a mod could move it to the correct forum that would be great

We might need a health department in here

That is one seriously effective book. I second the recommendation. You'll have it read in a jiffy.

Zhou_Enlai wrote:

That is one seriously effective book. I second the recommendation. You'll have it read in a jiffy.

Really? I always thought those books were a bit of a gimmick. That said, will power has proven spectacularly unsuccessful so far so perhaps it's time to consider other options!

Gave up the smokes since Christmas day and despite a few close ones Im still off them currently

Cold turkey approach was what I took - you need to be clear in your mind that this is it

Found this site very useful

www.whyquit.com

unaligned wrote:

Zhou_Enlai wrote:

That is one seriously effective book. I second the recommendation. You'll have it read in a jiffy.

Really? I always thought those books were a bit of a gimmick. That said, will power has proven spectacularly unsuccessful so far so perhaps it's time to consider other options!

I'd say I did too before I read it first. You have to want to give up - it talks you into the idea that it's easy - it's some form of hypnosis really or even neuro linguistic programming and you simply find yourself repeating parts of the book when you've been off them a few days and are going through a hard patch. I've been off them nearly two years now. Even if I go back on them again the book has paid for itself literally 500 times already (a good deal)

I'm also off the booze which helps.

I found the book to be a poor attempt at brainwashing. All he did was repeat the same thing over and over in slightly different words.
In saying that I dont think I really wanted to give up while I was reading it.
I still smoke, much to my dismay.
I sometimes feel like giving up but then I hear the fanatical Professor Luke Clancey on the radio and I become determined to smoke until my (early and probably slow) death just to spite him.

AfricanDave, why don't you get your shorts on an join us in the Fitness Machine thread. We will get you wheezing so much you won't be able to inhale.

I have decided to take my doctors advice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCMzjJjuxQI

youngdan wrote:

I have decided to take my doctors advice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCMzjJjuxQI

Somehow that reminds me of this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26UA578yQ5g&feature=related

Take up meth instead. None of that dangerous nicotine in meth. 

*struggles with lighter* 

Yah, no more worrying about stained teeth.

SMILE!

cookiemonster, that's disgusting.

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

cookiemonster, that's disgusting.

Yep, it is.

Re smoking. Almost all of my family smoke or have smoked - and my mother-in-law is the All-Ireland Smoking Champion to the extent that when she doesn't have a smoke handy, we leave the house. She works hard and it's her only indulgence. My own grandmother gave up smoking after a stroke and my mother believes it was a cruelty to deny her cigarettes when she didn't smoke much at all; instead she went to her grave dying for a cigarette and it would have made her quality of life better at that stage. God knows she had little enough in those days.

My sister and brother still smoke - he like a chimney about 60 a day and she surreptitiously so that her husband doesn't find out. The others have all given up, one when she got pregnant, one when he got overweight and the other because her husband was giving up before new year. They are saving the price of their (admittedly small enough) mortgage between them each month.

I think it's a matter of willpower. My sister took up jellybabies and the gym and my brother took up gum - the regular stuff though I know many people for whom the patches and gum have been a lifesaver.

My stomach churns a bit to be near a committed smoker - they clearly have no idea how profoundly smelly they are. It puts layering scent into a whole new context. Someone who puffs at a couple a day or a few rollies is fine and I'm strangely attracted to pipe-smokers but the stink of a moderate to heavy smoker is repulsive.

It is a terrible waste. Nuala O'Faolain probably had a few more good books in her, she clearly was not ready to go. One of my uncles died of lung cancer with a cigarette in his hand. And one of my neighbours died of lung cancer who didn't smoke but whose husband did.

And so it is that time again. I lasted five weeks last time (disappointing) and ruined it all with a drink fuelled trip to Berlin.

This time I am determined and I am equipped with patches. The ten months since January have been a good time for me. I have my own place, I am very happy in my personal life and I got a good job in a sector that I love. I had a fantastic time in my masters and I graduate from my M.A (1:1 horray!) next week. Quitting smoking and learning how to drive are the only boxes that remain unticked in my Stalinesque one year plan. Wish me luck.

unaligned wrote:

And so it is that time again. I lasted five weeks last time (disappointing) and ruined it all with a drink fuelled trip to Berlin.

This time I am determined and I am equipped with patches. The ten months since January have been a good time for me. I have my own place, I am very happy in my personal life and I got a good job in a sector that I love. I had a fantastic time in my masters and I graduate from my M.A (1:1 horray!) next week. Quitting smoking and learning how to drive are the only boxes that remain unticked in my Stalinesque one year plan. Wish me luck.

Good luck unaligned, and congratulations on the M.A. It is good to hear someone having such a good year, in amongst all the woe. You can be an inspiration to us all.

unaligned wrote:

And so it is that time again. I lasted five weeks last time (disappointing) and ruined it all with a drink fuelled trip to Berlin.

This time I am determined and I am equipped with patches. The ten months since January have been a good time for me. I have my own place, I am very happy in my personal life and I got a good job in a sector that I love. I had a fantastic time in my masters and I graduate from my M.A (1:1 horray!) next week. Quitting smoking and learning how to drive are the only boxes that remain unticked in my Stalinesque one year plan. Wish me luck.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your career, however humble,
for it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time
Desiderata

Well done on the M.A. What's a oneone in an M.A. feel like ?

A woman I used to work with broke up with her boyfriend. She new moving on was the best thing but all she wanted to do was ring him. I used to by her presents whenever she went a week without getting into contact with him. You could use some sort of treat along those lines.

Thanks for the kind words

It feels good Auditor thanks! I sort of drifted though my undergraduate degree without any real sense of purpose so I set out to get my act together this year. Next year's plan involves educating myself about economics. Does anyone have any suggestions (books) for a good startpoint? (Off topic I know)

unaligned wrote:

Thanks for the kind words

It feels good Auditor thanks! I sort of drifted though my undergraduate degree without any real sense of purpose so I set out to get my act together this year. Next year's plan involves educating myself about economics. Does anyone have any suggestions (books) for a good startpoint? (Off topic I know)

I wouldn't miss Adam Smith - the full and a good precis version of "the Wealth of Nations" are linked to the book club thread here. The basic economic concepts in it are very clear and rooted in observation of markets at work.

Aragon and I are talking about having a go at Capital - we have some good video links.

Joseph Stiglitz - "Globalism and its Discontents" is a much better read than it was six months ago, as it is all much closer to home now that it was.

Currently helping my Boyfriend to give up the smokes, his idea. Hes cutting down this week and giving up next week. Trying to do my best to support him but its hard as he's in Kerry and I'm in Cork. Any advice on do's and don't?

Giving up has to be as positive as possible. If you are a really good boyfriend you'll read Allen Carr's Easyway to Give Up Smoking ® too

Auditor #9 wrote:

Giving up has to be as positive as possible. If you are a really good boyfriend you'll read Allen Carr's Easyway to Give Up Smoking ® too

hmm are you on Commission or something Auditor??