7 months SMOKE FREE

[spec4]

After many false starts, one of which lasted 7 months, I finally quit cold turkey. My daughter as a toddler and I was in the living room puffing away. As I saw her breathing that crap, I decided on the spot to quit. That was in 1969. Never had any desire to go back and won't go places where there is smoke.

 

[Armed Citizen]

thanks for the rep, so far still going strong. although i did find a couple old packs that never got thrown away and im not gonna lie, i did peek inside to see if there were any left.But luckily all were empty. So far the longest ive been able to quit for was a month. Do you guys miss it at all?

Once you get past the physical need for nicotine (which according to reports takes about 1 - 2 weeks) the hardest part is the mental need. The after dinner smoke, cigs and coffee, cigs and driving, cigs during a stressful situation, or just plain habit, I have reached into my chest pocket several times in the past 7 months only out of habit. It does get better. But what I enjoy the most, is not panting or weezing when I breath, my ability to taste food (hence my weight gain) has greatly improved, my sense of smell, my clothes not stinking, kissing my wife without your going "YUCK".

 

[LeeStreet]

Keep up the good work. Just think how many guns you will be able to buy with your cig money. I will have 23 yrs. smoke free in November , & did it cold turkey.

 

[jd42k]

Congrats and keep moving forward.

 

[PriestEG]

nice work. i quit and the biggest thing i found to help with eating to occupy the void left by smoking was to chew sugarfree candies. nething would help and make me feel like better. i would even go outside my work building to act like i was smoking and retain some of the cognitive relations i had built up with years of smoking. KEEP IT UP it is one of the harder and better decisions you will make

 

[Suprtek]

Wow! I'd love to smoke free for 7 months. That would be a lot of $$$!!


Seriously though, you are correct to say this is an accomplishment to be proud of. Great job.

 

[mkelsey]

Quitters never win.

And winners never quit!

thanks for the rep, so far still going strong. although i did find a couple old packs that never got thrown away and im not gonna lie, i did peek inside to see if there were any left.But luckily all were empty. So far the longest ive been able to quit for was a month. Do you guys miss it at all?

I quit cold turkey after 16 or 17 years of a pack and a half a day habit. The first 6 to 8 months were pretty sucky as far as craving goes in my experience, it was just a matter of willpower to actually say "no" and wait for it to pass, but the craving/wanting a smoke will eventually just not be there anymore. Now I can hang out around my smokin friends and not even be a little tempted to bum one or go get a pack. I would rather just go outside or into a different room since I can really tell how bad it smells to a non-smoker now.(It truly truly does stink)

 

[CandRFan]

Congrats!!

It's been about the same time for me too. I'll be honest and say that I still feel the occasional urge, but at this point it's a very fleeting urge. I have a very good buddy who, along with his wife, still smoke like chimneys. I was worried that since I'm at their place at least once a week that it would cause some problems, but it hasn't at all.

Frankly, their smoking has made my quest to continue quitting easier. Being around them reminds me just how crappy my lungs would feel as a smoker and how glad I am that I'm not making myself feel like that anymore.

I was actually pretty upset with myself after the first week. I was all worried about how "hard" quitting was going to be. It was easier than I thought! Of course, I was absolutely ready to drop that habit...and I understand that I'm probably going to get that urge to smoke for the rest of my life. But hey...one day at a time.

So best of luck to you and all of the rest of us quitters. Having that extra cash is a beautiful thing too!

 

[EnochRoot43]

I quit on 08/20/2007, and I am so glad. I quit once for 18 months before that, but made the stupid mistake of taking ONE drag on my GF's (at the time) cigarette after sex one day. After that, it was three months of looking for excuses to smoke, eventually bumming multiple cigarettes a day until I bought a pack and smoked at least a pack a day for four more years.

The cravings EVENTUALLY decrease in strength, and you already know about the decrease in frequency. Congrats to you! I STILL crave a cig a few times a month, but am mostly disgusted by them these days. Keep it up, but realize that your non-smoker status is revocable with one drag. There are a few people out there that can pick them up and put them back down at leisure, and those people deserve all the jealousy and spite that us former smokers can dish out

 

[sartwell]

Congrats !!! I'm 8 years smoke free now, so I know you can do it.