Occasional Smoker

How do I quit if I have smoker friends that offer cigarettes whenever I go out. After a smoking night out I'm so hooked that I have to buy a pack for myself. I still consider myself an occasional smoker. Am I fooling myself?

If you want me to be totally honest...you are a smoker, wether occasional or daily...it is the same addiction that you will have to break! Good news is, that is not that hard. I had smoked a pack a day minimum for the last 13 years when I quit, and it was fairly easy...I have been smoke free for over 5 weeks now, and do not ever, I mean EVER, have any sort of "craving"... so you can do it, too!

I thought about what you said for a long time and yes...it is and addiction. It is also my way of relaxation after a day full of work. Believe me I still want to quit, but smoking is the only thing that offers an immediate escape.

1) Talk to your friends - if they don't support you then they are not your friends

2) Tell yourself - "If I smoke when I when I go out then I don't go out" - I couldn't go out this weekend because I was weak and smoked a smoke this week. It works for me beacuse I love to socialize!

I know just how you feel.!

I was a smoking at 14yo and now that I'm older I think of it as a way to deal with a bad day, something as normal as an olive in my Martini- after all I've been doing it for years.

But try to relax with some music- maybe a little yoga. It's really helped me. They say that you only have to do something 13 times for it become a habit. In two weeks you can a whole new habit! 

Good luck!

I have been smoking for 35 years--with the exception of the 3 years I was pregnant with my 3 kids! I couldn't wait to get back to smoking! I do not believe mine was an addiction--I went on a 9 day vacation with my mother in January and did not have 1 cigarette. But as soon as I got home and sat on my own couch I lit up!! Mine was total relaxation! I only smoked on work breaks and TV time at home! I have never lit up in the kitchen while making supper or smoked while on the computor, or during the day while doing my housework!! ONLY FOR RELAXATION---none the less--it was time to quit! $5 a pack and my health = no smoking!

I'm changing my own mind--I think I have to go back to smoking!  I cannot keep the weight under control--gained 6 lbs. already and I have truely been dieting! I'm very, very frustrated! I was already 20 lbs. overweight--now this! I'm very sad to have failed, I thought I was in control--but clearly the cigarette is!

Don't do it!!!

I know that seeing the weigh gain is hard, but give it time. You just got threw the hardest part of quitting. Those first few days. 

If you can continue not smoking in just a couple of weeks your lungs will be much healthier and you'll be able to walk longer and run harder. Burning more calories. 

Also, for me, stress makes me pack on the pounds. I think it must be water weight because I eat the same amount of calories, and when I quit than smoke, quit than smoke, it puts a lot of stress on me an my body and I can actually gain weight. 

not to mention that, twenty pounds feels like a lot but it isn't that bad. You have a life time to loose weight, and a much longer one if you don't smoke. 

Best of luck!

Thanks--it has been almost 3 months since I quit. I am struggling so much with the weight gain--I cannot see past the pity!  My Doctor told me you do not gain weight by quitting smoking --only by what you put in your mouth!! She is clearly wrong--she obviously was never a smoker. Argh--I hate it.

Tell me about it!

And I hate it when people say you only gain weight because of the calories - maybe that's true for 20-25 pounds, but depending on the time of the month, stress, how much salt or prepackaged food I'm eating I can gain 5 pounds while still eating the same calories. 

good luck and don't throw away three months of hard work over 6 pounds! 

Thanks--I didn't do it (yesterday anyway). Although I was in a Drug store and the cig isle did catch my attention--$6.35 a pack! Instead I bought a bottle of Acai Berry diet pill--probably junk! I'll go for a long walk today and get more clean air into these once damaged lungs!  BTW_-my house also smells better for not smoking.

Thanks again!