Quit smoking on June 1 for good.

I've read some old entries in CC about tips on quitting smoking, I've read everything online, etc... yet I still can't do it.  The most I have gone was about 40 days about a year ago - but stress always brings me back.  I have decided on a new quit date of June 1 and until then I will get myself ready, try to weane myself off, etc.  But, I think something new that could help me and possibly others is to have a little support group.  My boyfriend still smokes, and he isn't quitting anytime soon and although he can be good about not smoking around me, covering the smells, etc... knowing he is going outside to smoke still gets to me.  No one else I know is willing to try quitting with me so I thought I would try here.  Any takers? 

A little about me - I'm not a huge smoker - sometimes I might not smoke every day (like yesterday) I never have a pack a day, the most might be around 10 and that's still rare - average by now is more like 5 at the most.  I live in NY and called up 311 about the patch/gum thing but it takes 2.5 weeks for them to tell you if you are eligible for anything.  But this fall it will be 3 years that i have been smoking and i am desperate to stop for good.  I first tried to quit in the end of August 07 because i didn't want to smoke for an entire year and since then have tried several times with no luck.

Hi Jane,

Seriously, I really need to do this challenge with you. My smoking habits have increased over the last year. Before I was an occasional smoker, smoking mostly when out with friends, at a club where there are drinks around. Now its turning into a daily habit were I have at least 1 a day. Some may say that isn't a lot or even consider it being a smoker but I need to let it go before it turns into more then what it is now. I have a 15 month old son and being a single full time working mother, there is stress sometimes in my life and I find relief through smoking. So I will make my first day to quit June 1 along with you. I'm not only doing this for myself, but MOST importantly for my son.

good for you!  One a day (to me) is still being a smoker.  I too seem to also have a weakness for smoking when drinking.  i have read that what is difficult is thinking you won't be able to enjoy things anymore without a cigarette - i think to drinking wine with my boyfriend - or going to a bar, and having luxurious smoking breaks and get sad i won't have them anymore.  but i will enjoy the drinking and hanging out! i have to remember that.  We should post here (when we can) when get an urge. 

 You brought up a good point, thinking that you wont enjoy yourself without a cigarette. That is difficult, when your going out as a smoker you want to make sure you have at least a few of them on you. I went to Vegas two weekends ago and that was the most that I have ever smoked in two days  because of the drinking the whole time I was there. For me, alcohol and cigarette's go great together. But with all the empty calories and loaded with sugar that alcohol has and the health risk with smoking, this is a deadly combination. But whenever we have the urge..we can both vent and talk it out.

The funny thing about it all is that I think cigarette's stink when I smell someone else smoking!

I know what you mean.  I have a coworker who used to scold me for smoking, and I later found out he smokes about three a day for years.  We used to hide smoking from each other - but lately whenever he walks past me at work I always smell him.  (I used to bring a tiny perfume with me to cover the smells and my coworkers would always say I smell so great!).

One problem I am worried about is that the last time i tried to quit - Jan 1, 2009 - I wasn't ready (I don't know if I am now or if I ever will be though) and got really sad that I couldn't smoke anymore - so I started to only have one on Friday nights.  This turned into a few on Friday nights.  This turned into okay if I am stressed I will have some but I can't smoke two days in a row - which turned into smoking whenever I want.  I don't know how to break that cycle.

I smoked for 20 years, a pack a day. I tried everything to quit over the past 10 years. Lost count of how many times I tried. I am 35 by the way.

So a couple of years ago I saw Ashton Kutcher, on The Tonight Show, tell Jay Leno that he quit smoking by reading a book. I thought yea right! But 1 year later I thought I might as well try it. I was desperate. So I found the book on Amazon and after reading the reviews spent the $14 to buy it. It was the weirdest thing. You smoke while you read the book and by the last chapter you just don't want one anymore. I know it sounds crazy buy IT WORKED!!!

I haven't had one since December 31, 2008. I am into my 5th month smoke free. I never thought I would be able to say this but ... It was easy, painless and for good. It doesn't even bother me to be around it. I still hang around with all my smoking friends. I don't even think about.

The Book is 20 years old but has been rewritten. It is called "The Easy Way To Quit Smoking" by Allen Carr. You can read over 300 reviews on Amazon.com. I am begging you...for your health and your sanity, read this book. This was the best $14 I have ever spent on anything.

Good Luck to you!

does that book explain things like you should think about why you want a cigarette- like boredom and how when you smoke one you don't even realize you are still smoking and you want another one - and he asks you to have your last cigarette when he says so when you are reading?  Because I think I read that book.. and i stopped for a while.. but obviously it didn't work on me.

I've unsuccessfully quit smoking twice in my life...I started smoking 5 years ago and the longest I've been without a cigarette since then was 1 month (when I tried to quit unsuccessfully). I really need to quit as I'm booked in for surgery in mid-July. I've set my quit date to 20th May, I'm going to go cold turkey, no patches or gum or anything, I'm planning to replace smoking with exercise...the last time I quit because I started running, and smoking really affected my stamina, so I quit and performed much better with my lungs clean. I hope I can do it this time, going into surgery as a smoker is dangerous...and the thought of having complications during my surgery really scares me. My biggest weakness is ciggies and coffee (I don't drink alcohol), I can drink up to 3-4 cups of coffee a day and a pack of cigs a day...it's amazing that my teeth are still white...it's funny though, when I quit smoking before, I stopped drinking coffee too and went for a cup of tea a day instead.

Hi desert_rose,

good luck with quitting and your surgery.  what made you start smoking again after you quit for a month?

Why did I start smoking again? I didn't have a good enough reason to quit I guess :( ...plus I love smoking more than I love running, and my sister (we live together) smokes too, so...you get the picture...aghh...I really enjoy smoking, that's my problem...taking a long drag out of my cig after a long hard day is just the most relaxing thing ever...

but I really shouldn't think about it that way anymore...I try to look at anti-smoking sites with all the gross pictures in it...have you tried just grossing yourself out that way? It doesn't work because I'm reaching for a cigarette as I'm staring at those pics in utter horror...it's too ironic.

You know I tried by weaning myself off, but it doesn't work...so far the only way to go for me is cold turkey, especially since I have surgery coming up, I'm not supposed to have any nicotine at all (that means no gums or patches either).

atleast now I do have a reason to quit...my surgery!! so yay for that I guess...now I only hope I don't start smoking again after my surgery.

Hey, you know we should try and come up with creative ways to quit smoking....I'm going to get a piggy bank and put my 'cigarette money' in it instead of buying a pack a day...I should get a new hobby too to distract me from smoking.

I know what you mean about it being so relaxing.  I only really love smoking when i'm stressed (usually from work) or when I'm drinking after a long week of work.  Problem for me is I don't buy cigarettes too often because most of the time i can just share what my boyfriend has bought.  And the weird thing is, i used to be such a hypochondriac at the height of my smoking... but i never was worried about what smoking was doing to me - it was actually my way to calm down when i was worried about some other nonexistant health issue.  in NY they have this campaign showing this woman holding her hands up and she's missing most of her fingers due to smoking - so i have seen that image soo much it's implanted in my mind.. but still it doesnt do anything for me too much (although on Monday i was thinking of buying cigarettes and i was going down the escalator to the subway i saw the pictures of that campaign so i said okay.. not going to buy cigarettes so i had smoked about three on sunday, none monday, and one last night). 

Ugh this is so hard.. I never thought I would be a smoker.. when I was seven i used to put up no smoking signs for my mom to stop.. now look at me! i hate myself for this!  but i still want to smoke! it's so sick.

I envy you...you smoke only a few cigs a day and none on some days....that's pretty damn good...it shouldn't be too hard for you too quit, so you can do it :D...Maybe you can further reduce that to say a couple times a week? You have so much better self-control than I do, I do 1 pack a day. Maybe tell your boyfriend not to smoke when you're there, and tell him to hide the cigs so you're not tempted to smoke that much?

Well before monday i cant remember the last time i didn't smoke at all one day - and i think it was because my boyfriend has been working crazy hours so i haven't seen him much and just didnt end up buying my own and i kept myself busy.  he is good about keeping them away from me if i ask him to.. but when he goes outside i know he is going out for a cigarette- so knowing he is doing that is so hard for me.  this week i am being really good, but before this week i wouldnt count how much i was smoking a day.

Does anyone wonder if it is possible to get to a point where you can smoke socially and not really crave them at other times?  Or is it an all or nothing thing at this point?

If that is how you are then you can but if you smoke a pack a day, you will never get to the point of smoking socially it will 99% of the time lead back to the way it was.  I quit once for a year, I weaned myself off of the nicotine using chewing tabacco, a little bit less every time until I didn't feel the urge for nicotine.  There are two parts to addiction, the physical and then there is the oral fixation and habbit.  You have to remember that you are addicted and that the absence of nicotine in your body makes your brain go crazy because it isn't getting that nicotine anymore.  It is a huge mental challange.  You have to understand this in order to quit.  You really need to start loving yourself if you want to quit, if you don't love yourself then you won't have a good enough reason to quit and stay off the cigs.  When your having an urge for a cig you need to remember that this is natural and find it inside yourself to say this is what I want, make that feeling overpower the urge to lite one up.  The urges will be there for the rest of your life.  Every now and again you will find yourself wanting one even after 10 years.  Just make sure you look at that cig and remember that your health and happiness are not up for the taking and that your not going to light up that cig because you don't really want to.  It is very hard to fight yourself, just remember that the craving isn't "you" it is a mental reaction to the absence of nicotine in the body.  It WILL go away and we can ALL quit, starting TODAY, screw all of this "start date" make a decision right now and we all can stick by eachother and tell our stories as we quit these cancer sticks and begin living a more confident and healthy life together.

Original Post by 2ndchance2lose:

You really need to start loving yourself if you want to quit, if you don't love yourself then you won't have a good enough reason to quit and stay off the cigs. 

I think that is the best point.  It is so true.

For me - i don't even smoke half a pack a day.. but I have tried start dates and just spur of the moment quitting - neither has worked.  But I did a lot of reading and thought I would try a start date again and try to weane myself off instead of just going cold turkey on a start date.  I need these few weeks to mentally and physically prepare I think.

try taking an empty pack of cigs and filling it with gum, then when you have an urge for a cig pull out your pack and chew away.  Look into a yoga book as well, it is so important to know how to center yourself and gain control of your emotions.

I had my last one last night. It was the last one in the pack so from this point on, I refuse to buy another pack. Even though I pack can last up to two weeks...its still time for me to quit.

I must say that I really enjoyed that last cigarette!

I just bought a pack today at lunch.. ugh.  but i will try to make it last i don't want to buy another pack ever.

You just have to make up your mind that you are not a smoker anymore.  It's hard.  I used the patch when I quit and that helped me. You *can* do it!  It also wasn't my first time to quit... I had quit before but never lasted more than a couple of months. 

I smoked a pack a day (or more) for about 30 years.  I quit March 29 of 2007, because I went into the hospital with chest pains on March 30th.  The chest pains started at 6am and I went directly to the hospital.  I did not have a heart-attack but the scare was enough for me. 

I'm new here. I just wanted to join in on quitting smoking by June 1st. My whole family has smoked, and I always said I would NEVER do it, but guess what I've been smoking for about 6 months now, and I want to stop. I have dreams of being a pediatrician and it seems very hypocritical to me to be smoking when I'm telling the kids it's horrible for them, " Hold on a minute I'll be right back I have to smoke!" How ridiculous. And I just got a job at CVS as a pharmacy tech, so I'm getting my foot into the medical field and I just think it's a REALLY great time to quit. I'm all for this!! :D