Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests help from former smokers

I know there are some of you out there that used to smoke and I guess my question to you is how did you quit? I've been doing it for about 4 years and started for a stupid reason, which isn't really important but that situation in my life has long passed. I have really wanted to stop for a few months and just can't seem to find a way. What are your best tips? I know that different things work for different people but I'm just irritated at how I feel in the morning when I wake up, having to go outside and away from everyone to do it, how my clothes smell, how my car smells, and mad at myself for how much money I have wasted on these stupid things. I have "quit" a few times only to have something stress me out after a couple of days and the first thing I do is go out and buy a pack and waste any progress I've made. I've got plenty of things to keep me busy around the house, but still every hour to hour and a half its outside I go I really hate myself for starting this stupid thing knowing that it would be hard to stop and falling into the "I can just quit whenever I want to" crowd. Not to mention how hard it is to get the positive attention of specific single ladies because I look like an idiot with a cig hangin out of my mouth. Help please before I die a horrible slow death at a young age. Thanks.

i'm in the process of quiting as well. here's what i am doing:

i have a friend that wants to quit also, her and i made a deal. it's soley based on the truth system. whenever i have a cigarette, i give her a dollar and she does the same with me. i am a broke a$$ college student so i hate to give money away to just anyone for nothing. in the past week though, i have only given her four dollars and she has given me six, which is good considering i work in a club so that makes it even harder to stop. whenever you feel like you need one, get an apple or some grapes, you have to be strong willed enough to make yourself get something instead, that's how i'm doing it and so far it's working. good luck

sunflower seeds I am telling you they keep your mouth so busy you will totaly forget about cigs.

i quit cold turkey. i found it was easiest to do when i was sick and smoking sucked anyway. as much as i felt the "craving" to smoke again, it only last a few days. about two days after i quit, i got a real bad headache, and then it was just minor cravings after that. just takes will power. mind over matter.
(although im not sure if particulates constitute matter)

I think cold turkey is the only way. Atleast that's what I've seen from my experiences. I currently smoke and have been smoking off and on longer than I can remember (I'm 18, so it's not good at all). My uncle and grandma died from it. My dad had a horrible lung infection that nearly killed him and that is the only reason he quit after ~30 years of smoking. I've been smoking more and more lately (surprise, bet noone knew nicotine would do that to ya ) but I hope to quit when I go back home in the summer. My mom doesn't know I smoke and I don't want to disappoint her. It's been hard enough keeping it from her through the years and it's only gonna keep getting hard. So many people smoke here in college that I don't think I want to even try quitting while I'm here. I can't be in a bar or at a party without wanting a cigarette. So again, cold turkey is best way in my opinion. Eventually the cravings aren't so bad. O and chew gum or something. It's all about determination.

you could try moving to LA where people will think you're an *sshole if you smoke. and will even make faces at you in public like you're walking around with your weiner haning out. (lots of people still smoke in la but waaaaay less).

my friend is "trying" to quit and took up smoking those Indian (?) cigarrettes? he's says they dont have any nicotine but i dont know how accurate that is. he also says theyre harder to find and more expensive. but he did say that he noticed a big difference after smoking those for quite some time and then trying a regular cig again. he said he almost felt sick.

I guess you're talking about clove cigarettes. They have about ~60% tobacco which is about twice as strong as regular cigarette tobacco. You're friend just has things in their head or just doesn't like the taste of regular cigarettes anymore.

I smoked for more than 10 years. I quit a lot of times and started back. You just have to keep trying and not give up. Iâ�?��?�ve not smoked in over 10 years. Smoking is not natural and the only reason that people smoke is because smoking eases their withdrawal symptoms and makes them feel better. Quitting smoking is hard to do. I think the easiest way is just to keep it simple and say â�?��?Iâ�?��?�m quitting no matter whatâ�?�.

I smoked for about 4 years too and have been smoke free for about 1.5 years now. I quit cold turkey. I set a date about a month ahead of time for the date that I would actualy quit. I smoked like a fein (sp?) for that next month, so much that I was sick of it when I got to my quit date. It was not easy though. For about a month after my quit date I was the most irritated, miserable person you would ever meet and every little thing set me off.

It's definitely not easy but now I dont even crave a cigarette, which I never thought I would be able to say! I feel so much better now!

My wife & I were smokers for 12 years. I got to 2-1/2 packs a day at one point. I tried to quit, but with her still smoking it was impossible. We ended up quiting cold turkey together. That was about 10 years ago.

The secret to success, is find a substitute for the "habit" that you can get hold of at any time. For me, all I did was carry a pack of sugarless gum & a Bic pen. When a wicked craving would strike (like when my co-workers would fire up, or at dinner back when smoking was still allowed in restaurants) I pull out the Bic & pretend it was a cig. The motion & the deep breathing would trick my body into thinking I was getting a dose. THE CRAVING WOULD SUBSIDE IN A FEW SECONDS. It was freakin' awsome to know I was beating the nicotine!