Trying to cut back smoking, I need some help

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Quick update from a non-smoker/smoker/ex-smoker/smoker.

Nicotine Gum is vile. Imagine chewing gum with vegemite capsules in it.
Nicotine Patches are almost as bad. First of all they stain your skin, then they cost more, then you still want something to smoke, then you get the choice of: have one on while you sleep and get lucid dreams, or leave it off and get a craving as you wake.

1) Decide (and REALLY DECIDE) to quit.
2) Destroy every last trace of cigs around the house.
3) Become a total bastard for two weeks.
4) Feel your entire body scream (Non-smokers: imagine shaving all of your 'areas' and then letting them grow back.)
5) Feel your breath coming back.
6) Feel better.

You will go through all six stages, so it's best to let you know.

14 days is roughly all it takes. That's roughly £85 you've saved. So give it to a trusted relative to buy you a present IF you don't have any.

Oh, and tell your friends they're allowed to punch you if they see you smoking.

Good Luck.

(P.S. That's not to say you won't want another as soon as you hear someone inhale. That stays with you for upto 10 years)

 

[Oopsie]

Smoke shag. It's way cheaper.

 

[razer17]

Hmmm...just smoke those 4 in key moments of the day? Like..after breakfeast, work break in the middle of the afternoon, dinner, after sex?

he said he was married. what sex? .. hur hur

but really, the only way is through will power, otherwise you will end up loooking for them.
maybe do something to keep your mind of cigs, like eating (fruit prefereably if you dont want to gain 2 stones in the week)

 

[oliveira8]

Hmmm...just smoke those 4 in key moments of the day? Like..after breakfeast, work break in the middle of the afternoon, dinner, after sex?

he said he was married. what sex? .. hurt hur

but really, the only way is through will power, otherwise you will end up loooking for them.
maybe do something to keep your mind of cigs, like eating (fruit prefereably if you dont want to gain 2 stones in the week)

Being married doesnt mean no Sex. Raising children means no sex. As Op didnt say if he had or not. So...!

 

[Pimppeter2]

Only smoke when your able to get one by asking a friend/stranger

 

[similar.squirrel]

Use the money you save to buy yourself nice things on a daily basis.

2 packs?That's a lot.

 

[MelziGurl]

Buy one pack and make it last. Tell yourself that you are not allowed to buy that second pack, even if the first runs out. You don't have to worry about hiding them either, just give your wallet to your wife if you dare. But, if you enjoy your smoking THAT MUCH that you cannot live without those 4 cigarettes, then I'm sorry I can't help. You can't love money that much if you're having trouble giving up 4 cigarettes.

I smoked a pack a day for 4 years. I didn't give up because I didn't enjoy smoking. I gave up because I didn't enjoy seeing my mother upset over it (her mother passed away from smoking related causes and I started shortly after because of depression.)

 

[JamminOz07]

You really want to have to quit to have any chance. Once you've made that decision, it's not really that difficult. And if you live with other smokers, they need to quit too. It's too much harder to do without the support of people close to you.

OP. I know you say you don't want to quit, but if you've been smoking 2 packs a day, I really don't think that you'll be able to limit yourself to a particular, smaller number of cigs per day.

You should probably just bite the bullet, and just stop. That's all you have to do, don't buy smokes, and if someone offers one to you, just refuse. Yeah, you're going to have cravings, but mind over matter dude, if you really want to quit, you will. Don't use any nicotine replacement products, patches, nicotine gum etc. Using these products just continues your nicotine addiction, where in actual fact, if you can manage to just not smoke cigs for about 2 weeks, then all the nicotine will be out of your system, and you will have beaten the addiction.

After that, it's just a case of controlling the environmental addictions, such as having a cig after you eat, after sex, first thing in the morning etc.

This is how I quit, and I've been 'clean' for 4 months, after smoking for about 20 years. I never smoked quite as much as you, but still pretty heavily. I feel a hell of a lot better already from quitting, I have put on a bit of weight, but I'm working on that, and it's actually better than cancer!

 

[toapat]

Get WoW for $80 and play it every free second you have. i think at $13 a month in 6 month increments, it would cost less then the cigaretts do in a one month period

WoW is the ultimate anti-drug.

 

[Nargleblarg]

Honestly just grow a pair and stop it isn't as hard as you think your brain has just been screwed up by it and thinks it needs it so stop and fix it.

 

[Dingoman013]

OKay i didn't read all of them. But try doing all the motions of smoking with something else like; a pen cap, sucker, straw etc. Or Dause the but of you cig in a horrible tasting, foul smelling liquid (like the stuff people use for dogs when they are having chewing problems) and do that until you can't stand it and need to quit. Or do something you really hate for an hour(then smoke)so you get used to the urges and ultimately quit,but don't start to slack or you will slip right back into habit.

Good Luck man.

 

[nerdsamwich]

get some drinking straws cut them into cig size and put them in a cig pack and when you want a smoke pop one out and chew on it treat it like a smoke it helps good luck man

 

[Wyatt]

You really want to have to quit to have any chance. Once you've made that decision, it's not really that difficult. And if you live with other smokers, they need to quit too. It's too much harder to do without the support of people close to you.

Jesus, Amen.

i think perhaps even more importiant to getting others to quit with you, is that if you DONT get them to quit its going too be hell afterwords because once you quit if your around smokers you WILL become one of 'those people'. allways preaching about how nasty smoking is. there is nothing worse than an ex-smoker for two reasons, number one smokers cant just brush off what we say with the old stand by of 'you dont know you never did it' and number two we are right. smokings nasty.

im a hard core kinda person and i spent years telling people 'i fucking smoke, dont like it? than piss off'. i STILL feel that way. i let my family and friends smoke in my house, i think that its part of the package either they are welcome or they arent and if they are and they smoke than the smoking is allowed too, i did it for 20 years i know what a big deal it is, but that doesnt mean its easy. LOL ive actualy become one of those idiots that need to open windows when a smoker friend of mine leaves and wash my cloths after ive been around smokers because the stink literaly makes me sick now.

this is all stuff i said ID never do if i quit too, so thats how big the change from smoking too a non smoker will eventualy be for you if you do it.

ohh and dont listen to the idiots that think its just spitting on a twig and all you have to do is take a deep breath and spin around twice and your gold. its a war, you CAN win it, and once you DO beat it, once you get past those couple of weeks you never EVER have to face it again. hats it, 2 weeks of torture in excange for freedom for the rest of your life from being controlled by a smoke. if you can quit smoking from a 2 pack a day habbit (id guess more likley 3 since ALL smokers lie about how much they smoke) than you can do damn near anything.

ive done alot of things in my life i take pride in, quitting smoking is in my top 5.

Decide (and REALLY DECIDE) to quit. that is the deal. either do it or shut up and get on with the smoking, its your only choice.

 

[Scarecrow38]

Well I think smoking is an either-or situation. You can smoke... or you can not. If you don't want to quit then you won't be able to persuade yourself to smoke less either.

So I reckon the best thing to do is have a third party act as your cigarette distributor. There's also nicotine patches and gum you can get. It's not something you can beat with willpower.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Umm, how about play a really intense game that will keep you occupied?

 

[Serious_Stalin]

I quite from a pack a day 2 months ago (pretty much in the clear) what I found helped was reminding myself every time I wanted a ciggarette that the initial craving goes away after a minute of having it.

I also have the benefit of working in a place which has those tiny candy vending machines, so whenever I wanted a ciggy I went and got candy instead, or starting talking to somebody at work.

I'd also suggest start exercising once a day, not too much, just enough to get yourself out of breath (at the start that wasn't too hard for me hehe), watching myself improve overtime and I also got a rush from the exercise similar to the first smoke of the morning.

*Edit* I also pissed off other smokers by saying "thats bad for you" even after a day of not smoking. It helped because they'd often agree with me. Reminded me of why I was doing it.

 

[JamminOz07]

You really want to have to quit to have any chance. Once you've made that decision, it's not really that difficult. And if you live with other smokers, they need to quit too. It's too much harder to do without the support of people close to you.

Jesus, Amen.

i think perhaps even more importiant to getting others to quit with you, is that if you DONT get them to quit its going too be hell afterwords because once you quit if your around smokers you WILL become one of 'those people'. allways preaching about how nasty smoking is. there is nothing worse than an ex-smoker for two reasons, number one smokers cant just brush off what we say with the old stand by of 'you dont know you never did it' and number two we are right. smokings nasty.

im a hard core kinda person and i spent years telling people 'i fucking smoke, dont like it? than piss off'. i STILL feel that way. i let my family and friends smoke in my house, i think that its part of the package either they are welcome or they arent and if they are and they smoke than the smoking is allowed too, i did it for 20 years i know what a big deal it is, but that doesnt mean its easy. LOL ive actualy become one of those idiots that need to open windows when a smoker friend of mine leaves and wash my cloths after ive been around smokers because the stink literaly makes me sick now.

this is all stuff i said ID never do if i quit too, so thats how big the change from smoking too a non smoker will eventualy be for you if you do it.

ohh and dont listen to the idiots that think its just spitting on a twig and all you have to do is take a deep breath and spin around twice and your gold. its a war, you CAN win it, and once you DO beat it, once you get past those couple of weeks you never EVER have to face it again. hats it, 2 weeks of torture in excange for freedom for the rest of your life from being controlled by a smoke. if you can quit smoking from a 2 pack a day habbit (id guess more likley 3 since ALL smokers lie about how much they smoke) than you can do damn near anything.

ive done alot of things in my life i take pride in, quitting smoking is in my top 5.

Decide (and REALLY DECIDE) to quit. that is the deal. either do it or shut up and get on with the smoking, its your only choice.

I don't let people smoke in my house anymore. I only let friends into my house anyway, and they tend to respect that I have quit, and won't even attempt to light up inside.

There's no such think as an ex-smoker... there are only smokers, who choose not to smoke.

 

[Wyatt]

I don't let people smoke in my house anymore. I only let friends into my house anyway, and they tend to respect that I have quit, and won't even attempt to light up inside.

There's no such think as an ex-smoker... there are only smokers, who choose not to smoke.

well, i certianly dont like it, but i didnt much like being treated as scum when i was a smoker either so i let em do it. like i said its a part of the package like farting, or cussing. its just who they are so a good host makes their guest comfortable and welcome even if it means putting up with some minor things you may not like.

corse thats just my opinion. im sure that others would think its up to them to a be a good guest, and that smoking 'OMG KILLS PEOPLE' and so on. to each there own but i treat people as id like to be treated atleast in the real world and i recall having a few friends who didnt smoke NOT treat me like i had AIDS because i did. time to to make go around what came around for me.

still dont stop me from preaching at them though *snicker*

 

[Iskenator67]

Why bother? Just enjoy yourself. You could walk out tomorrow and get hit by a bus so enjoy yourself today. That's my philosophy.