4 packs a day when i quit 3 years ago. FOUR packs a day on average. ive used all forms of illegal drugs, and drank like a fish for years and quitting smoking what THEE hardest thing iver ever done hands down.
i kinda cheated when i did it, i went to chewing tobacco instead. it was enough for me to break the habbit of having a smoke in my hand and the actual psyical process of smoking without having too deal with the cravings as well. then after 4 or 5 months of chewing i quit that with semi ease.
im sure this wouldnt help you, since you dont intend to quit, but i found it was an all or nothing thing. you dont 'cut back', you smoke, and you will smoke more and more and more as time gos by. i didnt start OUT at 4 packs a day, that took me almost 20 years to work up too (and im only 37 NOW so that should tell you how long ive smoked for), but it builds.
one thing i will tell you, its the same thing most ex-smokers will tell you but this is importiant so listen up. if your anything like me you tell yourself that you actualy enjoy smoking, its a part of who you are. its BEEN a part of your life for years. can you recall a time when you DIDNT smoke? can you recall an importiant moment in your life that you werent holding a smoke? hasent your smokes ben your constiant friend through life so far, allways with you in every event from the biggest too the smallest day to day action? doesnt your life actualy center itself around smoking, arent you constiantly thinking about your NEXT smoke often while your smoking your current one? have you ever found yourself giving up something importiant too you to buy a pack of smokes, or finding yourself making a trip to the store at 3 AM because you ran out? where does buying your smokes rank on your budget every week/month is it more importiant than say ........ food?
wouldnt you like to quit? of corse not. its feer that stops you. you get actual panic when the thought of giving up smoking starts to take a serious root in your mind. going to the store and buying your 'last pack' of smokes seems so ........ final. its like deciding your going to cut your hand off for no valid reason. smoking is a PART of you and who you are. its hard, extreamly hard to give that up. non smokers dont understand and never will be able too. but us ex-smokers are almost worse because we preach and act all moraly superior, thing is though im not trying to come off that way. i KNOW how hard it is to quit and but for the grace of God i WOULDNT have, id still be drawing one last breath of smoke into my body on my death bed of lung cancer and would have STILL enjoyed it.
then i quit. i look back now and know it was the hardest thing ive ever done. but having quit it was worth it. no more life centered around my smoking, it doesnt define who i am and my entire day anymore. i dont plan budgets around buying smokes, i dont plan my daily movments around smokes, i dont worry about going out just before bed time so ill have a fresh stock of butts at 3 AM when i wake up craving a fix. i have ALOT more cash in my pocket and it doesnt feel like im working my ass off all the time and have nothing to really show for it besides a full ash tray. but most of all you will NOT believe how much better you feel health wise.
i smoked for 20 years or so. i was a heavy smoker for the last 10ish, i was so sick that id had things wrong with me i didnt even know about untill i quit smoking.smoking isnt like a car wreck all the damage isnt done in one smash, it creeps up on you over time so that makes it even WORSE, your being boiled alive one smoke at a time and dont even relize your in the pot and the flame is on. not REALLY relize it. sure you know it makes you sick, but you dont actualy care. atleast i didnt. i didnt care how sick i was till i stoped being sick.
these things may or may not help you to do the right and smart thing and just quit. i dont look down on you if you cant, i dont even snicker at you if you lie to yourself and say you ENJOY it. ive been in your shoes and im really REALLY good at telling lies to myself. ultimatly i quit by being just to cheap to continue to pay $6+ (USD) a pack. when my smoking costs as much as a house payment a month it was time for it to go, and despite a $720 a month smoking habbit (my rent was only $600 a month FFS) i STILL didnt WANT to quit, and i STILL spent a couple of years working myself up too it. then one day i just decided to DO it. id had enough with my self deception, i got too the point where id totaly lost all self respect, i relized that the lies i told myself were just that, LIES, and that my life was dominated by a smoke. totaly and utterly dominated by it. every single thing in my life in one way or another, and most of them in HUGE ways revolved around my need to feed my habbit.
enough was enough and i quit. i dealt with the cravings by simply telling myself that i could do it and it would all be over before i knew it. simple, simple minded and advice that simply will NOT work for other people. pep talks dont work, 'tricks' dont work, motivation speach, nope. giving examples of how much Better MY lfie is now? nothing. you have to find it in yourself too want to quit. there IS no easy or simple way to do it. you just hope you reach a point that your self loathing for being a spineless wimp and allowing yourself to be ruled by a fucking cigarette can kick your pride into gear and can beat that other part of your mind that lies to you and makes you think you LIKE smoking and ENJOY all the misery it brings with it.
till THAT happens nothing anyone says or does will change you one bit, so my real advice is to simply continue to smoke and enjoy it untill you eventualy decide to stand up and take back your life from yourself.
quit, now......... just do it. you will NOT regret it.
