Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
At The Back => Time Out => Topic started by: JacksonRR on August 31, 2011, 03:18:06 PM
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Done a 12 year stretch of 1-2 packs a day and decided I'm through with them. Been giving it some serious thought these last few months and now I'm taking action. I'm on day 2 of zero nicotine. Woke up the most awful sinking hole feeling in the middle of my chest. This is absolutely horrible. Every other thought is about smoking. Have any of you gents put em down for good?
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i quit for about 6 months a couple of year back the first few weeks are hell but after that i found it no problem.
Until that birthday night out when i had just one cigar to celebrate....
im currently 9 hours smoke free since i decided to quit this morning
i just keep drinking coffee as a replacement
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get the nicorette gum, really helps, for a bit anyway...:D
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I pick them up and put them down as I see fit. I've never really struggled I have to say, but I've never been a consistently heavy smoker, I smoke five to ten most days then can smoke fifty one day if I'm drinking and two the next, none the day after than and then twenty the one after that depending on what I'm up to and if I'm skint I just don't smoke at all.
I appreciate that's not helpful. Most mates that have packed it in succesfully just tried to keep themselves busy, I think.
EDIT: Also, I only smoke rollies with no filters. I wonder if that has any impact on how I never seem to get addicted.
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get the nicorette gum, really helps, for a bit anyway...:D
Until you walk past someone that is smoking then realise the gum is useless
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Alright then Tony. You quit smoking over there and I'll quit over here. :drink:
I still wanna punch everyone in the face. Christ is this no fun, haha.
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Alright then Tony. You quit smoking over there and I'll quit over here. :drink:
I still wanna punch everyone in the face. Christ is this no fun, haha.
Yup it sucks.
I chose the worst possible time for it too. Its my birthday on friday and im going out!
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i am cutting down after realising i have doubled what i smoke in the last 6 months. down quite easily from 10 to 3 a day in the last week... ok, i was never a heavy smoker
the gum is helping for cutting out the superfluous cigs but those last few will be hard
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I've never smoked, but my wife did when I met her.
She decided to quit and basically stopped cold turkey. Hasn't touched a cigarette since making the decision, even if she regularly feels like having a smoke.
How hard can it be?
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well i did that a few years ago, it lasted a year without a single cigarette - but there were the odd nights out with mates who smoke and i slowly slipped back into it. so i think it pays to try a different approach this time
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Good luck guys.
I'm not in the mood for stopping at the moment, but the only times I've successfully quit is when I actually wanted to. Stopping because I thought I ought to, or because someone else thought I ought to and I agreed, etc, etc, have never worked for me. All the various aids to quit are just that - aids. The actual thing is willpower (and, for me, not wanting something other myself having control over me). You'll be very lucky to sustain that willpower if you don't really believe in the original decision to stop.
When I've really wanted to stop, it wasn't painless but it was a lot easier than I was expecting. When I've tried to stop because I thought I should, it was agony and I always failed.
I think the slipping back into it 12 months later or whatever is because I forget about the original motivation to stop and can't re-awaken it.
Funnily enough, I think that if the hefty "social-pariah" attitude and then resulting legislation hadn't arisen in the UK over the last few years then I'd actually be smoking a lot less at the moment, might even gone through another "quitting" stint.
The only advice I can give is that I'd recommend keeping your "quitting" as quiet as possible -less pressure if you haven't got well-meaning non-smokers asking you how you're doing all the time (others seem to cope with it, but it always p1sses me off :lol:)
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The only advice I can give is that I'd recommend keeping your "quitting" as quiet as possible -less pressure if you haven't got well-meaning non-smokers asking you how you're doing all the time (others seem to cope with it, but it always p1sses me off :lol:)
Just wondering.... how's the quitting going guys? :P
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:lol: class...
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Quitting smoking is really difficult from what I understand.
It really must be as so many women continue to smoke whilst knowing cigarettes cause more damage to skin than almost anything else short of excessive suntanning - they will spend absolute fortunes on skin cream whilst still toking on the old death sticks - flipping mad!
Part of the trouble is all the other chemicals that are loaded into ready made cigarettes - for no reason as far as I can tell other than to increase the addiction
Even silly stuff like the sugar content of the paper on the cigarettes is all there to add to the experience and make it harder to quit - and certainly the list of chemicals in there should by all rights scare most sane people to death.
I have friends who object to some of the cr@p that is in ready made ciggies - stuff like salt peta, formaldehyde and cyanide (yes freaking cyanide), so they weaned themselves onto roll your own a long while back, and even then they cut down by rolling smaller and smaller cigarettes.
This was often a good idea - firstly as roll-ups were cheaper, and more importantly as they weaned themselves off the addictive "other chemicals" whilst still getting a nicotine fix.
Then after a few months it would make the chemical withdrawal of quitting easier if they gave up the rollups as they were only giving up the lesser chemical of nicotine.
Some would switch to gum, patches or inhalators as a halfway step before totally weaning themselves off it for good.
Some would feel a bit weird drawing on a plastic nicotine inhalator but it is way better than some of the other long term alternatives if you dont give up.
I have had some personal experiences with people who have paid a high price for their ciggies......
I lost my stepfather to smoking related cancer when I was 10 and that hurt....
When I was a teenager I had a job where I used to deliver big oxygen cylinders (like huge scuba tanks) to patients with emphysema or other related illnesses. These poor folks were pretty much housebound and couldn't move more than 10 feet from this oxygen tank - connected by a plastic tube. Their lives were hardly worth living so it seemed to me at the time.
I was friends with a piano teacher who developed throat cancer and had to have a tracheotomy (like the guy on South Park with the voice box).
One of my closest friends wife is now house bound and forced to be connected to an "oxygen scrubbing machine" - not unlike those patients I delivered Oxygen to as a teenager.
Blimey - just writing all this makes me realise how strongly I feel about this subject
Why tobacco is still legal is beyond me.....I am all for freedom of choice etc but it really doesn't serve anyone well does it
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You could always get e-cigarettes. You can get them in various different concentrations of nicotine solution and it's atomiser powered, and some can even be charged via USB. Additionally they don't stick, it's much like hooka plus you can smoke it inside.
You can ween yourself off it as such if you go for a concentration and slowly lower the amount. They have 'plain' solutions as well, which has no nicotine at all. So if you still want that stick to hold between your hand, you still can without nicotine or tar going into you.
And financially, you save. I don't know how much, but you do. And it does work.
I'm not affiliated by the way, LOL
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And financially, you save.
Ready rolled ciggies are about £6 for 20 here in the UK (assuming you are buying here and not buying fake ciggies on the black market which are m,uch more toxic)
If you smoke 20 a day......
£6 per day
£42 per week - (more likely £60 per week if you go out and offer ciggies to friends when you light up)
£2190 a year (based on £6 per day or closer to £3000 if you do the socialising thing above)
OMG - you could buy a nice guitar, amp, or secondhand car with that much money
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And financially, you save.
Ready rolled ciggies are about £6 for 20 here in the UK (assuming you are buying here and not buying fake ciggies on the black market which are m,uch more toxic)
If you smoke 20 a day......
£6 per day
£42 per week - (more likely £60 per week if you go out and offer ciggies to friends when you light up)
£2190 a year (based on £6 per day or closer to £3000 if you do the socialising thing above)
OMG - you could buy a nice guitar, amp, or secondhand car with that much money
Yeah, I smoke roll-ups (out of preference), but I still spend around £18 a week on it.
Strangely though, at least one of my guitars was funded on calculated savings from stopping smoking. However, for me anyway, you can always find money for cigarettes if you want to. So I can't make the financial side work as a motivator - I have known some who managed it though.
The trigger for quitting for me is: I'm not enjoying it, I feel sh1t every morning because I'm smoking too much, it's obviously killing me, and it seems to be controlling me more than I'm comfortable with (ie I end up with a lit fag without having consciously decided to have one), etc...
When all that builds up together and I find myself not even liking the first puff on cigarette, then I know I'm in the right position to stop again.
I think the main thing is not to get too stressed about it. In a relaxed way you can go "I don't need to do this if I don't want to...". We've all got a lot more willpower than we realise if it's backed up by what we want.
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OMG - you could buy a nice guitar, amp, or secondhand car with that much money
Yup. A good thing to think about, but should still be far from the priority. I'm spending $40 for a carton(10 packs of 20 cigs) every 6-8 days and yeah that would definitely get me a few nice extras every year or maybe a good base for a vacation fund.
The reason why I'm quitting is because I'm closer to 30 than I am to 20 and I'm afraid of feeling old. Not death, but just feeling run down and lethargic. Most older smokers I know are like this. I've been having lots of "this is your future" moments lately. Combine that with the rotting lung feeling I get every time I take a "good" drag and it's pretty much a done deal. I don't smoke to feel good, I smoke so I don't feel bad. Never mind the cost, the behavior and deteriorating health issue is pure lunacy.
Well, I'm gonna go jam out the cravings. :)
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I used to spend £7.64 a pack of £20 a day sometimes 2 packs
Then my manager started going abroad every month so i get tobacco off him and it works out about £13 a month.
The reason im stopping is simple.
It really pisses me off having to get up put my shoes on and go down 4 floors have a cig and then come back.
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When I was a teenager I had a job where I used to deliver big oxygen cylinders (like huge scuba tanks) to patients with emphysema or other related illnesses. These poor folks were pretty much housebound and couldn't move more than 10 feet from this oxygen tank - connected by a plastic tube. Their lives were hardly worth living so it seemed to me at the time.
That brought back a memory from very early childhood - going to visit my Uncle Jack, who was bedridden with an oxygen tank just like you described. For a little boy it was quite scary. I don't know exactly what illness he had, but that's my only memory of him so I guess he must have died soon after. :(
Hadn't really thought about it before, but maybe that's one of the reasons why I never took up smoking.
Sorry, talking about myself again. Best of luck with the quitting, smokers.
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When I was a teenager I had a job where I used to deliver big oxygen cylinders (like huge scuba tanks) to patients with emphysema or other related illnesses. These poor folks were pretty much housebound and couldn't move more than 10 feet from this oxygen tank - connected by a plastic tube. Their lives were hardly worth living so it seemed to me at the time.
That brought back a memory from very early childhood - going to visit my Uncle Jack, who was bedridden with an oxygen tank just like you described. For a little boy it was quite scary. I don't know exactly what illness he had, but that's my only memory of him so I guess he must have died soon after. :(
Hadn't really thought about it before, but maybe that's one of the reasons why I never took up smoking.
Sorry, talking about myself again. Best of luck with the quitting, smokers.
My grandma also had one of these when i was young but she was a bit daft.
shed sit with her oxygen then take a puff on a cig then go back to the oxygen.
It seemed kind of stupid to me.
She lived a good 13 years doing that though and seemed happy
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Smoked for 17 years, last 5 years was about 2-3 packs a day...
Wife always wanted me to quit. Finally told her I did and sneaked around for a couple of years. Stashed packs in amps etc.. Always hung out with friends who smoked PDT_003 so had that excuse if she smelt it too much...
Started to feel bad and thought real hard about it
Stopped cold turkey (only way imho)
Been smoke free for 6 years
It is not easy. I still have dreams of me smoking. To be honest, if my wife and i parted ways...would most definitely start again...
Gum does not work, those fake cigarettes don't work....its all you and whether your ready or not...
My father in law tried those fake cigarettes and he lasted maybe a couple weeks, now he is addicted to both !!
Smokes regular and when dining out...etc...smokes the others....
BTW the fake ones cost him more to keep up than the regular.....its actually funny..he needs to carry regular smokes, fake smokes, a lighter, and charged filters .....
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I hope you quitters succeed -the effects upon the body must be devastating but most smokers I know are only too aware of that. If were an intellectual addiction then I think it would be easier for folks to give up. It must be those chemicals that Jon wrote of though my youngest son, who has recently moved here after growing up in Ireland, smokes but only about 3 to 5 a day. He likes the fact that his day stops and he has however long it takes to smoke to contemplate. Asking him to give up his little meditations is harder than lecturing him about the health issues. I have never been a smoker-I tried it at about 13 to look cool but I had no willpower to keep it up and was a total failure.
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My inlaws quit recently - a local NHS Quit Smoking Hypnotism course.
Seemed to work really well for them, although you need to be susceptible to hypnotic trance, which not everyone is. But if you can get on a free programme, it seems to work.
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i dont think its the physical cravings that will be an issue for me - they last about 2 weeks and the worst is done. I have got past that stage a few times before
I am worried that using the gum will just prolong that stage, but its the habitual behaviour that's harder to break and draws me back in so i am trying to replace one habit with another this time before doing the cold turkey bit
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i dont think its the physical cravings that will be an issue for me - they last about 2 weeks and the worst is done. I have got past that stage a few times before
I am worried that using the gum will just prolong that stage, but its the habitual behaviour that's harder to break and draws me back in so i am trying to replace one habit with another this time before doing the cold turkey bit
My biggest problem will be when i go back to work.
As there is nothing at all to do on breaks other than go outside and all the people that are outside are smokers.
And the non smokers who sit in the canteen are the most unsociable & miserable gits i have ever met in my life
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I was lucky enough to give up smoking about 10 years ago. I have only just realised how expensive cigarettes have become - save some time, just roll up a £5 or £10 note and set fire to it instead of buying a packet of ciggys.
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i dont think its the physical cravings that will be an issue for me - they last about 2 weeks and the worst is done. I have got past that stage a few times before
I am worried that using the gum will just prolong that stage, but its the habitual behaviour that's harder to break and draws me back in so i am trying to replace one habit with another this time before doing the cold turkey bit
This is the popular belief among those who actually quit. Cold turkey is the only way to go and the rest is just a cruel and expensive game that extends the horrible process. Giving the nicotine monkey a small portion of what he wants just makes him angrier. What Jonathon had said about switching to roll ups prior to quitting made some sense. There are a lot of chemicals besides nicotine that have their hooks in ya.
This morning's craving is a little easier. I can see this actually happening and I hope Tony and Wez can make the crossover as well. I'm glad we have this thread going. I'm going to look it up in a few months just so I can read my thoughts when I was quitting.
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Well done for staying with it - so far
You are right - after a couple of weeks the chemical addiction should be fading.
The habitual addiction is another thing - especially if the rest of your friends or workmates smoke.
I used to take a fag break with other colleagues when I worked in an office as if you didn't smoke you were expected to stay at your desk - I didn't smoke though - just went and stood outside with a coffee and took a break.
As a teenager I worked in a restaurant kitchen and for non smokers the policy was take a break while you carry on working - meaning grab something to eat on the go while smoker had to go out and take a proper break - a wholly unsatisfactory and discriminatory policy which I tried to take them to task over.
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Seeing a lot of my friends taking up smoking since we've started university :(
I have to admit I often pick up a cig if they're around and I've been drinking, but I'm trying to stop because it always seems to be the way full blown addiction starts; "Just a couple with friends" and before you know it...
Good luck to all trying to stop at present.
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Seeing a lot of my friends taking up smoking since we've started university :(
I have to admit I often pick up a cig if they're around and I've been drinking, but I'm trying to stop because it always seems to be the way full blown addiction starts; "Just a couple with friends" and before you know it...
Good luck to all trying to stop at present.
This is how i started the odd one here and there on a night out whilst drinking.
Stop whilst its still easy you will save yourself a lot of headaches & cash.
Im currently on day two of not smoking and i feel better today a bit edgy still but im not constantly thinking of going to the shop anymore
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Seeing a lot of my friends taking up smoking since we've started university :(
I have to admit I often pick up a cig if they're around and I've been drinking, but I'm trying to stop because it always seems to be the way full blown addiction starts; "Just a couple with friends" and before you know it...
As a non-smoker I've always found that very hard to understand! For long-term, heavy smokers I can appreciate that it must be very difficult to give up because it's both a habit and a physical addiction.
But I can't imagine why anyone would take it up at an age when they already know how damaging it'll be to their health.
And I find the "I only smoke in outside the pub" syndrome completely incomprehensible! If you're not addicted, why do it voluntarily? I can't see anything attractive about the physical act of breathing smoke into your lungs. :?
Sorry guys, I don't mean to sound sanctimonious. :oops: Just genuinely puzzled.
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Dunno. But it feels real really good to let a big, smooth drag just roll down your throat and into your lungs first thing in the morning.
I came across a few articles this morning about Vitamin C. The basics are that it acidifies the urine and nicotine leaves the system faster. I'm treating the chewable type like hard candy right now as I type. A bit of a "two birds with one stone" situation, since hard candy is often used during cravings. I've been having headaches today, but my cravings are miniscule compared to what I was expecting at this stage. I'm really happy at how this is going, but it is early. Picked up a minikeg of New Castle after work. I'm two pints in. Let the real test begin, haha. :lol:
And Tony, don't you dare smoke during your birthday celebration. :evil:
PDT_003
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Have you tried copious amounts or alcohol or even some class a drugs as a surrogate. I only ever drink water or ingest chips so I'm off my face most of the time so it's probably best to ignore my witterings.
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Copious amounts of alcohol does not help. I repeat, does not help. Totally take back the tiny cravings statement I made earlier. I think I better stop after the next glass.
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Good luck guys, hope you all succeed! I'm only one of the social smoker types who will have a few on a night out and a few spliffs in the week if my mates are about, and I have really felt the cravings in the past few weeks thanks to being away from home and all of that stuff - didn't realise I had got slightly addicted. Moving out here to Canada has made it quite easy not to smoke much because it's too expensive, about $25 for a pack of Drum, and Drum tastes rank as well :lol:
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Drum does taste Rank!
See if you can find any "the turner" thats alright and is generally cheap everywhere so ive heard
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I'm just going without instead :P
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I quit using Zyban pills. Worked for me. Unfortunately in 2 years after quitting I gained 25 kilos, which took me another 3 years to get rid of again doing hot yoga. Better do it now than tomorrow, smoking smells bad and it kills in a bad way.
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As a non-smoker I've always found that very hard to understand! For long-term, heavy smokers I can appreciate that it must be very difficult to give up because it's both a habit and a physical addiction.
But I can't imagine why anyone would take it up at an age when they already know how damaging it'll be to their health.
And I find the "I only smoke in outside the pub" syndrome completely incomprehensible! If you're not addicted, why do it voluntarily? I can't see anything attractive about the physical act of breathing smoke into your lungs. :?
Sorry guys, I don't mean to sound sanctimonious. :oops: Just genuinely puzzled.
The trouble is, I'm not only at an age where I know the dangers, I'm at an age where mortality feels very distant indeed!
And I think the difference between knowing and feeling the dangers of smoking are huge. Fags kill half of all smokers, but if you were to ask the community I'd be surprised if more than 10% said they actually thought they would die from it- death by "won't happen to me" syndrome.
Add to that the effect of alcohol on decision making and the surprisingly powerful effect of being the only one in a group without a fag, and it's quite easy to wake up in the morning with a foul taste in the mouth, thinking "why did I do that?"
(Last paragraph for the benefit of afghan dave :lol:)
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The trouble is, I'm not only at an age where I know the dangers, I'm at an age where mortality feels very distant indeed!
Yeah, I know young people have that indestructible/immortal feeling.
Personally I never really went through that stage. Natural pessimist. :lol:
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My view was always i could trip up and break my neck or get hit by a car at any moment so why not do what i want?
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I gave up 3.5 years ago. I love being a non smoker. I feel so much healthier. When you give up you realise how stupid it is to inhale smoke of burning leaves with thousands of harmful chemicals in them. Roll ups don't have the aprox 500 added chemicals in them that Taylor mades do. I hate the smell of smoke now. It makes me feel ill.
I used lozenges to help with the withdrawals for a few months.
When your a non smoker and your standing near someone who has just had a fag, you really notice just how much they stink!
Good luck
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When your a non smoker and your standing near someone who has just had a fag, you really notice just how much they stink!
One of my colleagues in work is back on the fags again after a couple of years off. She says she's going out "for a walk" then sprays herself with Febreze when she gets back. :lol:
She seems to think none of us realise she's smoking again, despite people commenting on the "fresh laundry" smell that suddenly appears!
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I'm a hypnotherapist so may be able to help here. If you're not going to go the hypnosis route make sure you write down every trigger for smoking and start to build belief that you can enjoy all of these things without dangerous, stinky fags. It'll still take willpower but it's important to change the associations that your mind has with smoking to avoid replacement behaviours that are almost always orally-based - eating and drinking tend to be favourite.
I offer you two thoughts:
1. Almost everyone had to teach themselves to enjoy smoking as at first try it's usually really unpleasant - tastes bad, makes you cough etc. Therefore there's a part of you way back on your timeline that doesn't like smoking.
2. Most people who quit just go cold turkey and don't go back in the long term. It's not as big a deal as your body is telling you. If you truly want to do it, just do it and put up with the short-term discomfort. Remember - very many GI's who came back from Vietnam came back addicted to heroin and morphine. The US military monitored them and found to their surprise that 95% had quit within 10 months with no relapse. How did they do it? Big change of circumstances, renewed optimism about the future. You can model this. Just stay focused on what you'd rather have.
If all else fails, wank compulsively.
Hope this helps.
Mike.
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I'm a hypnotherapist so may be able to help here. If you're not going to go the hypnosis route make sure you write down every trigger for smoking and start to build belief that you can enjoy all of these things without dangerous, stinky fags. It'll still take willpower but it's important to change the associations that your mind has with smoking to avoid replacement behaviours that are almost always orally-based - eating and drinking tend to be favourite.
I offer you two thoughts:
1. Almost everyone had to teach themselves to enjoy smoking as at first try it's usually really unpleasant - tastes bad, makes you cough etc. Therefore there's a part of you way back on your timeline that doesn't like smoking.
2. Most people who quit just go cold turkey and don't go back in the long term. It's not as big a deal as your body is telling you. If you truly want to do it, just do it and put up with the short-term discomfort. Remember - very many GI's who came back from Vietnam came back addicted to heroin and morphine. The US military monitored them and found to their surprise that 95% had quit within 10 months with no relapse. How did they do it? Big change of circumstances, renewed optimism about the future. You can model this. Just stay focused on what you'd rather have.
If all else fails, wank compulsively.
Hope this helps.
Mike.
really handy advice
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If all else fails, wank compulsively.
Hope this helps.
Mike.
"real handy advice".
If that was intended.....Kudos!
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Hmmm........ That Walter Raleigh has a lot to answer for.... :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7YBaiJMnik (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7YBaiJMnik)
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If all else fails, wank compulsively.
Hope this helps.
Mike.
"real handy advice".
If that was intended.....Kudos!
Jonathan is reknown for the sublety of his wit 8)