I quit smoking

smoking is 100% retarded

I recently found out that my 19y old sister started smoking secretly. Not much, only at cases of higher stress levels she says (she is at med school, lots of exams and tests). Like few cigs a week. But I guess this is how it starts.
Talked to her, that its unhealthy, expensive and makes you smell bad. She is aware of it, she just doesn't know how to handle stress better.

I don't think keeping the thing you've been addicted to for 11 years at arm's length is a great idea. What stops you from lighting one up in the car? Why would anyone who is committed to stop smoking not just throw all their cigarettes away? It's not like it's hard to get new ones, but it's at least harder than having some nearby.

Giving up smoking is not the difficult part. Your brain is addicted to the routine of smoking and your association with things. To stop you have to switch up your routines and re-train your brain to associate things you used to smoke with with something else. You pretty much said it already. I used to and I just stopped one day cold turkey as It was not enjoyable. Never looked back.

If you have friends who smoke, its a good idea to dis-associate yourselves with them for a while and be around people that do not smoke. It will help alot.

And one thing someone told me is, you don't say you quit smoking if conversation ever comes up or if anyone offers, You simply say "No thanks, I dont smoke" and move on.

I smoked for over 10 years too, I think quitting cold turkey is a stupid method so I did it progressivly, I bough some ultra-light brand and started mixing them until i progressivly smoked the ultra-lights exclusively, after a while I started using a vaporizer and did the same thing until I progressivly used the vaporizer exclusivly.

Then I simply stopped using the vaporizer and I dont smoke anymore and it took little effort and just a big of structure and discipline, the good thing is nowadays I can have some puffs here and there in a party when I feel like it with no issues, most people who quit cold turkey are afraid of doing it because they didn't learn how to control it properly.

Well done and good luck. It’s great you’re most confident about the mental part but don’t get complacent on that. I quit after 20 years of chain smoking and the mental side was the hardest. The physical side I actually quite perversely enjoyed as a challenge, but the mental side is messed up. It is incredible the logical gymnastics your mind will create to get you to have a cigarette - as you have already seen with your data rationalisations. I hope you succeed, good luck.

On December 21 2018 00:38 Chewits wrote: If you have friends who smoke, its a good idea to dis-associate yourselves with them for a while and be around people that do not smoke. It will help alot.

Literally, 90% of my friends are smokers so can't do much about it. I will still be exposed to second hand smoking whether I like it or not, regardless of my friends, just cause the bigger portion of the country smokes and even law regulations haven't stopped public places from being smoking-free areas... bars,cafes, restaurants - all of them pay under the table for their clients to be able to smoke.

Baal I'd say your method is much more painful and irrational. By slowly decreasing your smoking habbits you still continue to be an addict. If you have a bad habbit would you just prefer to erase it or continue doing it with lower frequency while you stop it? Also the fact that you still tak a few puffs, means you're still an addict. Time to realize it.

@Loco I was so sure that you are going to make that exact comment, even feel a bit good about being right. You might be correct, I wanted to think about that for a few days, except I'm unsure about a certain thing. You know how an individual's environment has a strong impact on them on a daily basis? I'm not sure whether having cigarettes at hands reach is actually acting as something that calms my brain down for the moment, even though I'm not smoking or is it actually pushing it to go get one. It's probably both, but it's probably worth taking the risk for the first month as well.

smoked 14 years non stop, agree with Baal, tryin to quit cold turkey is awful and dumb after so many years, you will most likely fail.

i quit 1.5 years ago because i started vapin, now i vape every now and then with like 0 cravings if i dont, cant even be near to someone smokin, the smell of cigarrete gives me nauseas and i cant even imagine smoking again, dont go full retard on quitin, know your options to make your life easier.

GL!


edit: you dont need to decrease your smoking frequency with other cigarretes, you can go just directly to vaping, do some research.

On December 21 2018 08:48 Spitfiree wrote: Baal I'd say your method is much more painful and irrational. By slowly decreasing your smoking habbits you still continue to be an addict. If you have a bad habbit would you just prefer to erase it or continue doing it with lower frequency while you stop it?

I understand the escepticism, afterall all AA and alike institution teach the cold turkey method, no wonder why they have a 95% failure rate lol.

lol @ irrational, dude I quit smoking at my first try and effortlessly, (bongky confirmed doing the same), our bodies are amazing at adapting to small incremental changes, but they suck at sudden changes, try smoking a pack the first time you touch a cigarette, you will probably feel like you are going to die, and you think it is "rational" to after years of building a tolerance and a habit to stop suddenly.

Also the fact that you still tak a few puffs, means you're still an addict. Time to realize it.

I quit smoking years ago and I take a couple of puffs every couple of months and you think I'm addicted, I drink a couple of beers once in a while, I guess in an alcoholic too lol. No simply I can enjoy stuff with moderation, it is in my control.

On December 21 2018 08:48 Spitfiree wrote: Literally, 90% of my friends are smokers so can't do much about it. I will still be exposed to second hand smoking whether I like it or not, regardless of my friends, just cause the bigger portion of the country smokes and even law regulations haven't stopped public places from being smoking-free areas... bars,cafes, restaurants - all of them pay under the table for their clients to be able to smoke. Baal I'd say your method is much more painful and irrational. By slowly decreasing your smoking habbits you still continue to be an addict. If you have a bad habbit would you just prefer to erase it or continue doing it with lower frequency while you stop it? Also the fact that you still tak a few puffs, means you're still an addict. Time to realize it. @Loco I was so sure that you are going to make that exact comment, even feel a bit good about being right. You might be correct, I wanted to think about that for a few days, except I'm unsure about a certain thing. You know how an individual's environment has a strong impact on them on a daily basis? I'm not sure whether having cigarettes at hands reach is actually acting as something that calms my brain down for the moment, even though I'm not smoking or is it actually pushing it to go get one. It's probably both, but it's probably worth taking the risk for the first month as well.

Hmm that is difficult! In the UK & Ireland it is illegal to smoke in any indoor public place including bars and has been for some time. I understand what you are saying about 90% of your friends, but if you truly want to accomplish something sometimes you have to make sacrifices. I am not saying never see them again, all I am saying is distance yourself from them for a while and try to avoid the situations where you will be bombarded with smoking. It is all about beating your minds routine as we are creatures of habit. Your brain is trained to associate a coffee with a smoke etc. You have to take a very conscious step to re-train your brain something else.

People on here saying "cold turkey" is not the way to go. But the reality is you have to really want to change your life for the better and that is why I suggest those drastic changes. You need friends who do not smoke and support you. It is how we as humans connect. We mimmic each other subconsciously in how we talk, walk, dress etc. The same applies to successful people. They will surround themselves with other successful people. It is contagious and how our minds work.

As I said above, also how you choose your wording will help re-train your brain subconsciously. Do not say you quit smoking, always say you do not smoke. It sound stupid, but it actually really helps. Good luck.

No simply I can enjoy stuff with moderation, it is in my control.

This is exactly the reason I still believe mentally you haven't quit them. There is no enjoyment of tobacco other than the one we tell ourselves. It's purely mental.

I've had a few friends and family who quit them for years and were doing the same thing - "few puffs every now and then every few months". Guess if they are smokers now... My mother had quit smoking for more than 10 years and got back to it the same way. I'm just saying you should keep yourself in check and not fall for that kind of an obvious trap. Nicotine is one of the most, if not the most, addictive substances. The second you take a hit you're addicted. The funny party is because you feel bad, you feel like you could also stop smoking at any point. What a perfect symbiosis it creates both physically and mentally to imprison you...

I'm also used to taking sudden changes and usually adapt to them well. I prefer to be mentally strong and use the method I think works best. Can't really see the reasoning of quitting an addiction by changing the way I take nicotine in my organism... Unless its something like alcohol, which could literally kill you unless the proper steps are taken.

Hmm that is difficult! In the UK & Ireland it is illegal to smoke in any indoor public place including bars and has been for some time.....

Oh it's the same here, except I live in a shithole where you could pay under the table so you won't get checks from the institutions. Literally, 80% of bars, clubs, dining places, cafe etc. here have smoking areas, which they shouldn't.

I'm still unsure of how bad secondhand smoking would be while quitting, but there's no real way around it for me other than stop my social life. It also doesn't really matter if I would stop seeing people that smoke, I'll be just bombarded by it almost everywhere I go, whether I like it or not, especially during the winter since I can't really stay outside for too long. I obviously can't stay locked home cause I'll prob go mentally insane

Agree on the wording, it's a proven psychological trait in every human.

On December 21 2018 01:08 Baalim wrote: I smoked for over 10 years too, I think quitting cold turkey is a stupid method so I did it progressivly, I bough some ultra-light brand and started mixing them until i progressivly smoked the ultra-lights exclusively, after a while I started using a vaporizer and did the same thing until I progressivly used the vaporizer exclusivly. Then I simply stopped using the vaporizer and I dont smoke anymore and it took little effort and just a big of structure and discipline, the good thing is nowadays I can have some puffs here and there in a party when I feel like it with no issues, most people who quit cold turkey are afraid of doing it because they didn't learn how to control it properly.

truth

my mom has smoked for over 45 years and it's painful to think about that whenever I hear her cough and so on

so good on you cutting it

On December 20 2018 20:38 Spitfiree wrote:I've previously actually have gone through statistics of smokers and the percentage of diseases they get compared to non smokers, in order to convince myself that the pros/cons is kind of worth it as long as I get to enjoy more cigarettes. Have you heard of anyone else trying to prove to himself with hard data that its a risk worth taking doing something that brings you no benefits, but could potentially end you? Pretty hilarious when I look back.

but I don't agree with this, like you said earlier it does bring you benefits, it's helping you calm down or giving you something to do when you're bored, I mean there are inevitably people who go to climb Everest after knowing the risks and then die, and what benefit is there to that, the calculation of risk vs benefits is a valid approach, it's just that the psychological effects of addiction affected your fitness to make the decision in this case

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I get people that try risky things, they are challenging, they are also rewarding. Smoking, on the other hand, doesn't really fill the boredom up, its not like you focus on the cigarette, it actually makes the "boredom" more intense and pushes you toward being more anxious. I honestly don't know what it feels like to be calm anymore, the only time I've experienced it in the last decade was on several occasions when I was high. Tobacco does NOT make you calmer, what it does is, it boosts ur energy for a very short period of time (10-15minutes) and your brain releases dopamine, which causes an euphoric sensation thinking you're benefitting from it.

On December 22 2018 12:55 Spitfiree wrote: This is exactly the reason I still believe mentally you haven't quit them. There is no enjoyment of tobacco other than the one we tell ourselves. It's purely mental.

What does "mentally quit" even mean?, of course the enjoyment is mental, ethanol also tastes like shit, its astringent and very bitter but since we like its effects on our brain we develop a taste for it, thats why the sales for alcohol-free beer are absurdly low.

I'm just saying you should keep yourself in check and not fall for that kind of an obvious trap.

It is only dangerous if you use the "cold turkey" method in which you teach yourself that there is no middle ground, either abstinence or addiction so naturally a few puffs are very dangerous, but when you learn through moderation and real self control you dont have such fears, but of course its a pleasurable drug so you always have to check yourself.

The second you take a hit you're addicted.

No you dont, ther is no substance on earth that you are addicted to if the first moment you try it.

Opiods are more addictive than nicotine and my patients are on nicotine for long periods of time (my dad was on it for a long time in the burns ward) and they never think about it for a second after they go out of the hospital, however if you inject heroin you are probaby going to do it again, because you did it for a reason and that reason is still there.

Please explain to me what exactly do you enjoy about smoking a cig every now and then?

Is it the diziness, the coughing or the nausea - those are the things that you receive when you dont smoke for a while. I've had periods before where i was sick and didn't smoke to recover faster, the first cigarette after such periods is always absolutely awful, there is literally nothing enjoyable about it, you're claiming that you dont smoke for months but only sometimes and enjoy it, I'm guessing when you go out for drinks like most people.

Honestly the only time I would say you could find "a middle ground" in this case is if you're mixing the tobacco with weed. Then yeah I would guess its fine

dizziness coughing and nasea from giving apuff to a cigarette? lol wtf, it seems you are washing your own brain in order to stop smoking or something.

I find it pleasurable to give a couple of puffs, I dont smoke the whole cigarette because its too strong, and thats it.

LOL you are plainly denying we are capable of moderation what kind of crazy dogmatic belief is that? my grandfather smokes an average of like 1-2 cigarettes per week for the past 30 years.

you'll be back.

Good for you if you can do it Baal's approach makes a lot of sense, GL any way you choose to do it.