My Tobacco Cessation Journal - Day 2

Tomorrow is the day. It's for sure lame, because goals we set that start soon rather then now seem more attainable imo. "Next week I'll start working out again." It gives you the feeling of progress and achievement without doing a darn thing.I figure with me being on "vacation" it's the best time. Cigarettes are too ingrained in my daily routine, and the only thing more military then cigarettes is cursing. I've "quit" a few times, but I liken it to being an alcoholic, you're always on the wagon. You hear about people who quit for ten years, something happens and they go buy a pack. Well I'm putting my best foot forward...tomorrow. When I've recently quit, cigars helped a lot....and hurt a bit. It helps with the initial cravings, but also prolongs the weaker ones (again, imo.)So, after a day or two I'm dropping cigars as well for about a week, or two if I can manage.I'll update this as I undertake my journey through cravings hell...wish me luck.

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

The Kid

Good Luck Randy!

Rain

Soooooo far so good. Just been playing some games and chewing gum. Rookie mistake, had a cup of coffee and instantly was like "Man , I could go smoke..."

WaltBasil

Rain:
Soooooo far so good. Just been playing some games and chewing gum. Rookie mistake, had a cup of coffee and instantly was like "Man , I could go smoke..."

Every time you feel the urge, punch yourself in the junk. Hard. Eventually, you quit wanting one.

kaspera79

WaltBasil:
Rain:
Soooooo far so good. Just been playing some games and chewing gum. Rookie mistake, had a cup of coffee and instantly was like "Man , I could go smoke..."
Every time you feel the urge, punch yourself in the junk. Hard. Eventually, you quit wanting one.

A little extreme, but the "Shock The Monkey" theory has been proven effective.

Rain

24 hours in and the cravings have not been horrible. There, but I've been able to fight it.

ejgorman

WaltBasil:
Rain:
Soooooo far so good. Just been playing some games and chewing gum. Rookie mistake, had a cup of coffee and instantly was like "Man , I could go smoke..."
Every time you feel the urge, punch yourself in the junk. Hard. Eventually, you quit wanting one.

It would be more effective if you hired a junk puncher...just sayin

90+ Irishman

Rain:
Daddy Irish, were you still smoking cigars while trying to quit?

Yeah and drinking to, the cigars actually helped me because I don't inhale cigars so it didn't scratch that itch for me. Drinking was the pain in the ass one, I loved having a smoke while having a beer and thats been the hardest one to kick, but so far haven't slipped and not going to. You got this Randy, I know you do bro its worth it. It also helps to put more money back into the family fund and cigar and Reds Apple Ale budget too.

90+ Irishman

ejgorman:
WaltBasil:
Rain:
Soooooo far so good. Just been playing some games and chewing gum. Rookie mistake, had a cup of coffee and instantly was like "Man , I could go smoke..."
Every time you feel the urge, punch yourself in the junk. Hard. Eventually, you quit wanting one.
It would be more effective if you hired a junk puncher...just sayin

I bet you that JD would volunteer for that selfless duty, hell he may even offer to pay YOU hahahaha :P

90+ Irishman

fail

matkn293

When you smoke, everything is a trigger. It is so engrained in your being. Try getting some toothpicks (cinnamon) or some cocktail stirrers. May help with the hand to mouth thing. Unless you just want to punch yourself in the junk of course.

onestrangeone

Well, did you make through the night? Morning coffee? Or are you still passed out from punching yourself in the junk?

Rain

onestrangeone:
Well, did you make through the night? Morning coffee? Or are you still passed out from punching yourself in the junk?

So far so good. Have to clean my old house today, so I have a Jesus Fuego Corojo Oscuro lined up.

SleevePlz

Good luck, bro. I'm rooting for ya.

gripnrip

I'm 58 years old-smoked cigarettes for 30+ years. I tried to quit many times, could just not get past the triggers and cravings. One day about 10 years ago I just couldn't breathe without wheezing and couldn't catch my breath. Scared the crap out of me...enough to quit cold turkey that day (5-5-2005 actually). It was not easy, but the fear of not being able to breathe at 48 and telling myself that it was easier to quit than to die of lung cancer and/or emphysema or COPD kept me going.

Here are a couple of things that worked for me: first, I decided that I would, at least for the first few weeks, eat whatever I wanted to get me through the cravings-I would worry about weight gain later (actually only put on about 10 pounds in the first couple of months). Sucked on a lot of hard candy-low in fat grams. Joined a gym and started working out almost daily-started slow and worked my way up to over an hour a day. Hard to smoke when you are working out. Slept more-hard to smoke when you are asleep. If the cravings got really bad and I was at home I would take a shower-hard to smoke in the shower. Last but not least, I learned that if I could just get through the current craving (kind of came in waves to me) by just focusing on getting through say the next 15 minutes, the cravings passed. They also became less and less frequent and less powerful as time went by. Tried to minimize putting myself in trigger situations -drinking too much, going to bars (yes, could actually smoke in bars then-lol), even hanging out with my smoking friends (they understood-was a short term action)

In my experience after about 6 months I knew I was going to make it. Don't get me wrong, I still had occasional cravings (some quite strong) and even a couple years after quitting I would occasionally think "man, a cigarette sure would taste good right now". But I had gone through too much and remembered those days where I couldn't breathe to even try just one. I knew I was like an alcoholic that way-could not even take a drag. Funny thing is, after a very short time I hated the smell of cigarette smoke. I really hated how I could smell it on someone when they just walked past me. I am not an anti-cigarette Nazi-just that the smell became enough to remind me that they are nasty and the tobacco quality was crap. I never wanted to smell that way again.

I didn't begin smoking cigars until about 3 years after quitting the cigs. Unfortunately for me I know that after 30+ years of cigarette smoking I have damaged my lungs. I will most likely not be able to enjoy cigars for the rest of my life. I apologize for the long post, but I read a lot of posts from what I assume are young guys on this forum that smoke cigarettes and cigars. If nothing else will convince you, think about how, if you do not quit the cigs when young you will most likely have to give up your beloved cigars way too soon. Do whatever it takes to quit-if I can do it, anyone can. Hope this doesn't come off as too preachy-just hope my experience can help my cigarette smoking BOTL's. Best of luck.

First Warrior

Doc the hardest part of stopping smoking for me was finding a substitute for the ceremony of having a cigarette. I suppose cigars are simular. Stay away from cigaretts and treat yourself to a reward cigar for your efforts. On another subject, Doc you are getting "short".

Rain

First Warrior:
Doc the hardest part of stopping smoking for me was finding a substitute for the ceremony of having a cigarette. I suppose cigars are simular. Stay away from cigaretts and treat yourself to a reward cigar for your efforts. On another subject, Doc you are getting "short".

Out of the blue today, I finished watching a tv show and thought "Shows over, time to smoke." Then I was like "Jeez, it really IS a part of everything I do." Smoked three cigars today but no cigarettes...I'll call it a wash.And yes, yes I am...been a nice, relaxing vacation. So long Army, it's not you...it's me. You're great and I'm sure you'll find someone else.

Rain

Oh, and I realize the name of this thread is wrong, but changing it might be bad luck at this point.

Glock1975

Rain:
Oh, and I realize the name of this thread is wrong, but changing it might be bad luck at this point.

You gots this Randy.

90+ Irishman

You got it bro, I know you do.