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i am currently two weeks free of cigarettes. it is an accomplishment, but also it really isnt. but ive learned some things about smoking and life in the past two weeks id like to share.
1. smoking is a drug addiction.
the only reason you smoke is because you are addicted to nicotine. any other reason is a lie.
it is really easy to convince yourself otherwise though. i think if you asked most people, they would say they are addicted to cigarettes. the languaging of that puts it lightly. you are addicted to nicotine.
i used to say things like, "oh, it is great when you are stressed", or "it's gets my mind going in the morning". total bullshit. the only thing you are doing is getting rid of withdrawl symptoms.
2. smoking is a choice.
any addiction/fear/whatever can be turned around instantly simply by making a different choice. it is easy to get caught up in the day to day bullshit of things and not realize you have a choice in the matter.
things like the patch or the gum pry on people's fears that they cant make the choice to quit. they think they need help, when really they dont. 95% of people who use the gum/patch smoke again within 6 months (wiki).
you dont need willpower either. willpower is overrated. you just have to say no. it is simple. craving a cigarette? just say no. you already made the choice to quit, so choose what you already chose. no need to beat yourself up and torture yourself for something you've already decided you don't want.
i think this is the hardest thing to realize. ive found myself on numerous occasions dying for a cig so badly. then starts the constant back and forth, should i smoke, should i quit, this is too hard, i cant live without them, blah blah blah.
then it hit me: the only reason that struggle came up is because i was playing into it. so i cut the crap. when the craving hits, i just say "i've chosen to stop smoking. that is final". craving gone. if i was giving advice to someone quitting, that would be the best piece of advice i would give.
3. smoking isnt the end of the world.
it really isnt a big deal whether you stop smoking today, tomorrow, in 10 years, or never. sure, there are cancer risks and what not, but in reality it isnt a big deal. so i tried not to put pressure on myself when i quit. this was my 4th attempt, with the other 3 lasting between 12-48 hours. if i wanted to smoke, i did. no judgement, no torture. this quit was different though. when i got the drug addiction part, i really wanted to stop. and that was the impetus i needed to get past that 48 hour mark.
4. be nice to yourself, but dont be a bitch.
it is usually not a good idea to beat yourself up about shit. there is no point in torturing yourself to quit either. trying to will it through is just asking to be miserable and fail. if you really gotta smoke, just smoke.
on the flipside though, you got to realize where you want to go. what choices do you want to make. try asking yourself, "is this really a choice i want to make?" then go with your gut. hopefully at some point youll man up and do what's needed to be done. or you wont, but as #3 says, it isnt the end of the world.
in the end, it's up to you. do you want to be a slave to drug addiction, with all the consequences of smoking attached to that, or do you want to be a guy who is the master of his domain  . whatever you choose, just be aware that it is up to you.
 
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I quit smoking weed last october, havent touched it since.
I quit smoking on the 1st of jan. Ive had 5 cigarettes since then, didnt enjoy any of them.
Willpower is awesome, you can never quit unless YOU want to.
I still miss weed though! but my line of work keeps me away
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I just quit smoking 2 months ago after smoking for 7 years. I just basically woke up and said. I don't need to be spending $40 a week on something thats killing me and I just stopped. I'm not gonna say i dont have the urge for one on those stressful days but so far i haven't had a single one. Juse keep it up and try not to think about it, and it really helped telling friends i wasn't around for 2 weeks in the beginning because basically every single friend i have smokes. That was the jumpstart and then I just kept it going. Good job though, its not as easy as it seems. Will Power is important, or at least for me it was.
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While I'm glad that you've stopped smoking, and congratulations certainly are in order, you second point is extremely uninformed.
Quitting smoking is the ONLY addiction I have broken from just simply making the decision to stop. Other addictions are alot more complex and do not boil down to pure willpower.
Grata again though on not smoking!
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I smoke when I'm drunk and its not because I'm addicted to nicotine.
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I smoke when my wife and I go too fast and forget the lube, therefore build up some friction
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On November 11 2011 10:07 esla_sol wrote:
you dont need willpower either. willpower is overrated. you just have to say no. it is simple. craving a cigarette? just say no. you already made the choice to quit, so choose what you already chose. no need to beat yourself up and torture yourself for something you've already decided you don't want.
Wait, what do you think "willpower" means? Because I'm pretty sure it doesn't mean what you think it means.
I'm pleased that you're quitting something that you don't want to be part of anymore, but don't downplay it for others. A lot of people need quit-smoking aids, support from friends, etc.
Also, I don't think anyone who has successfully quit smoking will agree that 2 weeks really qualifies as you as someone who has quit smoking. There are plenty of people who have tried quitting for months at a time, only to fail.
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"i think this is the hardest thing to realize. ive found myself on numerous occasions dying for a cig so badly. then starts the constant back and forth, should i smoke, should i quit, this is too hard, i cant live without them, blah blah blah.
then it hit me: the only reason that struggle came up is because i was playing into it. so i cut the crap. when the craving hits, i just say "i've chosen to stop smoking. that is final". craving gone. if i was giving advice to someone quitting, that would be the best piece of advice i would give."
This is so accurate in my experience. I came across this just now and found it very relevant as I passed the 48 hour mark myself just this morning. Maybe not everyone can probably do it our way but part of me wants to say this is the way to go 100%. Smoking is a choice and I've chosen not to anymore.
I hope that in 30 years when people are growing new body parts for themselves in labs and getting computer chips and mechanical limbs that I don't get ****ing cancer and miss out
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how do i quit drinking everday
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You are not talking about smoking, you are talking about cigarettes exclusively. I am a pipe smoker and it is not an addiction to nicotine.
I think your points are wrong to be honest, and stuff like "willpower is overrated" is just confusing to me since you have to have willpower to make a decision and you forcing yourself to "just say no" is using willpower to make that type of decision making.
Also your point about it being a choice and like any other "addiction/fear/whatever can be turned around instantly simply by making a different choice" made me laugh. This is just not true. There are plenty of examples of physiological changes and psychological demands from conditions that force people to do things. OCD for example, (I am talking clinical serious cases, not the "omg I am so OCD I have to clean the house stuff"), is something that people can't just "choose to stop." Phobias are another example where people can't just "say no."
You remind me of the kids in my highschool who "found god" and then a week later want everyone to know all about it and try to preach to everyone as if they are masters on the subject and have a "true understanding" of the subject.
Just my thoughts on the OP.
Gratz on quitting though. 2 weeks is nothing to get excited for though in my opinion.
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I think my original post here was an attack on they guy above who is a nicotine addiction denier (less bad than holocaust denial, more bad than Non-denial denial) but since I deleted it immediately after and it's been blank since I figured I'd use the blank post to update you guys on my continued success. I haven't had a single cig even though my gf still hasn't quit and I've been around tobacco here and there. I've had plenty of cravings but just sticking with it and knowing who's boss has got me through. The worst thing for me is that I think its caused a bit of depression. I know that I can do it now and if I live to be old my future self will be thanking my current one.
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I think this is a pretty good post, but at the same time, as a previous poster stated two weeks isn't long. The hard trek is making it years without getting into a rut and smoking again. That's what happened to me, and it's happened to my friends as well. Stay strong, my friend.
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On November 11 2011 13:05 SCPlato wrote:
You are not talking about smoking, you are talking about cigarettes exclusively. I am a pipe smoker and it is not an addiction to nicotine.
I think your points are wrong to be honest, and stuff like "willpower is overrated" is just confusing to me since you have to have willpower to make a decision and you forcing yourself to "just say no" is using willpower to make that type of decision making.
Also your point about it being a choice and like any other "addiction/fear/whatever can be turned around instantly simply by making a different choice" made me laugh. This is just not true. There are plenty of examples of physiological changes and psychological demands from conditions that force people to do things. OCD for example, (I am talking clinical serious cases, not the "omg I am so OCD I have to clean the house stuff"), is something that people can't just "choose to stop." Phobias are another example where people can't just "say no."
You remind me of the kids in my highschool who "found god" and then a week later want everyone to know all about it and try to preach to everyone as if they are masters on the subject and have a "true understanding" of the subject.
Just my thoughts on the OP.
Gratz on quitting though. 2 weeks is nothing to get excited for though in my opinion.
you said you were a pipe smoker and clicked on a thread about quitting smoking, so i sense there is some kind of denial thing going on there. if you regularly smoke tobacco, you are addicted to it. simple nature of the drug. you may want to consider where all your hostility comes from.
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Seems like someone has been reading Alan Carr=) well at least your points are close to some of his
The book actually helped me a lot, just be careful not to start again even months later
I also wouldn't pay much attention to scplato, if he is a pipe not addicted to nicotine odds are he is in denial (unless he its smoking something else). Also two Weeks is a lot and the hardest part for most people, you can definitely be exited about that, just keep up the good job
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On November 11 2011 13:59 esla_sol wrote:Show nested quote +On November 11 2011 13:05 SCPlato wrote:
You are not talking about smoking, you are talking about cigarettes exclusively. I am a pipe smoker and it is not an addiction to nicotine.
I think your points are wrong to be honest, and stuff like "willpower is overrated" is just confusing to me since you have to have willpower to make a decision and you forcing yourself to "just say no" is using willpower to make that type of decision making.
Also your point about it being a choice and like any other "addiction/fear/whatever can be turned around instantly simply by making a different choice" made me laugh. This is just not true. There are plenty of examples of physiological changes and psychological demands from conditions that force people to do things. OCD for example, (I am talking clinical serious cases, not the "omg I am so OCD I have to clean the house stuff"), is something that people can't just "choose to stop." Phobias are another example where people can't just "say no."
You remind me of the kids in my highschool who "found god" and then a week later want everyone to know all about it and try to preach to everyone as if they are masters on the subject and have a "true understanding" of the subject.
Just my thoughts on the OP.
Gratz on quitting though. 2 weeks is nothing to get excited for though in my opinion. you said you were a pipe smoker and clicked on a thread about quitting smoking, so i sense there is some kind of denial thing going on there. if you regularly smoke tobacco, you are addicted to it. simple nature of the drug. you may want to consider where all your hostility comes from.
While it's true that pipe tobacco can be addictive (sorry Plato), regular smoking doesn't necessarily equal addiction. If you're doing it multiple times a day, odds are that you're addicted. I've been a pretty consistent 1-3 times a week smoker for years, and I've got no addiction whatsoever. I've sometimes gone months without smoking without even thinking about it (usually because social situation never presented itself or I was out of smokeables and lacked motivation to go get more).
This doesn't mean people should start smoking, because I know I'm in the minority here. I just get frustrated when people assume that you've got an addiction if you smoke at all.
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On November 11 2011 13:59 esla_sol wrote:Show nested quote +On November 11 2011 13:05 SCPlato wrote:
You are not talking about smoking, you are talking about cigarettes exclusively. I am a pipe smoker and it is not an addiction to nicotine.
I think your points are wrong to be honest, and stuff like "willpower is overrated" is just confusing to me since you have to have willpower to make a decision and you forcing yourself to "just say no" is using willpower to make that type of decision making.
Also your point about it being a choice and like any other "addiction/fear/whatever can be turned around instantly simply by making a different choice" made me laugh. This is just not true. There are plenty of examples of physiological changes and psychological demands from conditions that force people to do things. OCD for example, (I am talking clinical serious cases, not the "omg I am so OCD I have to clean the house stuff"), is something that people can't just "choose to stop." Phobias are another example where people can't just "say no."
You remind me of the kids in my highschool who "found god" and then a week later want everyone to know all about it and try to preach to everyone as if they are masters on the subject and have a "true understanding" of the subject.
Just my thoughts on the OP.
Gratz on quitting though. 2 weeks is nothing to get excited for though in my opinion. you said you were a pipe smoker and clicked on a thread about quitting smoking, so i sense there is some kind of denial thing going on there. if you regularly smoke tobacco, you are addicted to it. simple nature of the drug. you may want to consider where all your hostility comes from.
Where all my hostility comes from? really? that is hostile to you? I feel really sorry for you and all the kids who spend too much time on the internet who really think that is hostile. I simply disagree with most of the points you are making and gave my thoughts on them. That is not hostile and if you consider it to be, I suggest stepping away from the computer and going outside so you can find out what real hostility is.
And as for your really sad attempt at psychology by saying "you said you were a pipe smoker and clicked on a thread about quitting smoking, so i sense there is some kind of denial thing going on there." you are just completely guessing about something you literally have no idea about. You are insinuating that I am addicted to nicotine through pipe smoking and am in denial about my addiction. Really this is just you trying to make your "theories" fit unilaterally and is just a form of egocentrism. If you actually smoked a pipe instead of just trying to equate cigarettes as the same thing, you would understand that. Also, You posted in the TL BLOGS section which is highly visible to anyone in the community. I read a lot of blogs when I am online yours is not special. I didn't subconsciously pick yours because I am a smoker, no matter how much you obviously think so.
You haven't smoked for two weeks. that is only 14 days. You acting like an expert on the subject is just plain stupid. You are an imbecile if you honestly think that not smoking for that long means anything. You haven't quit smoking, you have stopped for 2 weeks. There is a huge difference between not being a smoker anymore, and temporarily not smoking and you clearly don't understand the difference.
And I really like how you just try and deflect everything I said by talking about me and what you think you know about me. Your deflection just shows you can't defend your own opinions and you just want to avoid it.
I honestly am astounded at people like you who can't just talk about stuff without accusing people of being mad or in denial or w.e else you think you know from reading a few sentences in response to your over zealous and grossly ignorant opinions. It never is about the information or defending an opinion, it always degenerates to attacks on a person online and in your case you made no attempt at disproving what I said.
And Omnipresent. I did not say the pipe smoking wasn't addictive. I said there are many reasons why people smoke pipes other than addiction. The nicotine levels you take in are much much lower then cigarettes. You also don't inhale pipe tobacco and the ingredients are far different from cigarettes even though they both have nicotine.
To be honest I don't really care. OPs opinions are ignorant and have no real foundation or proof behind them other then nicotine being an addiction. you even say smoke if you want to at the end so there is no real point to the blog.
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On November 11 2011 16:46 SCPlato wrote:
And Omnipresent. I did not say the pipe smoking wasn't addictive. I said there are many reasons why people smoke pipes other than addiction. The nicotine levels you take in are much much lower then cigarettes. You also don't inhale pipe tobacco and the ingredients are far different from cigarettes even though they both have nicotine.
There are plenty of reasons to smoke just about anything other than addiction. That was kind of my point. This is probably the wrong thread to mention this in, but there's a reason people smoke enough to get addicted in the first place. It's enjoyable.
I just wish I had a good excuse to revive this thread.
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On November 11 2011 16:57 Omnipresent wrote:Show nested quote +On November 11 2011 16:46 SCPlato wrote:
And Omnipresent. I did not say the pipe smoking wasn't addictive. I said there are many reasons why people smoke pipes other than addiction. The nicotine levels you take in are much much lower then cigarettes. You also don't inhale pipe tobacco and the ingredients are far different from cigarettes even though they both have nicotine.
There are plenty of reasons to smoke just about anything other than addiction. That was kind of my point. This is probably the wrong thread to mention this in, but there's a reason people smoke enough to get addicted in the first place. It's enjoyable. I just wish I had a good excuse to revive this thread.
Agreed, and I just poked into that thread to see what you were talking about. That guide actually looks pretty comprehensive lol.
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On November 11 2011 16:46 SCPlato wrote:Show nested quote +On November 11 2011 13:59 esla_sol wrote:On November 11 2011 13:05 SCPlato wrote:
You are not talking about smoking, you are talking about cigarettes exclusively. I am a pipe smoker and it is not an addiction to nicotine.
I think your points are wrong to be honest, and stuff like "willpower is overrated" is just confusing to me since you have to have willpower to make a decision and you forcing yourself to "just say no" is using willpower to make that type of decision making.
Also your point about it being a choice and like any other "addiction/fear/whatever can be turned around instantly simply by making a different choice" made me laugh. This is just not true. There are plenty of examples of physiological changes and psychological demands from conditions that force people to do things. OCD for example, (I am talking clinical serious cases, not the "omg I am so OCD I have to clean the house stuff"), is something that people can't just "choose to stop." Phobias are another example where people can't just "say no."
You remind me of the kids in my highschool who "found god" and then a week later want everyone to know all about it and try to preach to everyone as if they are masters on the subject and have a "true understanding" of the subject.
Just my thoughts on the OP.
Gratz on quitting though. 2 weeks is nothing to get excited for though in my opinion. you said you were a pipe smoker and clicked on a thread about quitting smoking, so i sense there is some kind of denial thing going on there. if you regularly smoke tobacco, you are addicted to it. simple nature of the drug. you may want to consider where all your hostility comes from. You haven't smoked for two weeks. that is only 14 days. You acting like an expert on the subject is just plain stupid. You are an imbecile if you honestly think that not smoking for that long means anything. You haven't quit smoking, you have stopped for 2 weeks. There is a huge difference between not being a smoker anymore, and temporarily not smoking and you clearly don't understand the difference.
I'm sorry but this is just ignorant. If you have not been a cigarette smoker before, you probably should not post about the subject with such conviction. The first three weeks, and especially first two weeks from my experience, are brutal. If you made it past first few weeks, you are 80% in the clear. The rest of the question is whether u can quit long-term, at which point it does not matter if you haven't been smoking for 2 weeks or 2 months.
This applies to the majority of people, but not all obviously. Still, for most people, not smoking for two weeks is huge.
As for me, i had a really hard time first week, a bit easier but it was still a bitch not to smoke during week two. On week three i was barely craving... actually took a drag of a smoke and threw it away cause it was nasty tasting. Come to think of it, what kept me from starting again during week three was the clear memory of what a bitch it was not to smoke for weeks one and two. I did not want to go through that again.
again a disclaimer, last paragraph is my personal experience, but i've also read a lot about the subject and for most people first three weeks are the hardest.
edit:
Also i've quit before using similar concepts as the OP lists, in addition to other aid from Alan Carr's book. That time it was easy to quit, even first couple of weeks, because I had the right mindset to support me. Year later I started smoking again, and the second time I quit was what I described earlier (for some reason i just could not get myself to believe what the book said as much as I did before). If you get in the right mindset though, it can be a lot easier to quit. You won't have to go through first weeks thinking its hell as long as you firmly believe it is easier to quit than most of media describes. If someone takes what OP says to heart, they can also quit easier than most people
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On November 12 2011 05:34 iokke wrote:Show nested quote +On November 11 2011 16:46 SCPlato wrote:On November 11 2011 13:59 esla_sol wrote:On November 11 2011 13:05 SCPlato wrote:
You are not talking about smoking, you are talking about cigarettes exclusively. I am a pipe smoker and it is not an addiction to nicotine.
I think your points are wrong to be honest, and stuff like "willpower is overrated" is just confusing to me since you have to have willpower to make a decision and you forcing yourself to "just say no" is using willpower to make that type of decision making.
Also your point about it being a choice and like any other "addiction/fear/whatever can be turned around instantly simply by making a different choice" made me laugh. This is just not true. There are plenty of examples of physiological changes and psychological demands from conditions that force people to do things. OCD for example, (I am talking clinical serious cases, not the "omg I am so OCD I have to clean the house stuff"), is something that people can't just "choose to stop." Phobias are another example where people can't just "say no."
You remind me of the kids in my highschool who "found god" and then a week later want everyone to know all about it and try to preach to everyone as if they are masters on the subject and have a "true understanding" of the subject.
Just my thoughts on the OP.
Gratz on quitting though. 2 weeks is nothing to get excited for though in my opinion. you said you were a pipe smoker and clicked on a thread about quitting smoking, so i sense there is some kind of denial thing going on there. if you regularly smoke tobacco, you are addicted to it. simple nature of the drug. you may want to consider where all your hostility comes from. You haven't smoked for two weeks. that is only 14 days. You acting like an expert on the subject is just plain stupid. You are an imbecile if you honestly think that not smoking for that long means anything. You haven't quit smoking, you have stopped for 2 weeks. There is a huge difference between not being a smoker anymore, and temporarily not smoking and you clearly don't understand the difference. I'm sorry but this is just ignorant. If you have not been a cigarette smoker before, you probably should not post about the subject with such conviction. The first three weeks, and especially first two weeks from my experience, are brutal. If you made it past first few weeks, you are 80% in the clear. The rest of the question is whether u can quit long-term, at which point it does not matter if you haven't been smoking for 2 weeks or 2 months. This applies to the majority of people, but not all obviously. Still, for most people, not smoking for two weeks is huge.
I know 2 weeks is a big deal for people who are smokers. but in terms if quitting it is not actually.
You are wrong about being 80% in the clear after the first two weeks and quitting long term is a different matter. Boston University just did a study that showed anywhere from 60-90 percent of smokers will "relapse" within the first year of smoking. So making it 2 weeks doesn't make you 80% clear.
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EPT
