Hi Ret! It's awesome to see you making those huge changes to your lifestyle, they can only entail great things!
Anyway, I wanted to throw in some advice, or offer my perspective and experience on the topic of tobacco! Myself, I quit about three and a half months ago using tobacco, having used it daily for over 3 years. On the 6th of November I will hit four months. Anyway, what has been absolutely astounding about my experience is that it hasn't bothered me the slightest! The first week or so was a bit "uncomfortable" because quite a bit of time was freed up, and sure it bothered me a bit the first few nights, sleep wise. But truly, I have absolutely no desire to ever touch anything tobacco related again.
Now what helped me achieve this was a book written by Allen Carr, called The Easy Way to Stop Smoking (/or using tobacco as he gets into in the book). The title itself is quite... comical(a sell-out ish type of title I guess you could say) a lot of people think, and most will directly relate it to yet another advertisement that's just there to pickpocket you and waste your time.
If I had not met a particular person this summer, through work, I would probably still be addicted to & using nicotine, but because of this person, who shared his experience with me and told me about the book, my life has been absolutely cleansed of tobacco!
What Allen Carr is discussing in his book is primarily the ´uselessness´ of tobacco and how it does _absolutely_ nothing for you (and you have already figured out one key component: cigarettes do not relieve stress; they create it)! But what most people try and do when they quit is apply _willpower_ as in "I can do this, I can hang on for another week etc." -The reason they apply willpower, he goes on to explain, is because they feel like they are making a sacrifice; they won't enjoy certain occasions as much, for example: drinking, the cigarette after a meal, the first in the morning, etc! People relate to certain occasions and attach the importance of the cigarette to it! When the cigarette is doing absolutely nothing, it only has detrimental effects, zero positive ones (there is _no_ sacrifice!)
I've always wanted to write a blog post here on TL about this book from Allen Carr, some sort of review, but I guess I am just doing it right here in a reply to your thread!
You obviously do not have to take my word for anything, as I am just "another guy on the internet" but you have absolutely nothing to lose by checking out this book (you can even read reviews from Amazon or any other book review site about this book to possibly get different perspectives).
Either way you go, I hope you succeed and your joy for life increases!
GOGO ret! :D i hope quitting from one day to another doesn hit you so hard but i think if you could at least keet it down to a 1 box a moth it will be okay
Good luck, good sir! Very motivating! :D I had the privilege of meeting you when you went out for a smoke in Anaheim. I was lucky enough to get to chat with you for a bit, you were quite kind and personable. I hope all the best for you, and I know you can accomplish your goals. Even if you slip a little, just get right back in there! My addiction is mtn dew, I'll quite the Dew, dude! :D
GOOD LUCK! :D
This song is great motivation, if you enjoy that type of music at all.
My best advice for food is to find a good place to get healthy food nearby. I study from 8 in the morning till 8-9 in the evening every day, so I buy a lot of food outside my house. In the beginning it was easy to just buy some random shit, but after a while I found where I could get the healthiest and best food for me! Even though I'm this busy I still manage to exercise 2-3 times a week as well.
You might play more than 12-13 hours a day though.
Good luck, man! You have my support. Cold turkey was hard i heard, but recently some people around me pulled it off, so i'm sure you can too :D I'd really wish for you to rise to the top of foreign (i wouldn't mind korean either) ranks again
I just quit smoking cigs recently (~1.5 months) went cold turkey after 2+ packs a week. You’ll be able to do it, no question. It hurts like hell and isn’t fun at first but I feel way better now than I did a few months ago; the only advice I can give you is to never pick up another cig. The urge never leaves (I’ve quit before, I know what I’m talking about), despite that you have to be stronger. I still reach into my inner pocket when I walk outside grabbing for my pack and I doubt I’ll ever stop.
The e-cig isn’t a bad idea, my problem was that it was too reminiscent of smoking and, therefore, made me miss smoking too much. I think cold turkey is the way to go.
Ret: you the man. Good luck, I know you’ll need it but I know you can do it too. You remain one of my favourite pro players and now, knowing what you are putting yourself through to become a better player and a better person, I’ll be rooting for you even more.
On October 24 2012 05:13 dGHaiL wrote: From a psychological perspective, avoiding situations or places in which you used to smoke may help you on your drive to quitting. It may be helpful to avoid doing certain activities if you used to smoke while doing them, for example: if you typically had a beer while smoking a cigarette, it may be beneficial to cut down on drinking as well, as the two stimuli (alcohol intake and nicotine intake) can be linked in that way, and having a beer may increase your urge to smoke.
Don't meet up with HerO anymore, he's a bad influence!
jk :D Altho he will probably miss you as a smoking partner?
On October 24 2012 05:13 dGHaiL wrote: From a psychological perspective, avoiding situations or places in which you used to smoke may help you on your drive to quitting. It may be helpful to avoid doing certain activities if you used to smoke while doing them, for example: if you typically had a beer while smoking a cigarette, it may be beneficial to cut down on drinking as well, as the two stimuli (alcohol intake and nicotine intake) can be linked in that way, and having a beer may increase your urge to smoke.
Don't meet up with HerO anymore, he's a bad influence!
jk :D Altho he will probably miss you as a smoking partner?
Hey man, congratulations on taking the first step! Best of luck! you have the support of the community! Looking forward to some great games! DO IT JOS!! <3
Awesome initiative, and really cool of you to try to bring this kind of positive effort to the community. Good luck, Ret! I'm always rooting for you, but this just makes me want to root for you harder!
One thing I will say about quitting cold turkey. You either quit or you don't. If it comes to pass that you find yourself looking at an unlit cig after going cold turkey, it can help to say "Quit? Or don't?" This will help bring your mind back to that place where it needs to be in order to be successful.