quitting smoking

IAmGoingToTri

IAmGoingToTri

New member
It is very strange, but true: I am a smoker. At least I have been for the last 5-6 weeks or so. I think I smoked 15 packages or so. I was a smoker before, but I quite for almost a year. The habit returned, because I was stupid enough to ask a cigaret from someone after drinking some alcohol (which reduces my willpower significantly). I quit alcohol, so that won't happen again. Now I also quit smoking again. Why? Well, there are so many downsides to smoking (and no benefits): it makes you smell bad, it is bad for long-term health, but also for short term health (the cough), it reduces my ability to do well in sports (triathlon), it is expensive, etc.

So, time to quit. I am going to do it cold turkey. I have done it before, and my experience is that the first week is the hardest, but that if I make sure that I exercise enough, which also releases dopamine for my brain, I can reduce the cravings. After a week it gets a lot easier already. Exercise is also a good way to prevent weight gain.

So, let's do this!
 
Ha... it was a great day to quit. I went to the dentist today, and one of my wisdom teeth got pulled, and now I am not allowed to smoke/drink this week. Very helpful extra motivator. And it's nice that there is a positive side to the fact that my tooth was pulled... it was quite painful so it's good to know that it was worth something ;)
 
A short update. A few times every day, my body begs for a cigaret. However, I am not going to smoke one, because I want to quit, and because I am not allowed to. The tooth that got pulled leaves a big wound, and I take a maximum dose of painkillers to deal with the pain. I know that if I smoke that I risk that it gets infected, which would mean it would hurt even more. So, until this wound heals, which will take at least a week or two, I am not going to risk that by smoking, and after that I know that I have had the hardest part of quitting smoking, so that it's better to keep going. Also, by that time the first triathlon of this seaso is very near, with the second one month later, and I know that smoking will have a big impact on my performance.
 
Two more days have passed, two more days of not smoking. I do not even want to smoke. The hole that remains after my wisdom tooth got pulled is a bit infected anyways, and it hurted quite a lot (I just went to the dentist, now it is a bit better).

This is a bit frustrating, but I admit that it is very useful for quitting smoking, that it would have been a lot more difficult without this. I am willing to suffer to quit smoking, in the long run this will be worth it.
 
Ok... despite trying very hard, I picked the smoking up again during a night out. Very stupid.

However, I will not allow myself to give up now. I will do another attempt at stopping now and this time I am serious.

I have quit succesfully before, to the point that there was no desire at all to smoke. So, I can do this! Let's reflect on the strategies that led to that success in the past:

  1. I had many motivations to quit, and I was very conscious of them. So, let's make a list:
    1. Smoking causes long term health problems:
      1. Cancer
      2. COPD
      3. Heart attacks
    2. Smoking causes short term health problems:
      1. Smoker's cough
      2. Sore throat
    3. Smoking makes me a worse athlete:
      1. Decreased lung capacity (that returns in the weeks/months after quitting)
    4. Smoking is bad for hygiene and makes you less attractive
      1. Smelly clothes and hair
      2. Bad breath
      3. Stains on teeth
    5. Smoking causes nicotine addiction
      1. Being addicted means that you are letting something outside of yourself control your behavior
      2. Addiction makes you appear weak to other people
    6. Smoking is expensive
      1. You can save a lot of money every year if you quit smoking, enough for taking an extra holiday.
    7. Smoking raises stress levels:
      1. While for a very brief moment (20 seconds or so) after smoking your stress is relieved, very soon after that your stress levels increase again. There is no net benefit.
  2. I realized that, given the list above, there are no good reasons to smoke. I admitted that it was just an addiction that enslaved me, that I needed to fight.
  3. I looked to the needs that I fulfilled with smoking and found replacements for each of them:
    1. A short break from my work/activities
      1. Drinking a glass of water or a cup of tea.
    2. A way to reduce my stress levels
      1. Exercising is a superior way to do this
      2. Just taking a walk around the neighbourhood is also great
    3. A way to reward myself:
      1. Destroying my health is not a great reward. It's only nice for a minute or so. If, instead, I get a good cup at coffee at a coffee shop, I can enjoy it for much longer.
  4. I accepted that it would be hard in the first days, but that it would gradually get easier after that. After a month I may not even think of smoking on a given day. After a few months, I can forget smoking for weeks.
  5. I looked for a higher purpose to quit smoking.
    1. I feel motivated to reach the best health ever in my life. I am willing to give up a lot for this. Having a great health means having great freedom. It means that you have the strength and energy to do whatever you want to accomplish.
    2. I want to become good at sports again, particulary triathlon. My dream is to do an Ironman triathlon one day
    3. I see quitting smoking as a great way to develop my character. It takes willpower and discipline, which are traits that I hold in high regard and that I want to see more in my life.
So, now that I have all of this in mind again, I will start over. Quitting smoking is the best thing I can do for my health, it is even more beneficial than losing weight.
 
Today is day 2. I feel motivated, I have little desire to smoke now. It makes sense to continue quitting. Quitting smoking has so many benefits (some I mentioned in the post above, but I am sure that there are many more) and no downsides. The only hurdle to overcome is the quitting itself, which kind of sucks, but from experience I know that the first week is the most difficult one, after that week it's at least 50% easier to continue. After a month I will have little desire to smoke, at least that has been my experience during my last attempts.
 
It's a few hours later now... and it's a lot harder to keep myself from getting a pack of cigarettes. However, I will not give in. It may be uncomfortable now, but that was to be expected, and it is completely worth it. The time for excuses is over, now is the time to get this over with.
 
More than 48 hours without smoking. It's going well. It's still tempting to go smoking, but I think I will do fine today, because I am very motivated.
 
It's day 4 now and I am still doing fine. Yesterday was the easiest day so far, I felt less of an urge to smoke then the first two days.

I have a sore throat since more than a week, because of smoking and it's getting a bit better every day. I don't really mind this, it's actually useful to still feel the effects of smoking as a reminder of the importance of quitting.
 
good on ya. My entire family (mom & dad and both siblings) were smokers and my brother is the only one left. Seen them all struggle in different ways, but are so much happier now that they've kicked the habit.
 
Thanks allcdnboy! You often see that if parents smoke, that the children pick it up. Good to hear that most managed to quit, I hope that your brother will follow their example!

I have quit for a week now. It's much easier than it was in the first two days. Very little cravings, and the cravings that I get are much weaker, thus easy to resist. My lungs and throat are still a bit sore, but it's getting better every day.
 
Wooh... 2 weeks! it's so easy now. I would say I have like 10-15 moments per week that I want to smoke. Those moments usually last less than 30 seconds. Easy to resist. From experience I know that, over time, these moment become less and less common and less and less intense.

@domoarigato - how is it going over there?
 
Congratulations for deciding to quit smoking. No day is better than today! Make sure you don't start smoking again. Chew mint gums when you feel like craving for nicotine. There are many people I know who thought they have succeeded in quitting but sooner or later they started smoking again.
 
Thanks mantishugo! I will stay vigilant, the smoking must not return! ;)

I have started smoking again after my previous attempts (I have even started again after quitting more than 6 months). Here are the main factors for why that happened:
1. Drinking too much at a party. Alcohol and tiredness reduces my willpower, and somehow it seems like a "great" idea to smoke a cigarette with someone.
My solution: I quit alcohol, and even when/if I start drinking again, I will not drink a lot.
2. An approaching deadline (exam/report), having to work all night to meet it. Cigarettes helped me to stay focused, and sometimes after not smoking for a long time I get a package. It is very effective for me, but I should not do this again, because while I imagine that it's just one package, I have often (if not always) started smoking again.
My solution: I plan better, so that I don't have to pull an allnighter anymore.
3. Stress. When I don't feel good for some time, it's tempting to look for an escape, and a cigarette can offer a brief escape from your situation.
My solution: I try solving the issue at hand (the source of the stress) instead of trying to deal with the symptoms (the stress itself). And I build in other ways to relieve myself of stress, not as an escape, but as a way to take good care of myself, such as exercise, meditation, reading and talking with people.
4. Friendly people smoking around me. This one is the most challenging right now. Yesterday I had a walk with a colleague that I have accepted a cigarette from before (so I know she doesn't mind if I ask one), and it was quite challenging not to ask one. I did not do that and I will stay extra vigilant when this happens again.
My solution: I don't have a real solution to this one, but right now I tell myself to "just don't do it". This works if I have a lot of willpower, but if I am very stressed it may not. I think I should also avoid these people for now when they are likely to smoke, at least until I have quit for some months and the temptation becomes less.
 
I quit 20 days. My respiratory system is still clearing up, getting healthier and stronger every day!

The last days were extremely easy. No cravings whatsoever.

I will keep posting here for some time, perhaps even for a year or more. I will post less and less regular, but I think it is good to keep sharing updates, because I have managed to quit for a many months before, but still I have returned to smoking. I think keeping writing about it is a good way to reduce the chance of that happening again.

Everyone who reads this and wishes to quit, feel free to join in this thread, I will support you! :)
 
21 days!

I already told ths story elsewhere, but I want to share it in this thread too: yesterday I ran 11 kilometers, and I could really notice a big difference in how easy it was to breath. I could run faster and longer than since I started training again earlier this year. My lungs are really cleaning up! :)
 
Ok... day 23! I have not felt any temptation.

I already mentioned that I noticed that it's getting easier to exercise after I quit smoking, and that I can expect up to 30% more lung capacity as my respiratory system is cleaning itself over the coming months.

Some questions that logically follow from these predictions/observations are "how much better can my respiratory system?", "has smoking left some long-term damage that cannot be repaired?" and "how will my past as a smoker affect how good I can become as a triathlete?".

Of course, time will tell, but being a bit impatient I want to have some idea of the range of possibilities. I have had this question for a loooong time and finally, I found an answer in this quote that I read on another forum:

"Priscilla Welch was a smoker into her 30s, then started running at 35. She eventually won both the NYC and London Marathons and set a women's masters WR in the marathon of 2:26. Are you likely to be able to duplicate that? Doubtful, but no one knows how close you might get."

That's very motivating, isn't it?
 
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