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Best Quit Smoking Strategy?


Dr_Evil_Mouse

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My strategy worked:

Hang out with brother (or sister or friend) when you are 8 or 9 years old.

Somehow get pack of cigarettes at that age.

Hide behind school with brother, sister or friend and smoke the whole pack as quickly as possible.

Feel very ill and lose all motivation to smoke ever again.

Ok, maybe that strategy only works for some people. My brother still started smoking later on ... but has fairly recently quit. :)

On a related note, I refuse to get moral about smoking or any choice that an adult makes about what to do with his or her body. But it is a drag the number of people that I know (including students that I teach) that wish they could quit but can't. And personally, cigarette smoke really does make me feel like sh*t. I think I must be allergic to it, even moreso that the average person.

We've had some excellent conversations about this topic in a few of my recent classes, which is why I was intrigued by this post.

Although I definitely don't seriously think that we should give cigarettes to kids as a prevention strategy, I do see time and time again how important prevention is.

Peace, Mark

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Easy way to quit smoking (for all you quitters out there) Allen Carr's easy way to stop smoking (book). I tried the patch, the gum (mmm yummm), zyban (yeah that's a little crazy) and nothing worked but this lovely book my wife picked up for me on my 30th birthday.

Careful though, there's the lifetime edition (which is like 300 pages) and there's the shortened version (150 pages). Get it at your local book store. Follow what allan says and 'believe' and you're good as gold. You;ll be runnin marathon's before you know it ;)

Smoked for 17 years and have now been smoke free for 2 years!

Good luck! To those who want it.

oh, one more thing, you gotta really want to do it. It's hard but not as hard as you think.

Cheers, Slouchy

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I'm four weeks into quitting right now and i'm

actually doing really well. I think the key is

just a switch mentally to a mindset of a nonsmoker. When i crave a smoke i just take a deep breath and tell myself that i don't smoke

anymore and the cravings go away, that and i drink

about four litres of water a day.

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Remember too that if you convince yourself that you're only a weekend smoker, or that you only smoke when you drink, you're still a smoker and you aren't on the quitting trail.

As the article points out, you just have to cut the strings. 1 week of cravings is about the worst it gets to enjoy the road of new smells and tastes ;)

I remember getting strong cravings over a few months, but they only last a couple of minutes. Distract your attention and it goes away...poof!

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watched my father quit drinking (6 days a week, vodka straight) and smoking, over 40 years, at the same time....

i think motivation is the single, and only thing, required to quit smoking....

the more 'tools' you use to help quit, the less motivation you 'think' you need, and in turn, create a greater chance of failing...

want to do it. REALLY want to do it.

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If you're on the path to quitting and find that you've come down with a cold or flu, this is a good time to start 'cause most folks don't really feel like puffing when they're coughing up wads of phlemmy goop...

I haven't had a single puff in over two years and without question I'm healthier and happier than when I was a nico-fiend...

Good luck if you're trying to quit...I was lucky as I quit cold turkey with relative ease but for many it's an uphill battle...

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i think the key to quitting smoking, is honestly and legitimately WANTING to quit smoking.

i know when i was a smoker i would attempt to quit from time to time on a flimsy.. kinda like waking up one day, feeling gross from a night of smoking before and thinking, 'i'm gonna quit smoking.' doesn't work.. or never worked for me.

two years ago i made up my mind that i would never ever smoke again and i haven't nor will i ever.

just like when you're in a band and you fuck up a cover, it's all about conviction.. baby.

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that whole wanting thing bugs me because it also lends people a reason not to quit. "I don't want to quit. I LIKE to smoke". 'liking to' gets confused with 'addicted to'.

You may want to quit, but the addiction fools yourself into thinking that you don't want to quit.

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I think the key is

just a switch mentally to a mindset of a nonsmoker. When i crave a smoke i just take a deep breath and tell myself that i don't smoke

anymore and the cravings go away

My greatest problem was always the first few days. The thought of never smoking again and the unliklihood of that really happening (based on past attempts) would be too much and I'd be off and smoking again.

So last time, I didn't actually quit. I just put off having my next cigarette...until after supper...until the morning...later ...later.

As bouche suggests I would distract myself, pop some nicorette, drink some water etc. but in those first few days I wasn't carrying the burden of a lifetime or "never" again. Mental gymnastics maybe, but it made it easier for me to deal with those first few critical days until I could get to the mindset gateaux speaks about.

Good luck to any comtemplating quitting. It's well worth the effort. Even the Subway Clubs tasted better ;) OK maybe that's a stretch

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I got that Carr book if anyone wants it...

It's been 3 weeks for me, not even a single drag, and I used to be hardcore. I did absolutely nothing special, smoked my last cigarette Jan 6 at 7:00pm, last one in the pack, and haven't looked back. There have been times where I crave, and I had a couple of wicked blow-outs the first couple of days, but whatever, I just have another beer. Wierd thing is, I can down a 6 pack in under 10 minutes now.

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that whole wanting thing bugs me because it also lends people a reason not to quit. "I don't want to quit. I LIKE to smoke". 'liking to' gets confused with 'addicted to'.

You may want to quit, but the addiction fools yourself into thinking that you don't want to quit.

i don't know.. everyone is different.. i think liking and addiction do go hand in hand.. you know liking smoking on long car drives or liking smoking after dinner, etc.

i just know that i had attempted to quit smoking a number of times in my life and failed each time (always coughing it up to 'liking') the one time where i sat myself down and said "you will never ever smoke again" worked. i've never smoked since. maybe it's just being bound and determined and staying strong. but the weirdest part of all was that this particular time, it really wasn't hard.

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my uncle died a few years back fom smoking/smoke related health probs, i sitll smoke. going to quit pretty soon, i know its no good, everyone in my family that smokes have quit, i think im just putting it off until i have no chioce, IE:pregnant wife quitting, im gonna quit too.

the big part is really wanting to quit and sticking to it, i think. my old man woke up one day about 12 yrs ago and said fuck this shit, tossed his cigs away, never looked back.

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