Band practice: worked on three new songs. It sounded very good tonight, which kept my attention away from cigarettes. Even had two beers, and no particular temptation to smoke.
Now I have to fight the temptation to reward myself with a cigarette! 
God, the addicted mind is irrational.
I sincerely appreciate the support, folks. I am very aware of the lethality of smoking, and I have a 10-month-old, so I’m pretty serious about quitting for his sake.
When I quit, I used as role models two people I knew who had quit cold turkey and who never looked back. I decided that I would be that kind of quitter, rather than the kind who always slipped back. I would quit once, and that would be the end of it, no weakness. It worked. Once you’re past the physical cravings (very soon, now), it’ll go smoother.
What TruCelt says is true. The method I used to give up was Gillian Riley’s. It involves carrying cigarettes around after you quit and learning to deal with the cravings instead of trying to ignore them.
The basic mantra is:
I have a desire to smoke.
I have the freedom to smoke.
One puff and I’ll be smoking…
To that you can choose either to add “I choose to return to smoking”, or “For now I choose not to act upon this desire so I can enjoy the benefits of not smoking…”
and list the benefits that you hope to get
She summarizes her whole method here and here.
As she says because it’s not based on prohibition, “Stopping smoking by making a series of conscious choices not to smoke is, you will find, not only effective, but - though this may be hard to believe - enjoyable because you will feel powerful.”
Everyone that has read my copy of her book has quit as easily as I did. The 2 newspaper articles I have linked to tell you all you need really.
I would say good luck, but who am I kidding. You got this in the bag, dude!
The one that actually made me laugh out loud when I quit was having the thought, “because the train is running late I should have a cigarette to pass the time.” As though smoking is a pastime like playing guitar. Like I said it was fun paying attention to the process of quitting.
Impressive. The Force is strong in this one.
Good on ya, **Ogre **- and yes, I have been thinking about your kid, but assumed you had your brain wrapped around that on your own without anyone piling on…
Good for you! As a former smoker I can honestly say that quitting was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I still want it sometimes, but I know how stupid that is. Like you, I’m in this for not just me but for my child.
I just wanted to pop in and say that I’m with you as a new quitter–this is day 5 for me (day 6 for my wife.)
I can honestly say that the cravings DO go away fairly quickly. I’m not jonesing for a smoke anymore, though there are some times when I just habitually get up and start walking outside for a smoke, then catch myself. I think that’ll take some time to break.
But it does get better!
(FWIW, what did it for me was Alan Carr’s book.)
I can’t be the only one calling bullshit on this, can I?
No. Sounds extremely suspect. I’d have to see a very reliable cite that this kind of thing could happen.
Call it what you’d like. I can only attest to what I saw. I can’t vouch for the science, or that the owner of the dive shop wasn’t making it up. I have absolutely no reason to doubt him. I’ve also seen a bunch of regulators being cleaned, and the dive master’s in question was without a doubt the nastiest one I’ve seen. It’s possible something else caused it.
Let’s see..here’sa Youtube video I found of a smoker exhaling into a something like a paper towel.
The dive master in question smoked before dives and in between dives. I’m not sure why it’s hard to believe that there is an accumulation of tar in the lungs that comes out when exhaling…but again, I can only testify to what I saw.
-D/a
Keep it up, Ogre. You can do it.
My wife and I both quit a year ago, and neither of us have smoked at all since.
It gets easier. It’s still not completely gone - I’ll be doing something mundane where I used to smoke, and the urge will hit me - but I go whole days without craving a smoke.
Hang in there man. Quit myself in November. Gets easier evey day.
Now I just get these brief moments of craving that are getting briefer, less frequent, and less intense.
Sorry, D/a. I didn’t mean to impugn your word. It’s just that I’m a long-time diver and a (now ex-) smoker. I’ve been diving for 25 years. Not only have I never seen the phenomenon you describe, I’ve never even heard of it. None of that means it COULDN’T happen. I’m just a smidge skeptical. 
Wouldn’t the dive master have seen this before if she was a diver and a smoker? Wouldn’t every diver who also smokes know about this?
I don’t think that anyone is saying that the incident didn’t happen. I think people have a problem with the explanation that the other guy came up with.
The video that was linked to shows someone pulling smoke directly through a hanky and also blowing smoke directly through a hanky. That’s a different ballgame entirely.
Quit six years ago… Six and a half, if you don’t count the nicotine lozenges. Those things were awesome.
And as a smoker< I’ve worn hours and hours culminating in days and days if not weeks and weeks of particle masks with nary a hint of leaving tar on the inside of the mask.
Still smoke-free. No cheating. It’s been a gold-plated motherfucker at times, but I think I’ve just pulled off the cold-turkey thing.
Whoo hooo! congrats. Keep us updated!
The fear of the pitting you’ll get might be enough to save you in a weak moment, LOL!
Let’s see… does that make 2 weeks? Almost exactly, I see.
You’re home free. At least, that was my experience. Congratulations.