# Quitting smoking - give me tips! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 19, 2021, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219 "2021-03-19T09:02:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/81 "2021-03-27T02:43:01Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > They aren’t that caloric Unless SanVito is already overweight, I wouldn’t worry about the calories in whatever is used to keep the mouth occupied. I read somewhere that the average gain for someone who quits smoking is 5lbs. Personally, I never met anyone who gained any serious weight. I think the most I ever saw anyone gain was about 15lbs., over the first year she quit, but then over the next year, she lost most of it again. Being 5-15lbs. overweight can’t possibly be as bad for you as being a pack-a-day smoker. I’d worry more about what sugar was doing to your teeth-- but smoking isn’t great for your teeth, either, and as long as the sweets are not a permanent solution, I just wouldn’t worry about them. But then, it never hurts to try the sugar free, and see what your own reaction is. If you’ve been eating them so far with no problems, maybe you aren’t sensitive to them. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/82 "2021-03-27T13:59:58Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#): > > Have a cigarette, just take a couple puffs, and enjoy your wine. I guess this MIGHT work for some people, but definitely NOT an approach I would recommend. At least for someone who want to QUIT smoking as opposed to reducing the amount they smoke. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/83 "2021-03-27T15:58:55Z")
My advice is always the same. You will fall off the wagon now and then, you know you need to get back up again. But here is one thing you can stick to. Never buy another cigarette again. If you have to go out to the smoking area and beg them, it sort of slows you down. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/84 "2021-03-27T16:28:31Z")
My brain and I are not friends. If my brain tells me that I cannot have a cigarette then I will drive to the store if I have to and smoke one just to show my brain that it’s not the boss of me. So I told my brain that I did not quit but I just didn’t want one right now. I can have one anytime I want. I haven’t smoked a cigarette in a really long time. But I reserve the right to have one whenever I want. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/85 "2021-03-27T18:40:49Z")
Just checking in to see how its going, @SanVito. You’ve done the hard part already, now you just have to fight the habits. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/86 "2021-03-27T19:26:59Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > > [@EastUmpqua](#): > > > > Have a cigarette, just take a couple puffs, and enjoy your wine. > > I guess this MIGHT work for some people, but definitely NOT an approach I would recommend. At least for someone who want to QUIT smoking as opposed to reducing the amount they smoke. This is a good example of how taking a quote out context can change the intent and meaning… > [@EastUmpqua](#): > > Have a cigarette, just take a couple puffs, and enjoy your wine. I’ll have a beer. Be careful not to think having a cigarette is a failure. Just smoke less each time. I’m getting to the point where I don’t really want a cigarette as often. The ‘habit’ part is fairly easy (I always smoke after a beer, or after a meal). The less I smoke, the less the ‘addiction’ part kicks in. Keep it up! ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/87 "2021-03-27T20:32:23Z")
> [@And\_his\_buzzer\_goes](#): > > also quit by reading a book, Allen Carr’s one. I see there’s a whole emporium built up around the name now, but back then, I don’t know 15-20 years ago, it was a cheap paperback. It helps to shape your mind into understand why you smoke and why you won’t really “give up” anything when you quit. I quit using the Allen Carr method as well. It’s pretty amazing. The “method” is so basic it’s almost juvenile. It’s mostly just realizing that tobacco is doing nothing positive for you\* and you only keep doing it because every time you finish a cigarette you start to go into withdrawal and only another cigarette helps. Very basically, it’s just a vicious cycle that needs to be broken only once. [This is my description of the Carr method, not theirs or anyone else’s] \*We all know that cigs are doing _negative_ things to you but smokers tend to believe that they also do positive things for you. But these things are positive only in the way that stopping banging your head against a wall is positive. When what you really need it to stop the head banging in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/88 "2021-03-27T20:56:02Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Sorry of this sounds hard. But quitting is tough. You have to want to do it, and be honest with yourself. But once you get to that point, it is definitely doable. But it likely will require a lifelong effort. I don’t believe it takes a lifelong effort. The idea that it does keeps a lot of people from even trying to quit. I know that quitting is not tough at all, it is in fact very easy _once you are looking at the issue from a certain perspective._ When you realize that smoking is doing absolutely nothing for you and taking away so much you can’t wait to stop putting the disgusting things in your mouth. I urge you to check out the [Allen Carr](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1702447/) information. (I didn’t link to his site because increasingly over the past decade or so they have been adding more and more money-making things. I don’t think they’re ripping anyone off, I just don’t like the relentless pursuit of profit everywhere. Here’s a quote from the above link: > His second pivotal theory relating to this said that smokers only lit up to relieve the sense of anxiety or ennui created by their nicotine addiction. They were in effect paying with their money and their health to achieve the sense of satisfaction that non-smokers enjoyed all the time—for free . ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/89 "2021-03-27T21:11:51Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > But the key point is, you really have to WANT to quit. THIS however, is very true. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/90 "2021-03-29T07:51:48Z")
Hi! Been offline over the weekend. I’m now on Day 6, and whilst it hasn’t been easy, and there have been very many times when my body/brain is telling me to have a cigarette, I have stuck to my guns. Pangs haven’t gone away, but they are lessening. Having some wine was fine, although I probably had a bit too much on Friday - taking a drink every time I wanted a cigarette. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/91 "2021-03-29T08:08:38Z")
👍🏼👍🏽👍🏾 ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/92 "2021-03-29T12:33:13Z")
Well done! You can do it! Or taken from the other perspective, you can NOT do it! Not doing it gets easier and easier. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/93 "2021-03-29T12:51:45Z")
Only gets easier from here. Only you can decide whether it is ever a good idea to see if you can have “just one.” For me, that point hasn’t come yet after 35 years. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/94 "2021-03-29T13:06:49Z")
I already know that’s a no-no for me. Having got this far, I’ll be furious with myself if I have one, and that is actually keeping me going at this point. Purely from curiosity, I looked up Chantix - seems it’s called Champix in the UK and is only available on prescription. Not that I want to take it. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/95 "2021-03-29T13:36:22Z")
Wow, six days? You’re doing really well! Never look back. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/96 "2021-03-29T13:37:24Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Having got this far, I’ll be furious with myself if I have one, and that is actually keeping me going at this point. Yeah - folk can be different, but that’s the way it is w/ me. Maybe I’m just bullheaded, but the difference between ZERO and “only one in the past week” is EVERYTHING. In my mind, it is the difference betw being a smoker and a nonsmoker. It works in my favor, and it means enough to me to exert the self control to NOT stick a smoke in my mouth. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/97 "2021-03-29T13:46:35Z")
With me, it’s the knowledge that one smoke and my willpower will just go straight out of the window. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/98 "2021-03-29T14:00:00Z")
I’m that way w/ drinking. Sure, I know I could just have a couple of beers today. But if I do, I know it is just a matter of time before I start hitting the gin bottle HARD. ---
**Author:** ![PB\_J](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6de8d8/32.png) [@PB\_J](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PB_J)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/99 "2021-03-29T15:37:49Z")
I am so happy you realize that!! My multiple prior failures (once after one year) were “just one” because: Kids stressed me out Friends were smoking Other lame brained reasons. Do whatever it takes to not pick up that one…you have come so far and doing great. Deep breaths, deep breaths. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219/100 "2021-03-29T16:59:57Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Only you can decide whether it is ever a good idea to see if you can have “just one.” For me, that point hasn’t come yet after 35 years. Me either~50 years. Crushed out my last one and quit cold turkey in college. I had a boyfriend that I liked kissing more than he liked kissing a smoker. Finished the carton and never bought another pack. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quitting-smoking-give-me-tips/938219.md?page=6)