I’m sure everyone is different, but I can tell you what worked for me. About 3 weeks away from the bar. When I went back (a few evenings a week for about 2 weeks), I drank juice or soda (almost as much torture as not smoking) and made sure I had my own wheels in case I felt like I was weakening. I was damn serious. Now I drink as I used to. But I have to tell you, drinking at the bar is still the most difficult time for me as far as thinking of having one. It is tempting not so much because I want to smoke, but mostly because the habit is so ingrained to go with the booze. Also, alcohol usually makes me feel a bit less inhibited (I would imagine I am not alone in this phenomenon), so I have to remind myself that, no, I CANNOT have just one. So I haven’t. My smoking dreams usually occur after one of these nights out.
Hang in there all you new nonsmokers. For me, the cravings are still tough but they are quite few, far between (and getting fewer and farther), and are of mercifully short duration. To all you who want to quit but haven’t yet: You will because you can :).
I was so rah-rah about quitting, and I made it two days, and then I thought, Hey, I’m doing great, I can go back to my old routines.
Nope.
I went into the bar, immediately got some smokes, and I’ve been back on them ever since. I’m not smoking in the house, but that’s the only difference. However, tomorrow morning I am quitting again. I’m smoking like a madman tonight, and tomorrow I am done. It doesn’t feel like the “right time,” but I’ve learned that it will never feel like the right time. The thing to do is pick a day and, after that day, don’t smoke.
So here’s my long-postponed shameful confession post.
Eeek! Get me off this horrible merry-go-round!
And by the way, congratulations to everyone who has quit, and especially techchick68; I hope you’re feeling better and not smoking, and most of all, I hope you’re sneering at me for being weak! Keep with it and do your lungs a favor!
Me too. I do OK from day to day, but am apparently incapable of having a beer without smoking. It tastes nasty, but I still light up while drinking. I think Aglet has it right, the two habits are so closely related for me that it is hard to separate them.
::Sigh::
I guess it’s time for me to kill two vices with one stone. Wish me luck.
Six weeks, five days.
I was one of those stubborn souls who thought that I didn’t want or need to quit. I told everyone that gave me “The Lecture” that I got too much enjoyment from it to quit. Plus, the last time I quit, the secretaries at my office begged me to start back, I had been such a pain. Problem was, I had tried to quit in the middle of basketball season (I’m a fanatic).
Then, not so long ago, smoking started to hurt. I mean, actual chest pains for a twenty-something! The morning that I quit, it just hurt too bad to go on and I haven’t looked back.
I still want a smoke badly when I’m angry or nervous, and I’ve gained some weight, but I can BREATHE now. Everyone around me smokes and I’m hoping that I can be a light of inspiration.
