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I gave up smoking six months ago and feel great for it, hard as it was.
So here is a thread to celebrate all you no smoking heroes out there!
Cheers!
7 years free in February not counting or anything though!
I was a casual smoker due to my working as a musician. Don't think I've ever done a gig where there weren't multiple smokers in a band, and being really partial, it meant that I probably had at least 10 a week.
Not had a single one since my last gig which was early March 2020. Hoping not to start again whenever I eventually resume gigging.
Hard to say whether I feel any better for it though. My booze consumption has gone up in lockdown so probably undone any of the health benefits that I'd have felt!
Used to love a rollie, 20 a day average. 15 years since I quit, best thing I've done! The male side of my family has an annoying habit of dying off early so thought I'd best give myself a fighting chance
So here is a thread to celebrate all you no smoking heroes out there!
Save it for Thursday and I'll clap you all for easing the load on the NHS. 🙂
13 years for me. Can't believe I used to put that sh*t in my body. I don't really do regret, but that is the one thing in my life I truly, truly do regret. Keep it up OP 👍👍
Day 2 for me. All I need is to continue to not drink for a while (like, maybe 3 months) and it'll all be fine 🙂
Started again 3 years ago after 12 years of healthiness. What a ****, eh?
11 years for me on Valentines Day
As others have said its the wisest thing I've ever done, can't see why I smoked for so long, seeing people smoking now feels like I've been transported back in time.
Over 10 years for me, although I did have a few during a tough few weeks 7 years ago. Dont miss it or even see why I did it now..hang in there!!
2 and a bit years for me now. Best thing I’ve done though occasionally still feel the urge. Don’t let your guard down and well done! 👍
Fags (and more importantly weed!) 24 years ago, 2.5 years for the beer.
Happy days. 🙂
Just had to ask the wife how long it’s been, she thinks 6 years and she is always right.. 😂
Feel better for it but in that time I’m back riding loads and running so bound to feel better!
16 years here, seems odd to think how important it was to me at the time. Bloody hate the stink of it now. Typical ex smoker. The money I burnt on fags!
About 11 years for me I think. Not a typical ex smoker though, I bloody loved smoking (obviously I know how stupid this attitude is) but giving up was obviously the right thing to do.
But I still miss it and get cravings. I think I have a rose tinted view of those times where you just nip out for a tab and have 5 minutes to yourself, maybe with a brew. Something like that anyway.
No doubt if I actually did have a lovely fag, it would just make me feel sick. and Christ on a bike, the cost!!
I think I have a rose tinted view of those times where you just nip out for a tab and have 5 minutes to yourself, maybe with a brew. Something like that anyway.
You can still do that. Go out for a not-smoking break.
Hats off to you(and the others)
Personally I just cannot seem to be able to kick it and currently am pretty much chain smoking, even though I understand the dangers and already have serious effects in a vascular sort of way.
Yes I've tried everything major, from prescription drugs to hypnotherapy, with the exception of the patches/gum/lozenges.
Well done OP. I battled with smoking since deciding to quit in my early 20's. I was always mostly off them (except for hols and when drinking) until a year and a half ago when I kicked the booze and the cigarettes went with it. No cigs since June 2019.
I quit when i was 21 and like a complete bell end, started again at 30.
Finally knocked it on the head at 40, so 11 years ago. Horrible horrible filthy habit. the greatest thing we ever did was ban it in pubs.
I gave up (properly this time) around 6 months ago too. Well done buddy!
Although I am now addicted to Nicotene Mist spray!
This isn't in any way meant to sound smug , there's 5 of us who have been real good mates for about 60 years and apart from a couple of them experimenting with cigars and even a pipe ! None of us have ever smoked thankfully .
@richardkennerley I'm in the minority with you I guess, I do love a cig!
Personally I just cannot seem to be able to kick it and currently am pretty much chain smoking, even though I understand the dangers and already have serious effects in a vascular sort of way.
Yes I’ve tried everything major, from prescription drugs to hypnotherapy, with the exception of the patches/gum/lozenges.
Have you tried vaping? yes its uncool and yes you will probably get addicted to that for a good while before you can give it up but it's so much better than smoking and so much easier to quit.
After trying everything its the only thing i got to work for me. I vaped for a whole year before i slowly decreased the nic strength and finally stopped when it broke. Found the switch from smoking to vaping wasn't too hard then the giving up of the vape is 100x easier. I think its because your literally at this point just addicted to the nicotine and the habit not all the other crap thats in ciggarettes
Wow you've just made me realise it was 19 years ago I gave up my 15 a day Marlboro Light habit. Last ciggy was NYE 31st Dec 2001.
Given up for almost seven years now too. I used to smoke a few at the work Christmas do but packed that in for the past couple of years too. It was probably my 3rd serious attempt at giving up, with numerous half-assed efforts. Well done for six months. Don't bother with vaping if you can help it. None of the people I know have given that up or not gone back to cigs.
Well done to everyone on this thread. Going to try giving up again this weekend, (hopefully this time it'll<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;"> stick)</span>
I think its about 6 years for me. I'm now the worst creature in the world... a born-again none smoker. I absolutely hate the smell of fags and can't stand being around people smoking
@aide if you want some motivation to stay stopped, I put the money away that I would have spent on fags (I smoked about 15 day) and watched it build up until it paid for this...
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Miles better than a load of B&H, I'm sure you'll agree. Good luck with it!
Have you tried vaping? yes its uncool and yes you will probably get addicted to that for a good while before you can give it up but it’s so much better than smoking and so much easier to quit
Definitely this. I still vape but I've cut the nicotine content right down to 0.3mg now, but I still enjoy the physical act of smoking, without it (hopefully) killing me
if you want some motivation to stay stopped
And if you want some more motivation - a chap I knew of, 55 years old, fairly fit for his age but also a fairly heavy smoker (can you be both fit and a smoker?) tested positive for coronavirus on the 28th December and died on the 4th January.
I'm not saying the smoking did it but it sure as hell didn't help.
I smoked a little in my youth much but stopped completely just over 30 years ago - extremely happy I did.
16 years on Valentines Day. Like some others I loved it, nothing better (at the time) than sitting outside on a sunny morning with a cigarette and a coffee, contemplating the day ahead.
In reality, nothing more than an addiction. Glad I broke it, one of the best things I've ever done.
@dyna-ti, you need to want it otherwise it is a massive ask. Never give up giving up.
It's been almost 11 years since I stopped.
Well done to all of the ex-smokers on here an best of luck to those trying to stop!
My giving up coincided with the ban on smoking in public places. That really helped me a lot.
One of the best things my parents ever did for me was smoke and give me the option of joining them when I old enough to legally. Firstly I grew up hating it as they smoked in the house and car when I was a kid. Secondly, they did it so it wasn't cool and by not making it an act of rebellion there was never any temptation to start. I've never even taken a drag from a single cigarette and I never will.
The fact it killed my old man (slowly mind, stroke, followed by amputations and eventual pneumonia) was taking it too far, but by god he loved a cigarette.
I quit around 15 years ago. Best thing I ever did and the health benefits are great. Top job OP and the rest of you who are quitting. I knew I’d finally cracked it when the smell of a cigarette started to make me feel sick. Really can’t abide the smell anymore.
Don’t know if this will help any of you trying to quit, but changing my routine was key. Different walk to work, changed break times, different meal times etc. That and quitting drinking (more or less) at the sane time finally had me quitting. Booze utterly dissolved my willpower and meant I gave in to cravings straight away. You have to really want to quit too. I did it cold turkey, no patches, no cutting down etc. It was bloody tough but I’m so glad I did it.
Stopped smoking about 20 years ago (in my mid-20s). Had smoked since I was 14, mostly rollies. Went to India, smoked loads of cheap Indian cigs, felt terrible on the plane home with a cold, never smoked again. I do regret my ten years or so of smoking and the damage it must have done. But it was an integral part of our teen and 20s social scene. I didn't hang out with many people who didn't smoke. None of us smoke now and the biggest caners then are now the most fanatical about fitness and running marathons, cycling, triathlons etc.
I’ve quit very recently...combined with now being forced to wfh/local only riding and not seeing friends / can’t go to the pub/ restaurants etc - feels like there’s not much to look forward to - I’m struggling to not give in, a lot 🙁
One of the things I really struggled with when I gave up was the feeling that I would never be free of the cravings, particularly at certain ‘moments of truth’ ie halfway through or just after a ride, or on a night out. 2 years on and I can do whatever I want and I don’t even think about the fags. Keep at it it will be worth it.
When I was puffing and panting my way up Mont Blanc some years back, I was passed by a smiling French bloke, whose cheery advice was ‘you can do eet, but you haf to want eet’... Spot on as it turns out 😀
It will be 3 years for me next month. On the 24th of February to be precise.
I'm just going to say right now that it is, without doubt, the best thing i've ever done to myself.
I'll raise a glass right now to all of us who have slipped the chains - chin chin
Last day of uni 1998 - just stopped for no particular reason. Always was a wet smoker anyway. Weekends only. Have the odd vape when drinking but steer away from nicotine.