Diary of a smoker

[Peteaud]

Best of luck, I tried that 3 times and every time I fished them out (once from a communal bin!) The rolling tin etc is now packed away, but having no filters/papers/baccy etc means its just there.

I do miss my rollies and the smooth golden virginia, they taste so much better than cigarettes although I was partial to the odd pack of Marlboro Red 100s or Camel.

I remember fishing old butts from the ashtray in the garage to make a rolly out of when id run out of baccy late at night

 

[slowmotion]

Done

All binned and covered in old baked beans and cat food

Top man! The beans and cat food are a lovely touch...

 

[tyred]

Best of luck, I tried that 3 times and every time I fished them out (once from a communal bin!) The rolling tin etc is now packed away, but having no filters/papers/baccy etc means its just there.

I do miss my rollies and the smooth golden virginia, they taste so much better than cigarettes although I was partial to the odd pack of Marlboro Red 100s or Camel.

I've binned ciggies on quite a few occasions and ended up fishing them out later. Two occasions stand out. Once I was intending to stop when I had finished the packet and I found myself waiting in a queue in the post office and standing beside a bin, I thought why wait and binned them. I went back in ten minutes later to check if they were still there and they were! On another occasion, early in the morning, I broke my seven remaining Carrolls and dropped them in the bin. When I got home work, I literally turned the house upside down to check if I had any fags stashed away anywhere, found some Rizla papers and retrieved the seven fags and patched them up with the papers!

Good luck to the OP and anyone else who is stopping, I hope to join in sometime soon. I just need to work on my brain for now to tell it I don't need to smoke. I switched to rolling my own again last September as an aid to cutting down and have accidentally removed the main financial reason for stopping.

 

[Cubist]

I am out tomorrow, will be interesting to see if there is any difference at all on the hill

There will be. You'll be looking for it to reaffirm the good decisions you have made. Don't expect miracles though... just try to remember what it felt like when you were a smoker, and appreciate the slight increases one at a time. I even remember a time when I used to stop at the top of a really steep hill and light up to celebrate!

Keep going

And you Pottsy and Jimmy the Whiskers. Really chuffed for all of you.

 

[slowmotion]

I've binned ciggies on quite a few occasions and ended up fishing them out later. Two occasions stand out. Once I was intending to stop when I had finished the packet and I found myself waiting in a queue in the post office and standing beside a bin, I thought why wait and binned them. I went back in ten minutes later to check if they were still there and they were! On another occasion, early in the morning, I broke my seven remaining Carrolls and dropped them in the bin. When I got home work, I literally turned the house upside down to check if I had any fags stashed away anywhere, found some Rizla papers and retrieved the seven fags and patched them up with the papers.

I never trusted myself with the bin. On many New Year's Eves I used to stand over the lavatory pan, breaking my remaining supply into pieces and flushing it away as a Grand Gesture.


I must have flushed away about £100 worth over the years.

 

[MossCommuter]

This thread is very interesting...

...every time I told someone I was quitting, I failed.

In May 2011 I quit and some of my friends and family still haven't noticed.

 

[Rural halfwit]

Glad it's going well Pete et al..stick with it..I'm still getting cravings and bad mood swings,mind you the water thing is working for me,worst part of my day is the drive to or home from work( commuting is not really an option as I have to do a school run en route, school and work are opposite side of the county)
think I nearly coughed a lung up the other day

 

[BrumJim]

I am out tomorrow, will be interesting to see if there is any difference at all on the hill

THIS is what I am waiting for.

Either there is going to be the most almighty revelation of what smoking has been doing to your lungs over the last few decades, or you are going to have to stay focussed on the new bike.

 

[Titan yer tummy]

OK so day 6

Still an ex smoker.

Again the worst time of the day, straight after tea, really wanted one, but sheer pig headed belief in that i will not smoke got me through.

Now, in the kitchen, is my smoking box. Its where i kept the baccy, papers, filters etc etc, and it has 1/2 a pack of baccy, a few filter and about 3 packs of rlling papers in it. I didnt bin them in case i needed them (god knows why) but now i know i dont want them, or need them, they are going in the bin.

Thinking about it, its probably the sheer panic of having no baccy in the house that made me keep it.

When I gave up I had about 7 John Player Specials left in a packet. I put them on my mantelpiece as a trophy to my victory over the foul weed. They were there for several years. I can't remember what eventually became of them and I guess this is one of the greatest emblems of my ultimate triumph.

Regards.

 

[lozcs]

Well done Peteaud,

"My name is Lawrence and I am a smoker..."

I also quit NYD - not planned, just thoughts of quitting had been getting stronger over last few months (particulary since taking up cycling) and woke up on 1st Jan with one cigarette that was in a crushed up packed and all bent and thought sod it, nows the time.

Failed a few times in the past after setting goals eg, when I hit 30, or when son is born, longest time stopped was 3 years and it only takes a night in a bar thinking 'I could just have one' to having to start all over again.

Been quite easy so far to be honest - the habit is the hardest thing - getting in the car or after meals are the hardest - it's also a ritual that i've noticed leaving the house or work, checking for keys, wallet, phone, fags? oh...

I wouldn't thrown your tin away just yet - I take quite a lot of satisfaction knowing there is a cigarette there if I want it but choose not to... If I didn't have that I'd probably panic buy a packet smoke just one then the rest in guilty disappointment.. ;-)

I haven't used any support tools such as NHS direct or patches although a couple of times I have randomly gone on little rides (even in the middle of the night) to take my mind off it - that works really well - I have also the NHS app smokefree on my phone which I open up every now and again to check time and cost savings... so far 6d 16hrs 16mins 15secs saved £30.70 (15 a day).. Although haven't planned anything might treat myself to something nice when it gets to a decent figure.

 

[Headgardener]

Recon you will have to change your avatar of an exuasted Homer Simpson soon Peteaud. Well done.

 

[Peteaud]

Recon you will have to change your avatar of an exuasted Homer Simpson soon Peteaud. Well done.

Yep going to have to change it.

Edit : Now changed

 

[Peteaud]

THE HILL

Ok, so still an ex smoker and so far today only two real cravings so not too bad.

Went out on the MTB to do the same route as last Saturday, wasn't expecting anything miraculous to happen as its only been a week, but did expect a small improvement.

Did the hill without using the granny ring (as i did last week) to add a bit of extra pressure, took me two hits (3 last week) to do it and i did recover much much faster, so i am very very happy. In fact my feeling at the moment is that there is not a chance in a million of ever being a smoker again. Now i realise thats a bit early and pretty dangerous, but its how i feel today. Had a really good ride, sun was out and even quite mild, and me not wheezing and spluttering on the uphill section made the day.

The £20 ive saved this week is in the "bike" pot so thats a good start as well.


The only downer, ive gained 2lbs, this week, dont think its down to just not smoking and nibbling more, but its something i need to keep an eye on.


To all those still off the weed, well done.

 

[Bayerd]

THE HILL

Ok, so still an ex smoker and so far today only two real cravings so not too bad.

Went out on the MTB to do the same route as last Saturday, wasn't expecting anything miraculous to happen as its only been a week, but did expect a small improvement.

Did the hill without using the granny ring (as i did last week) to add a bit of extra pressure, took me two hits (3 last week) to do it and i did recover much much faster, so i am very very happy. In fact my feeling at the moment is that there is not a chance in a million of ever being a smoker again. Now i realise thats a bit early and pretty dangerous, but its how i feel today. Had a really good ride, sun was out and even quite mild, and me not wheezing and spluttering on the uphill section made the day.

The £20 ive saved this week is in the "bike" pot so thats a good start as well.


The only downer, ive gained 2lbs, this week, dont think its down to just not smoking and nibbling more, but its something i need to keep an eye on.


To all those still off the weed, well done.

Just to back up your dangerous realisation, this feeling came for me a few days before the 'one won't hurt as I don't feel addicted anymore' thought. Make sure you battle through it, and you'll be fine.

Don't worry about weight gain for the time being, you can address that in a few months' time when you hardly get cravings at all.

well done, keep it up!

 

[ianrauk]

No smoking = Weight gain. Feeling better = more cycling. More cycling = weight loss.

Well done Pete.