blonde poker forum

Well, not yet - but I've decided to. 50 to 60 a day, most of my life, always smoked except for brief periods with naggy girlfriends.

When? Sunday. 8 minutes to 10 in the evening. So 8 mins to 10, 8/10.

Why the sillly time? So I have something easy to remember "when" by.

Why am I telling you guys? To increase the pressure on me not to fail.

Why now? Long story, maybe I'll Post it tomorrow, but it's pretty boring really. But it was starting to niggle at my mind. Nemesis, bless him, sent me a book "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking". How kind of him, & I PM'd him my thanks. I mean, I've never met him, & he did that. Then I plonked the book on the "to read" pile. How ungrateful.

Last week, I had a bit of stress. (= excuse to smoke a lot). Made myself so ill with smokers chest, I had to stay at home all weekend. Felt pretty sorry for myself - I wanted to go to The Sportsman. Thewy & Red were in Walsall, Chili was in Brighton, I'm at home coughing like billyo.

Chatted with Chili on Monday - "you any better?" she says. Yup, not too bad, I say. "Why don't you give up?" she asks. "Why don't you shut up" I reply. "No, I wont - you ought to pack it in" says her cleverness.

And Red's been subtly nagging me. Just drip, drip, drip. And Thewy don't smoke, so I get in awkward situations when we are all together, Red & Thewy non-smokers, Chili & me both gaspers.

I spoke to Chili yesterday. "You read that Give Up Smoking Book yet?" she says. Sheesh, DON'T NAG, I'm thinking. I decide to call her bluff. I'll give up if you do, I say. "OK, I will," she says. I swiftly change the subject, phew, a close shave there.....

This morning she rings. I tell her I may - may - give up smoking. "What? WHAT?, she says - you have already agreed - you PROMISED". Gulp..... "Yesh, but I was not serious". "Shut up & do it" she snarls. Oops.....

So we struck a deal. We go down to Gutshot this weekend, & smoke our socks off. Then we both give up, bang, just like that. She don't know about the 8 minutes to 10 deadline, but she's stuck with it now. We are "racing" to see who gives in first. I'm nailed on to win this.

I'll use my "tease me" dieting method. When dieting I keep bikkies with me all the time - sort of "I DARE YOU to eat me". So I'll have an unopened pack of Embassy with me 24/7. And a lighter - not a real threat otherwise, eh?

So there it is. I don't REALLY wanna give up, but I'd like to prove I can. So I may start again at Christmas.  ;hide;

And one thing's for sure. Part of the idea of Fanny Fanackapan and me doing it the same time is the competitive streak - that will help us both.

Who'll do best? Don't be daft. Me, obviously. Someone wanna open a book on it? She's 4/7 to give in first.

And if anyone else wants to give it a whirl, that'll add to the fun, & I'll beat you too. Don't forget - 8 minutes to 10 on Sunday evening.

Talk about setting oneself up for a fall...

Now, shall I press this SEND Button or not?.....................The moment of no return........YES-NO-YES-NO-YES-.......


YES!

good luck tikay  :)

good luck x

Good luck tikay.

We DEMAND reports.

Thanks - but it's Chili that needs the Good Luck messages. She's the weak one.

Good luck to both of you.

I wish you both all the best.
xx

With a pack of Embassy on you, you'll need more than luck.

Not convinced that's a good plan, but hey, you might be right.

Good luck Tikay :D

Easy win for Chili!!! ;)

Good luck Tikay & Chili,

If you've both still quit by the new year, I'll give up also :)

Good for you - hopefully you will inspire others on here to join in with you on Sunday.

Good luck to you both.

My money's on Chili - she's gonna kick yer sorry ass Tikay. Why?

I'll tell ya why, cos in a moment of forgetfulness (senile dementia), you're gonna
take a cig out of the pack and light it - then BANG - it's too late and Chili has won.

Keep a pack of cigs and lighter with you at all times by all means, but don't for
pity's sake take the cellophane off it.

In the first few days I stopped I quite often caught myself reaching out for them
only to remember that I'd stopped.  Chances are you won't remember until you
take a drag.

Again, good luck to you both.

Trace
xxx


P.S.  Maria if ya need a mentor/someone to talk you down at anytime, PM me for my
mobile number.  lol

Started smoking when I was 12, got up to 60 a day and in similar circumstances, ie nagging, gave up when I was 25. That was 1988 and haven't had one since. Took one out of the packet and threw the rest out of the car window on the M3, think if I kept the packet to prove I could resist then I would be smoking now!!

Good luck to you both, you cant imagine how much better you will feel in 6 months - I had many years of athletics and running after I gave up and still play rugby at 43!! Think it may be a good idea to ceremonially burn that packet in the garden or give them to a homeless chap, otherwise one night and a few too many shandies and it could all be over!!

Well done guys, it's the best decision you'll ever make.

Just remember, whenever nic tries to hall you in, smile and realise you are beating it. It'll pass soon enough. 5 days for the major nicotine withdrawal, 3 weeks for only a trace to be left in your system. The more you smile the more you win. Don't let yourself feel miserable about your quit and you'll be a success.

You lose nothing! It's all Gain!

:)

Smoked heavily all my adult life apart from when I got married. My ex was a fitness/aerobics instructor and said it was a turn off so I just quit- the benefits out weighed the loss if you get my drift. When we seperated the first thing I did was to start smoking again (probably out of spite that she had made me give up- she hadn't but hard times and all that). I smoke probably 30 a day and could quit if I wanted to but I can honestly say its one of my pleasures and I don't want to. Good luck to the pair of you and don't go with the gum and all that, if you really want to quit just do it, willpower is the only true way. I could go into the pschological reasons for smoking going back to subliminal messages when you were a newborn but its quite long and drawn out and may give you an excuse to fail in your quest.
 
Ps my money would be on Maria as shes the type who doesn't like to lose at whatever she does.

good luck both

Tony

Listen to reason if you like smoking. SMOKE.

Don't cross the road, you may get run over.
Don't Fly "i've got a bomb"
don't drive you will crash.
Stop eating fattie Food your heart will go BANG
Run a mile a day

where do you stop in life.

What will be will be. when your numbers up your numbers up. You may be a New Born or 100 years old.
When it's time to go you'll not know.   

Have a fag and think about it.

Regards

M

   
 

   

I disagree, STOP smoking it is a waste of time and money. It dont taste nice, it dont smell nice, it dont help stress and you dont actually enjoy it. Trick is your are addicted and your mind will make up all sorts of reasons for you to continue.

 

Oh no. I wish you hadn't posted this. I feel like I might have to join you. :(

I LOVE SMOKING

Price. I only Smoke Cigs from abroad I buy  in bulk. cheap as chips.

They taste like Sex.

The Smell. I work next to Imperial Tabbaco.I love it.

I'm addicted to poker

Regards

M

   

Like I sauid in the other packing up smoking thread this week, I gave up but I did use the gum, It worked for me but that is not to say it suits all. You will more or less be certain to get the awful cough, and it is horrible for a while whilst the body rids itself of all the crap, but well worth it in the end. Good luck Tony and Maria, remember the extra strong mints when the cravings get tough.  xx

Sod it, I'll join you too.

Good Luck Tikay, Chili and anyone else who decides to give it up

De Nile is not only a river in Egypt.  ;goodvevil;

Good luck everyone, a few people on here will know how much I am against smoking, so I definitely support everyone that is going to attempt to give up.

I don't want to post too much about it but I watched my Nan (my most favourite relative) die a horrible death and I'd smoked a bit back then (I was 13) just watching my Nan in that way put me off for life, and I'll never ever smoke again. Apart from that, it smells horrible, doesn't taste very nice if you're kissing someone and it ages you. tikay really is 39 but the fags make him age 30 years ;)

I can rant and rant and rant but it won't make a difference, you have to decide when is right for you to give up... the same with me and my weight loss, I had to wait until I was ready to tackle it.

Good luck everyone... I really really hope you quit for life :)

Poppet xxx

Wish I'd given up BEFORE the heart attack, Do it!!! and your younger than me Tikay

(I'm 49)

 :tikay:

They taste like SEX, the mind boggles, have i been missing something all my adult life? 8)

There are a few subtle but important differences between killing yourself by smoking and killing yourself in the ways you mention above.

Would you deliberately walk in front of a car to get run over?
Would you deliberately get on a plane that you know has a Bomb on it?
Would you deliberately crash your car?

Apart from this, yes, I see your point, you could die any time. But intentionally killing yourself is a bit too far, in fact, so much so that suicide is illegal, although slow painful deaths make too much money for the taxman, so that's ok.

Tikay asked my permission today if he could make a post about our joint venture.  I had to say yes, if only to give him that extra push that he needs.  I am slightly worried though at his attempt to carry around a packet of cigarettes and a lighter at all times.  I understand his thinking as this method has been succesful for him on his previous dieting endevour.  but, please, please understand it is not the way to go.  I can't tell you how you will do this but let me interject on this point - you are NOT giving anything up.  You are freeing yourself of a Drug addiction.  As long as you feel you are depriving yourself cigarettes, you will make it 100 times harder for yourself.

I don't want to get on my soap box because I haven't even released myself yet from the shackles of nicotine - but MPower, I pity you that you state that you love smoking!  What EXACTLY do you love about it mate? I could go on but I won't.  I have actually given up once in my life about 3 years ago for a year and a half and it really was one of the most happiest periods of my life. FREEDOM!!

Anyway, cheers guys for the support. I think Tikay will need it.  His heart needs to be in it 100% or he will fail.  But if it takes the challenge of not being beaten by a girl on this one, then I say BRING IT ON xx

VRedBull - See you at Gutshot on Saturday and I can give you a lecture then if you wish?  :D

The things I remember most about quiting was the amount of time I seemed to have gained. No more standing  outside to have a puff for 5 mins here n there, also smelling fresh and not feeling ashtrayee ( not a word i know) whilst waiting in line at the shopping checkout....

Might bring some earplugs.

I didn't want to stop, but I did cos I couldn't afford it - £28 a week is a lot with nothing to show for it.  I adored smoking.  How you can adore something that makes you stink, I don't know, but I did.

All I can say now is that I smell nicer (in my opinion  lol), my clothes smell nicer, I "feel" cleaner, and although I can't sing to save my life, whilst warbling in my car I can once again "hit" the high notes.

The one thing I do notice is that when I get home from work and I unlock my bedroom door and walk in - WOW, no yacky stinky ashtrayee (thank you Mo) smell greets me.

Until you stop smoking, you don't know how bad smokers smell!!!


Once again, Good Luck guys.

T
xx

I quit smoking every few weeks or so for a couple of weeks...just to make sure I can....I don't like to get addicted to things...I do like to smoke though.

I know you feel better and have more energy and all that stuff when you don't smoke....but smoking is lovely sometimes. (I now smoke 5 a day so still not a heavy smoker...atleast not anymore)

The smoking ban has been great for smokers and non smokers alike IMO. I smoke 2 cigs during my friday night game whereas otherwise I would have smoked 10 (+ breathe other peoples smoke)...now I just breathe the stench of the great unwashed at my table ;) Now you actually have a chance to quit

Goodluck to you, it's a nasty addiction and 50-60 a day is way too much...even cutting down tremendously would be a massive success from that.

My money is on Tikay lasting longer though...he is a man of tremendous will power after all...I mean he KNOWS the anti-aging creme doesn't work yet he still persists with it.

I am seriously considering joining in and giving up on Sunday night, but am not sure if it is the best way to go about it.

Sure, it will help to give up at the same time as others to inject some competition to help you along, but shouldn't I wait to do it on my terms?

I probably smoke about 25 a day, way too much, and I should really give up in the next year or so.

I am very torn, do I go for it on Sunday?  I am blogging for PokerStars in Baden and not sure it is best to be trying to give up in the middle of a hectic EPT.

Doh! I don't know what to do!

Sod it - I'm in! Tikay, Chille, you have to worry about me outlasting you too now. But if this works, you both get a VERY big drink from me as a thank you.

Oh god, what have I done?

I used to quit smoking regularly, every few weeks or months, sometimes for 2 weeks, sometimes 2 days, sometimes 2 months. I was as much an addict as someone smoking 50-60 a day. The reason you keep going back to it is that you are addicted to it. It's that simple. Not wanting to be critical as it's entirely up to you if you smoke, but don't kid yourself that you aren't addicted to it.

Trust me, there will always be some sort of excuse not to..Good decision and Good Luck..xx

Hey! I think I might even join you myself. My chest has been pretty bad this week so.... away with them!

Someone should keep a list of the future non-smokers, it looks like it's going to a big quit smoking fest on Sunday.  8)

Tikay
Chilli
VodkaRedBull (Undecided - is a might)
thetank
SuffolkPunch
Tonij (Undecided - waiting until the new year and hoping the dust will settle)
HarlemShuffle (Undecided - is a might)
sofa----king
Nibbles (late addition)

good luck to the lot of you  ;goodluck;


how attractive is the lovely chilli as a smoker imagine when she becomes a non smoker  ;kev;


i hope you all succeed

This is awesome.  For all those that have suggested Freedom day is on Sunday too, I applaud you all.  My only concern is that to do it for real you have to REALLY want it yourselves.  I can't stress enough about how much this is pyschological.  You have to be fully mentally prepared that you are gonna do this.

As for Tikay saying he may start again by Christmas gives me great concern.  You can't put yourself through this and have in the back of your mind that you WILL start again.  There is no point.  He told me he had started reading Allan Carr's "easyway" book.  That was a massive step foward.  Granted he had only read a few pages, but I am hoping that he will finish it by Sunday and be "ready."  Not meaning to sound like a disciple of Mr Carr but he changed my life after reading his book and then quiting for 18 months.  He just changes your whole mind set about smoking.  No scare tactics, no replacement therapy, no willpower method - just adjusts your brain for the better.

Suffolk, I agree with the Nun.  There will always be an excuse of this event or this stressfull time.  Do it if YOU want to only.   

I quit smoking 8 yrs ago ,after a trip to France and bringing back 2000 B&H I told my wife when I had smoked them I would give up and I did.
I would like to say it was easy but its not, there is still times now when I crave for just one more but you just have to be strong, so I wish you both well and hope you  are doing it because you want to, that is the only way.

Now do do I get my mindset to lose weight :D

Can I remind all you good people that smoking is cool?...Let's not forget that! Surely that's a good enough reason to continue to smoke,.....has the Marlboro man tought you nothing? ;)

Good luck guys, I packed up the ciggies about fiteen years ago and never once regretted it.

I do still enjoy the occasional cigar, but I feel that is different as I consider it pure pleasure.

right im in to,i smoked for 20 years give up easy 5 years ago and yes ive started again about 1 year ago ive been trying to give up the last few weeks finding it really hard (suprised) so hopefully this might help gl all who trys,and tk ditch the temptation m8    .so its sunday    7.50 yeh? good luck and we can all to it TOGETHER lol

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Allen-Carrs-Easy-Stop-Smoking/dp/0141026898/sr=1-1/qid=1160053462/ref=pd_bowtega_1/202-7949926-4151012?ie=UTF8&s=books (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Allen-Carrs-Easy-Stop-Smoking/dp/0141026898/sr=1-1/qid=1160053462/ref=pd_bowtega_1/202-7949926-4151012?ie=UTF8&s=books)

Good luck to both of you. I used to smoke 30 a day till I hit 40 so I know it will be tough..soooooo I have an added incentive/pressure for you.

I will send £100 to a charity of your choice if you do not smoke after this weekend.  This must be until  january 2nd..that gets you through the christmas thing...is it a deal??

hehehehe

The Tikay teaser method worked for Jack Bauer when he was coming off the smack.

I won't be going down that road. Everything connected with smoking in my house will be going. Ashtrays, lighters, empty packets lying around. Even had a word with the couple than run my local corner shop, they are under strict instructions not to sell me tobacco related products after Sunday.

So if I quit quitting one evening, there will be a long walk of shame to a further away shoppie, more time to turn back to the righteous path.

Hallejuah my brothers and sisters.

Instead of warning labels, I reckon there should be a big picture of yer mum on every pack of ciggs looking dissapointed, Either that or Yoda saying that once you start down the dark path, forever wil it dominate your destiny. When 900 years old you reach, look as good you f***ing definately will not.

Aye right - you'll be stood round the corner hiding asking the 13 year olds as they pass, "here - will you just go in that shop there and get me 10 bensons."  ;goodvevil;

OMG, what have we started? Well, it's too late to back out now - especially now we have a little "Pack It In Squad" lined up. I almost wish I had not said anything, but I have, so it's gonna happen, & thats that. The competitive spirit amongst us all will help us all no end.

I will respond to some of the Post as soon as I can, but I'm pulled out right now. Where does the time go?

Right, off to the shops, am out of fags......

Oh, BASS time (Blondes Are Stopping Smoking) is 9.52pm Sunday - 8 minutes to 10. 8/10.

I must say a big thank you to two special friends who have helped me make this decision - Maria & Tom (Red). I may not be so well-disposed towards them next week, mind!

Last longer anyone?

Let's hope someone opens a book on who lasts longest. Put me down as "no offers" - I'm nailed on.

Is there anyway we can get significant others involved in this, that can grass up "sneaking a smoke" offenders?

Or are we gonna have to rely on good old trust.....?  Perish the thought!!

Damn you Trace. You know me too well.

xx

Gl to all of you, as to who will win between the 2 of you, i hope its a tie :D Neither of you smoking again!

JungleCat by coincidence has just stopped aswell.

Goodluck.

Get off the fence, Flushy.

Well the first to smoke will surely be the first to play poker in the Gala after sunday.....

1/2 tikay.

Evens Chili.

2/1 the field

LOL Tikay

It's the  "OMG I'm gagging for a fag" feeling  I know so well.  lol    Or should I say remember so well.

<delurk>
I'm on Zyban to help me quit and, any fags I have left when I go to bed tonight, will be flushed down the toilet to remove any temptation whatsoever. Disgusting habit.
</delurk>

good luck nibbles and welcome to blonde ;welcome;

Tikay if you smoke 50-60 a day that works out at nearly £15 a day, if you quit for a year you will have saved £5475 which works out to be $10,258.08 which is more or less the buy in to the WSOP main event!

Since you put it like that, TK should stick to the fags, he will get more enjoyment out of them, and even one packet would last longer than his WSOP adventure....

Never mind the whole packet.... one ciggy should cover it ! ;)

Best of luck Tony.


John xx

 :redcard:

After meeting tikay this morning/afternoon, he is coughing and spluttering like a good un.  We are succeeding in our attempt to smoke our weekend away and feel as crap as humanly possibly by 9.52pm Sunday night. 

On top of that we are both reading Allen Carr's smoking bible and the competitive streak in both of us are racing to see who finishes the book first! How sad are we?  Anyway I am on page 107 / 207 and he is on page 113.  I gotta say I am so proud of pops.  I have been battering him for ages to just start the book since Nemesis sent it to him months ago.  He has nothing to lose to just get a different mindset on things.  I feared his long instilled "habits", mindset and quirks would not budge him BUT I think he is turning.  He doesn't like to admit it but I think he is gonna do this.

So, we are meeting RED-DOG in a bit for some grub then heading off to the Gutshot.  Life is grand at the moment and I actually am looking forward to FREEDOM day.  Wish it was tonight!  Good luck to the other guys attempting this. Let us know please what happens.

The book tells fibs. Blimmin contradiction.

"This book does not use shock tactics or aversion therapy" tell that to the chapter on the Health affects of smoking.

So you bought it too then? Excellent.

Yes, but he does tell the reader that they can skip a whole section of that chapter for after they have quit. Or if they know it all already, then they can just read it. :)

Bought it ages ago, gave up for 3 days with it in the summer so I did.

Saved myself 3 packs, $15, book paid for itself  :D

Why only 3 days?

by the way, in case anyone was trying to forget:

Today is "I QUIT" day :)

less than 12 hours to go! You all ready to be Free?

I was in the only place in the planet where you could smoke in museums.

It felt rude not to.  :D

I'm sooo ready.  Every cigarette i smoke today I am analyzing.  The taste, the smell, my enjoyment of it.  It's all bull.  Less than 3 hours to go!!

don't forget with that very last cigarette to picture the poison seeping into your veins! 

knowing you are ready to give up is the very best start you can have.

 ;goodluck;

I didn't manage to quit Friday night, so I'll join youse all today, if that's alright with you...

i gave up smoking a few years ago basically cause i was smoking 60 a day costing £100 a week or £5k a year money i now use to travel

normally when i travel to play poker i will buy a packet and give any left over and the lighter to alex the traffic warden at the airport

but in solidarity with those giving up i will no longer smoke on my travels


btw i dont think smoking is an addiction its just a state of mind if you really want to give up just dont buy any

Heh,

Hope you guys are enjoying being free, that's 31 mins now.

I'm guessing that the 9.52pm quit time was to do with the fact that this meant your last cigarette would have started at cowboy time. If so, then there's probably no better combination, cowboy adverts are probably what got tk started :)

Let us know how you are getting on.

Cheers,

Eoan

p.s. I am 4 weeks free today :-) Last smoked on the 9th September 2006.

Well done decider.  You are free already.  Well done mate.  So right now, 4 weeks in, the nicotine has left your body completely.  One a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being VERY difficult, how did you find you first 3 weeks?

I gotta confess, I have just smoked my last cigarette EVER just now!  At 2pm today I bought my last pack of 20 ever and even contemplated just buying 10 but thought I was gonna chain smoke tonight.  In reality I sat down a few hours ago and watched 5 episodes of 24 in a row. The fifth one ended ten minutes ago.  I didn't even think about the quiting thing and have only had 3 all night.  Have just dumped the rest in the bin with my lighters. 

It feels good already!!

Good Luck Chili, you can do it ;) x

My quit in January

http://www.20six.co.uk/nibbles/4

I couldn't fnd the end nibbles.  So you started again then?  Well come on in and join us, the water is warm.

I quit in Jan, Chilli, but fell off when in Vegas during WSOP this summer. I saw my quack not so long ago and got on the Zyban program (google for it). I'm seeing the practice nurse again on the 19th and will get the mother of all b0llo0ckings if I'm not quit, so I have no choice !

I just lit my last fag

I just put it out

(just gotta finish this sixpak90 on crypto and then I can go bed !)

 ;letsparty; ;letsparty; ;mexicanwave; ;letsparty;

Heh chilli, sounds like you've started off in the right frame of mind, superb.

Scale of 1-10? The first day was easy, I was hungover and felt terrible from the night before, so couldn't smoke 1/10.. :) 2nd day I'd say was another 1/10 as that's the day I decided to quit. Days 3 & 4 were tough at night, I'd say 5/10... Day 5 was good as I started to think of it in a new light, I wasn't losing anything. Still craving a bit, but not much and managing to drink and not smoke was good  2-4/10. Kept going in this light and then read the Allen Carr book on day 12, never looked back since :) 1/10 each day since.

anyone know how granddad is getting on

i think he is in the gutshot

It so easy, quitting. It really is. Just decide you are not going to go into a shop and buy fags. Sorted.

Grandad busted in 24th

http://www.click2quit.co.uk/why_quit/WQ02.asp

Quitting is easy. That's not the problem for me. Starting is easy too.

At least it was, I won't ever smoke again, at least that's my current mood and has been for a few weeks.

What I find when I quit is how horrible smokers smell - as a smoker, you have no idea ! That usually helps keep me stay quit for a while

I had a small falling out with this site recently. I posted a thread about Allen Carr's book and since this site is run for the Niquitin patches they were not amused. I then posted about the fact folk get addicted to the patches and gum and they deleted my thread.

Best site for this is www.ex-smokers.com :) A blatant punt for my site, but heh - why not. I'm not getting any money for it, just love seeing folk get free from the weed.

http://whyquit.org/

He text me a while ago.  He busted out the gutshot and then went back to hotel room for a couple of hours kip before going back for 425 for the final.  He said "Had last fag before bed and threw pack and lighter away!"

We have lift off!!

So he's taking advice then and not watching the packet and hoping that the miserable feeling will disappear. That's much better!

thats good news chill how you doing hun i want one now but we must say no gl luv james

Hi James, i'm great thanks.  Didn't know you have given up too.  This thread is supposed to deter you not make you want one  :D :D

i gave up ay 9.52 too but its very hard

Good Luck to all of you who are giving up. 

I gave up May 2004, after 4 attempts over the previous 12-15 months to do so.  I know how difficult it is, and my success was with the help of a wonderful, patient, and understanding NHS counsillor complete with really useful tips, (that's the method which worked best for me, along with,  having gone cold turkey, trying NRT tablets and patches,and eventually an inhaler for when I just wanted a drag and whiff of nicotine and I very soon dispensed with that) but i am sure you will all give it your best shot and succeed. Thumbs up to you all and thinking of you. :)up

And Harmony's will power when i, a confirmed smoker, am around is amazing. She would be first to admit that she could murder one sometimes, but has never, ever asked for one or smoked a cig, impresses the hell out of me.

Well done honey.

OMG, thank you - I really apppreciate that 'cos it is tough sometimes - but I am sticking to it - I know how ill I feel when I do smoke.

Day 1 of the fresh air today, hope you are taking deep breaths today and enjoying the freedom. :)

Well, 24 hours in (I started - well, stopped! - an hour early for complicated reasons), no probs so far.

The nicotine "pangs"? So far, no real problem. They are mental, not physical, so not a prob.

Being around smokers - as I was all night - until 0700 this morning at Gutshot where I was "working" for 425, did not trouble me one iota. As Allen says, I feel sympathy for them, but not jealousy.

It's a bit weird when going anywhere, that check-list we all do, tapping our pockets - car keys, moby, fags, lighter......The check-list is shorter now! Very odd.

I've - simply by habit - thought a few times, "ooh, let's have a fag" but it was only momentary, simply habit.

I've had some serious stress & shit the last few days, business mainly, but that's not impacted one jot or tickle on the quit smoking mindset. 

I am a bit irritable, but that's more due to 4 hours sleep in 72 and a mini-migraine/stomach problem than not smoking, I think.

I popped into see Chili at home on the way home from Gutshot, (she went home a day before me so she could spend Sunday with Glenn) & she was a bit stressed out & struggling with the quit smoking thing, but I hope she'll cope. I think she probably will.

I have taken to carrying a bottle of water around with me, as sort of mini "crutch", I take a sip now & then & it seems to help.

Thee are millions - billions? - of starving folks in the world, & if they can cope without food, I am sure I can handle life without ciggies. At least I have the choice.

Ah well, that was an easy first 24 hours - will tomorrow be more of a struggle? Struggle or not, fags will not win, it's just not that difficult.

Oh, & I've just realised - my house stinks of stale ciggie-smoke.

Bravo!  Keep up the good work.

I wonder what happened to the other would-be quitters?

I meant to text Suffolk Punch last night, but I was asleep at 9.52, & I forgot.

I saw Nick (Vodka Redbull) at Gutshot last night, he busted in 10th for £1,700 - a great effort. This was after midnight I think, he was still puffing away, but he looked "down" after busting one away from the Final, so not a good time to pester or nag him.

Anyways, I'm desperately tired, & still not feeling so hot, so I'm off to bed shortly. Give this quit smoking lark another few days & we are well on our way.

glad to hear it's going well Tikay.  The water thing is a good one.  Another thing I found helped last time I gave up successfully was taking very deep breaths every time I got a craving, and breathing out slowly. 

Keep up the good work!

Not really had much in the way of cravings so far Claw, just the odd "twinge", but nothing to be bothered about.

I think it comes from the messages in the book. I thought the book was apallingly patronising & condescending, really dumbed-down too, a real pain to read such a poorly written tome, maybe the worst-penned book I've ever read from start to finish. (one rarely reaches the end of a badly written book). But the message was excellent, & he got it across, so fair play to him, maybe there was a method in his writing style. But if he'd written it for grown-ups, many more peeps would read it, as the message is very short & simple.

The bottle of water? I'm a little concerned that I will begin to see it as an anti-smoking crutch, I don't really want another thing to become obsessed with. But a very small problem in the greater scheme of things right now.

TK, if you end up drinking water as a substitute for fags, well, nice problem to have !

exactly, and a lot easier to give up! 

keep it going Tikay.. and if you ever end up needing a ciggie then just think of how you coped when you used to, give up ciggie's for your county.

Agreed, clearly. I just don't wanna be carrying more clutter about with me. But yes, FAR better than fags.

Ohh, & my car stinks of stale baccy.

That's true. How did you know that?

My great great grandad's grandad used to be your biggest fan apparently.

We have a sense of smell !!!

Excellent stuff tikay, your off to a great start, very positive.

As you said, the book isn't going to win the Booker Prize, but then the author says as much himself. Provided the message gets you thinking and helps you stop smoking then he's done what he set out to do.

Just want to wish all the quitters mental Fortitude, 1 day down , the next day has just started. I know its tough but its so worth it.


 :respect: ;goodluck;

Well Day 1 is nearly over for me.  Not too bad in all.  Didn't get up till 11.30, think that helped.  Just kept myself busy today, the house has never been cleaner. 

3 or 4 times, like tk, I thought "i'll just have a fag" but then remembered and cleaned something else.  That will get less and less I know.  Had a bit of stress early on in the day, thought of fags but never even close to craving badly.  So far so good guys.  I also want to know where all the other quitters are at!!! Come forward.....

Chili, can I volunteer to do the kiss test when you are smoke free?

Tikay says yes....

Mr RED, I have no idea the rules of this kiss test but at a guess....ok you're hired  :D

Stop chatting away in here and concentrate on hitting more 2 outters!

You won't regret it. Now ffs don't start smoking!! Remember, I'm on a promise!

Yes....I was....hmmm.....I mean to say...... Oops, gotta go, kettle's boiling.

There is more incentive then to never start again.

I think he might have meant me red.  He just saw me survive an all in with 77 v KK (7 flopped).  Surfice to say I am now out!!!

Well of course I knew it couldn't be me!

 rotflmfao rotflmfao

day 4 of non smoking.

Major things I have noticed.

Good things

I feel healthier and cleaner and have felt the urge to do lots of working out.

Things starting to smell a bit more and taste better. I love food so this is good.

My lungs are starting to return much of the unwanted gunk I have been passing to them through smoking. I'm chugging away like one of tikay's old steam trains.

My fingers are starting to lose their bart simpson colouration.

I am slightly richer.

Bad things

I feel like Bill Hicks would regard me as a traitor.

I am fighting urges to lecture my still smoking friends like an annoying twat.

I haven't put myslef through the full blown "piss up with the lads" litimus test yet and this will be the biggest indicator of my progress.



It was nice to speak to chili earlier and hear she is doing well. Good luck to everyone else, it's not easy but if I can do it anyone can.

 :respect: :respect: :)up :)up ;applause; ;applause; ;applause; ;applause; ;applause;


I have to really try hard not to do this in the future!!

p.s  does this post mean you are out of the 15k guara too?

Yep managed to run top 2 into a flush, then AJ into KQ.

Adios the feline one. Gone but not forgotten.

Keep it up you guys, I'm really pleased for you, and I am really proud of you all too  :)up

You outplayed him to be fair!

Very nearly impossible :)

Bill gave them up as well, so you're OK. (of course he got a non-smoking related cancer after giving up  ;goodvevil; - God's got a BAD sense of humour).

Good luck keeping off the cigs, you'll need to learn to for next April when smoking at the table/inside the casino will be banned - no point going deep in a tourney if all you can think of is your cravings.

I hope no news is good news  ;tk;

Day 5

My lungs are still hacking up the detritus that's been lining my lungs.

I feel I'm successfully cracking my cigarette addiction habit. Now I'm working on kicking my nicotine gum habit.

Phase one kicked in today.

First off, while out in town, bought a large pack of extra chewing gum, which I put in the same pocket as my nicotine gum.

As my brain sent messages requesting nicotine gum, i said "Ok....no problem....just getting it" and reached in to get one, but actually pulled out an extra and shoved it in my mouth.

So far, so good. I'm fooling the stupid grey lump. FIngers crossed!

So far, I've saved £10.86 not buying fags.

Going to spend it all on crisps, I sudenly love crisps.

Doesn't combine too good with the coughing. I keep having to wipe soggy morsels of potatoe pulp off my monitor. Nasty

Ewwww

 rotflmfao rotflmfao rotflmfao

Will I be getting a present off ya then??????

You can have my cheese and onion, not a fan.

Fabulous

Will I be getting my perfume then lol

You are all doing great, this early on i was still chewing the patches for a fantastic nicotine hit

You lot are doing great, remember the main nicotine pangs are in the first 5 days, they aren't painful (they don't even wake you up) just mentally annoying. Each time you get one, just remind yourself that it's trying to wheel you back in and you are happy that your free of it. It'll cheer you up if you remind yourself that you've quit smoking for the rest of your life. It's great to feel that way early on.

Well done!

I've saved around £165 so far :-) Putting £5.50 away each day... Not saving for anything in particular, just saving to see how big the pile gets. The bigger it gets the more annoyed I am that I used to burn it. :( Might as well have gambled it away, even that's better than burning it.

That's a good idea, gives you more of an incentive to not buy a disgusting packet of ciggies and instead save for something decent. I'd do that if I was a smoker.

Towards the end of Day 2:

Kept busy today again.  Been aware of not eating to fill the "void."  This works fine during the day but at night - wow.  I have ate the following since 5pm.

BigMac Meal
2 carrots (attempt to not eat sweets)
Half carton of cranberry juice
2 glasses of orange juice
1 flake
1 Topic
3 handfuls of walnuts
a packet of marmite crisps
a packet of niknaks
Beef and Brocoli Stir Fry
10 Strawberries
1 Apple.

 ;whistle; ;whistle; ;whistle; ;whistle;

Oh dear writing everything down has produced a longer list than I thought.  But hey, good news is on the horizon.  I may end up looking like the back end of a bus but I will be a healthier and happier bus back end.

Seriously, this eating is filling the craving void I think.  I do believe that a few days in this will settle down and I will just stick to the fruit parts of my list.   ;sexybanana; ;sexybanana;  mmmmm banana's

 ;applause; ;applause; ;applause; ;applause; ;applause;

To all you quitter's.. Chili - it must have hurt your mouth to eat a couple of glasses of orange juice and a carton as well???!  :D

 :redcard:  Ok I see how that read,  I didnt actually eat the packaging but I was close.  You get your seat in GP Ben?

I stopped smoking 6 years ago and I'm still hungry.

Lol, only joking...
Yees i did get a seat!!! :D

I dont mind eating a lot because I had a rush of energy this afternoon.  Unfortunately I was alone, so I went into the garage and used Glenn's thai boxing gear to boot the hell out of.   ;starwars;

Good lad, Well done mate!!!!!!

Ty Ty... keep up the good work with the non smoking :)

Well done my fellow quitters!

Yesterday, at 9pm, I reached 48 hours.

No real problems so far. The habitual thought "think I'll have a ciggie" keeps occurring, but it's only momentary. I had a seriously stressful day yesterday - both my computers packed up, my Broadband failed on my PC, so I was chasing BT up most of the day. Now that IS stressful.......!

So yes, a bit of will-power was required not to give in to the nicotine addiction, but I hung in without too much grief. I mean, it's just a mental urge, no more.

It's surprising how easy it's been so far. Withdrawal pangs, not really. Urge to have a ciggie - not really. Desire to use a nicotine substitute - gum, patches, etc. NIL. (Now that IS a bad thing to do). "Comfort" eating - guilty, been non-stop snacking. But I'll deal with the eating problem & inevitable weight gain in a week or two - that'll be easy.

My only problem so far, really, has been a degree of irritability, though as luck would have it, I've been at home, alone, most of the time.

Today will be a test - I have to drive to London & back, that's 6 hours in the car. Driving bores me big time, so I smoke a lot when on the road. But there is NO danger of me yielding.

I've yet to play poker Online, or Live, since I quit smoking - that'll be a tester, too. These things are the tests we have to pass.

OK, gotta go. Only 12 hours left & I'll be 3 days in!

Off to record 425 this afternoon, then, later, do my Poker Night Live shift. And then, at 0100, drive the boring & long journey home, without my ciggie "crutch". More tests to handle, more challenges to beat.

I've quite surprised myself so far, but lets be honest - it's only been two and a half days!

Well done Chilli and Tikay :)

The food thing will die down, look on it as getting your appetite back that you had suppressed by smoking cigarettes. As long as you don't use anything as a substitute for a cigarette then you'll be fine. If you have a substitute all your doing is telling yourself that you want a cigarette but have to replace it with something else, when in fact you don't really, your body just wants nicotine.

You'll naturally eat more, but you'll also naturally expend more energy so these things should balance themselves out.

As for dealing with stress, well done tikay on the BT scenario, even if you had lit a cigarette it would have made absoultely no difference to the hassle you would get with your broadband supplier. All it would have done was given your body nicotine and made you feel miserable.

Boredom, does the cigarette make you less bored? Listen to the radio, sing a song when driving (but still watch the road) and remind yourself how good it is to be free.

Nag, nag, nag... well, you know, it's worked for me.

 :goodpost:

Good on you all - you are doing real well - keep it up.

Well, I drove to London this morning, nearly 3 hours (traffic monster bad), & sat in a jam or two - perfect smoking conditions, & the way I've coped with driving for more than 40 years.

Big jam on A14, so "shall I have a ciggie to pass the time & relieve the boredom?" I thought. NO comes the answer from the teeny bit of my brain that is sensible - "would having a ciggie relieve the boredom? - NO! - & would it really be pleasant? - NO!...". Job done, then.

I did stop for a coffee, picked up 2 bottles of water & a bar of choccy. Like Chili, I'm eating way too much, but that's sortable.

7 hours short of 3 days, & not really had a ciggie crisis yet.

Yesterday was a bit tricky, today MUCH easier - so far.

It does help to have Chili to help pull me along in this thing, & blonde to swap yarns about it, it truly does.

5 years 5 months 13 days 21 hours 45 minutes and counting :)

It does get easier in the end - promise!! :)up

keep up the good work  ;applause; ;goodluck;

well done tikay and chilli (and me)went to poker last night loadsa  smokers but did i?no i didnt... ive even got iwan watching me when i go to the toilet lol,but seriously tk and chilli ive suprised myself this time no major fag worries hope to keep it up i feel as if im passing the worst stages,ive been eating a bit of crap but what the heck its better than smoking gl guys and keep it up you know it makes sence,,,,,,james

oh  yeh tikkay ive given up online poker lol now try that one ive banned myself from all sites,just cant win online ,,this time next year???

                                             i might have as much money as yoooooooo lol

 :respect: too all of you

Correct! Ace!

Well done James.  Just remember that you are NOT giving up anything and you should stay right mate.

Thanks for all your well wishes.  Gonna curtail the food thing today, cured it this morning by not waking up till 1pm  :D.  Tonight is a mother of all temptations.  I am working for my bro tonight in his chippy so he can spend time with his kids.  Lets see how many chips, sausages, fish or pies I can avoid.  Still not a bad problem to have eh KEV?

Chili - have you joined the bluemangroup since you've quit smoking?

If this is a reference to her new Avatar, I asked her the same question this morning.

I assume you all know who it is?........

1. Oblmaror gtslih ear tgaer.
2. Baemsys kmea a nfie kmose.


Anagrams.

to help take your mind off  Smoking


Regards

M

 :redcard: rotflmfao

FYG

 :D :D :D  Its uncanny.

The pic is me with Gus H.  I pressed Inverted by mistake in my picture software, thought it looked cool so saved it like that.

Today - I have mostly been eating.....................chips.

and smoking zilch!!

Keep it up :)

Respect! rotflmfao rotflmfao rotflmfao

I hope that this is not significant but I saw a guy who's allegedly given up both online poker and smoking tonight.

He was playing a tourney on stars.....  ;busted;

:) Nice try M

You can be happy if you quit smoking too, give it a try.

1) heighten fogs fit pinks

Well, yesterdays test of 6 hours driving was successfully dealt with, it was not even a problem. And whilst doing the  shows, the normal "ciggie breaks" were no temptation.

I have developed a bit of a sore chest, & Chili was telling me this morning she has the same symptoms. Not sure if this has been caused by over-smoking, or is the beginning of the chest cleaning itself up. The former, I assume, a bit early for the latter.

Well, thats 3 and a haf days - half a week! - & it's been easy peasy so far. I'm sure a bad day is lurking around the corner. I have a very important meeting tomorrow (Friday) in London, lets see how I cope with that. Chili has been brilliant - she chivvies me along if I waver, and I'm sure she's done with smoking for ever.

OK, I need food........

Good stuff tk. You actually forget about ciggy breaks very quickly.

The sore chest is your body recovering from years of abuse, it happens to most people who quit smoking. It'll take a wee while to clear, I still have a chesty cough, but it's getting better every day. Fewer and further between. Each time I cough it reminds me of another reason why I quit smoking, and makes me smile because I know I've halted the damage. :) At least we are lucky enough to have a body that's still got the ability to recover.

Question(s) for you. Do you feel like you are going to have a bad day? Do you feel like you are never going to smoke again? If you realise that you are never going to smoke again, why would you have a bad day? It's a fantastic feeling. You won't have a bad day, not through stopping smoking anyway. Not if you remind yourself of how great it is to be a non-smoker! Sure, you'll have days where things don't go well, but its never because you don't have a cigarette.

You seem to be nailing this! I'm glad you didn't choose to try and quit by forcing yourself to look at cigarettes all the time.

i hope this is not refering to me m8 i aint smoked or been  playing online since sunday, last smoke 9.52  pm sunday ,last online poker 05.00 am monday morning, against marc goodwin on bsq ...its def not me m8

Glad to hear it James, although I was sat at the same table as IM Sofa King in a stars MTT last night.

I wondered why you didn't say hello, probably because it wasn't you I guess  :dontask:

Il back James up here he def hasnt smoked and has def given up online - he did ban himself...

lots of love

Jack

lmao THERES ONLY ONE SOFA KING lol my name on starz was sealey anyway lol thanx for being vigilant,fook me there are real spys out there watching us lol i am even more determind so yall know my names online are

23spades
sofa----king
poker--fish
sealey1

these will never be seen playing poker online ever again ,sad sad sad but GLAD gl to all you rake feeders you just think if 10 of us sat down with £10,000 each and played £5-10 nl holdem non stop after 5 days,after  having 40%  rake  back,the dealer would have all the money aprox £9,470   and we 10 would split the 40% of the rake not a lot .......ok we all dont sit for 5 days non stop but over a period of say 2 weeks you have sat for 5 days non stop added together ,,dont play online cash mtt are ok but cash is def no good imo

Well put M8, I realized the demon rake bandit was at work on the cash tables,as far back as 1992.When playing in Amstadam the cash games were raked at 10% of the pot up to 6 gilders in the 10/20 cash limit game I frequented.

If I remember it was about 2.25 gilders to the pound, so after a weekend of solid play the game is only being kept aflout by the new money coming in each hour.

This is the unspoken devil that rides the cash tables  online now, but of course we individually think that we will earn enough to keep the devil in place  his bite is less severe online but no less leathel over time.  ;tk;

 ;goodvevil; ;goodvevil; ;goodvevil; ;goodvevil; ;goodvevil; ;goodvevil; ;goodvevil; ;

It's no secret, thats why so few players win. When i used to play just FL holdem with the likes of Karabiner on VC i made them more money over a year than i made for myself (and i made a pretty decent amount) thats when i realised tournaments might not be so bad afterall!

4 days in now, & all going nicely.

Not played Online for an age (blonde comps apart) & certainly not since I stopped the ciggies, so time for that test tonight. Chili rang & we ummed & arred about doing Notts tonight, but I decided to play Online & see if I could cope OK sans cigs.

Smoking while playing Online is when I smoke most, by far, so needed to win this little test.

So far, not a problem at all.

I think the problem is going to be a moment of weakness, maybe in a week or two, after I think I've cracked it. We shall see.

Tell you what - Chili has cracked it.  She's as strong as an ox.

So good to hear these positive reports - keep it up folks  :) :)up

Best of luck guys......and well done so far.





 ;cheerleader;

a nice cash though to cover your buy-ins.  :)up

Yeah I guess so. Better than a slap of course - but I'm like you, my tourney buy-ins are funded by my cash game play so I should have been going out to win it. They're a freeroll afterall. Nevermind, learnt a lot from the likes of Action Jackson and Simon Trumper et al that day so will keep trying!

I NEVER told you off. Well, not until you'd paid me the 10% share I had in your £1,700 draw.,......Thanks Nick! I'm nearly as lucky as Thewy with my "swaps". AND we sat next to each other & we managed to get all-in against each other!

I went to London today for a seriously heavy & important meet. It went well - super in fact - but when I emerged, very happy & pleased with how it went, I suddenly had my first real "pang" of the week.

But it passed, & my first crisis since I quit had been overcome, phew. There was never a doubt, actually, but I would not want that too often. 

Anyways, a while later, I got off a train at Waterloo, & the usual "ooh, I need to light up quick" mob were all around me (I was one 6 days ago!) & the smell was just awful.

Weird thing, this human mind.

So, 5 days & counting! Chili is ahead of me - she will NEVER smoke again, I'm sure of that. 

Very well done fella :)up

Keep up the good work.

Well done.

I was at Glasgow Airport this morning, sat outside in the smoker section of Starbucks to keep my brother company. I couldn't believe quite how dirty the area was, looked like it hadn't been cleaned for weeks. Ash everywhere, tables unclean. Totally disgusting. I sat in amongst the debris with the smokers, not one of which looked even remotely healthy. No doubt I still look that way, but I'm glad I've done something about it. I've never actually sat and thought about that before, but sitting in that area made me reaslise how unhealthy smokers look. Looking at non-smokers passing by I could see a huge difference.

Another thing I noticed was how happy the smokers looked when they were going to sit down for their cigarette, but when they were smoking it or had finished it they had lost that look. Must have been looking forward to it I guess.

Hopefully I'll look healthier in a few months.

Cheers,

Eoan

A milestone reached, at least it was for me , when the smell went from fueling my cravings to actually making me feel glad i didnt do that anymore.

WTG to use an americanism

Week One safely completed, no dramas, no fuss, no regrets.

Physically, I don't feel any better (though, last night excepted when I was unwell, I've been sleeping much better), but mentally it's done me good - to know I could do it. Well, for a week anyway.

Sorry but I read the book six months ago and cant help myself, and you started it.  ;goodvevil;


20 min.     Blood pressure and pulse return to normal
8 hrs    Nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in blood reduce by half. Oxygen levels return to normal.
24 hrs    Carbon monoxide will be eliminated from the body. Lungs start to clear out mucous and other smoking debris.
48 hrs    There is no nicotine left in the body. Ability to taste and smell is greatly improved.
72 hrs    Breathing becomes easier. Bronchial tubes begin to relax and energy levels increase.
2-12 weeks    Circulation improves
3 - 9 months    Coughs, wheezing and breathing problems improve as lung functions are increased by up to 10%
5 yrs.    Risk of heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker
10 yrs.    Risk of lung cancer falls to about half that of a smoker. Risk of heart attack falls to the same as someone who has never smoked.

More Benefits
Confidence    Quitting smoking is a challenge. Once you have quit, you will know you can succeed at difficult taks and take more control of your life. Quitting helps you believe in yourself.
Fitness    Smoking makes it harder to exercise and reduces the benefits to your body. Smokers have more coughs and colds than non-smokers and take longer to feel well again.
Money    In a way, giving up smoking is like getting a pay rise, as much as £1500 a year if you smoke 20 cigarettes a day.
Appearance    Skin starved of oxygen by smoking becomes dry and grey.
Wrinkles around the eyes and mouth develop much earlier and the tar stains your teeth and fingers.
Fertility    Men who smoke may suffer impotence due to damage
to the blood vessels in the penis. Sperm quality and density can also be affected by smoking. Smokers may produce less sperm and their sperm may have more abnormalities.

Women who smoke take longer to conceive and are
more likely to have a miscarriage.
Childbirth    Babies born to mothers who smoked in pregnancy are more likely to be premature, stillborn or die shortly after birth. A baby exposed to tobacco smoke has a higher risk of dying from cot death.
Children    Children whose parents smoke are more likely to get pneumonia and bronchitis in their first year of life, to suffer from more frequent and more severe asthma attacks and to become regular smokers themselves.

very well done m8 very proud of you and chilli and all else who is trying ,i suppose i must thank you actually as its down to you ive stopped this time so  :respect: ; AND thankyou;

Well done James - a great effort. Don't weaken now.

Well done guys, a week in and still going strong. Impressive.

Well, it has now been 8 full days and totally smoke free.  What a feeling!!

I did say smoke free, well this is not strictly true.  I smoked my last cigarette ever on the Sunday night, and then spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Casino's surrounded by smoke.  Walsall was not too bad but was sat exactly in the section that people escaped for a fag.  The killer was Friday night at the Gala Nottingham! 

A killer NOT because I wanted a fag, but because through no fault or weakness of my own, I was injesting nicotine into my system through passivity and osmosis!!  To say I was a bit tetchty was an understatement.  I had chain smoker from hell on my left (ordinarly would be myself) and his ashtray was directly under my nose.  I did last about 2 hours before I had to push his godamn ashtray to his opposite side, away from me.  Surprised I lasted this long, but so didn't want to be negative towards other smokers.

I have heard so many people in the past discuss how smokey Nottingham was and although I agreed, it NEVER bothered me of course.  Now?  OMG!! It is like having to squint through the smog across the room just to see who is sitting on the opposite table.  Why didnt I notice how bad it was before?  I arrived clean and smelling sweet and left sweaty and with the aroma of 6,000 fags in my hair and clothes!!

Anyway, anyway - I got through that ordeal (and one I wanted to make) without lighting up and each day and situation that goes by, can feel more confident and at ease that this thing is kicked into touch for good.  It really is NOT that hard.

Well done Chilli! Keep it up.

Thanks mate  ;woohoo;

I will stop when I return from Cuba next month.

But first I have a date with a very large cigar!

Any updates?

Here you go then Eoin....

I'm a day behind everyone else.

Was drinking a week ago Sunday night, and went out with 2 cigarettes left.

Put them off for as long as possible, and then chain smoked the pair of them sometime after midnight.


On the way home, couldn't resist getting myself another deck of 20. Smoked them all the next day, but that's been me since.

So I'm on Day 10, while everyone else is on Day 11. Shouldn't make much difference though, after 20 years we'll all still be alive (more likely now) and no-one's going to notice a day here or there.

The cravings still come, but I think I can beat them. Survived a 16-pinter on Saturday night (don't usually count, but it was a drinking contest). All the smokers having to do so outside the pub made a big difference.

well done Tank!

Day 11 here, no probs so far.

Tonight's gonna be difficult. I am stuck in a cheapo Hotel room in West London, no car, nothing much to do around here, so time on my hands. (Unless I can somehow retain this PC access for the evening, unlikely, as I'm in someone's office).  And for some reason, I've had a few "pangs" today. But I dont have any doubt I'll cope. I gotta stay down here for at least another 24 hours, so I hope not too many (smoking) temptations fall my way. This is the "weakest" I've felt since I quit, & that's the danger time. Sticky bun time, methinks.

well done all and TANK didnt know mate ,we must unite and stick to it it is no good for your 5ha66ing career  wd tikkay keep it up.wheres maria she sounds a bit silent?i hope she avent,,,just say no ,remember ramo of grange hill ???just say, no just ,say no, in a pony singing voice lol wd all keep going...

Maria is fine, busy, but NOT smoking, I promise! She'll not start again.

hang in there tony mate you can do it !

go get yourself some custard creams  :D

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE         CHILLI SHOW US YOUR WILL                                                     























POWER BABE DONT DO IT BE STRONG THE FORCE IS WITH YOU AND YOUR,   ;flushy;                SOLE                     ;flushy;MATE ROMANELLO DONT LIKE SMOKERS

Well done Tank.  You are doing great mate.  If you can survive a 16 pint session then you can really do this!!  I havn't been out for a boozeup yet so that's a good test (one which I am delaying maybe).

Tikay, you are doing amazing also. Gotta say was a bit worried about your committment but you have proved me wrong.  I know you can do ANYTHING that you put your mind to but I thought this might stumble you.  Don't give in, I you have even one, ask yourself if you want a life a slavery to the drug again.

Sofa-king, you nutter!!  Congratulations to you too for coming this far.  Didn't think it would happen but well done.  Just remember, we all do it for ourselves NOT for other people  ;)

Thanks Maria.

Could smoking ever beat me? Never, never, never. As you know more than most, I have an extraordinary ability to do anything - ANYTHING - I set my mind to. But equally, I have some incredibly weak spots in my character, some things others find as easy as beathing, but which I get dreadfully hung up on, I am bottom of the class plus some at these things. Wish they were as easy!

But smoking? I can handle that, easy-peasy.

Fantastic guys, 4 of you still off the cigs and going strong. I've still not had a single puff either, and have absolutely no intention of ever going there again. Smoke free since 090906 - has a nice ring to it. Savings have reached £220, although since I managed to bust my mobile phone I am pondering using some of the money to replace it. I keep telling myself I can't use it, since it's basically burnt money, but I guess eventually I'll put it to use, I'd rather save for a year or two before doing that though.

Anyway, brilliant stuff, glad you guys are all smoke free. A toast to a healthier happier future is required.

4 from the original list are going strong, haven't seen updates from Suffolk Punch and I'm assuming the undecideds never quit. Nibbles quit, but no posts recently to confirm. Hope you are #5

Chili - the bevvy-test is easier up here in Scotland as smoking's banned in the pubs, you should try your first test up here, we'll look after you.  :D

 :D Thanks Rod for very kind offer.  Think I may be safer down here.  #1, without all the breaks for fags I fear I may be downing more drinks.  #2, because of #1 I will be safer away from Scottish beefcakes who have downed even more than me!

Suffolk Punch & Vodka Redbull have not started, err, stopping yet, but they will, when they are ready.

But who'd have thought Tank, Sofa-King, Chili & me would all have got this far?

At 60 a day, my saving is now up to about £180.

Do I feel any better yet? Not sure. Coughing a bit, but no, no real difference. Sleeping a LOT better though. Smelling a tad better, to, I'd guess. Eating way too much!

Keep it going guys.

My thoughts on the stoppers so far

tikay. I'm pleased, but not surprised.

Chili. Pleased and surprised.

Sofa-King. Pleased and amazed.

Tank. Pleased and sceptical.


Well done guys, I  ;hattip; to you all.

I stopped on 27th (I think) of Jan 06, but I'll be buggered if Ive got any extra money to show for it!  lol

Well done you new non smokers,  ;hattip; I've been following your progress, & I'm full of admiration.

I WILL QUIT on January, 5th 2007, I really want to do this, business has been particularly stressfull in the past few weeks, & I know its no excuse, but thats just how it is. Come January, I'll give this quitting lark a good go.

Just keep following this thread, you'll get all the motivation you need from these guys.  :)

i have been unable to give up smoking so i have given up winning to show my support for you guys.11 days so far.

 rotflmfao rotflmfao  thats they way booder.  Give up winning and then you will have no money to buy fags.  Very sharp fella!!

Perhaps you should start a Smoking - I'VE STARTED thread....  ;goodvevil;

looking at your avator , giving up seems to have palled your skin maria

 rotflmfao rotflmfao rotflmfao rotflmfao

"stressful time ahead/now" has been my excuse not to quit for years now.

But it does not work like that.

Ciggies do NOT help relieve stress, we just THINK they do. Get stressed, light a fag, you still stay stressed! In the nearly 2 weeks since I quit, I've had a whole pile of unpleasant & stressful situations to deal with - but I've coped, & not having my ciggie "crutch" has not made an iota of difference.

You can't do it until you are ready, but please don't let "stress ahead" be an excuse.

I hear what you are saying Tikay, & you're right of course, I know it, I've used the same old excuses for years. I will be ready to quit on 5th January. I've told family, friends, the kids, everyone.
Stress free, Smoke free..... I will settle for smoke free.

Good Luck Tikay.

And good luck to you Tonji on January 5. We will support you as you have supported us.

well,well,well  you wont belive this ,but..............i promised myself after 13 days of not smoking i would do a marathon and true to my word ,this morning at 11 am i got my self ready and set of for cardiff city town center with my wife and boy for support,,,,a bit nervous on the way but hey what the heck im fag free and fit now ,
i then got to the city hall and yes  i unwrapped it all on my own and ate the lot...... it was lush, nuts and  nougart covered in milky chocolate mmmmmmm my little family was so, so, so proud of me im gonna try for  the supper king size one in a few weeks. need a bit more training..............


p.s i think im going nuts without the fags........wrf245ft45tf245td225
2fr34td234ft
2tdr234ft2345t2t5yg746
i5h7
4
ug3y63g57u6g356y
g5
6u
g56u
34
56ug456hu746gui468g7u6356y3fgu754g
65ug3456uf453
6u4
56
ug
56gu76
i87
jo
89p
9l7p00kk79pppp0780p
789
op
 that means "WELL DONE TO ALL THE NON SMOKERS"
in code of the unicorn style

i am going maaaaaadddddddddddd
but i was mad before i stoped

heres a quicky for yall 
                                        STINKY BREATH               by MR JL Fisher

i was a stinky smoker,my breath it smelt like shite,
i really miss the last one,especially at night,

now that i have stopped,my new life has begun,
my wife has promised me.......
my family are so proud,especially my son,

i feel so full of life,now that i dont smell,
its great to be a stopper,we are all doing well,
 
with all thanks to blonde,it just leaves me to say,
thanks to chill and tank,and that old git called TIKAY....



                                                 beat that and no googling for smoking poetry
       

2 weeks well done all i feel FAT AS F--K sorry FIT AS F--K

2 weeks & still on course!

Big thanks to everyone who have helped me with this, especially Decider, Tank, Nem, James Fisher, & of course, Chili.

Top blokes, all of you.

well said tony ive really, really suprised myself lol keep it up matey boyo init.

 :D :D  My sentiments exactly!  Yep, 2 weeks and still going strong.  Had my first, in a bar with drink session last night.  Was sat next to Ginger and was begging her to light up next to me but she would not.  I must have gone on for an hour asking her to do it so I could enjoy NOT doing it, but she couldn't bring herself to light up.  Bless her.

Anyway, well done everyone else - and Sofa-king?  Seek medical attention before it is too late mate!

p.s keep going.

I'm proud of you guys, keep it up.

thanks m8 ,,and i dont even like you lol,,,only joking m8 xxxxxxx tounges mmmmmmmmmmm fek me i am going mad

One prob the quitting smoking HAS caused is my weight to shoot up.

I am going to leave it until the end of the month & then start a crash diet, designed to end on Christmas Day.

Let's hope there is nothing else I have to give up.

blimey eveyone will confuse you with kev!

except hes better looking, younger and still smokes!

oh well kev 1 out of 3 aint bad  rotflmfao

Over 2 weeks in and still going strong, very impressed with the lot of you.

I've just passed the 6 week mark without a single puff and have decided that with the money saved from not smoking I may as well put it to good use. So instead of leaving it in my savings account where it's tempting me to buy things I probably don't need, I've punted it into my mortgage account. It's actually the first time I've overpaid my mortgage even though I made sure I got a mortgage that allowed overpayments. It feels damn good to do it with burnt money. I stuck an extra £50 in for good measure and made it a round £300. I could have got some nice things with that, but when you look at the amount of interest saved over 20 years I know I'm doing the right thing. Aiming at sticking £300 extra a month into the mortage to reduce the term by almost 1/2. Most of the overpayment money will come from quitting smoking. If my partner (Ann) quits too, then the whole £300 a month will come from us quitting smoking. :) Makes me even more aware of what a waste of money it is! How I could afford to smoke in the first place has been a mystery to me. Perhaps that's why I was running up credit card bills too often :)

Anyone else putting the money aside? I move it daily using internet banking.

well done m8 very good,,,,i have not started saving it but i am going to bu a x5 bmw on the strenght of it ,im sorry that i never have credit so im gonna pull up for it and say to myself i woulda spent the money on smoking but instead i bought a car lol well done m8......

Good idea! I enjoy putting the money aside each day, and it's pretty good when I forget for a few days and have to put a chunk aside. :) It really does mount up. Tikay smoking 60 a day, now that's a heft amount of cash.

This is my first post here...so hello all. Seems like a great site.

I am on day 9 of not smoking so I felt it was appropriate to make this my first post :-)

Well done to all of you who have stopped (and me)!

Best regards,
Susanna

PS: I've just spent some of ex-ciggy money on a poker mentor to mix my game up a bit and take it to the next level...maybe not smoking can be seen as an investment.

Wel done Decider, & Susanna, too.

It's 17 days today, & it gets easier by the day, though it never was difficult, not even once. I get the odd "pang", but nothing too bad, & it's easily dealt with.

No (outward) sign of "health benefits" yet, though I never I quit for health reasons, daft as that sounds. But I'm sleeping much, much, better, so thats a plus, in fact I'm sleeping way too much right now. And I'm eating much more, & enjoying it more. Sadly, a crash diet beckons, I've put a heap of weight on, so I've scheduled that to begin on November 1st, & to end on Christmas Day.

I drove down to London today, 2 weeks ago I recall dreading my first long drive without ciggies, but it never even crossed my mind today. A coffee & a sausage roll half way south, yep, but ciggies, nope.

My next target is Sunday, which will be 3 weeks. Should be a cinch.

How are you getting on tank? 

Still not smoked.

Not sure this is relevant, but I'll post it anyway as it's given me a little more motivation to stay off the fags.

My Grandad just got diagnosed with lung cancer.
He hasn't been a smoker for over 25 years, and doesn't go to pubs or any other smoky enviroments. It's jsut "one of those things"

They found it when he was in hospital a few weeks back with a spat of pneumonia. The admin lady was bemused that a man of 80 had no record of ever being in a hospital. He had never had cause to be admitted before, a very healthy man all his life.

The man is an octogenarian, so he was never going to live forever, but nevertheless it is very sad news. By all accounts radiotherapy is very hard to deal with. It's horrible to think he'll have to put up with that for his last years on this planet, knowing he's going to die anyway. Enduring the side effects with little or no light at the end of the tunnel.


It's just this year that one of my siblings have had their first baby. My Grandad is the last of my grandparents still alive. Nature doesn't seem to want to allow room for four generations too long.

Very sad to hear Thomas.  Why do these things happen to those that dont push their luck?  I wish your Grandad all the best.

what a  nice brave post to write about a family member,i wish your gramps the best of luck and wishes that he has lots of fun with the new baby,i think this is one of the best things ive ever done ,,,,,my wife and SON are so,so,proud of me ,and i am too ,but my son dont stop telling people lol,mind you hes only 9 ,good luck tank and to your gramps, god bless him.

i just thought to myself,,,,,havent we all done well ?i cant belive none of us has gone of the rail,mind you tony im putting on weight i think after this im going to do a sponsored charity diet for some really good cause,,any ideas??maybee something like a wheelchair or something  nice for someone special like a holiday ,i think this would give me a lot of motivationat moment im about 22 stone,heres a target i bet i could get £1k for every stone ,,,im getting myself at it writing this lol,i rekon i could get about £5k-£7k easy in about 6 months

Sorry to hear that tank, I know how you feel.

I spent Saturday clearing out the basement of my grandads house as he's too old to use the stuff he's collected for last 65 years and my Gran wanted it cleared for possible future surveyors. He's 85 now and his health has deteriorated rapidly in the last couple of years. He was a chemist, physisist and "scrap yard" owner when he was younger, some of the stuff he's collected is pretty impressive. He kept a close eye on what we were throwing out but you could see it was breaking his heart. So, needless to say, we couldn't get rid of a lot of stuff and put it back for another day.

Sorry Guys, but we can't let this thread drop off the page yet awhile!

Sunday evening - 24 hours from now - sees the blonde "Quit Smoking" initiative reach 3 weeks.

How many of us have survived thius far? I know Maria has, me too, what about Tank & James (Sofa-King)? Decider had lasted even longer - he is into "months" now I think!

The cost saving so far must be adding up, too. I was on 3 packs a day, call it £15 per day, = £105 per week x 3 weeks = £315. How much have the others saved, & how much have we saved between us, I wonder?

I am still sleeping much better, &, one assumes, my clothes smelling a litlle less smokey. The cat says the house smells better - well, less worse - too.

The bad news is the weight gain - the Crash Diet starts next week, Wednesday I think. (The 1st of November?).

i sometimes feel sick when i see that one of the ex-smokers post on here i allways think it may be a confession lol,well done tony your right lets not let this thread die its a good one and it will help others to stop,,,im nearly thinking of doing a weight loss thread im looking for a real good cause to keep me at it i know it will be a good cause for me but i wanna do it right like the smoking i rekon we could get a sponsered diet  going from blonde on here,for a real real good cause pm me if you think of any it got to be real special so that people dont fall off,,,,, well done all non smokers and thankyou for pms and support,,,.james EX SMOKER lol

I'm still off em. It's not that tough really.

No niggily pangy pains in my chest is a brucey bonus, feel much healthier.

Good luck with the diet Tikay.  ;hattip;

wd everyone who's got this far.

I'm 4 weeks in and going strong.

Had a big test recently when i stayed for a week with my ex, who smokes a lot. I didn't waver though, well i wavered slightly on maybe 2 occasions but shook off the momentary desire quite easily (cigarettes not the ex btw!)
.

WD M8 FOR NOT DOING IT   ,,,,,,you know youll only end up back with here lol wd

oi fish turn on MSN

So you succomed on that front  :D



Well done on yer month.  :)up

I haven't smoked for over a week now. I've done weeks n weeks without smokeing but  always I have ended up smokeing and enjoying the end result.

When I gpt jailtime obviously there is a "need" to smoke but even without it I have ended up smoking, be it a night out or simply just a night where I end up tanning the cans I end up drinking. How do I stop!?

At the moment I have stopped since since 24th. I hope that it signifiys the end. But I'm sorry to add that I do enhoy smoking and the buzz I get does spur me on to continue. I've stopped for over 4 days now, lets hope the buzz doesn't play on my mind...

I stopped smoking just over 7 months ago using Carr's book, which I would recommend.

The trick is that there is no need, buzz or enjoyment there is only the addiction.

Well done! I forgot you'd stopped too.

Bravo!

You are not wrong. No buzz, no need, just the addiction. Addictions are easy to beat.

Another well done to everyone from me too :)

The 3 week mark is round about the time when you have almost no nicotine in your system and the time when the pangs go. To make it this far is superb. I don't know about you guys, but I know that I'll never smoke again, I honestly still feel that way and it's brilliant, if I want cheered up I simply remind myself of this fact and my mood improves. Anyone else feel that they know they'll never smoke again?

The 3 week mark arrived last night, I am still "clean".

Maria had a bit of a ("I wanna ciggie") crisis last night, she had the screaming abdabs for 20 minutes while we were down at Southampton, but she came through, there was never any doubt, but weird she should suddenly have a little problem with it. Soon passed, though, & she will NEVER smoke again, ever.

Will I ever smoke again? Well, this debate took the entire 3 hour drive home from Southampton to Notts last night to discuss....I told Maria that I maight - might - start again on Christmas Day. My diet starts on Wednesday, that's till Xmas Day, & I thought I may "let go" on Xmas Day & start smoking & eating properly again, having proven I can kick the habit. Maria went up the wall - "what? - WHAT?" sorta thing.

Her view is that I'm mad, & she ain't far out I guess,. But it's different for me. I did not pack up for health reasons, & I'm on the last chapter, as it were, so I may as well enjoy myself. But then again, there is the anti-social, stinky-clothes, thing......So maybe not. Probably, almost certainly, not. But that's all in the future, for now, I still have to prove I can quit. I'm doing just fine in that area. Look, if I say I'll NEVER smoke again, I won't, & that's that. Fact. I'm just not ready to say that yet. That's all.

Another oddity I have noticed. I'm eating a lot more, to be expected, & starting to enjoy food again. You don't notice not being able to taste food until you CAN taste it again! But my sense of smell has improved 100%. I was sat in a cardroom recently, & was incredibly conscious that someone very near me stunk of body odour. Was it me, I wondered?, covertly "smelling myself" at every opportunity. I had clean clothes on, & had showered a few hours before, but one does worry. (I know, old people DO smell....). It was not me, thank the Lord, though when I got in the car, I did the full "can I smell myself?" routine. We've all done it, don't deny it!

Not entirely sure if being able to smell others bad BO counts as a benefit of quitting smoking though.....

 ;tk; Slow down, slow down, you can't possibly be considering a start date! Read back what you are saying. For what reason would you possibly want to start smoking again? And actually choosing a date to do it is crazy. You realize you are considering giving yourself the worst possible Christmas present. It will make you feel miserable, make you stink, cost you money and probably kill you.

If you feel that saying you'll never smoke again will mean you will never smoke again, then that's what you have to do to quit. Starting again at any time doesn't prove anything other than you failed to quit smoking.

Sorry to sound like I'm ranting, but I suppose I am.

I believe you'll come round, you know yourself that there is absolutely no logic in starting smoking again. Old nic is trying to persuade you otherwise.

Being able to identify that it's not your BO is :)

]


You entirely miss my point.

If I say I will do something, I will do it.

Lose 2 stone? Easy, I'll do it.

Give up smoking? Easy, I'll do it.

Pack in Poker? Easy. I'll do it.

I made the decision to quit smoking, & I'm doing OK. I have yet to make the decision to quit FOREVER. I'll almost certainly make that decision, to quit for ever. - when I'm ready.

But you must look at it from the perspective of others. I live alone, rarely entertain company, & I'm not a young man. I intend to spend the balance of my life bathed in blissful happiness & contentment. Whatever it takes, I intend to do that. It's unlikely I'll ever smoke again. But I ain't made that decision yet. It's one of those things that I can't decide until the moment is right, no matter how much peer pressure is heaped upon me. It would be easy to make a soft promise. "Oh, I will never smoke again". If (when?) I make that promise, I'll keep it.

For the moment, I have decided to quit smoking. Let's deal with Phase 1 first.

I do appreciate your support, but we must all make our own decisions in our own time. I'm not ready to make that decision yet, & no amount of pressure will change that. I'm a funny old bugger. In case you had not noticed.....

Until i hear your stand up comedy routine i'll reserve judgement on the "funny" part.

 ;whistle;

Ok, I was just a bit worried that if you say you might start again, that you'll slowly change that might to will and all the good work you have done will be undone by that first cigarette. It's an addiction that is only beaten by not smoking, remember that and you'll beat the addiction. Thinking about starting again will only cloud your judgement and make you want a cigarette again. I'm not trying to put pressure on you, as you say, that doesn't work. You know yourself that quitting smoking makes sense and you don't really need me to pressure you into doing it. You decided to quit for yourself, I'm just encouraging you not to lose sight of your aim.

Cheers,

Eoan

Thank you. Human psychoogy is a weird & wonderful thing. Harness it, & the world is your oyster. Try & oppose it, & you won't get out of the starting stalls.

 rotflmfao rotflmfao rotflmfao

Sorry for laughing but I gave the exact same speach to his lordship last night and it really doesn't make any odds with him.  He has explained himself already but it just goes to show that people have to come to decisions entirely on their own. 

This smoking thing has proved one thing between us though.  He is a stubborn git and I am more stubborn than i thought I was  :D

I think it's just a passing trend, he'll come over from the dark side and admit that he'll never smoke again soon enough. Psychological games work! :)

Yes, I am stubborn, but you are stubbornerer. You start with the natural advantage in the Stubborn Stakes of being Female, right?

i just caught up on your smoking posts tikay,i do agree m8 im a bit disapointed in you saying you may start at christmas,you only have to read your thread subject and that should be enough for you,SMOKING I QUIT .....it doesnt say anywhere that you quit for a bit m8 ,dont give yourself a starting date coz now i put prresure on you like in poker you raise ill call IF YOU SMOKE I WILL TOO and my wife and 9 year old son will blame you lol,,dont do it m8 you will feel more healthier as you get oldr than be in bed coughing your way till your death you dont want that m8 ,cmon willpower and quit for good m8,dont give yourself temptation i know you got willpower ,but cmon dont be an old man coughing in bed be a young dancing singing poker god ,,,just think ,,DOYLE BRUNSON   you are a british him ,but not as good in the poker department lol

i didnt want this thread to die either lol

Well done to all those who have got this far.

Like many others, I am very concerned that tikay is threatening to restart on Christmas Day.

My Grandad died at 62 when I was about 10 and I was devestated as he was an important part of my life at that time. His death was due to smoking and his inability to stop. His lungs were full of tar and the doctor's told him that if he didn't stop he would die, which, of course, he did. He was way too young to die and I am still gutted that he left us at such an early stage in my life.

So, to hear that tikay has quit smoking just to prove a point or fulfill a challenge makes me somewhat disheartened. I understand why you like smoking, but the real challenge lies in quitting for a long period. At the moment, you have quit for a short period, safe in the knowledge that you will be restarting at Christmas. Surely that proves nothing except you can hold out for 3 of months. I know many people who have stopped for 3 months, and then succumbed all of a sudden when the going got tough. So I'd suggest to really accomplish something you need to take it further. You may say that you have the ability to stop smoking forever, but until you actually do it, it's only words and you can never be sure.

However, I read your explaniation and I understand the reasons, but I am confused as to why you wouldn't be quitting for health issues. Are you beyond recovery? Can you not extend your life span at all? Will it not make you feel healthier? You say that you want to enjoy life, but doesn't smoking give you more of it to enjoy?

I'm not a smoker, so someone will have to answer these questions for me.

Please don't take this as peer pressure, it is just concern from someone who has lost a loved one due to tobacco.

Good luck to everyone trying to achieve their goals.

regards,

a deeply concerned snoopy

this is what i wanted to say,but snoops is posher than me and worded it better so cmon tony pull your finger out and delete your re-start at christmas thread out and do it for good

I promise you I'm not posh.  :D

The old joke "Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it 1,000 times"

All very well and good, but the reality is, you can only quit smoking once.


When you start again, the last time you quit doesn't count. All you did was take a fair bit of time between cigarettes.

Is that an achievemnet? Well let's say I'm on a cramped train between Edinburgh and London, and somebody next to me is coughing all over the shop without covering their mouth. If they make an extra special effort to not do this after Doncaster, but start up again after Sheffield, is anyone in the carriage supposed to be cheddar cheesed?

It's not a perfect analogy I'll grant you, stopping smoking probably has more to do with the effects on yourselves than on others, but it had a train in it so thought it appropriate.

You say "I still have to prove I can quit."

My point is (forgive the bluntness) if you start again, you've proved f*** all





I'd love to say something along the lines of....

I quit because I was inspired buy Tikay, and if he let up and gave in, I'm worried that it may give me licence to wire into the ciggies again during a weak moment.

That would be a load of bollox though, I stopped for myself, and I'll stay stopped for myself.
Tiaky doesn't have any responsibility in this to anyone beyond himself, ultimately it's Tikay's choice what he does.


I would advise this though, if you want to get back in the habit, go and open this thread. Read it all again, every word, every one wishing you well, everyone hoping you can do it, everyone believing in you. If you still want to smoke, print out a page. Roll it all up, and set it ablaze to light your first puff.

Seek advise from a parent or other grown up before playing with fire in this manner.

Good post, tank.

I agree, quitting is about stopping permanently, not just having a break. To say I've proved I can quit is inaccurate if you start up again after three months. I would be very disappointed if this was to occure, I sincerely hope it doesn't, but in the end it's tikay's deicision.

True folks, only thing I'll point out is on Tk's very first post on this thread he mentioned Christmas day, it's obviously been in his head. We should probably have noticed this before, but got caught up in the euphoria of helping someone else get free from the trap.

There are several people quitting, so lets not forget them, the more we remind Tk the more he's liable to keep thinking about it. Besides that, he's doing superbly well having gone over 3 weeks.

How are folk getting on now? As some of you passed the 3 week mark I passed the 7 week mark, a head start, but you'll be there soon. I'm still saving my cig money up for overpaying the mortgage, aiming for £300 a month and we'll see how I cope with that. Would be £300 easy if my partner would stop, but I'll make up the difference myself.  It's great seeing it build up, not so great pressing the button to transfer it all to the mortgage, but will be good when I finally pay the house off 9 years early :) Debt free and smoke free, theres a combination and a 1/2. :)

Very well said Snoops and Tank  ;applause;

It is now 3 weeks and 4 days and all is great except for a little struggle last Sunday in Southampton.  A bit weird it was at the 3 week mark, precisely when most of the nicotine has said adios and you are supposed to feel less "cravings!"  It wasn't even a bad beat but very bad play by me.  It suddenly occured to me, as my heart was pounding, that I could have a fag.  I stood up, still angry at myself and suddenly for the first time understood the expression "clawing at the walls!"  Instead of breaking all my nails or giving in to nicotine, I went in search of Jen and ranted at her for a bit.  :D.  Poor girl, she even ended up appologising for smoking infront of me earlier in the day  rotflmfao

Anyway, the feeling soon passed and I got on with the comp with no further glitches (other than donking all my chips away).  Tonight I am off to Napoleons in Sheffield, which is one of the very rare venues left where you can still smoke at the tables.  Lets see if I can stay a calm rational ex smoker or turn into a ex smoking pyscho, jumping from table to table booting all the ashtrays out of the way!!

p.s as each day goes by the gap between the "thought" of a cigarette is getting longer and longer.

Tikay - you may think you are 'on the last chapter' but do you really want to get to the end of the book quicker?

If this book you are reading is a real page turner don't you want it to go on and on? Have you ever read a book where there are lots of pages to go and when you turn over a page you find that a lot of the pages at the end are blank and you are at the last page unexpectedly? It's always a dissappointment. 

Every day you go without a cigarette extends your life. Simple. If you submit to the weed you will leave a lot of empty pages and I, for one, don't want the story to end.

Christmas is a time for gifts to others and ourselves - an early death is a strange gift if you ask me.

Tracey xxxx

Good Post Snoopy, similar thing happened to my Nan aged 66 and I'll never forget watching her during the last few days.

I hope Tikay, Chili, thetank etc can find the willpower to quit forever, before it is too late.

I always go on a rant about smoking, so I'll try not to do that now.

Best of luck to you all :)

Sophie xxx

Superb post Tank. Well done all blondes given up so far. And tikay, dont do it. Say those words, I GIVE UP SMOKING FOREVER.

Well only 2 days shy of 4 weeks now. Another screaming abdab day hit me yesterday, I had some grief going off last night, & it bugged me for an hour or two, but no damage, & I got through.

I gotta telll you, I will have bad days, & let's leave that Christmas debate to one side for now - but as long as I say I won't smoke, I won't smoke, it's that simple. If I change my mind, I'll say so, but for now, my resolve is 100%, and that means I won't smoke.

The promised Crash Diet was due to start on Wednesday (1st November) but my head has to be "right" for thse things to work, & it was not, so I postponed it. I now start the diet tomorrow (Saturday), and I'm targeting 2 stone by Crimble Day. Once my head is in gear, & the first 7lb drops off, that'll be a cinch.

Big thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement. Hope all the other quitters remain on course.

I don't really feel a lot different health-wise, though I am sleeping a lot better.

I've been working in a TV Studio & an office the last three days (don't ask, you'll hear soon enough....!) and it's a non-smoking jobbie,. Every hour or so, a bunch of them say "ok, let's pop outside for a ciggie break". I feel quite left out, so I've taken to going outside with them, & they all stand & smoke like little chimneys, & I stand with them, ciggie-less! It's the social side, & I miss it.

Tikay, I stopped smoking in March after 33 years of smoking 4oz of roll ups every week, no urges no problem - after 8 months I still dont want to smoke, but am willing to argue with anyone and everyone which is totally out of character.

having said that I have been on a low fat diet for 10 weeks could this change be related?

Hey Dewi how cool this is almost exactly my situation,  except the out of character bit lol.

Rookie he hasn't given up anything, he has just stopped being addicted to nicotine. The semantics are important, please excuse me.

well done all,well im suprised no one has given in so a very BIG well done

sofa, so good!

 Aspades

thats so you red, lol

Been almost a week since we saw any updates on this, I hope everyone is still doing well, another week down tomorrow, it's starting to feel a lot easier isn't it :) Keep the momentum going, don't get complacent.

Yes Mr Parole Officer  ;D

I ain't had a puff

im still free of nicotine thanks for asking and all support gl to all who are still non smokers,,,,,,

Great. I expected as much, it gets to the point where you forget you are quitting smoking, or at least don't remember about it as much. When it's like that you tend to not mention it and so the post rates drop. It's a sign that you are winning. How about the others?

Too tired to Post properly tonight, will do tomorrow. But 100% so far, Chili is "clean", Sofa-King, me too.

5 weeks tonight - thats 35 days, 3 packs per day = 105 packs = £625......!

Clean as a whistle here. Quitting smoking is easy, if you put your mind to it. It's been 5 weeks+ now, & next week, I'm halfway to Christmas Day........

The weight gain has been a negative, but I can deal with that, & the Diet has began. The target date for diet completion is Christmas Day, too.

I have a much improved sense of smell, and I sleep much better. Folks tell me my skin colour looks better (well, "less worse") & presumably, I do not smell as bad as I did before.

Playing poker - I sat next to a "puffer" on Saturday in Cardiff, he kept popping away from the table for a gasper, as I used to. Each time he returned, the tobacco stench was horrendous. I am truly embarrassed about doing this to others all my life.

Ah well, we move on.

Nice one Tikay, are you putting the money away yet? I managed to make another £300 overpayment to the old mortgage debt yesterday. Quitting smoking was a real kick up the arse to stop wasting my money.

well done all, 5 weeks has passed im starting to think why still bother posting about it now ive cracked it,,,but,,,,,,if what i say on here or what any replys say on here can help anyone else to give up the habbit well ,bonjour and gl well done and thanks to MR NON RED CHEEKED TIKAY for starting this positive thread,,,,,



,i will show you how to do the floating card trick at blackpool m8 its a piece off pi55,,lol

Bump...

6 weeks passed for most of you and no mention of it? Lets be hearing more about your success stories please.

Just goes to show how easy it is to forget you have quit. Remember, it doesn't make it any less of an achievement after 6hrs, 6days or 6weeks.

Cheers,

Eoan

Not smoking is rather uneventful.

:) Good man.

im still not smoking hope yall not either....thanks for asking and good luck to all who are still non smoking

Congrats to you lot that have give up successfully so far. Luckily i was never inclined to look 'cool' at school and didnt get sucked into the smoking crowd

Ciggies were £6.50 for 200 at Singapore airport, I bought 400 :)   BARGAIN !!!

Did you get me some :D

No, but i got 20 for tikay and will wrap them up nicely for him to open on Xmas day ;)

Have you looked to see if they have the pictures on them yet? I have a feeling that they will, sigh.....

Still, at that price I can put up with the piccies for a while!


Oh, and well done all of those that have broken free of the evil weed, I hope to be joining the ranks eventually

Nope mine were pic free :)

Just saw that many of our Guru's, Allen Carr died on Wednesday of Lung Cancer!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6194670.stm

Unreal actually that the man quit 23 years ago but still contracted the dreaded C.  The man can go to his grave with a massive smile on his face i'm sure after helping many millions (and a few blondes) get free from nicotine.


RIP ALLEN and thanks a lot!!

 ;iagree; He changed my life for the better. RIP

Yep, a great man with great insights into the causes of nicotine addiction. Very sad at his passing but I got to thank him through his website before he passed away.

Thanks Allen, good job, I'm sure more and more people will quit as a result of your work.

to be honest id never heard of this guy,,but god bless him ,,,he was obviously an insperation to a lot of people RIP.


still going strong ive even stoped counting the weeks now lol but i still do get urges sometimes but no,no,no,no,no gl all...
has anyone  re-started?????????????????
hope not..

I've not

Were it not for this thread, I would have forgotten that I ever did smoke. :)


1st July is the date you guys get the smoking ban in England. Makes nights out much easier.

I had 0 cravings last night while having a few jars.  ;woohoo;

well done tank are you suprised at yourself i know i am lol

Well, tomorow evening, at 8 minutes to 10, I will have been ciggie-free for exactly 2 months, & it's fair to say, I'm well pleased.

Big thank you's to those who helped me, especially Decider, Nemesis, Chili, Sofa, Red, & many others.

Health benefits - not noticed any, though I'm eating like a donkey & will soon be as big as Colchester Kev.

The one oddity has been my sleep patterns. I know not smoking helps us sleep better, but I seem to have developed sleeping sicknesss, I can't get enough sleep now.

I don't do the moralising thing that most ex-smokers do, if folks wanna smoke, I don't mind, that's their decision. But silently, privately, inwardly, I see the smokers running outside & standing in the cold & wind & rain so they can have their little nicotine fix every hour, & I can't help feel how pathetic they are. Luckily, I WAS that person for nearly 50 years, so I say nothing......!

Anyways, it's Christmas in less than 3 weeks, so I may well apply to rejoin the Smokers League on Xmas Day.......

Seriously, thank you to all those who helped.

great post apart from the last 2 lines your bonkers and you love to start it off dont you ,lol, massive diet from 2nd jan????

If I do the New-Year Crash Diet, can I start smoking to help me do it? I mean, it was quitting fags that caused the prob.....

Excellent post (apart from last two lines...) You have done incredibly well so far, I have every confidence in you to overcome this Xmas hoodoo and continue a smoke free life into the new year.

I reckon your sleep improvements are down to you being a more relaxed person now that you are not a slave to nicotine. I sleep a lot more too now, I don't bother staying up for just another cigarette. I also find that I am not waking in the middle of the night or having restless sleeps as often.

Health improvements, I find playing 5-a-sides a lot less tiring now, I don't spend so long at the start of the game coughing my lungs up. :) The smokers cough is gone too, I think that took around 4-6 weeks to go.

I was suffering from pins and needles a lot. E.g., sitting on the loo for a while my leg would go numb, or sleeping on one side for a while my arm would go numb, I knew this was a circulation issue but my Dr said it was probably just the way I was sitting/sleeping. Well, I haven't changed anything in that respect and my I haven't been suffering pins and needles for around 6 weeks now. I believe now as I did before that this was poor circulation caused by lack of oxygen in my blood stream. I am so glad that it's gone now, only 33 and having circulation issues was causing me to worry.

Well done all, now there is another group of folk thinking of quitting we can all lend our support to them. :)

Cheers,

Eoan

There is a new thread for this Ginger, I'm sure they would welcome another quitter. You have nothing to lose.

Well into Week 9 for Chili & myself now, & still no problem, except I've put a shed-load of weight on. And I have sleeping sickness, I sleep like never before, it's good, but time-consuming!

How are the rest of you Smoking Quitters getting on?

Hang in there guys, it's GOOD to quit!

i still dont smoke but im eating a lot of clay,,,,na im not you think im potty?
i dont think so lol well done non smokers its hard to think 9 weeks ago i used to put things in my mouth and suck on them ,yuk bloody disgusting .
keep it up guys ..diet thread jan 5th watch this space

I just remembered - I can start smoking again today!

Whahoo!

Dont be silly!

I'm up to page 78 of 'that' book - I'm a slow reader ::)

Dont start again tikay, consider it an xmas present to yourself, adding so many more years to your life.......

Go for a run or go to the gym. You should be able to run now that you have stopped smoking

Don't think I dare start again. Tom (Red) said he'd thump me, & he punches his weight. On the plus side, Chili said she'd never talk to me again if I started smoking. Hmm....

Does a Crimble Cigar count?

Enough of your cheek.......

I'm still a 2 stairs at a time geezer.

No smoking - end of!

Anyway, you can't lecture me - you are a smoker.....!

Merry Christmas to you, Sir.

xx

72 pages to go and then I will be free again.

Eight months in and if it wasn't for this thread I would have forgotten that I ever smoked.

Merry Christmas folks!

Good to see people are still not smoking, Tikay that includes you. :)

Nemesis, you need to read faster. ;)

Cheers,

Eoan

OK, I'll postpone my deision to start smoking again to NEXT Chrismas.

For some reason, I've been gagging for a "Christmas Cigar" all day.

This is going to be my new years resolution this year.
God bless you dad.

If you wanna quit smoking, Barhell, the bASS (blonde Anti Smoking Squad) will help you.

The penalty for failure is a bit steep though.......

I have just ordered The Easy Way to Stop Smoking, through the amazon blonde link, once recieved i quit.

No, don't do it that way.  Read the book FIRST, then quit. Trust me.

Good Luck mate. We will help you on here, update us every few days.

DON'T!!!! It's fatal, that's how Ed usually ends up smoking again.  He had quit but started again at Walsall after all that alcohol.

I found the best way to quit was being violently ill after drinking and smoking one evening about 5 years ago.  By that time I was down to only smoking on nights out, some people can manage that.  I have never had one since and never will.

Ed had a drink at Walsall?.....

I know, he hides it well, you probably just didn't notice. :)up

bloody hell 80 days today we all stoped thats fanf--kin tastic
well done all jan 5th weight loss thread????????cmon tony you fat bathplug lol

I will lose a stone and a half by March 2nd.

Maria is up for a "I've quit smoking now I need to diet", I think......

I CERTAINLY am....!

No you wont.

i am getting fit again 8i will shrink from 21stone 7lbs to   17 stone dead by july 8th my sons 10th birthday hopefully

right tony start it i will try to get to 16 but im aiming for 17

I've disabled that button.

maybee after that you could start a thread >>>im gonna be a better poker player by t.kendal ??

maybee after that you could start a thread >>>im gonna be a better poker player by t.kendal ??
[/quote]

I'm not doing that one with you sofa, you have a big advantage, you only have to learn to fold two hands in the same game and you would improve 100%

I'm not doing that one with you sofa, you have a big advantage, you only have to learn to fold two hands in the same game and you would improve 100%
[/quote]lmao i allways know what you got m8....
wtf am i doing on here .its boxing day lol
any ideas how i can unban myself from laddies i feel like badbeating someone

Are you banned on Laddies sofa?

i banned myself from all poker sites i was gonna sell my accounts to rocks like you or let you play on them lol

 i had a mad 10 hour session and lost about £15k the last bit went to marc good on blu square after trying to get a seat for the g prix lol the night we all stoped smoking

Do not stop smoking until you have read the book - once you have read the book you will find it much easier to stop smoking

nemesis and tikay advice taken.

Great news. Glad everyone is getting through the festive period smoke free, it really is just as easy to not smoke at this time of year as it is at any other time of the year.

For myself, I have been ill since going to bed on Christmas Eve (not alcohol related) and I'm only just recovering today. :( Not managed a beer all week but did manage to get pretty dehydrated. I struggled through what was a fantastic Christmas dinner, then went home and have spent the last 4 days lying down :( Just feeling sorry for myself. Getting better now though.

You can quit smoking like the others here have, just read back this thread and you'll see what a success it's been. Look forward to hearing how you get on.  Good luck.

Perfect timing finished a book last night and my copy of the book arrived this morning. I got theone with cd's so i can listen to them in the van when i return to work, so i'll start reading tonight and hopefully will post a cessation date soon.

Just a quick update i've had alot of issues to deal with of late and the book had remained unread. Last night i actually started to read it, got about a 3rd of the way through and am determined to finish it with in good time now i've started.

"a lot of issues". Smoking does not help resolve those issues, or make you feel better. Smoke the fag, the issue is still there. I'm not being flippant mate, & I know it's been tough for you. Give up the ciggies NOW & you'll have had something positive to start the year.

Good Luck fella, you can do it.

thanx for bringing this back,im still off the fags   95 days for us all but im not counting lol..,., well done all giver uppers gl to yall....and for the new ones to.....
oh yeah put the patches over the fags then you cant see them >:?  something like that lol

Is it 95 days? Wow, the Century looms! So for me, that's 95 days @ 3 packets per day - 95 x £15 - a lot of money....and even more alarming, that's 5,700 ciggies.....!

cmon barhell you can do it
 if you dont do it for your country,,.. do it for you,,.,
im chit with one liners tonight lol

I just cant understand why so many people still smoke (especially nowadays)

I am a science in health, exercise and sport post-graduate so if there are any smokers looking for a debate i will hae one and give u a hundred reasons not to smoke.

I'll give u 60 reasons now and they are- each of the 60 reasons is a different carcinogen (cancer causing substance) found ina cigarette.

Very well done to all the quitters. I can understand how bloody hard it must have/is been/being!!!

 :)up

 Ks KingPoker Ks

Well, I finally stopped smoking for the second time last Friday. Saturday was a real pain (I ended up going for a 5 mile walk :o ) Sunday, my Cousin came round (she's a smoker) I didn't even have a pang and she smoked in front of me. I ended up giving her the EASYWAY book, as she is studying to become a fitness instructor...

Since Sunday, I've had the odd couple of pangs, but chewing gum (Wrigleys Extra) tastes so much better than Benson & Hedges! ;)

No more headaches, no more pain in my legs, no more pains in my hands, no more bad breath.

It's great to be a non-smoker again! ;D

HOLLA!

FANTASTIC MATE wd i so glad you stopped coz if you hadnt give the book to "wonderwoman" he wouldnt have got us all at it wd m8 keep it up ,,.,.

You smoking was like the local pastor mugging Grannies, just wrong wrong on many many levels.

The world is back to normal now, good luck with drive 2.

_holl^a

A couple of years ago they made the cardroom at Luton non smoking and being the tight git that I am I refused to give anyone an edge by missing hands by going for a smoke.......but what to do. I knew all the reasons in the world for not smoking. Reasons and non smokers arguments will not help you give up they just make you reach for another smoke. Ask any smoker whether they smoke more on national no smoking day or not and I know what the answer will be.
In the end I opted for hypnotherapy.
Not had one since.

PS. Not suggesting this route for all.........just saying it worked for me and involved no will power what so ever and I have no problem in recommending the chap who did the therapy though he is based in London...........I have however started clucking like a chicken whenever I get aces for some reason

The blanket ban on smoking in all places of work up here was a huge pain in the arse, but it did make things twice as easy when it came to quitting time.

I think it kicks in around June for yous lot?

That's the way to go, it won't be long before you are free. :) Positive attitude, remembering why you quit and reminding yourself that you are  losing nothing, it's all GAIN, GAIN, GAIN. It's great to be free, I've made several overpayments to my mortgage, have a smoke free house as my partner quit last week too, can breath a lot easier, feel a lot fitter and don't feel like a slave to the weed. I reached 4 months without a cig on the 10/01/07 :) Last cigarette on 09/09/06, feels brilliant. Time goes by quickly, but from very early in my quit I realised I would never smoke again. That was one of the best feelings in the world. A natural high. When you realise that you won't smoke again, you will experience that high also.

Good man, that just one cigarette rule still holds regardless of how long you have been quit for.

It sure does. I started agin after smoking 3 cigarettes one evening. I didnt then smoke for over a weeek, I then started smoking 1 a-day, the 2 a-day and then 10-2- a-day.

So sick that trap is, and the patches, gum's and inhalers are just as bad, as they are allowed to advertise on TV!

Well Done Guys, let's keep this bandwagon rolling.

Dunno how I could have missed this post for so long!!!

My smoking has been bugging me for ages, been wanting to quit for a while but not quite in the right frame of mind. I tried once before and it was hell, so I'm seriously impressed with everybody on here. So much so infact.....F*ck it.... it's time to do it myself.

Just ordered the Allen Carr book, hope to join your bandwagon very soon.

Giood man.

But read the WHOLE book first BEFORE quitting.

6 or 7 of us on here have done so, the failure rate is o%.

Good luck PokerManiac, keep us posted on your progress.

So much destructive kak on the forum over the weekend, it's nice to see that there's still the odd thread like this one, that serves a practical purpose.

TK & Tank.... thanks for the support.

I intend to read the book as soon as it arrives and hopefully I'll be ready to quit by next weekend if the book isn't too long. Having quit once before, I know how hard it can be so I'm absolutely amazed and seriously impressed  ;tightend; at the success rate and relative ease that the blonde's on here have achieved. So I figure there must be some pretty awesome advice in that book and that's what's motivated me to give it another go.

The countdown has started 

It's just basic commom sense. We are bored, so we light up a ciggie. Does the ciggie stop us being bored?.......

It's an addiction, pure & simple. Free yourself.

So impressed with you Tikay - really thought you were a man of words but no action.....

Try me......

Screw You  you "froooot loop " accusin Foooooo!  ;D

Ahh, the voice of reason, tolerance & sanity has arrived.

And the Mad Yank.

Are you just saying that cus you iz hatin Mericans?  ;snoopy'sguns;

Don't be silly. We all LUV Americans.

MadYank went into his local Guns n Ammo cornershop this afternoon.

"Howdy meestah" says the shopkeeper

"Holla" replied the Mad one politely.

"What can I do for you today?"

"I'm going to buy me one of them 3-57 Magnums"

"Are you sure partner?"

"Yes Siree, the 3-57"

"That's one of the most powerful handguns in the world, what do you need that much machine for?"

"I'm gonna shoot cans"

"The 3-57!!! You wanna 3-57 and you're only gonna shoot cans!?!"

"Hell yeah, cans. Afri-cans, Mexi-cans......"

Good luck PokerManiac, you've taken the first step to getting yourself into the right frame of mind for quitting. It took me a long time and lots of attempts before finally working out why it was so difficult for me to succeed in stopping. The right frame of mind is essential and Mr Carr is excellent at getting you into that frame of mind. His writing style isn't for everyone, he says so himself, but it's the message that he gets across that's important, not whether it's a front runner for the booker prize. Looking forward to reading about more success stories.

Cheers,

Eoan

lol

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

You are vey funny Tank, this iz why I kill you last!

I have 20 pages left to go wife has 50 i have told her that i'm quitting tonight before i go to bed she is currently reading now to catch up so there will be 2 quitters here tonight.

Good luck both of you  :)up

Excellent.

I've found chewing gum has made it easier (standard chewing gum, not NRT gum)

Superb! I can sense you are looking forward to it already. :)

well done non smokers

well done smokers...

well done Chris de Burgh

Well i quit last night and apart from the odd thought about it today have felt really good. My good lady is also doing well.
I know it's only the first day but something feels different this time already.

YIPPPPPPPeee i'm a non smoker as someone else says.

 ;yippee; ;yippee; ;yippee; ;yippee; ;yippee;

 ;bumwiggle; ;bumwiggle; to ciggies

Today i had a really grim day 12 hour day at work including 300 miles of driving and sitting in traffic jams. I also had to deal with some of the most annoying idiotic people i've had the pleasure of meeting and i amazed myself  by not getting stroppy or stressed or marching straight to the nearest shop for ciggies.

This is 3 days in tonight and i feel totally unfazed by quitting, where as when i tried to give up in the past by now i would of been almost at wall climbing madness time and with my wife quitting at the same time WWIII would have been starting.

As it happens we are both coping fine and just happy being quitters.

Tikay, you don't know how spot on you were with this post i was so apprehensive about the thought of quitting i was actually not reading the book at all even when i could of, makes me feel kinda stupid now LOL.

 

Good Luck to Tikay and Chilli on deciding to give up smoking, and anybody else who joins them.

I have smoked 40-60 a day for the past 20 years  (nothing to be proud of, just a fact), have to be honest and say my main concern was  always about the financial side rather than the health aspect.

Then i found the answer? its cheaper to quit the UK!!!!!  ;sexybanana;

So here i am on a little island in the South China Sea, Cigs 23p for 20 (Malboro), McDonalds Meal 33p Diesel 26p per Ltr
Oh, and my 3 bedroom beach house, swimming pool cost 6K!!!!! Temp mid/high 80s every day (life is not so bad)

What do i miss? LIVE POKER.

Good Luck people, Be happy

I never thought of the health issue too much either but after watching my Dad suffer and eventually pass away through smoking related disease, it brings it to the fore. I suppose more than anything it changed my perception of life and really gave me the kick up the backside i've needed.

I cant and wont disagree with you, and i wish you and everybody else all the luck in giving up.

My perception on life has been changed by living here, people with very little or nothing in the way of "materialistic" things, average wage is 80p per day, but they go about their lives SMILING having TIME for OTHERS, things we have lost sight of in the UK

You should stop smoking so that you can enjoy your lifestyle even longer...

That's great news, another 2 get off the sinking ship, fantastic.

Ok, I bought a book.  Wish me luck.  I will try, can't promise nothing though.

FYP

"I will try, I can't promise". Sorry, that kite won't fly. Go in with that mindset, & you are GUARANTEED to fail.

Buy "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking" by Allen Carr & you WILL quit. It's that simple.

Please?

You are home & hosed if thats how you coped! It's exactly as I felt when I quit, after reading "the" book, it was no hassle, no stress, no pangs, no nothing, just "what an idiot I was to smoke for all those years, & stink of ciggies, & be enslaved to nicotine".

Congrats to Tikay and all the others who have given up smoking! It really is a pointless exercise. I used to smoke between 5 and 10 a day, but have now given up buying my own ;) Now I smoke about 2 to 3 (4 max) on a night out where beer is involved and 0 when no beer is involved.

I wish I could cut out the beer fags. Not sure how to do this though... I found nicotine gum helped with the day-to-day fags.. Maybe I should take some of that along with me when I'm on the booze, and chew a bit of that, instead of trying to cadge a ciggy..?

Anyway, congrats again to those who have succeeded. Keep it up!! :)

Not quite pointless, it does protect you a bit from Parkinson's disease (weird, huh).
I've kind of got over the beer bit, having a pint was the hardest, easier now in Scotland with smoking ban. Live poker still hard, everyone goes out for a fag during the break...so hard not to. Have tried the gum but can't stand the taste. Am giving up hope of never ever smoking again.

Just read the book and you'll both stop for good.

Today is my 5th day and what a shock it was, i got up done all the normal things and went to work all with no problems, then suddenly at about 11 am i have my first real attack of the "i want a ciggie", so i start to think to myself no you don't and as i bought the book with 2 free C.D.s which i keep burnt copies of in my van i chucked them both on.
Amazingly 2 hours later i was still suffering and had to resort to disturbing the good lady at work, this had the desired effect she talked alot of sense at me.
The silly thing was in my head i was saying to myself the things out of the book but i just couldn't seem to get my mindset right maybe it was just because i'm tired.
The most important thing is i stayed on the right path and feel absolutely fine again now.

P.S. Since i quit i have talked to 4 people from work all are quitters with Easyway(why no book thrust at me earlier).

Crisis passed, & I bet you are WELL proud of yourself. yes?

Feel great, glad i've got the wife to call on it helps to have a sounding board.
Today would have been a failure day in past attempts so it's all good.

And when the next ciggie crisis arrives, you can refer back to this one - how you WON the battle, how you never gave in, how you refused to become an addict again. It's easy now, you've passed the threshold. Nicotine addicton from ciggies is mostly out of your body within 3 days, & completely gone in a few weeks. You are over the worst.

Congrats.

 ;applause; ;applause; ;applause; ;applause; ;applause;

Yeah, good point. Even if you lapse, each time it gets easier and easier to cut free from it.
Otherwise, there's always surgery....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6298557.stm

Well done on 1 year without cigarettes Trace.

Tell you what I don't miss, using an empty can of fizz as an ashtray. Drinking a new can of fizz later on, and taking a swig of ashtray by accident.

Yuck

Also, everything else about smoking, really is a filthy habit.

I never knew you stopped Tank?

2 days after Tikay, Chilli etc.

You were in the middle of your mauve period at the time.

 ;nemesis;


































rotflmfao

I think i'll stick with easy way sod surgery. After 1 week feeling good popped down to Brighton Friday night bumped into Jen, Flushy, Indestructable and last but not least Tikay.
Best of all though sat and had a beer with smokers around and not even a bit of doubt crept in.

I must say i think i need to thank this thread for helping me as i had never heard of Mr Carr before this thread so  ;hattip; to the Blonde forum.

The surgery is quick and relatively painless. 12 stitches and your mouth is sealed shut, making smoking through your nostrils the only option. I gave this up after only 3 weeks, and haven't suffered the 2 stone extra weight normally associated with quitting.

Good to see you Friday, & this is just amazing....

Best of all though sat and had a beer with smokers around and not even a bit of doubt crept in

Which shows just how effective the Allen Carr method is.

Delighted this thread has helped you, as it has me & many others, but it was that Nemesis - he of the "mauve period" (!) as Tank put it - who started the ball rolling by sending me the book - & I've never even met Nemesis.

I stopped.


This book is great, while reading it I realised all the myths that are created about smoking.  Today it was my last cigarette and I really don't wish to put another one in my mouth ever again.  Last night I was at the party and instead of my 20 I smoked 4 and I hated it, so today was the day of reading the last pages of the book which contain the last cigarette part. 

The interesting observation is that before reading this book, I could not visualise myself as a non-smoker, now I can, and will use this technique when in a next few days I might feel like lighting up.  All my clothes are in a washing mashine or sent to dry cleaners.  Having recent health problems prompted me to give up.  I am sure the fact that I have to stop drinking as well will make it easier for me not to fall in the trap again.  So thanks for the thread and good luck to all others who are in a process of reading this book.

Off topic but it was good to meet you, hopefully i will see you down there for a game soon.

I started reading Allen Carr's autobiography today, "Packing it in". His writing has a nice straight forward, easy going style, and it's an interesting story.

Well done - told ya it was easy! ;)

11 Days in and i have only had 1 day where i have had any pangs, as Nemesis said "told ya it was easy!" i would add that it is only easy when you know how.

Best of luck (not that you need it) and keep us all updated Tantrum.

Today I had this urge to have a fag, so got my skipping rope out.  Feeling a bit better, skipping instead of smoking...

im first to crack before anyone grasses me i smoked lastnight for the first time since we all stopped.i just fancied one but it stops today ............................

;grr; What do you mean crack? Did you feel under pressure to smoke? I hope you do stop again today, you know it makes sense.

Since I quit in September my life is changing quite a bit.

1) Can afford to overpay the mortgage by £300 a month
2) Treated myself to new AV setup, although not from smoking money
3) Decided needed a bigger house for AV setup :)
4) On the day we view the first house we find out we are having another baby (no3) so its no longer a luxury, we actually need to move house. Ann's stopped smoking too now.
5) Missed out on first house after paying for survey etc.. but have had our offer accepted on another house which is much nicer and needs less work than that first one. Extra mortgage payments are within the smoking money limit :) So moving house with cig money from semi-detached to detached :) No more overpayments for a while I suppose, but heh, we are getting a much bigger pad.

Now granted, some of this is quite scary, but you get the idea :) Quitting smoking is a positive thing.

I admire your honesty.
Just remember that 1 ciggy reawakens the little monster.

Hi everyone I gave up exactly one month ago today.  I have been out twice since then and have had a social smoke.  So 4 fags in a month in total.  I class myself as a non smoker - I never get the urge unless I am out.  Also the knowledge I will never not have another one seems to help.  Am I a fraud?

Good luck with it all the rest of you…

You are still an addict IMO.

Am I a fraud? If you smoke on nights out then you aren't a non-smoker, although you have done very well to abstain when you are not on social nights out. I'd recommend reading Mr Carrs book to help you get over the final hurdle.

Ok... :(

No, but you are still a smoker. And because you smoke so few, it gives an illusion that you enjoy smoking.

Zelda!!!

You are a very bad girl and should be chastised. What you really need is someone to take care of those urges. I'm a fool to myself I know, but I'm one of life's givers. I volunteer my services.

Today is day 13. It is also the day my dads ashes get interred, once it would of been a signal to light up cigarette after cigarette to help me through the day, i'm so glad to be free, as i feel it would almost be like sticking 2 fingers up to him to still be smoking.
Part of my determination to quit was because he died of lung cancer and he kept telling me to pack it in. He kept reminding me thats what was killing him, stupid as it seems i used to go and visit him in a hospice and go outside for fag breaks, how stupid can you be?
It's been a tough time since xmas but i now realise that it would have been no harder to deal with without all those extra cigarettes i had.

Red baby :) I may have found someone to help with these urges.  After the trial period I shall let you know  ;)

Kisses as always :)

I'm going to make this my last update on this thread as i feel i've achieved what i wanted which was freedom from smoking.
Just over 2 weeks in and i feel like i have never smoked and don't even think about it much now, unless i have a sudden nasty day of pangs which i can't see happening there's no reason to post.
I passed on my copy to my brother who had mentioned stopping he Quit on Thursday night so another convert.
Just on a side note i was playing on DTD the other day against a player called Easyway who works at the Manchester clinic. He was a 60 a day smoker and when he quit with easyway he was so amazed he pestered Allen Carr to let him work for him until he relented.
Thankyou again to all the Blondes who quit on this thread for your inspiration, Nemesis for sending the book to Tikay and best wishes to any blondes that decide to quit in the future.
Edit: My wife is doing fine as well she stopped the same time as me.

Congratulations Barhell - just keep it going. Now - if only he wrote a book about chocolate.....

He did!  Well about quitting anyway.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Book-Quitting-Allen-Carr/dp/1402731329/sr=1-21/qid=1170612929/ref=sr_1_21/202-8091865-4939026?ie=UTF8&s=books

x

Ordered immediately - thank you!!

 rotflmfao  Good girl.

went out - got drunk - had a fag.

well i shall start again.

I think hypnotherapy or 4 weeks jail sentence can put me off the smoke.

hi guys , iv decided its time to quit the horrid little things .
after 34 years of smoking which has effected my health in a very bad way ,its time to call it a day .
i may need your help ,my wife cant stand my bull in a china shop attitude ,its killing her .
and its only been 1 day ,any how any tips they all would be gratfully recieved.


                             barry

It's easy Barry - read "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking" by Allen Carr. Do that, & you cannot fail.

Good Luck fella.

My aunt died today. She was a lovely woman. She used to live near us when I was a kid so we used to go round there quite a bit. I can remember how the house used to smell of smoke and wanting to play with the flashy lighters and ash trays and stuff. Like everyone she knew smoking was bad for her but she couldn't give it up.

She had a stroke a couple of years ago and almost died then. Her son in law is a doctor so she has had the best possible care from the best doctors, but even so she has been in constant pain ever since and literally going in and out of hospital every week or so with different things that have gone wrong with her. TBH it might have been better if she had died then as although her mind was OK most of the time pretty much all of her body was completely screwed up, some bits paralysed, other bits with sick painful infections. She had tons of operations which have mostly just led to other complications.

I don't know why they don't ban smoking. It does absolutely nothing for you except maybe give you a bit of confidence as a teenager cos you think it makes you look cool to other teenagers. At least if they legalised cocaine or something you would get a nice buzz for a couple of weeks before you slide into the long painful death.

Good luck to everyone who's giving up.

Thoughts are with you and yours.
My dad was the same he had a stroke 10 years ago and carried on smoking, he had suffered for years before that with bronchitis and pneumonia and eventually cancer got him, i know you can never say for sure all these were caused directly by smoking but it certainly didn't help thats for sure.

Just a quick bump on this thread, Vinni how are you doing?

My brother didn't follow the golden rule and he stopped smoking before finishing the book, as a result he is still smoking. I did try to inform him to just carry on smoking and read it but it was his choice.

As for me and Mrs Bar it will be 6 weeks tonight and the only side effects are that i now know who ate all the pies, which is the next thing to try and knock on the head.

P.S. Sofa have you stopped again after your Cigarette you had a couple of weeks back?

Congrats barhell, that's brilliant.

Has sofa--king started again? Listen, he was EATING cigarettes last weekend in Cardiff. I kid you not. Lit ones, too. Honest!

i did start smoking again.,and i did post it on here when i did.,.,but at the moment ive started working with a new company.,.,and very stressed at the moment .,this is NO excuse.,.and as soon as things settle in i will be even more determined to stop as i know how EASY it was last time.,.i know i let the side down.,.and this is now making me more.,and more determined.,to stop.,all my family are guttedand me to.,.,but i feel as this is a big learning curve as even after 4 months of stoping it was still there in the back of my mind.,.,im just settling down with this new firm and VERY soon i will be on the non smoking train again.,.,i just need to know when the time is right.,i know its on its way.,.,i know you will say the time is right now.,but i need to decide.,then i will stop,.,.,its on its way.,.,.
the funny thing is which is pathetic.,i dont even like the taste anymore but i do feel that it relaxes me.,.,THIS IS A SHIT EXCUSE.,,AND I AM ANOYED AT MYSELF.,.,very soon,.i will be a non smoker again.,.,.gl barry

tell your missus to bear with you for a few weeks and you will make it mate