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[coffee mate]

Hey Stella, my mum managed to give up completely with her e-cig, she used to say its the "kick" at the back of the throat she needed, and with the e-cig you do get that "kick". We all need a crutch of some sort, don't we, some have pills others a little drink,  with me its my ciggies.
Do what is right for you Stella, life's short enough, without having to be miserable,Id never consider going cold turkey, it may be OK for some but not me, I just cant do it, and thats that.  Good on yer Stella, your doing brill

[Stella_al]

 

my darlings......with such non judgemental friends as you........anything is possible!

[janeA]

I have been reading most of the posts on here about giving up smoking.

I gave up last August, I was having a operation on my eye in September and could have had to keep my head down for at least a week afterwards, so thought a month before, time to quit.

Patches worked a treat and by December was completely on my own.

I have found it a really long, lonely and difficult road to travel, BUT I am still not  smoking and proud of it.  I miss smoking like I miss a friend, I really do think its the hardest thing I have ever done.  I actually dont want to smoke again, but would love to try a patch out again to see what it does for me!! lol

I have put on weight, over a stone, devastated, now I cant lose it, blame menopause and no ciggies to supress the appetite, low self esteem, depression.  BUT I am not smoking.  Often ask myself will it get better with time and I am sure it will and the best of this forum I know I am not alone.

Well done to all who have quit or cut down and thank you for sharing your experiences cos it is so important to know that we are not on our own .

[Bette]

  Jane - you should be really proud of yourself! Have a  from me.
Bette x

[Pook]

Well done all for giving up or cutting down, its real achievement. Especially during meno with all the symptoms.

I've never been smoker, tried it in my teens then found my gran had lung cancer, so left it alone after that. So don't really understand the enjoyment and need for ciggy thing. Now chocolate that seems to be my thing....

[Cazikins]

Well done Jane 
You're right - it isn't easy. But we knew it was the right thing to do, & we knew we had to give it a good old try.... And do you know what???
We did it. 

Now I wake up every morining & my chest is not weezing. 
Now I wake up every morning & I'm not coughing & spluttering. 
I now wake up every morning, & the first thing I'm not doing is grabbing a fag out of the packet & lighting it up. 

I look back now & think "how the hell did I do it" I mean - I am going through a very difficuilt time of my life what with the menopause, being out of work etc - what a time to do it.... but I felt it was now or never.

I still live by my rule - & this is what gets me through it:

"TODAY I CHOOSE NOT TO SMOKE" & I say that to myself every morning.
Tomorrow is another day, but I am not scared about facing it.


Yes I still miss the old weeds.
Yes I still miss that first drag on a fag - there is no substitute believe me  .

It's like the title of the topic says: 

Good & bad points about giving up smoking.

 

Love Cazikins xxx
 

[terriw]

It's been 6 months now. I still miss them, still on occasions get a craving for one but I know that if I weakened and had one that I'd really hate myself.

I've gained about a stone in all but it does seem that I've stopped gaining now. Not lost any yet but there's hope!!! Harrys-Girl, how are you doing on that diet? I think I need it!! 

WELL DONE EVERYONE whether you're cutting down or quitting. It all takes guts and strength and thanks to all here who are sharing their experiences as it really does help.

 

[Harrys-girl]

Hi Anni

6 months is bloody fantastic! My warning though is...6-10 months was the hardest part of the quit for me, so hang in there sweetheart. xx

I gained 2 stone when I quit and even though I have always been an exercise 'freak' I could not get the weight off. HOWEVER I started the Dukan diet and I have lost 1.5 stone in 3 months AND I'm on HRT too. I am soooo pleased. It's a low carb but low fat diet, so you have to like meat but unlike Atkins you can not have fats. It's a love hate diet though, but it worked for me. I went up to a size 14 (which is big for me) form an 8-10. I have just got back into my size 10 jeans, so another ½ stone and I will call it a day. I bought the book from Amazon and it's worth £ 5.00 of anyones money

I tried weight watchers, slimming world and Rosemary Conley but with no success...however I am a huge believer that there is no 'one size fits all' diet. It depends on you. A friend of mine has just lost 3 stone on the Rosemary diet though.

To quit smoking, go through the peri, start HRT AND cope with weight gain is enough to send most people mad...but I'm still standing girls   xx

[janeA]

Thank you everyone for your comments.  I agree with Harrys Girl, this 6-10 months time has been really hard, but still now smoked.

I do find now I appear to be having what seems like panic attacks,low self esteem attacks couple of times a month which is not halped but having put on this weight.  I had been slowly putting on the weight before I gave up smoking, and put on a stone since  I packed up, but I am finding it really difficult to lose it, lose 2lbs one week up 3 the next :'(Its one very hard slog.  My partner likes skinny women and as I am a size 18 at the moment up from a size 12-14, as you can imagine I am really beating myself up about it. Some weeks I can cope and then as I said above I panic.


I am still plodding on, make a note of when I am feeling low and see if there is a pattern and be ready for it.

I have mentioned before I wont take HRT, because gaining weight has been mentioned.  I knew I would put weight on packing up smoking I really cant afford to take HRT and put on even more. 

Looking back, since the Doctors have stopped seeing me in the clinic for no smoking, I now go down once a month for a weigh in, it must be December-January time, I have lost, gained and basicaI ally have done nothing at all since then.  Very very deflating!!

I am on primrose oil by the way and ymea tablets!!

Thanks for all your help
Jane xxx

[Harrys-girl]

What a fantastic post Harrys-girl, wanted to say well done and what an inspiration to other people. 

xxxx

That's  very kind of you, however we females can cope with anything!

[Stella_al]

Keep going darlings,

1 day / 1 month / 6 months are all such achievements 

Please take it from me I am soooo jealous of your willpower, much more than any supermodels body

Everyone says its the best thing they've done - enjoy your power!

Cant advise on the weight loss - I've always been an exercise girl. Had to give up my normal busy training last year (injuries + oh the aches - must be the meno) and weight just increased a little. Started zumbaring, toned up but weight stayed the same  (and No I dont look like Schwarzenegger now!)

Hows about, (if you can cos I know everyone's busy + everything aches), get a couple of those cheapo 10 minute solution dvds from Amazon. Get happy on those endorphins (or be so kn*ckered after you just want to drink water + sleep!) And remember, exercise burns the most calories the day after training, not immediately after, so you'll have plenty of cals "in the bank" for tomorrow 

Ummmmmmm not mentioning the quitting at the mo.

Just done an excel sheet to calculate 10 fags a day timetable 

Gotta pack up soon though......really soon.....something in pipeline.....but just trying to fill my boots now

[terriw]

Hiya

Heard a lot about this Dukan diet.
I kind of did the Atkins a few years back, lost a stone and found it really easy. I didn't eat lots of meat however, just cut out all the lazy carbs.

I really need to do something again now. In the last 7 months since packing up I've gained over a stone and a half. I'm exercising more and eating less now but it's still hard to shift!!

 

[Stella_al]

Ok, trying new technique today.......

I am allowing myself to smoke.

Yes I know its cheating BUT and its a big one for me........yesterday Mr. Walnut Whip n I shared 7-8 ciggies ALL DAY.

Today have just lit my 4th - normally would be on my  ahem  lots more......

Only had no. 3 cos I was sooooooooo constipated - sorry I really am in TMI mood today 

Wooohoooooo!

Thank you so much for those words of wisdom
"The ones you DONT smoke" !

Maybe this is worse but is getting to my brain  better than all the other stuff I've tried!

[coffee mate]

Stella all I know is my GP told me that theres great benfits to our health for every ciggy we dont smoke.
She said its better to cut down if you dont think you can stop completely as we're less likely to fail.
 By just cutting down we dont feel to stressed...so I'm listening to her..... to hell with all the rest!!

[Stella_al]

Coffee, thankyou so much for that 

Its true about the stress, as you can see by my previous posts, have gone totally loco with this quitting malarkey 

So that phrase from your GP has been so inspiring!

Havent mentioned have knocked booze on the head too (at the same time), not that I am a ****head just very  sociable beer drinker (after my karate + killer salsa  )......wont say have given up, cos I know I will have a small beer when we go to Madrid - cant eat tapas without it!

Well done again to all the ladies who have managed to find that willpower, but in a strange way, special thanks to Coffee for being here + still smoking...

"Cheers to Cutting" 

Off to salsa now 

Al xx

In a very Bridget Jones way: "Today not too bad - 2 choc cookies,
4.5 fags + no booze.......however nite is still young + Juan Sheet may be at salsa !"