Never thought I'd be saying that! Hard battle at first, but got easier as time went on. Even chewing less sugar-free gum now. Have a few mints from time to time, that's about it.

Yes, the urge is still there once and a while to go have one. Don't ever want to be a slave to cig's again stops me from having one. Not to say the new tax on them, some .60-cents more, now brings the price of cig's to $5.00-$5.25 a pack!!
Can't bring myself to buy one.

Got my friend to stop smoking too. He's been good for almost 2-weeks now. He was only smoking a pack, every couple days, so not as bad of me and a little easier for him to quit.

Lot's of people I know are quitting now too, due to the taxes that were just raised on them. Maybe the state did a good thing by hiking up the prices, it's making people quit!

Cheers, John

Good for YOU!!!!!!


I am celebrating 3 weeks not smoking. I know that LC eating has HELPED me stop smoking. When I stopped before I would binge on sugar and carbs, then freak out about my smoking and go on what I would call the *nicotine diet* - smoking instead of eating.

Never thought I could do both at one time!!

Congrats!

Doing both LC and quitting smoking at the same time! Wowsers. I wanted to do both, but felt no way I could. Figured I'd wait til towards the end of the weight loss to quit the cig's.

Congrats to you on 3-weeks clean!

Cheers, John

Way to go....I quit smoking two weeks ago tomorrow and I feel great. I started with the patch, which helped the first two days, but then I left it off. I went through some pretty bad craves last Saturday, but the craving comes in peaks and goes away. Just ride it out. I did not want to go back to the patch because it was like.....duh, I just quit nicotine, I don't want to put any back in my system. However, I do think it was great at first.

Good luck. It may sound silly but I wore (hey, that was past tense and sounded great!) a rubber band around my wrist. Everytime I felt a desire for that cig, I smacked myself. I quite once for 12 years (ok, dumb to start up again), but did so with the rubber band method.

What I did learn was that as much as I love that cig (and I do love it) I can't have it just sometimes. That is the mistake I made when I went back to smoking and I know better this time.

Isn't that the nature of all addiction, be it carbs, alcohol, cigarettes, sex, etc.

It serves the purpose of assuaging a "need". I view it as sweeping a problem under the carpet so I can't see it ... or pretend I can't see it. Eventually I have two problems: the growing mound and the original problem!

Important lesson to grasp.
Take care.

I wish it were as simple as just quiting smoking, or eating the wrong things. Too bad there is so much baggage we lug around with us and it weighs down our life, tieing us to additions. I have tried to quit smoking (and have done so, I think) , and have repeatedly tried to loose weight, and I personally have a lot harder time with the latter. You see, when I quit smoking there are no choices to make, but changing my eating....that is tough. But I hate being tied to these additions like some sort of druggie!

Kodi,

Next time you get into that "fed-up" mood write down all the reasons why you hate smoking, and being fatter than you want to be and being addicted.

Whip yourself into such an emotional frenzy about it that you reach the point where you are ready to say NEVER AGAIN - I have had enough of this and WILL DO whatever it takes not to feel like this again.

I have found LCing to be an easy diet to stick to - I'm never hungry, I've made a lot of new friends doing it.

Take care.

You hit the nail on the head there. I am in recovery for other addictions too (12 step programs), one being for alchoholism. This is what I tell my recovering alchoholic friends who DON'T understand my food issues:

"If you want to try to understand what people like me deal with EVERY SINGLE DAY, try some controlled drinking 3 times a day and see how insane you become." (as you probably know, alchoholics are incapable of having JUST ONE drink )

They just sit there and stare at me dumbfounded and say, "oooooh wow, that would suck"

Hang in there. This forum has been such a help to me. Everyone is so supportive

Laura

Laura,

Although I do not know what one goes through when fighting alcoholism, I can only assume that it is similar to quiting smoking, but worse. Really, I think it is worse to quit eating the wrong things, but others find quiting smoking harder. I image neither one is as hard as fighting the bottle.


Fiona,

Thanks for the advise. I got the smoking licked for the time being. I really think it helps to take the focus off the cigs by begining my fight with carbs. I know I can eat meat, but I am confused about something. What can I have with my meat? Everything, even green beans for heaven's sake, has carbs. I can't just eat meat. Do you have any recomendations to to a meal plan, filler stuff. Since I won't be eating bread, potatoes or rice, it leaves a big whole in my diet.

I quit this morning, and I want to DIE!!!!!! No, I want to shoot people!!!! Not really, but I am so anxious!!!!! My DH smokes (he's just not ready to quit), my manager/friend smokes (he was going to quit with me today, but couldn't hang!!). I'm not going to ask everyone around me to quit, or go outside, because this is my choice and my battle, but the smoke smells so good (better than it ever tasted).

I went and bought some patches about an hour ago (haven't smoked in 13 hours), and it is helping some, but I am a wreck! Does anyone out there have any other devices (besides the patch) that are helpful???

I am DETERMINED to beat this -

Anna

Hi Anna,

I know what you are going thru! The first 2-3 days are nothing short of hell.

The only thing I can say is, try a drinking straw, cut in half. Pretend it's a cig when you want one.
Take a drag thur it, when you crave a cig. Seemed to help me a little.

Also try something like sugar free gum or mints. Just having something for flavor in my mouth seems to help too.

Just think how much pain you will have to go thur again if you give in now! That's what helped me make it the first few days - week. I didn't want to go thur that hell of withdrawal ever again!

Be strong! Stick it out! You too can say your not a slave to the cig's very soon!

I'm over 6-weeks myself, never thought I'd be saying that!

You CAN do this!! John

I'm posting this in the wrong section (Nicotine Club) but since you ask we are allowed lots of vegetables. It is only the first two weeks we need to stick to 20g. I sometimes wrap my beef in lettuce and have it that way.

Often I have it with cauliflour or broccoli. Sometimes I stir-fry it with pepper and beansprouts.

Whatever struggle we are facing is the "hardest" ever. It really is. It is like fighting your way through a field of dense overgrown grass. As you keep taking the same path day after day you wear down a path and clear a way for yourself. It gets easier.

Hang in there Anna and Laura - it will be well worth it.
Take care.

John & Fiona and all:

Day 2 - and I know I will live after all. It looks like I might not even go postal, and won't shoot people! The cravings are still HORRIBLE, but the anxiety and headaches and slight nausea are much slighter. The drinking straw thing is a bit of a help. I also got some of the spray breath stuff - a taste in my mouth helps also.

Did anyone else notice a keener sense of smell so quickly?? And, I , like someone else who posted in this forum, am finding that everything tastes much saltier. I brought 2 slim-jims to work this morning, and they taste so salty, I'm not sure I like them anymore. Same with the pork rinds. Actually, everything is tasting off - which is probably a good thing. I am not yet at goal, so I'm glad that the thought of hich carb food isn't tempting in the least.

Another question - was anyone else very tired?? Is this another withdrawal symptom. I was in bed by 8:30 last nite - very unusual - and woke up late (6:30 rather than 5:30). Do not smoking slow our metabolism? If so, what can we do to raise it, or does this pass with time? And - my IQ seems to have dropped about 100 points!! Really, I can't seem to think straight - everything (daily activities at work) are taking much longer than usual because I have to struggle through the thought processes.
Am I really weird, or is this part of my private withdrawal hell??

Anna

Good job, on day 2 !

All normal stuff your going thur. I was a bit foggy with thinking straight the first week. Tired : yes, the cig's give you a boost / kick. I noticed being more tired the first week, then it got better. Now have just as much or more power and strength. More than just being on the LC WOL too.

Smell's : Augh! want a difference. The house, the car, and the office.. ewwww just awful smelling from years of cig smoke. Had to re-wash clean clothes, that were in my drawers, and washed already. The smoke get's in to them. Shampooed the car and sprayed it with air fresheners.

Food: Havn't noticed a big taste difference personally. Taste a little bit more in spices.

Anxiety and headaches: Headaches passed in the first 2-3 days. Anixety has lasted for a while now. Not sure if it is just from quitting the cig's. I feel like my heart is racing a little and you want to do something. Like your forgeting to do something. (Probably forgeting to buy or carry cig's and a lighter with me) That to me is still a little weird, always thinking I'm out of cig's, have to go get some. lol

Glad to see you stuck it out ! Congrat's on day 2. Day 3 is coming quick!

Cheers, John

Moms, you are doing great. If it helps, the cravings get further and further apart and shorter and shorter in duration. When people suffer from depression we tell them the same thing, and it is true here too. I am over my 2 week period and if I can do it ANYONE can, because I am obsessive about smoking (or at least I was). I truly liked it, so it felt like loosing a good friend....but that friend was killing me. Kinda like being in a really bad relationship, but you took the right move and got rid of that pesky beast....and it is not a friend.


Learn from my mistake, too. When I first quit smoking, over 15 years ago, I had a strong reason to. So I quit cold turkey and it lasted for 12 years. I would not have had to go through this again if I did not give in to a nagging thought...."can't I just be like others I know...you know, the type that claim they can take or leave that cigarette." I know now, bad thing to try. You see, I still like cigarettes and never grew to hate them. So one day I picked up a cigarette "just to see" and that lead to another, and another and...well, three years later I quit again.

I feel great and know my limitations now. The smoking dreams have started (I remember them last time). But that's ok, I really do not want one bad enough to really even tempt me. Trying a LC diet is keeping my mind off the cigs, too.

So good luck, and hang in there, and if you get tempted, remember what happened to me.