The FastDay Forum

Fasting no problem
Increasing NEAT no problem
Drinking cut down loads (except for Friday night )
Smoking Just can't do it. I have a nicotine patch on today but I still went and bought fags at lunchtime. I know today's a fast but hell surely I can do this as well?

Is this my last rebellion seeing as I'm more in control of everything else? Any tips? And I don't mean filter tips

Cheers
Alf

OK there is no real secret to this. You have to avoid smokers. We have had 5 smokers come to stay for long visits, and they all ended up non-smokers. If you are around people who find it repulsive, like kids and ex-smokers, it definitely helps.

The first time I gave up (and there were 4 times before it stuck) I made a huge list of little things that needed doing that I had never got round to - light bulbs changing, fixing this and that. Every time I had the urge, I would do something off the list. Failing that I broke walnuts and preserved them in honey! Kept my fingers busy, and the walnuts and honey are delicious caramalised and then broken into home made ice-cream.

The last and final time I got pneumonia, and now I'd rather lick something truly vile than smoke. It is the lasting method, but not for everyone.

I quit smoking easily, I switched to electronic cigarettes. Cheaper, less dangerous, feels better, no willpower needed.

If my 76 year old MIL can give up then anyone can Mind you she does have a lot of the nicorette lozenges but that has to be better than the smoke.

I've read somewhere that the chemical dependency is gone after a few days (3 or 4) but its the psychological habit that's harder to break. I like the idea of needing to do something with yr hands and making a list of odd jobs. Or, if you are at work, what about a silly but absorbing game on yr phone - Sudoko, Angry Birds? - that you are only allowed to play during what would have been a cigarette break, so it feels like a treat and a bit of relaxation time (which is what a fag break is).

Gillian Riley (great book on over eating btw) also has a book about smoking. When we tell ourselves that we 'can't' have something we automatically crave it. Which is why most diets fail. If I tell you now NOT to think about a blue bear - what are you thinking about? Yes, exactly, a blue bear. If I tell you that you CAN'T have a cigarette, then what do you want now?

It's not rocket science, is it?

On 5:2 nothing is forbidden, just delayed. Which is why it works psychologically. So don't ban cigarettes - just delay them. Eg 'For this next hour I am choosing not to smoke. In an hour I can have a cigarette if I choose'. Just keep delaying them (indefinitely!) but letting yourself know that you are making a CHOICE rather than being subject to a 'ban'.

You can do it, restrict where you smoke and increase reducing the number you smoke, reduce the strength of fags, reduce buying packets, think of all the health implications.

Be encouraged and keep giving up and you will win. Many of us have given up and you will too
All the best

Just think of how much nicer you will smell, especially if you have a special person that likes to kiss you, mmmmm

Ballerina x

Electronic cigarettes are the way to go. You get the nicotine your body craves, but none of the harmful chemicals in cigarettes. Plus you don't even need to have tobacco flavour, you can have cherry, black forest gataux, vanilla custard, plum, true menthol, even chicken or chilli flavours (i dont recomend the chilli).
Hubby started 'vaping' (called vaping because what you exhale is water vapour not smoke) at 2pm on November 22nd 2010 and hasn't touched a tobacco cigarette since. His chest has cleared, his sense of smell has returned, he no longer pongs of cigarette smoke, in fact the smell of smokers now disgusts him. Plus its cheaper than cigarettes.
A Started kit can set you back about £20, then you buy top up bottles of liquid at around the £3 to £4 mark usually a bottle a week. If you are in the UK I can recommend
http://www.safercigs.co.uk/STARTER_KITS ... 85794.aspx

I do know a lot about electronic cigarettes as I am a reviewer of them just PM if you want to chat.

Myself I went for White Cloud, http://www.whitecloudelectroniccigarettes.com/, since they were "best in test" at some sites. Happy with the brand.

If you buy them, make sure to get those with the highest nicotin level, no point in using the the weaker ones, you'll just have to pay more for the nicotin and puff longer. Also take the grey tip, the light simulating a burning tip blinks when it's time to charge the battery

Don't order a package too big, you might have to pay customs.

Sorry - I'm dead against nicotine replacement stuff - it's just as addictive as ciggies and some research indicates it's carcinogenic too...

The best place for information and support on stopping, that I know of, is http://www.whyquit.com. It's FREE and it will empower you to stop. now. cold-turkey. done. It only takes 2 to 3 days for the nicotine to register zero in your system, then you're on the home run.

I quit at 01:00hrs 25th March 2013 and am really happy and have honestly not looked back - you will not regret stopping. n.b. The weight gain came before quitting - it was quitting that made me address my weight, which I'd been ignoring somewhat up until then.

Go for it - it's a life saver. Do PM me if you've any questions - this is something I feel very strongly about. All the best, FatDog.

Hmmm! I would love to read the research that shows its carcinogenic. I haven't found any reputable research yet.
If you are following what the media says, don't forget that the Governments are losing billions in tax revenue because of loss of cigarette taxes (higher in most countries of the world) and they like to spread misinformation.
There is no denying that the e-cigs are as addictive as cigarettes, but the nicotine of itself is about as harmful as caffine. Its all the other chemicals you want to get rid of.

One aspect of e-cigs is that you control the level of nicotine, and can cut down in stages to zero nicotine if you want. Cigarettes don't tell you how much nicotine you are smoking, they tell you if the tar is high or low, but the nicotine is still the same in the low tar and high tar cigarettes.

Look up Professor Jerry Stimpson, he works for N.I.C.E and deals in 'harm reduction' in medicine. He has a lot to say about e-cigs. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/health/ne ... 713051.ece

I think your doing too much at once, if your buying cigarettes on a fast day that means your using them as a bit of help, I smoke loads more on fast days and plan to give up AGAIN in January once the weight has gone. I have had great success in the past when I gave up smoking, drinking and went on a diet, I managed to do all 3 at once but I'm back smoking again, I got fat again and well I'll always like my booze. I'm not putting any pressure on myself with this WOE and I hope once I'm happy with myself I can address the smoking in a similar manor. Give yourself a break as your not ready to give up because when you are you will

@Julieathome I'll try to dig some of it out - most of the stuff I've seen is on http://www.whyquit.com - the guys there make NO money from the site, they hate the fact that people are being encouraged to pay to stop smoking.

Hard causative proof that nicotine is carcinogenic, maybe not, but you've only got to look at the cancers caused by the non-smoking (e.g. chewing) tobacco to be seriously concerned.

If I recollect correctly, amongst other things, some of the research really calls in to question the use of patches during pregnancy as there are indications that high levels of nicotine can be teratogenic. I've not read the site recently so I'll need to go back and check (I think it's mainly Canadian research). There is no question as to whether nicotine is toxic - it is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine_poisoning .

I know that some of the MSM are having a go at e-cigs and there is a massive debate to be had as to whether the damage limitation is worth the continuing nicotine addiction (and possible risk).

To my mind the problem is that people are made to feel that stopping 'cold-turkey' is just too hard: it can be hard for some but, once past those 2 / 3 days, you're dealing with habit not addiction. That's the way medics 'should' be encouraging folk to stop - give smokers the information and the support - not touting another drug that will (in the near future) be making yet more money for the pharmaceutical companies.

I sympathise with e-cig users, and was tempted myself, but simply didn't want to replace one (costly) addiction with another.

Anyway, we might need to take this to PM level as I fear we're rather heading off topic! The stop-smoking fora are full of flame-wars on this issue (I've never been involved)

Chewing tobacco is still tobacco, its the plant that causes the problems, not the extracted nicotine. Aubergines contain nicotine, so do tomatoes.
Everything is toxic, it depends on how strong it is. Oxygen is vital for life, yet its toxic at quite low levels.
The aspect here is harm reduction, e-cigs are much, much better than smoking. Giving smokers the choice of e-cig usage is better than taking the stance of 'A.S.H' and their ilk with their 'give up or die' stance. People using e-cigs have an 85% chance of totally giving up cigarette smoking, where patches and other NRT's have a 5% chance of success.

It really is that you do it when YOU'RE ready & you do it the way that it works for YOU.

My beloved & I gave up smoking together 5 years ago. I was 20-a-day & he was probably close on 40 !

We used tablets from the doctor to start with & through no fault of his own the tablets reacted VERY badly with my beloved & he actually (after 15 years) told my father a few home truths. NOT GOOD. Anyhow, we came off the tablets (although the family damage was irreversible thanks to my Dad ......sorry, sore point since my mother died last year without ever having visited us again .... but that's a whole other VERY sad tale) .... but that's not the point I wanted to make, which is..........

We all do it our own way :

Me - if you had told me that there were no cigs in the house I would have climbed the walls & probably thumped you in order to get some - I couldn't take the idea not not being able to have a cigarette ever again. However, with the packet hidden in the drawer (where it still is!), it was my choice & I could control it & do it.

OH - don't put temptation in his way. If he had known about my secret packet he would have killed me for it. He had to not have temptation in his way!

The point is - different ways of achieving the same end-game - you do what works for you