Quote:
Originally Posted by DoubleF
Whether you use e-cigs vs actual cigs, doesn't matter to me. If you are serious in thinking about quitting, my first reply to you is not to bother considering such a crazy leap.
Rather than thinking about quitting, you should be considering REDUCING your use. No excuses matter here because it's easily doable.
I challenged a buddy to reduce from 4 packs a day to half that in 3-4 months. He got to 4 packs in 2 months (Crazy leap). Every 2 months I asked him to half that mainly for financial reasons, but told him that if health was another concern to him, it was a good goal too. 6 months later, he was at half a cig to 2 cigs a day (about a pack to less than a pack a week). It was around then that I said that he was in range to quit entirely if he wanted to.
If this is too extreme for you, consider reducing by 1/4 per 2 months. In 1 year, you should be down to 1/4 of that you started off with. But you have to be honest with yourself. Try quitting when you're at 2 a day. Personally for me, the biggest hurdle was that itch to do something with your hands.
And don't let people bull#### you with a contradictory belief. Smoking is cool. It makes you feel good/better when you do it. When quitting, what you're truly trying to pry yourself away from at times is the reliance on that cool image (worse when you have lots of smoking buddies) / that feeling of relaxation that comes with smoking and instead rely on yourself for that feeling.
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Holy crap. I have no idea where you'd even find the time to smoke 4 packs a day. That's impressive. I was a pack a day smoker. I tried to quit the first time, and used toothpicks as an aid. All that did was make me want to light up a toothpick and reminded me I wasn't smoking. Shortly thereafter I quit cold turkey. It was the best way for me, as I found if you just stop it all together, then the cravings get out of your system quicker. Sure the first week or two sucked, but after that it was much easier. I think I'd be thinking of the one/two/ten cigarettes I'd ration myself to, and then I'd worry I'd be going through them too quickly. It'd be pretty easy to justify just one more smoke, as I'd have cut it down already, but it made more sense to me to eliminate them totally. I couldn't justify having one if I quit. I also liked knowing how long it had been since my last smoke. Then, you get to the point where you can't remember the last time you craved one. That's a good day. It's been about 12 years since I quit, and now I'm the guy who complains if you smoke to close to the door. Yes, I'm that guy.
My biggest complaint about the smoking culture was all the borrowing. People would want to borrow a cigarette and a lighter. Those are the only two things you need to smoke. I don't like sharing, pretty much anything, so I also declined when people wanted to bum a smoke. They'd always reply that they'd never lend me one. That was find, as I could buy my own. Because I didn't give any out, I still had some for myself. One girl I knew hated that part so much, that she started smoking menthol cigarettes. She didn't like them at first, but then got used to them. She did it so no one would ask to borrow one, as people knew menthols were gross.