Stop Smoking ???

[Martin Cole]

quote Gert du Preez:

At one stage, I smoked 80 per day 😮
.

😮 😮 How did you find time to smoke 80 a day Gert.

Good on you for packing up though…keep at it, no matter what (!)

[Gert du Preez]

I’ll come post here every time I get a craving. A craving lasts for 3 minutes (so the clever ones say) so by the time I’m done logging in and posting, the craving is over (-)

Well, maybe not every time, I still need to work

[Robert Lambie]

Good for you Gert, well done mate… keep it up!

I remember in science at school…

the teacher brought out a Haggis. He Cut it in half in front of us.
it was black all the way through, dry and firm.

He then lifted out a dark pink shiney soft Jelly.
He cut it in half easily, it was as bright, wet and soft all the way through.

He then said,
the black haggis is not actually haggis, its a lung from a 40 cigarettes per day smoker.
The pink soft one is a non-smoker of same age.

I swear they both did not even resemble each other.
My mum smokes allot and i often tell her the same story in the hope she will cut back or stop. apparently your lug will begin healing itself as soon as you stop. so the sooner the better….

hope you keep it up mate, well done!

[Harry Cleary]

quote Robert Lambie:

apparently your lug will begin healing itself

You put them in your mouth, not your ear! 😮 😀

[Robert Lambie]

:lol1: :lol1:

forgot my smell checker. 😉

[Phill Fenton]

Well done Gert – I smoked for 20 years before giving up (a few times) and finally succeeding completely about 16 years ago.

It’s not easy giving up and the important thing to remember if you lapse is to keep on trying. One lapse and one cigarette does not mean you have to give up on giving up. The benefits are enormous but the downside is, without the calming effects of nicotine, you will become as miserable and grumpy as me 😕

[Gert du Preez]

Problem: I’m a serial coffee drinker as well. Now I drink even more. Replace ciggies with coffee….

Problem is, if I had my coffee I want to smoke. Got to do something to get my mind away from this…..

[Martin Pearson]

quote Phill Fenton:

Well done Gert – I smoked for 20 years before giving up (a few times) and finally succeeding completely about 16 years ago.

It’s not easy giving up and the important thing to remember if you lapse is to keep on trying. One lapse and one cigarette does not mean you have to give up on giving up. The benefits are enormous but the downside is, without the calming effects of nicotine, you will become as miserable and grumpy as me 😕

It’s just a coincidence Phill, I’m even more miserable & grumpy than you & I still smoke :lol1:

Gurt, sure there will be many pitfalls along the way but if you want to give up for the right reasons then I have been told by plenty of people who have done it that it is possible. I tried a few times over the years but only because other people said I should, the thing that has always stopped me giving up for good is that I don’t really want to which makes it just about impossible. 😳

[Gert du Preez]

I’ve passed the 3 day mark now. 😀

In some ways today is harder than yesterday. I think the actual cravings for the nicotine is much less, what remains is the pshycological craving……

Also, because the cravings are less, the devil on my shoulder tells me I can smoke 1 as reward for lasting 3 days. The bloody devil makes sense…..

Keep busy, and things are OK.

[Phill Fenton]

Well done – keep it up. It will get a lot easier I promise 😀

[Mike Grant]

Good luck Gert. I was the lucky one in my family. Never found that I needed the urge to smoke, but grew up with both my parents being heavy smokers and my two brothers when they were old enough. I must have stunk to high heaven in them days. There was less smoke down the pub. 🙄
My dad managed to kick the habit aged 65. He had a sore throat that wouldn’t heal and the doctor said it was because of his smoking as it was aggravating his throat. The doctor gave him two choices, 1. Give up smoking so that the healing can start, or 2. They will have to operate and put in a plastic windpipe. Needless to say he gave up there and then and never touched another ciggy until he passed away aged 85. My mum on the other hand was a total chain smoker all her life until she passed away aged 82.
I consider myself very lucky indeed with those odds. 😀

[Robert Lambie]

quote Gert du Preez:

I’ve passed the 3 day mark now. 😀

In some ways today is harder than yesterday. I think the actual cravings for the nicotine is much less, what remains is the pshycological craving……

Also, because the cravings are less, the devil on my shoulder tells me I can smoke 1 as reward for lasting 3 days. The bloody devil makes sense…..

Keep busy, and things are OK.

Just keep reporting in here mate, we will keep you right.
no slacking though, one cigarette and your banned! (:)

joking… :lol1:

but "two cigarettes, and you skating on thin ice!"

:lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

[Gordon Connelly]

Good luck with that, Gert. I smoke about 30 a day so let me run through the advantages of quitting for you…

As a consequence of quitting smoking you will;

1) Live longer (see footnote 1)
2) Have much more money (8 quid for 20)
3) Have whiter teeth and look better
4) Smell better (to non smokers at least)
5) Have more time for other things
6) Not need to drive to the local garage at 1.15 am
7) find it easier to sustain erections (according to an NHS leaflet I read recently… I guess this could be "off topic" Robert and you have a place for discussing such things but I haven’t found it yet, I’m all ears though…)

Footnote 1: living longer might not be all it’s cracked up to be and would presumably depend on how enjoyable you find life. I happen to be in the DVD replication business and we recently produced some "entertainment" DVDs for old folks homes… I managed to watch about 8 minutes and came away thinking maybe living longer isn’t such a good idea.

Anyway, all the best, Gert. I’m thinking of acupuncture myself.

Gordon

[Gert du Preez]

Eh, Gordon,

You considering acupuncture because the smoke broke the spine of your pricker….. 😀 😀

Gee Wiz, 8 Quid for 20….. In Namibia it is about 2 Pound sterling (N$ 28.00)

When I started it was N$ 1-50 a pack. So now one cigarette costs what a pack did back then!

I’m good today. Feeling upbeat about all this. Now I just need to work on a reward for myself if I manage to pull through. Maybe import that Calmini suspension upgrade for my 4×4 if I’m clean for 1 year. (It is only 6 months smoke money, anyways)

Or maybe a 3D plastic printer. Now there is something I can play with!

[Gordon Connelly]

I’m not sure how to respond to these allegations… let me get back to you after thinking about it all and consulting a few key people.

G

[Martin Cole]

quote Gordon Connelly:

Good luck with that, Gert. I smoke about 30 a day so let me run through the advantages of quitting for you…

As a consequence of quitting smoking you will;

1) Live longer (see footnote 1)
2) Have much more money (8 quid for 20)
3) Have whiter teeth and look better
4) Smell better (to non smokers at least)
5) Have more time for other things
6) Not need to drive to the local garage at 1.15 am
7) find it easier to sustain erections (according to an NHS leaflet I read recently… I guess this could be “off topic” Robert and you have a place for discussing such things but I haven’t found it yet, I’m all ears though…)

Footnote 1: living longer might not be all it’s cracked up to be and would presumably depend on how enjoyable you find life. I happen to be in the DVD replication business and we recently produced some “entertainment” DVDs for old folks homes… I managed to watch about 8 minutes and came away thinking maybe living longer isn’t such a good idea.

Anyway, all the best, Gert. I’m thinking of acupuncture myself.

Gordon

:lol1: :lol1: :lol1: very good

Gert keep at it mate, your doing really well.

Just worked out I packed up in 1989, looking back I can’t believe I ever smoked.

[Simon Worrall]

Respect.

[Nicola McIntosh]

good for you gert keep it up, I used to smoke to but gave up before i had kids and cant stand it now….hope you get to that stage too 😀

nik

[Quentin Tomkies]

Good luck Gert, I hope you can stick it out mate. I smoked 30 a day for 25 years, and gave up about 3 years ago. The physical cravings are gone now, but I still love the smell when someone lights up. I really miss smoking, and because I smoked roll-your-own tobacco, I miss the whole act – having a break, rolling a smoke and then enjoying it.
It’s a bit like seeing an old friend everyday, and never being allowed to speak to them again.
And there’s always something missing when you’re having a beer…

Cheers
Q

[Gert du Preez]

@ Quentin

You telling me, mate! (I smoked store bought, roll yer own, and pipe, depending on what took my fancy. There are 3 Kayser pipes sitting on my office window sill. I sometimes put the unlit pipe in my mouth. Must look daft)

Beer. Well, Namibia used to be DSWA – German South West Africa. We have a large German population, and a LOT of German culture trickled through to the local Afrikaans community. Including semi-professional levels of Beer and Jaggermeister consumption 😀

It is HARD to have my usual few litres every evening, and nothing to smoke. I console myself that at least with no smoking I can enjoy the beer a couple of decades longer :lol1:

[Cheryl Smith]

one moment at a time….

[David Rowland]

as a non smoker, the last few governments went tough on smoking here in the UK.

It is an easy target to make money out of us, they add a few pence on to 20 a year. The tax is huge on cigs etc

Advertising was banned on TV many years ago

Formula 1 had its advertising removed (remember JP Specials?)

Advertising on boxes has changed significantly

Where they are located in shops / counters

The packets have large Smoking Kills adverts on them
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/pers … o-far.html

Also, smoking in public places and work is now illegal, you have to put up stupid stickers saying this is a smoke free zone or whatever it said. Smoking in pubs not allowed only outside which i have mixed feelings.

In my quiet town, its the kids that smoke now!! not the adults

[Gert du Preez]

LOL, Dave, kids will be kids…..

But I must say this type of thing is starting to take positive effect in my country. When I was a youngster, maybe 60% of high school seniors smoked. And in a school with 1000 students, we had 1, maybe 2, pregnancies per year. Heck, we could get permanently suspended from school if you were found with condoms in your posession….

Now maybe 20% of the kids smoke, but condoms are handed out free of charge, and 1 in 10 girls get knocked up before completing school.

Not to mention the level of recreational drug use. Almost ALL kids do it. In my time, I was one of only 3 or 4 students I know of that occasionally rolled a spliff. Now its cocaine, ecstassy, and what not.

BTW, I’m still not smoking, and (reluctantly) cut back to only 3 or 4 pints of beer per day. Any more, and the flesh becomes weak……..
😀

[Quentin Tomkies]

Good on ya Mate, that’s the first month done! It’ll slowly get easier from now… Any close calls? Or have you resisted the temptation to ‘just try one’.

Cheers
Q

[Gert du Preez]

Quenton,

Yup, a few close calls. And I smoked a cigar when I heard my wife is pregnant again………

…….only to become so drunk in my head I had to sit down! And, 2 days later, we hear the pregnancy was a false alarm 😮

It is dangerous now. I feel like I can have one, and will be O.K. But I know it is dancing in the fire with a petrol soaked jacket….

So, I will continue my "pink lung society" membership!

[Hugh Potter]

well done mate. it gets easier but, be very wary of even a hint of ‘having just the one’, nearly caught me out a while back. I gave up nearly 3 yrs ago, was on immuno-suppressive drugs at the time and ended up with flu followed by full on pneumonia – really thought I was dying!! anyways, just decided then that I was gonna stop and that was that! I did have a sneaky puff after too many beers at a rugby 7’s festival a couple of months back and cravings were all there again for a day or two! easy to fall back into the habit I guess.