Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - My boyfriend needs help to stop smoking

thingstodo · 02-12-2005, 09:05 AM

I quit in 1989 after about 20 years. Here are some rambling thoughts on the subject.

- Smoking is like any other addiction, i.e., drugs.... so you need to deal with it as such. That means finding out through therapy what mental items supports smoking. It's diffferent for everyone. But addiction is fundamentally the same and therapy is a critical step no matter what anyone says.
- The smoker has to want to quit for themselves, not for outside reasons.
- Cold turkey is the only way to go. The physical addiction will be gone in 10-14 days. It's the mental part after this that is hard. I drank tons of water for the first few weeks to help flush out my body and provide a substitute that didn't pack on pounds. I carried around the 2-liter bottles and spent a lot of time peeing!!
- Another thing I did was purchase a Nordic Track. It gave me focus and I enjoyed moving to something where breathing felt good after a while. But I had to work into it slowly. If I did it again I would use a heart monitor and understand how to use it effectively with excercise.
- Relapses are common and it may take some practice to actually stop for the last time.
- My brother-in-law told my wife it would take me about two years to create a new set of habits and behavors. You use cigs to deal with all sorts of situations, like anger, boredom - especially boredom. Cigs become the one friend you can count on, which is why many people that travel smoke, or as soon as you get in a car by yourself, etc. Your personality actually changes as you learn to adapt to a different life. I think this - with therapy - may be the most important thing to remember. Two years is a long time.

Hope this helps. I sure like being smoke free. I also like being able to take a spin class and feel good. Or go to the Dr. and my blood pressure is right on. I guess just feeling healthy!

02-12-2005, 09:05 AM	#13 (permalink)
thingstodo A Storm Is Coming Location: The Great White North	I quit in 1989 after about 20 years. Here are some rambling thoughts on the subject. - Smoking is like any other addiction, i.e., drugs.... so you need to deal with it as such. That means finding out through therapy what mental items supports smoking. It's diffferent for everyone. But addiction is fundamentally the same and therapy is a critical step no matter what anyone says. - The smoker has to want to quit for themselves, not for outside reasons. - Cold turkey is the only way to go. The physical addiction will be gone in 10-14 days. It's the mental part after this that is hard. I drank tons of water for the first few weeks to help flush out my body and provide a substitute that didn't pack on pounds. I carried around the 2-liter bottles and spent a lot of time peeing!! - Another thing I did was purchase a Nordic Track. It gave me focus and I enjoyed moving to something where breathing felt good after a while. But I had to work into it slowly. If I did it again I would use a heart monitor and understand how to use it effectively with excercise. - Relapses are common and it may take some practice to actually stop for the last time. - My brother-in-law told my wife it would take me about two years to create a new set of habits and behavors. You use cigs to deal with all sorts of situations, like anger, boredom - especially boredom. Cigs become the one friend you can count on, which is why many people that travel smoke, or as soon as you get in a car by yourself, etc. Your personality actually changes as you learn to adapt to a different life. I think this - with therapy - may be the most important thing to remember. Two years is a long time. Hope this helps. I sure like being smoke free. I also like being able to take a spin class and feel good. Or go to the Dr. and my blood pressure is right on. I guess just feeling healthy! __________________ If you're wringing your hands you can't roll up your shirt sleeves. Stangers have the best candy.