Is it really that easy?

[abhishekyadav]

I know this must have been asked here a lot of time but is it really possible . I am a very weak willed person depressed all the time and i just fall into it over and over again

[Barbara145]

It is not easy but it IS doable.  Cigarettes make us depressed.  I smoked for 52 years.  I tried to quit many times and always, "fell back into it." This site made all the difference for me.  I used nicotine replacement and came to this site and read every day.  That was almost 5 years ago.  I don't get depressed anymore.  I feel my feelings when they come up.  Welcome to our site.  You can do this.

[Mike.n.Atlanta]

I remember feeling how weak I was in my inability to quit. One day I made up my mind & sought help at a site much like this one. I blindly followed anyone who had a quit longer than mine including someone with a 2 day quit. I thought that was awesome. I just did the things they told me to do & remained dedicated to my quit. I was determined that nothing would set me back to day one. When the urges came I just said bring it on. I did this & the urges became weaker & less frequent. One day turned to two & two turned to four. Pretty soon I had a week quit, then a month & two months. I dared not fail & disappoint my new friends. They had as much invested in my quit as I did. One day, hour or minute at a time...one craving at a time. Don't look at the big picture, just live in the now. You'll get there.

Keep on keepin on,

[CommunityAdmin]

Mike.n.Atlanta‌ interesting calculation.  Looks like cigs were about $3.50 a pack when you purchased them.  So you've probably saved a bit more than $26.5K. Perhaps closer to $47k (according to my calculator) considering inflation? They alsoaverage about 4.95 minutes per cigarette it seems to get 748,375 minutes for 151,331 cigarettes not smoked. Other recent reports speculate 3.16 years saved based on 11 mins/cig. If you know kinda when you started smoking I also built another calculator that measure how much time you spent smoking when you were smoking

Congrats!

Mark
EX Community Manager

[Mike.n.Atlanta]

If I use your average cost of 6.28 per pack, below are my results.

KOKO,

[Sandy-9-17-17]

abhishekyadav‌    

It is doable, I did it for 43 years, and am almost 1 year free!  

Remember these things:

You can have depression whether you smoke or not, but after you quit this addiction, you will likely become less depressed and happy that you quit. Smoking doesn't help you through your depression, but it will help give you COPD, lung cancer, emphysema, not to mention many other things.   I have lived with depression most of my adult life, and still have bouts of it!  But quitting, and staying here for the support of this site, as well as the tools you will gain to help you quit, will give you more of a chance at being a long term quitter than not having any support at all!  There are so many good people here that will help guide you if you're willing to do the work it takes to be free!  One day at a time!  You will be healthier, you will save money, and you will also make a great deal of new friends!  I hope you make the greatest decision you can make for yourself by giving yourself the gift of life from not smoking! 

Sandy 310 Days Of Freedom 

One Day At a Time

N.O.P.E.   Not One Puff Ever

[YoungAtHeart]

Welcome to our community!

Did you follow the same procedures every one of the other times you quit?  Einstein said that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting  a different result is the definition of insanity.  Do it DIFFERENTLY this time!  Educate yourself, plan, prepare, commit AND use this site for questions and support.  You CAN do this.  It isn't easy, but if you do the work, it IS possible.

The most important thing you can do right now is to educate yourself on what nicotine does to your body and mind. To that end, I highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This is an easy and entertaining read. You can search for it online or at your local library. Here's a link to a video here on the site which describes nicotine addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWMgPHn0Lo&feature=youtu.be.

 You should also read the posts here and perhaps go to the pages of folks who you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com, quitsmokingonline.com and livewell.com for the good information contained there. @https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex has lots of blogs written by members of this site with their experiences and guidance. You should also do the tracking and separation exercises suggested in My Quit Plan http://www.becomeanex.org/my-quit-plan.php

After you have completed the recommended reading, it will be time to make an informed choice of the quit aid, if any, you will use. If you go that route, I personally recommend the aids that don't let the addict control the dose such as the available prescription drugs or the patch. If used properly, gum, lozenges and inhalers are fine, but they need to be used only as a last resort.  I have seen folks become addicted to them if they substitute them for every cigarette they used to smoke - just trading one addiction for another.  I do not recommend the e-cigarette for three reasons: 1) the vapor has been compared to the polluted air in Bejing on a bad day, 2) they just provide another nicotine delivery system while continuing the hand to mouth smoking motion, and 3) the batteries can spontaneously catch on fire. . But – any method that you think will work well for you will be best for you.

The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced.  Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand in a place different from when you smoked. Maybe switch to tea for a bit.  If you always had that first smoke with your coffee, try putting your tennies on right out of bed, going for a quick walk, then taking your shower and THEN your coffee! Rearrange the furniture in the areas you used to smoke so the view is different. Buy your gas at a different station. Take a different route to work. Take a quick walk at break time where the smokers AREN'T.

You need to distract yourself through any craves.  You can take a bite out of a lemon (yup - rind and all), put your head in the freezer and take a deep breath of cold air, do a few jumping jacks, go for a brisk walk or march in place, play a computer game.  Keep a cold bottle of water with you from which to sip. Don't let that smoking thought rattle around in your brain unchallenged. Sometimes you need to quit a minute or an hour at a time.  You will need to be disciplined in the early days to distract yourself when a crave hits.    Get busy!  Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of smoke if you need some fresh ideas:

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instea...

The conversation in your head in response to the "I want a cigarette" thought needs to be, "Well, since I have decided not to do that anymore, what shall I do instead for the three minutes this crave will last?"  Then DO it.  You will need to put some effort into this in the early days, but it gets easier and easier to do.

Stay close to us here and ask questions when you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way!

Nancy

[SimplySheri]

Weak-willed?  I doubt it.  I believe addiction lies to us and we struggle to find reality in between the cravings and habit we've accepted for so long.  We may feel weak, of course, but you have survived all life has had to throw at you so far so you can survive your quit as well   Honor your commitment and own you quit...that means no excuses.  Just do it.  Come here and whine, complain, ask questions, learn, read, write...anything you feel will help you!  Just don't smoke. 

And please, also.....love yourself enough to not believe your negative thoughts about yourself.  Instead, start listing all your positives.  You are here.  You are reaching out for advice.  You care enough about yourself to quit.  You deserve to be free of addiction!! 

Sheri

[Barb102]

You are not weak Yes it is very doable. I’m doing it!!  After 40+ years. So will you. If you truly want to quit you will

its not easy, but anything worth having is worth fighting for. Fight for your quit. We will support you

Barb

[princessdeb]

abhishekyadav .  Welcome!!!  I smoked for 45 years and must have tried to quit a million times!!  Like you, I felt I was to weak to ever quit!  But quit I did 46 days ago  What totally changed my way of thinking about cigarettes and gave me a fresh mindset was reading Allen Carr's Easy way to quit smoking!   I highly recommend reading it. I couldn't have made it with out the wonderful support and encouragement I receive here!  Stay close and you CAN do this! One Day At A Time!

Deborah