To ask you what has changed in your life once you quit smoking?

[proseccoaficionado]

That's it, folks.

I set my date for the end of January (some stressful events in January).

Please tell me the positive aspects of quitting smoking, what has changed in your life and please, your top tips to stay away from it.

I have to admit I'm a bit terrified and never tried to quit before. I want to do it once and for good.

Thank you and a Happy New Year, everyone

@MissSmiley sugar free gum noted, I am getting 10 packs just to make sure😂

I found this when I gave up 11 years ago after LOVING smoking for the previous 15 years;

1. Hangovers are 100 x less bad when you have just drunk and not smoked. OMG I couldn't even believe it and also that no-one had said!
2. Within a really short space of time you have bigger lung capacity so can walk up stairs and not get puffed out.
3. The smell - eeuurghhh. It's so grim and so weird that I used to smell that way all the time.
4. My skin looked lovely again in less than a month. I think you can tell long term smokers from their skin as they have a grey/yellow tinge.

Good luck! Out of all the feel good things I've tried over the year it has the quickest benefits by far and I'd totally recommend in terms of making you feel good. Also once I'd decided it wasn't even very hard - way less than I'd thought and had lots of nerves about it. I still go out with the smokers sometimes for fag breaks as I miss the social element.

My skin improved so much. I used to be very spotty and dry and dull. I have pretty good skin now hardly ever get a spot.

I can run and exercise properly.

I smell nice.

My sense of taste and smell is great now.

Would so love to send this thread to MIL. Her smoking is revolting!! Her skin is dry, her teeth discoloured and her day is broken up into when she’s going to smoke.

Bizarrely she won’t smoke whilst walking, as she says it looks “common” (hypocrite), so she stands in one place when she’s out and wastes a whole load of time.

Also, we very rarely visit her house (maybe once a year for a couple of hours and we won’t stay over as she smokes inside). She has to come to us and then go outside to smoke. The stink of smoke covered with a floral perfume is particularly bad. I hate it!

Sorry OP, that was a mini rant. The benefits of MIL quitting would be that she’d look better, smell better, have more free time, more spare money and spend more time with her only child and grandchildren. So quite big upside

It’s really interesting to read about the chest infections

I had one annually and they got worse and worse for me . It was the last one that stopped me smoking actually as when I actually recovered I realised that I had to stop .

I wonder why my GP never just said ? I mean I knew , and I am not criticising them

But sometimes a blunt telling off is needed

Prosecco, you're welcome. I use Headspace these days, if that helps.

I do not miss the chest infections.

I've become an ex smoker this year! Following with interest

I'm free from enslavement by nicotine! It's so nice not to always been on a downward spiral of needing a fag soon.

I don't have to stand outside in the cold anymore!

I don't have to carry febreeze and gum with me.

My dp also quit and his skin looks so much better.

I quit about 20 times but when I got pregnant I knew that was it forever. Esp as dp has also quit. I know I can never EVER have "just one" which is also quite liberating.

i can really smell my hair. Ive run out and migh just start tomorrow. Not a heavy smoker really, but smoke with alcohol/morning coffee.

Wow, so many benefits.

Re: the annual chest infection for me is once-every-2-years sinusitis so I am really curious how that goes.

Just can't wait to get rid of this disgusting habit.

@Yearofthemum thanks a lot for the suggestion I downloaded the app and I love it. Starting today on that. Xxx

PS; is it normal to feel worried/anxious about holidays without smoking? My first holiday is roughly 2 months after my quit date so I'm hoping I'll be coping well by then

I'm on day 3. I didn't mean to quit. I left my car at a friend's house where we celebrated nye. Went to pick it up, and smoked last cigarette in packet on the way back. Suddenly thought, buggger it. I'm not buying another pack, I'll stop.

I've tried loads of times before, but this time feels different... at least, i think/ hope. ;) I'm just not interested in it at the moment. Everyone says the time had to be right, maybe it does?

Good luck, you'll do it I'm sure... you sillyb well up for it! :D

I worried about how I'd feel gardening . I loved to garden then relax with a cigarette between tasks.

I really worried about that, and it delayed me stopping. When I actually stopped, I never thought about it more than once! I had a mental trick where I would imagine myself physically batting the thought that it was an issue away.
Keep going.

Funny thing is, you'd be surprised how many of those thoughts you can choose not to have. Try it. You'll see what I mean.

@domton yay you!!!🥂🎉🎉🎉 best of luck!

@Yearofthemum I'm really praying you're right 🙏🏻 I trust you completely, promise! I know deep down this is my mind playing tricks. I just associate pretty much everything (holidays, nights out, stress relief, etc) with smoking. If only I'd have spent ALL the time I spent smoking at the gym....... I'd be a goddess by now

Once you give up, you never have to think about giving up again!!

That's the most stressful part of giving up, thinking about giving up.

Good luck. I gave up 20 yrs ago in March (30th bday) and it's still my proudest achievement over and above marriage and kids because they would have never happened had I not given up. I used hypnosis.

Imagine, never having to give up again!! And that's what has stopped me having one puff, ever!

@yodelsay 20 years???? Ok, we have a winner on this thread How old were you when you gave up?

Actually I thought about this: I will be younger than 30 when I quit, and I remember reading somewhere that if you quit before 30, your body think at some point that you've never been a smoker

I gave up on my 30th bday and I will be 50 in March.

You guys have inspired me, I just downloaded the book too :)

As it’s my 46th birthday on 9th Jan, I’m thinking of making it my ‘stop’ day?

Thanks for the inspiration!

And I was told if I gave up by 30 I'd be ok. I was a nurse and knew that wasn't strictly true but listened anyway as it suited me!!
My DSs are 14 & 15 and they know I smoked and how hard it was to quit because I have told them.
I've never been an evangelical non smoker. I still love the smell of a freshly lit fag bit DONT WANT TO EVER HAVE TO GIVE UP AGAIN!!

@JoDa73 happy birthday in advance!!🎉🎉🎉 best of luck! The thread stays open so if you need please post for support!

@yodelsay I laughed at your comment as I remember a friend who smoked for 20 years. She quit eventually but one day she was randomly walking on the street and a passer by was smoking in front of her. She was just following him and sniffing the cigarette smell which she still loved to the point where the stranger turned around and said; "miss, I can offer you a fag if you need it!"

@proseccoaficionado thank you! I’ll be keeping an eye on this thread whilst I work through the book...
it’s a bit of a life overhaul, split with DP of 6yrs in Nov, and youngest DD about to fly the nest, so trying to put myself in the best position possible to move forward to new things

Good luck to you too!