help needed giving up smoking

[buttercup]

I am a not very heavy smoker trying to give up. Its been one week and I'm feeling all sorts of pangs and temptations. Any tips from people who have been successful?

Good luck Scummy and keep up the good work Bossykate

am still on the straight and narrow so good luck to everyone else attempting it. It is hard at times - particularly having to accept that I cannot turn to crack as a substitute.

But can go 20 minutes on the running machine without needing mouth to mouth. (Oh alright, twenty minutes of running for one minute, walking for one, running for one etc - but this is an improvement on simply lying down on the thing).

Good luck ladies and well done so far.

DP and I gave up together about 4 years ago - after many many years of hard core smoking. Best thing we ever did - it does get easier I promise.

willow, that is great! well done! i was just thinking this am that i have to bite the bullet and take up running. lol at lying down on the machine!

oh well done WWW & scums - hows it going>?
am still on the straight and narrow too - 6 weeks.
i have asthma and have done since i was a child - this was the major factor in giving up becuase it was becomming unbearable and its like someone handed me a miricle cure - my breathing is excellent i use much less medication and can walk longer distances and up flights of stairs without thinking i was either going to die or my knees couldnt take any more!

and lordy ! the money we are saving - over 200 squid a month and we are noticing it now - we bought holiday clothes and am so glad we did it

good luck everyone. it does get darkest before the dawn, i used to think it was one of the few things that made me happy - and i used that as an excuse to keep smoking - even when i gave up i thought the same - but when you are at the 6 week stage you will be glad i promise

Brilliant, it's soooo hard but you're doing really well.

Why don't all of you London ex-smokers try doing a Mumsnet group entry into one of the Races For Life(Greater London) as a change from food meet-ups (that way CAM can't lead you all astray ! ) OK, Ok I promise I'll stop going on about it (but only if some of you take up the challenge !)

No, no Twink I am the one who got led astray. I hadn't had one puff for 7 years until I went to a couple of mumsnet meetups. Of course I am not really blaming anyone, I only actually joined in with the smoking at 2 meetups and am v. pleased that all these girls have given up.

Oh I'm really sorry CAM, hadn't realised that !

willow, there's a race in richmond park... battersea park is closer for me and the info says that one is completely flat as opposed to "slight slope" - don't like the sound of that! - in the old deer park... it's two months away...

anyone know how much training you would have to do (i.e. how far you would have to run per week, how many sessions etc) to train for this? from a starting point of zero running exp?

BK, I promise I will stop bugging you all soon...
I did my local Race last June having started running in April.

Look at the training schedule on the site, you'll be able to adapt the 10 week schedule to fit the 8 you've got. Remember that over half the entrants walk the entire thing so even if you stick with the walk/run programme you'll finish in well under the 45 mins it would take to walk it briskly. If you walk/slow jog it you get a good chance for a natter with no hassle from the rest of the family and whatever happens it will give you a 'Personal Best' target to beat in any future endeavours.

How are the rest of you getting on ? It's been a quiet week.

Good grief, Twink- RUNNING?????!!! Lovely as you are, you ask too much of the scummy one.
However, am pleased to report that week 1 of cigfreeness has gone remarkably smoothly, really. Am most enamoured of my patches and my boys seem to like them too. One of them said to me this morning "Now, mummy, before we go out, have you put on your no smoking plaster so you won't be in a bad mood?"

Everyone here seems to be doing so well. All these six and eight and more weekers! Brilliant news. I feel a vicarious virtuous glow just from reading the thread.

CAM- you can share a patch with me at the next meet-up, if you like!

Well done to you Scummymummy and all the others who have become smoke-free zones. Looks like mumsnet smokers have become a thing of the past, how good is that!

BossyKate - I can manage one minute running, then one walking etc for about twenty minutes - but having said that it might be fun (in a warped sense of the word) to do something like this and it would give us something to aim for. When are the races?

:0 to your boys Scummy, that's lovely. Well done on getting through a week, it's a big milestone.

Oops, I meant

well done, scummy! bad mood is right from what i remember from my own exp!

willow, follow the link twink posted below, it's got all the details. i haven't even run for one minute yet!

Well done all of you!

I'm interested in a run in Battersea - Richmond is a bit far for me. I've never entered a race voluntarily and will probably end up walking some of it, but what the h*.

I found that just three slow jogs a week of 15 minutes makes a difference - and from that you can easily build up to three 25 minute jogs. However if I run for more than this I get extremely tired in the evening. The effects creep up on me even though I feel fine while I am doing it.

wow way to go scums well done you!

well done scummy. I guess I should be next really (been avoiding reading this thread for guilt reasons). I'll get back to Alan Carr.

OK, I said I'd only post again here when I'd done it and I have. Cold turkey is awful but I know it gets better... Well done all you longer non smokers!

Hurrah - well done www. That's the worst bit over with.

Wahayy www, I've just read your other post on the variable test results - congrats ! It probably still won't be easy but I (almost) hope you feel as sick as I did when in a smokey environment, it kept me off them.

another congratulations message to you then, www!

big hugs and congats www.