Quitting day is tomorrow .. I could use a little support .

I quit smoking on the 5th of November last year. My reason for qitting was my health. I was really, really scared about the possible irrevocable damage I was doing. I knew that i did not want to one day regret that I had damaged my body beyond repair...I would feel so guilty knowing I had done that willing to myself. Another reason I had for quitting is that I have a 19 year old son, I believe he deserves to have a mother for as long as is possible. Yet another reason for giving up was the expense...all the money I was burning could have been used for something more useful. I also did not like that smoking made me feel like a failure. I felt like a failure because this stupid habit was damaging my health and I was doing nothing about it. That to me was the epitome of being a failure. I don't like that feeling. If I can do something to stop a bad habit I want to be the type of person who is psychologically strong enough to quit...no matter how hard it is to do so. I had been smoking on and off for over 20 years and enough was enough. I too would have coughs and throat irritations. In the mornings there would be this horrible phlegm in my throat...I saw these as warning signals that I should not ignore...I felt God was warning me that if I did not stop then I would deserve whatever happened as a result. The above are the thoughts and motivations that caused me to stop. You must discover yours. Write them down and read this list every day. Keep the words on this list at the forefront of your mind. It is important to keep your motivation level up. One of the other commenters advised you to give daily updates on your progress...this is an excellent idea. Another said to go on the net and check out the results others have suffered from not giving up...this too is a brilliant idea. There is a beautiful picture-quote on my profile page called 'The Will To Win'. If you like it you can copy and paste it as a desktop image onto your pc...I personally find it very encouraging. It is essential to your success that you realise that smoking is your ENEMY and to give up will be a fight. You must be determined to win this fight. If you relapse remember 'to never give up giving up'. The urge to smoke does not go away easily but just because the urge is there we do not have to give in to it. I wish you the best of luck, strength, determination, courage and all the will power and tough mindedness you can muster. Let us know how you get on.

I hope you stick to your plan and stop quitting. My grandmother just apassed after her 68th birthday as she had COPD. She was an active smoker in her younger days and was having a hard time breathing alot of times. She was very weak and fragile. Her lungs were so black the doctors said they were like leather. YOu must stop smoking to live a happy and healthy life and to live as long as you can.

hi, I hope that you quit smoking. I am also trying to quit. I am going to use the patch. I have COPD and I have had a few of those very scary breathing attacks that you described. Good luck to you.

No great advise Beachstarz , but with you in spirit ... Take every hour as it comes . If you have really made your mind up you will do it .. drink plenty of fruit juice you need the vitC , take a few walks round your neighbourhood .. KEEP US UP TO DATE WITH YOUR PROGRESS *

Drink a lot of tea, fruit juice and eat a lot of fruits. Not all smokers die from smoking, because many of them maintain a very healthy diet. But still, smoking is a very bad and costly habit, both to the wallets and to health of self and family. All the best to your desire to quit smoking. At the same time, eat fruits, drink juice and green tea whole day long. You got to get rid of all the chemicals and toxic from your body.

Hooray for you! How is it going? Yes, you can do it cold turkey because you can do anything you set your mind to if it is important enough and when it comes to your health and your very life nothing in the world is more important! Meditate, exercise, anything to keep your mind off of it. Just don't do what most do and compensate by eating or you will have another health problem to address.

Today is my 4th day being smoke free. Saturday we purchased our smokes like we usually do, and they'd gone up by $8 a carton. We decided we could no longer afford to smoke, so we both quit right then and there. There wasn't any of this "setting quit date" stuff. If you decide you need to quit, you'll just do it right then and there, what's the sense in waiting? We both smoked 2 packs a day each, then we just quit, and haven't had a smoke in over 4 days. It's not the easiest thing we've ever done, but we're doing it, and I'm very confident that I'll never go back to smoking again!

Well you will need to substitute some activity for smoking, I carried a rock that felt good in my hand and every time I wanted a smoke I drank a glass of water. I didn't want to eat anything because I knew weight gain was a common result of quitting. My friends thought I would drown before I got it under control but this worked for me. Oh, yes I also chewed gum, sugarless. I know people who have tried everything and still gone back, but for me by the time I had been clean for three months I couldn't stand the smell of smoke. Why not give us a daily update and we will cheer you on. Good Luck.

Hello, beach starz.. One week is a very short time or short notice to stop smoking altogether.. It's even shorter than you two weeks resignation notice!!! I would suggest, you try cutting down slowly. Maybe from 10 sticks, cut to 6 and goes down and down.. Until zero.. I've also read reports that it's not advisable to go cold turkey. Anyways, no matter what good luck on your quests.. I'm personally trying to quit smoking to.. But I've given myself till end of this year.. If you fail this time, don't give up.. Just make the deadline longer, say one month or more.. Happy mylotting!

Let me tell you what a friend of mine told me, and I did quit. He said that one day he got home from work and his kid (4 years old) said : Daddy you smell bad. And he decided not to smoke. Just that plain simple. Anyway at a party or sometimes he smokes 1-2 (for a week) but he was around 2 packages a day! You got to find something very interesting and time and effort consuming: like some sport, go around your neighborhood or just around your block or park, when you feel like smoking...or get a kid.... Hope you got the idea...

that is cool

I hope that you are able to persevere and get through the difficulties of quitting. The truth is, that it is not going to be easy but it is going to be worth it. The commercials on T.V like Reality Unfiltered should help to be an extra motivation, watch the commercials online to remember what other effects can occur. My father smokes and my children hate the smell of it and stay away from him. My uncle has cancer and was recently admitted into a hospital. Life is the most important thing in the world and you are making the right decision. Don't put it off anymore. Good luck and best of luck. You are doing the write thing!