giving up

OK

I'm 45 smoke and drink too much but have decided enought is enough and have decided to give both up in the vain hope that I may lose some wieght and run better and generally feel better about my selfimage

Any support will be welcome and I ill try and keep you up dated on a day to day basis as how I'm getting on.

So it begins

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Comments

  • Good luck Tommy, it won't be easy but the results will be worth it.  Mr TT and I gave up booze, counted calories and exercised every day for 10 weeks a couple of years ago and the results were incredible.  Stupidly we didn't keep it up (but our eating habits improved dramatically after doing it) and we are having to go through it again but we both looked (and felt) so good at the end of it.

    Hope you find the willpower you need and the support you are looking for here.

  • SlugstaSlugsta ✭✭✭
    Well done on taking the first step, Tommy.
  • Best of luck with giving up. I've given both up , only I did them a different times.

    Apart from NRT I found the four D's really useful for giving up smoking.

    Delay, put off having the next fag for a minute then keep putting it off. Cravings don't last more than 5 minutes.
    Distract, take your mind off the smokes do something, anything whatever it takes.
    Deep Breathing, concentrate on taking a deep breath. Really concentrate, notice everything about the breath where you feel it first, how far down you feel the breath going etc.
    Drink, water is good orange juice is better. It makes fag smoke taste really horrible.

    Depending on how much alcohol you drink stopping cold turkey is potentially harmful. If you're a heavy drinker it may be worth getting medical support as there is a real risk of fitting during withdrawal.

  • CindersCinders ✭✭✭
    Good luck Tommy.  If you want to come over into beginners, there's a nice thread "giving up the booze". image
  • Sound's like you have decided @ the age of 45 to stop enjoying life.

    Good Luck!

  • Well done. Its going to be hard to start with and you will feel like a bag of horse manure for
    a few days. But be strong, be determined and take each day as it comes.Update your progress
    here or write your thoughts in a diary. Hard work starts now. But it gets easier as time progresses. Good luck. image
  • Good luck Tommy. image

    Great decision, no ciggies will do you a world of good.  

  • mavamava ✭✭✭

    Good luck Tommy.  Scotty and I are fag free for nearly a year now.  I haven't persuaded him to give up the booze yet, but I'm on the wagon at the moment.  

    Giving up the fags will hugely improve your endurane and you will start to feel better almost immediately.  I have been tempted but I know I wouldn't enjoy it if I did smoke again and the urge passes.  

    And I find giving up the booze makes a huge difference. I stopped for 9 weeks at the beginning of the year and saw massive improvements in my times - PB'd at 10 miles in 3 consecutive races and knocked more than 20 minutes off my 20 mile time.  On top of that people kept telling me how well I looked!  

    Unfortunately I promptly got injured and started drinking again because I couldn't run!   I'm at just over 2 weeks without the booze at the moment and the improvements are starting to come again.

  • Good luck Tommy - you know my feelings on the subject image. You'll feel massively better for giving up fags. xx
  • PS - you're not giving up - you're gaining image
  • Right I'm looking into all the becoming a non-smoker stuff (as DS said It not giving up).

    Patches, inhaler things, micro tabs and drugs like champix.

    I not sure I can do this cold turkey image I have read Allan Carr's easyway before and stopped for a year so maybe I need to re -read itimage

    As to the drinking bit I often, well once a or twice a year stop drinking for a month at a time so that should be a bit easier to do. But I think I just need to cut down rather than stop. Maybe just go to the pub once a week.image

  • MedalsMedals ✭✭✭

    Good luck Tommy,

    I gave up the booze in Feb and have lost 1/2 stone.  It depends how much you drink.  I found the first 3 days the hardest.  After that, Shandys and Becks Blue seemed to be a good alternative to the beer for me.

  • fat buddhafat buddha ✭✭✭
    Tommy

    giving up the fags is the easier bit - giving up the beer is harder - to do the 2 together is insane in my books!!

    I gave up smoking over 20 years ago - no regrets at all but I won't give up the beer. your comment "But I think I just need to cut down rather than stop." is the key - just take it steadier with the odd binge if it suits. I have a drink 365 days a year bar the (very) odd day when it's just not possible (travel, hospital etc) and don't worry about it as I drink in moderation (bar the odd heavy night). it's part of my lifestyle

    good luck

  • Hi Tommy

    Didn't realise you smoked.  Well done on making the decision and good luck.

  • The Alan Carr book really helped me, though it was another couple of years after reading it that I stopped smoking completely.

    I remember when I smoked I couldn't possibly imagine being a non smoker.  It's been about 4 years, now since my last fag and I can't believe I used to smoke, nasty habit! 

    Best of luck with it, and remember, if you give in and have a puff, don't give up on yourself, keep trying, you'll get there in the end image

  • My dad smoke and drank for years. Then one day he decided to give up smoking cold
    turkey style. Only it made him drank more and turn into a alcoholic.
    Then he decided to give up drinking. But he found that hard and started smoking again.
    I always wonder why my dad is never happy.
  • Oh well done Tommy image

    You can do it!!!! image

    remember, small steps, take one day at a time and dont get down if you have the odd slip, just keep moving forward

  • Tommy - nothing much to add to what's already been said, but I think you have taken the biggest step in deciding to stop/cut down.  I am sure that's the biggest hurdle to overcome.  The rest shoud be easy in comparison.

    Good luck and keep us posted as to your progress

  • Best of luck Tommy, we're all behind you!  I've never been a smoker, so i've not had to quit, but i've given up chocolate (not the same I knoe, but a real challenge for me) and it is a struggle, but it is worth it.  The benefits you'll get from being smoke free will far outweigh the losses, as i've been told, and seen myself in friends that have given up.

    Good luck!

  • hope to...hope to... ✭✭✭


    Hi Tommy,

    Work out how much you save over a month and treat yourself to something great.

    I use to drink a shed load. Hubby never complains about anything I buy for running. I've recently lost my garmin 305. Hubby didn't moan, just told me to order another!

    Will watch your progress with interest. Best of luck.
  • Good luck!

    I stopped smoking after 13 years, cold turkey (good practice at the stubbornness required for IM!). Developed an alarming but temporary addiction to macadamia nuts (as the hand to mouth action had become so second nature...) and found that the thing that helped me with cravings was pretending to smoke! As in raising my hand to my lips and taking a deep breath, holding it and exhaling it slowly. After 13 years that action had been what I'd done every time I was stressed, or needed to think, or needed a break at work, so I carried on doing it, but just without a cigarette in my hand. Oddly enough, I found that the odd deep breath calmed me nearly as much as a ciggie. 

    Added up the amount of money I was saving (ignoring the fact that macadamia nuts are nearly as expensive as fags) and treated myself to random antiques on ebay).

    Had my last cigarrette over six years ago. Don't miss the annual bout of bronchitis, that's for sure! image

  • Mr PuffyMr Puffy ✭✭✭
    Good luck Tommy, I'm a complete Alky but i did  manage to pack in smoking overnight 20 years ago, if you give up the booze I'll have a go too!
  • ok First small step, I didn't go to the pub on the way home as I quite often do image Walked home passed it without even a second though. I have also arranged a bike ride tomorrow evening with a mate although he will want to stop for a pint somewhere along the rideimage So my plan is to only go to the pub on Fridays and maybe the odd saturday as long as I have earnt it image
  • Well done Tommygun!

    Good luck with the fags the benefits are fantastic both in health and finance!

    I agree with others re the drinking - moderation rather than totally cutting it out as it might just keep you sane image

    Keep at it TG - you CAN do it!

  •  This is not just about the smoking thing it also about losing 2 stone so I feel good about myself.image

    I keep putting off weighing myself but might over the weekend just so I have a point of reference.

    anyhoo

    Cut down on the ciggs today by chewing gum (sugar free)

    Then had a small (portion wise) lunch of hosin beef and rice.

    Then this evening did a 25 mile very hilly bike ride. Followed by a small baked potatoeimage

    At least I'm not trying to give up diet coke ........that must be really hardimage

  • Good on you Tommy

    DTB, Ultra Cake Pim.p wrote (see)

     found that the thing that helped me with cravings was pretending to smoke! As in raising my hand to my lips and taking a deep breath, holding it and exhaling it slowly. After 13 years that action had been what I'd done every time I was stressed, or needed to think, or needed a break at work, so I carried on doing it, but just without a cigarette in my hand. Oddly enough, I found that the odd deep breath calmed me nearly as much as a ciggie.

     Yep, that worked for me too.  I used to borrow someone's packet of fags, take one out, tap it on the table, wave it around while I was talking...... it really helped make the craving go away.  

    Good luck mate

  • good luck Tommyimage

    two stop smoking books I would recommend Allen Car's Easyway and Neil Casey's Nicotine Trickimage

    I would not try both at once-it may prove too much. Focus on rhe fags first.

    good luck

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