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 Smoking Cessation Tips
Topic Originator: GG Riva  
Date:   Fri 6 Mar 07:21

Growing up in the 60s, smoking was rife among young and old alike and like many other kids, I saw it as a rite of passage into the adult world - that's my excuse anyway. The harm caused by smoking tobacco was hidden from the public and tobacco companies even sponsored a variety of sports to suggest that it was actually a harmless/healthy pastime.

I smoked on and off for the best part of 20 years. I often proved to myself I could stop any time I wanted by not smoking for a period of time ranging from a day to 2 months. (I often wonder why I'd start again after stopping for a decent length of time.) Taking up running in 1985 was a turning point for me. I struggled so hard with my breathing and I knew full well that it was down to smoking, but I found it really difficult to stop altogether, so I cut down to one cigarette a day and eventually chucked it completely some two years later. In 1989, I ran my first half marathon and ran my 20th in 2014. I also ran 5 marathons between 1996 and 2003. I still go out for a slow, flat jog of around 40 mins every other day, but I have mild angina symptoms which I am able to manage. I think they're down to a combination of age and the damage done to my lungs by smoking during my teens and 20s. You couldn't pay me enough to smoke now, of course.

If you are a former smoker, who has managed to escape the habit, perhaps you can help some fellow Pars fans to kick it, by sharing with them how you achieved it. I'm proud of my running achievements, but if I hadn't quit smoking I'm sure I couldn't have managed them.



Not your average Sunday League player.
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 Re: Smoking Cessation Tips
Topic Originator: onandupthepars  
Date:   Fri 6 Mar 10:21

I had tried umpteen times to stop. Cutting down or stopping for two weeks didn’t work. I tried substitutes such as mints and gum*. At the local surgery they showed me the brown stuff in my lungs. I told myself to be strong and give the money to help starving folk instead. Nothing worked. It was like a demon inside me that I couldn’t control, it controlled me.

I had come to believe I’d never be able to stop smoking.

I got a lucky break. One day at work I was so engrossed in it I got to lunchtime without even thinking about a fag. I said to myself, ‘That’s it. For those few hours I have been a non-smoker. Now don’t start.’ It was like a second chance to make that decision, instead of just going with the crowd.

It was tough for about three weeks but I made it. I have every sympathy with folk who want to stop but feel they can’t. Easy for me to say now but all I can suggest is give yourself a second chance. Instead of thinking about stopping, think as if the next fag would be your first and don’t start.





*It's that long since I lived In Scotland. Did we used tae ca' chewin' gum 'chuggie'? 😅



Post Edited (Fri 06 Mar 10:58)
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 Re: Smoking Cessation Tips
Topic Originator: renegade master  
Date:   Fri 6 Mar 11:41

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 Re: Smoking Cessation Tips
Topic Originator: dave67  
Date:   Fri 6 Mar 11:46

https://youtu.be/7FweG226aiw
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 Re: Smoking Cessation Tips
Topic Originator: DBP  
Date:   Fri 6 Mar 13:11

I smoked between 10 and 20 per day from 16yrs old to about 24
Stopped when I was 24 and haven't touched a cigarette since

In all honesty, i just decided i want going to smoke and then didn't buy any and if anyone offered (all my friends still smoke to this day) i would say no.

The addiction to nicotine is over quite quickly, so first few days I was gagging for a cigarette, but after that it's just the habit of going through the motions.

I did go out and get drunk first night so broke the link between booze and fags quickly

After about two months I didn't really want one anymore and I do remember chatting up some lassie who I had some success with and she smoked and it was disgusting - that really put me off and I became a bit militant anti smoker (complaining if people smoked near me and made my clothes smell)

For about a year afterwards i would get the odd craving out of the blue but it quickly passed (eg watching folk light up in die hard film).
I'm 50 next year and can say I haven't had any urge to smoke now for 20 years and all my friends still smoke and we go out every Friday night.

So genuinely believe patches etc are just crutches and the only way to stop smoking is basically to stop, ride out the cravings for first few weeks and enjoy your sense of smell, taste and general health coming back

Post Edited (Fri 06 Mar 14:19)
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 Re: Smoking Cessation Tips
Topic Originator: Buspasspar  
Date:   Fri 6 Mar 18:37

Tried it G.G. Me and two pals used to buy a pack of ten Bristol when we went fishing they both smoked but I didn't they got four each and I got two
Made me dizzy and sick so never actually pursued the habit ...Really pleased I did not ...No one in my Family smokes and never have
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 Re: Smoking Cessation Tips
Topic Originator: average white par  
Date:   Fri 6 Mar 18:47

i smoke like a chimney, but I've noticed over the years that the only time I ever stop is when the opportunity to smoke is taken away...

If it's not there it's not an option, so you don't think about it...

It's a heid hing ah hink, ken...?

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 Re: Smoking Cessation Tips
Topic Originator: Buspasspar  
Date:   Fri 6 Mar 19:05

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XDxAzVEbN4
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 Re: Smoking Cessation Tips
Topic Originator: back oh the net  
Date:   Fri 6 Mar 21:22

Cut down big time over the last 3 month or so the only time I buy fags these days is when I’m out drinking I manage to get by using my vape most of the week but come the weekend it’s to much of a pain the @rse to pull the vape out

Come on ye pars ⚽️
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 Re: Smoking Cessation Tips
Topic Originator: Mario  
Date:   Fri 6 Mar 22:37

Move to Aussie land. Read that fags are going up to $40(£20) for 20 this year! Holland clamping down by confining sales to licensed outlets, Sweden planning for a total ban by 2025.
I smoked for 42 years, stopped when I got pneumonia. Well done to those who do it through willpower, I was so sick cold turkey was painless.
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 Re: Smoking Cessation Tips
Topic Originator: jake89  
Date:   Sat 7 Mar 10:08

Join a stop smoking group.
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 Re: Smoking Cessation Tips
Topic Originator: GG Riva  
Date:   Sat 7 Mar 11:13

I started this thread because I know there are many smokers who would like to "escape" the habit, (c) Alan Carr, but feel they can't. Who better to provide tips/guidance than those who have been there and done it?

Different strategies will work for different people. One thing I will say is if you try and fail - set a new date and try again. Aim to beat the time you were smoke free the last time. Even if you're only smoke free for one day, it's still a positive.



Not your average Sunday League player.
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 Re: Smoking Cessation Tips
Topic Originator: PARrot  
Date:   Sat 7 Mar 11:22

We don't tend to worry about ourselves so the short term (whatever it is you get from smoking) wins over consideration of the long term consequences. I think the most effective campaign to stop smoking was the adverts with children and other loved ones watching parents and other close associates on their deathbeds. When we think about the effect on significant others it can be more of an encouragement to help stopping.

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 Re: Smoking Cessation Tips
Topic Originator: PARrot  
Date:   Sat 7 Mar 11:37

Another tactic is to put the money you would have spent on smoking into a savings account with a specific goal in mind eg an extra family holiday, or paying a bit extra to the mortgage and knocking several years off the repayment schedule.
Here is an encouraging thought too... It costs about £2,000 for a charity to provide a village with a fresh water well. If you smoke 20 a day and stop, you could seriously improve the quality of life and save many lives in 2 villages per year rather than killing yourself and profitting companies who quite litterally make money by slowly killing people. How much better would that make you feel on the day you look back and say, "What did I do with my life?"

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 Re: Smoking Cessation Tips
Topic Originator: MDCCCLXXXV  
Date:   Sat 7 Mar 12:57

Like you GG, my biggest problem was I used to smoke for a year or two then stop for a couple of months, I always found it easy to stop, knowing a couple of months down the road I would smoke again
I had health problems a few years back and decided to stop again, to my dismay I found it harder to stop because I had to rather than stop because I wanted to.
It's been 5 years now and only recently have I been out with mates and not had an urge to spark up.

East End Park is a symbol of all that is DAFC.
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