FAGS!

[sillygirl]

Come on, who out there smokes?

I'm a Marlboro Lights lady. Impossible to give up in this country.

At 1000yen a pack in UK, I'm planning to smoke my last at Narita Airport

[james]

very few habits disgust me as much as smoking, and it's really bad here. just *try* to enjoy a meal eating out.. you can't. nothing personal against smokers, just don't do it in public.

[Charles]

"Quitting smoking is easy. I've done it a thousand times."
-Mark Twain

"Smoking should be exclusively reserved for before dinner, during dinner, after dinner, or any other time."
-Winston Churchill

[sillygirl]

Ex smokers-do you have any advice on giving it up?

I heard in the UK nowadays, doctors give you free nicotine patches. I am planning on using nicorette gum in the meantime.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Oh, I thought this was going to be another Tyler Brule thread.

[Charles]

Ex smokers-do you have any advice on giving it up?

I heard in the UK nowadays, doctors give you free nicotine patches. I am planning on using nicorette gum in the meantime.

I hated the gum but had good results with the patch. I heard that the success rate of the patch goes up 50% if you just do one thing: never ever cheat with even ONE smoke after starting the patch. Some people sneak a smoke even after starting the patch, if you do that you're doomed. My second try at quitting was much more successful after I heard that tip. My only problem with the patch was that I'm one of the 10% who reported the #1 side effect, insomnia and nightmares. I ramped down the nicotine more rapidly than recommended, going to step 2 early, and it was much better.

The fact that I caved in and started smoking again after 6 months has nothing to do with how easy it is to quit. It was one of those things where I had some stressful events combined with a bunch of relatives gathering together and getting a laugh out of blowing smoke at the new nonsmoker. Assholes.

[AssKissinger]

I started this shit when I was about 12



(safe for young children)




I also chewed Red Man



(not racist)


In Japan, I started smoking those Echo brand cigarettes. You know those very cheap ones with an orange pack? I swear to God they are the smoothest smoke out there. To all yall smokers you gotta check these babies out. I smoked three packs every two days. Sorry I can't find an image.

Anyway, three years ago I called it quits. For weeks I read everything I could on lung disease. Personal accounts, medical information, everything I could find. It's terrifying. That's how I did it.

[sillygirl]

Good on ya, AK.

Charles, do you smoke now? How long did you quit for?

[American Oyaji]

I prefer pipes these days.

I used to smoke a pipe back in college and in tech school, but then I lost the habit in Japan, because I couldnt get the type of tobacco I liked.

[AssKissinger]

There's another mental thing I did. I convinced myself that it's profoundly easy to quit smoking because it's a non-action. By nature I think most people are pretty lazy. I know I am. So I thought of it like this: Not smoking is actually much easier than smoking because smoking is an activity that takes some effort and not smoking is nothing. It's like that old joke: Remember you're a human being not a human doing.

At least, get in the mind frame that it's easy. You can do it. And don't taper off just go cold turkey. Go flush the rest of your fags (hee hee) down the crapper right now. Tell yourself you don't need those fucking cancer causing money stealing coffin nails. Tell yourself that you'll never give one more red cent to those corporate cock tobacco motherfuckers.

Plus, you're moving back to England, right? You gotta quit, you know what a pack of fags (giggle) costs back there.


I remember one time when I was in London I was watching TV and there was this commercial where this guy was saying "I gotta cut down to two fags a day." Oh fuck I laughed so hard I nearly pissed myself. In fact, I think a little drop did come out. One time I had a dream that Willie Nelson pissed himself on the David Letterman show and he said "Uh oh, I pulled a Disney!" Don't ask me what Disney has to do with pissing yourself. It was a weird dream. Do you like Willie Nelson? I do.

[Samurai_Jerk]

a bunch of relatives gathering together and getting a laugh out of blowing smoke at the new nonsmoker. Assholes.

What the fuck is it with people that whenever you try to improve yourself they want to sabotage you? If you go on a diet they want you to eat french fries, if you try to quit drinking they start waving a beer under your nose, if you start exercising they try to talk you into skipping the gym to hang out. Sometimes I think the only way to successfully change a bad habit is to avoid everyone you know till you've kicked it.

[GuyJean]

One time I had a dream that Willie Nelson pissed himself on the David Letterman show and he said "Uh oh, I pulled a Disney!" Don't ask me what Disney has to do with pissing yourself. It was a weird dream. Do you like Willie Nelson? I do.

Obviously, you're still smokin' the wacky tobacky..

GJ

[Laced]

Ex smokers-do you have any advice on giving it up?

I heard in the UK nowadays, doctors give you free nicotine patches. I am planning on using nicorette gum in the meantime.

My situtation in the oppositie toy ours, I quit a 10 year habit during my last year in London and am now in Tokyo.

This following is terribly badly written:
Are you a heavy smoker? I spent my last two months only smoking the fags I genuinely enjoyed (after coffe, after a meal etc). This reminds you on a daily basis that you are smoking less. However, when you do decided to quit, that really has to be it.

So long as you are clear in your head that you no longer somke, it makes things a lot easier. When ever you start to feel like you want one, you know the answer is going to be 'no' so dont dwell on it for a seccond, just move on and think of osmething else.

I niver bothered with pills or patches, as I somehow believed it would be 'character building tuff' to quit smoking on my own.

Anyway, I'm far less nlethargic than I ever was a smoker, this kick of motivation and enrgy is worth so much more than anything smoking ever gave me.

[ichigo partygirl]

japan must be the hardest place in the world to quit smoking. it seems there is always someone standing/sitting/squating next/behind/infront of you smoking. Its way too cheap and the vending machines are everywhere, IF u want to quit smoking come to NZ. A shit packet of crappy brand smokes are bout NZ$10 per packet. its also illegal to smoke in workplaces - which means all bars and eating places etc are smoke free.
Good luck Silly girl quiting is the best thing you can do for your body i the long run - if u need a hand come visit me in NZ

[Big Booger]

very few habits disgust me as much as smoking, and it's really bad here. just *try* to enjoy a meal eating out.. you can't. nothing personal against smokers, just don't do it in public.

I have to say James this one of the few times I whole-heartedly agree... I loathe it.. it's disgusting. It bothers others around you, you smell, your breath stinks, it changes your vocal chords enough to alter your voice over prolonged usage, it causes cancer, smoking is a filthy habit that should be banned the planet over..

Why anyone on earth would knowingly put a carcinogen in their lungs on purpse is beyond me.. and you know, hundreds of years, people will look back at our society and scoff at how barbaric we were...

just like we do to our ancestors of years gone by:

take for instance these "acts" of wackiness:

Friendly Fires of Females

Hairless Days

Eric Clapton would be proud

In fact, I don't have any friends who smoke.. usually when I find out someone smokes, I just stop talking to them.. It's nothing personal I just don't want to be around someone when they smoke.[/url]

[sillygirl]

japan must be the hardest place in the world to quit smoking. it seems there is always someone standing/sitting/squating next/behind/infront of you smoking. Its way too cheap and the vending machines are everywhere, IF u want to quit smoking come to NZ. A shit packet of crappy brand smokes are bout NZ$10 per packet. its also illegal to smoke in workplaces - which means all bars and eating places etc are smoke free.
Good luck Silly girl quiting is the best thing you can do for your body i the long run - if u need a had come visit me in NZ

Yeah, I heard UK is getting tougher with the no smoking areas, etc. That for sure will help, not being surrounded by smokers. Japan is mental for it, eh?

Anyway, I WANT to give up, which I think is a good start. Always enjoyed smoking and didn't want to quit until recently.

Hm. Ganbarimasu. Hm.

[cstaylor]

What the fuck is it with people that whenever you try to improve yourself they want to sabotage you? If you go on a diet they want you to eat french fries, if you try to quit drinking they start waving a beer under your nose, if you start exercising they try to talk you into skipping the gym to hang out.

Misery loves company.

[hakuman]

The poll could have used a 4th choice "social smoker". I smoke when I go out for drinks with someone who smokes, but not at any other time.

What the fuck is it with people that whenever you try to improve yourself they want to sabotage you? If you go on a diet they want you to eat french fries, if you try to quit drinking they start waving a beer under your nose, if you start exercising they try to talk you into skipping the gym to hang out.

By quitting somthing that is known to be wrong, you are proving that you are strong enough to do it. And by being with a person who is still stuck in that habit, just by existing you are making that person seem weak, at least in their eyes. Therefore they want you to revert to the position they are in, to relieve their own insecurities that they have as a result of being weak.

[Charles]

Good on ya, AK.

Charles, do you smoke now? How long did you quit for?

Yes, I am smoking now. I smoked since I was about 20, I smoked about every foul tobacco product you could imagine, Marlboro Reds, Dunhills, Gitaines, Players, 555, etc, I liked unfiltered smokes. I started rolling my own cigarettes with Dunhill flake tobacco, I smoked it for a few months before I discovered it was pipe tobacco. So I stopped rolling it and smoked a pipe occasionally. My favorite smokes were Challiapini Italian cigarettes (an especially mild blend) or handrolled Virginia tobacco (I've forgotten the brand). Oh yeah, I smoked like a chimney, some of my friends that came over to my house and they called it "The Smokehouse."

But I quit for about 2 years, using the patch. Unfortunately I caved in after I had a major surgery. I was recuperating at home, barely able to get up out of bed, and I was seized by a continual urge to smoke. So I got up out of my sickbed, dizzy and barely able to stand, and walked 2 blocks through freezing winter temperatures over icy sidewalks, down to the corner store to buy a pack of smokes. What a goddam idiot I was. It's a miracle I didn't slip and fall and freeze to death in the snow.

So I caved in at the time I was weakest, and smoked for the last few years since then. But since that first time I quit and started again, I somehow like to smoke but I can't stand being around smoke. So I always smoke outside, even if it's -20F winter temperatures.

Then on my recent trip to Japan in April, I ran into a few unpleasant situations that made it apparent how difficult it was to persist in my smoking habits. I wrote about my encounter with the new smoking rules in Chiyoda-ku, and my visit to the "Smokatorium," you can read about it on my blog. So I decided to quit when I came back from Japan. It wasn't so hard, using the patch. But I caved in again after only 6 months, as I described before, I had a very hard time due to a couple of family matters, another minor surgery, stressful things seem to bring out that urge.

It's at times like that I remember a lecture from an ex-smoker, when I first failed at quitting many years ago. He said that tobacco is your one true friend, the only thing you can truly rely on. Your friends may abandon you, people move away, you can lose your job and your home, but as long as you have a cig and a match, tobacco will always be there for you whenever you want it. And even if you quit, tobacco will always be waiting for you to come back. You can quit tobacco, but tobacco will never quit on you.

I'm determined to quit again, I decided it was foolish to try to quit as winter approached when I'd be cooped up inside. I'm going to quit this spring and start doing some exercise to get into better shape.

[ichigo partygirl]

Good luck Charles. It must be an incrediably difficult thing to do- both physically and mentally.

[Charles]

Good luck Charles. It must be an incrediably difficult thing to do- both physically and mentally.

Actually, quitting is pretty easy, with the aid of modern antismoking aids like the patch. The hard part is not starting again. That is incredibly difficult.

After quitting a couple of times, I learned something interesting. When you're a smoker, you only think about smoking when you want a smoke, maybe 20 times a day. But when you quit, you think about smoking every single second of every minute of every hour. It takes a long time for that feeling to go away.

[ichigo partygirl]

Good luck Charles. It must be an incrediably difficult thing to do- both physically and mentally.

Actually, quitting is pretty easy, with the aid of modern antismoking aids like the patch. The hard part is not starting again. That is incredibly difficult.

After quitting a couple of times, I learned something interesting. When you're a smoker, you only think about smoking when you want a smoke, maybe 20 times a day. But when you quit, you think about smoking every single second of every minute of every hour. It takes a long time for that feeling to go away.

ive never quit smoking before so i can take your word for it. Sounds like the same deal as when you diet. You dont think about food so much untill you tell yourself you cant have it.

[Mels]

I also want to quit. I am running five miles every other day and tomorrow is my long run..8 miles. I dont know why, but I am able to run without any problem, or so I think.

I know that if I were to quit, my running would probably improve ten fold within six months.

I started a t16...on and off for years...and then BAM, got hooked. My dad told me once...you say you can quit, but you will be surprised when you realize you cant.

I never smoke in the house..I hate the stinch. In california, we are not allow to smoke inside any structure, which I LOVE. I dont like smoke when I am dining...it is gross.

I hate when people flip their cigarettes out the window of their car or just drop their butts anywhere.

I have a box of Nicorett lozenges sitting on my desk. Why havent I started taking them? I think I am sitting in fear and working through that....why fear? I know it sounds stupid, but I fear the failure...I know, I am working through that......and I am slowly feeling better about it.

I do a heck of a lot of driving.....two-three hours one way....I just need to take the lozenges and gum....pre occupy my oral action...LOL

SG and Charles,and who ever else is smoking, we just need to do it....COLD TURKEY. I will get rid of all things relating to smoking after I sign off. I DON'T WANT TO SMOKE ANY LONGER...it sucks, it stinks, it can be expensive ( I will put the money I save in a shoe box..at the end of the month I will go out and treat myself to something nice).....but the most important thing is: UNHEALTHY and we may eventually die of smoke related disease. I would rather stop because I WANT TOO....because it will be too late if they tell me I have cancer or emphysema.

I am feeling like this tonight because I found out a good freind was diagnosed with MS. Damn. She is only fucking 38. I know I was weak, but when she told me, I just grabbed her and cried. I should have been stronger for her, but looking at my freind as she told me....that was my first reaction.....I don't typically cry...but we cried. Then she asked me.....please stop smoking.......and well, I saw this thread....it is a sign.

Good luck to all who are attempting to quit....send me some positive thoughts too.

[sillygirl]

Ok Mels, we can do this together....

(and bitch about it lots in the powder room)



PS Sorry to hear about your friend. That sucks

[Mels]

Ok Mels, we can do this together....

(and bitch about lots in the powder room)

YOU GOT IT GIRL....hopefully we won't to raving bitches for too long LOLOLOL It is all worth it....

[Charles]

I have a box of Nicorett lozenges sitting on my desk. Why havent I started taking them? I think I am sitting in fear and working through that....why fear? I know it sounds stupid, but I fear the failure...I know, I am working through that......and I am slowly feeling better about it.

You can't use the nicoret unless you quit first. That's the way all the nicotine replacement therapies work. First you quit, then within hours you get a nic fit and the nicotine replacement covers your craving. It can actually be a bit unpleasant at first, on the patch you just feel like you're oozing nicotine out of every pore, it's total nicotine overkill, but at least it completely suppresses any chemical dependency on nicotine, and your lungs start to feel better immediately. You're supposed to use nicotine replacements to suppress the chemical dependency for a few weeks until you break all your remaining psychological urges to smoke. Then you taper off the nicotine dosage gradually, which reduces the withdrawl symptoms. The patch has 3 steps so you really only feel a little crappy twice, when going down to step 2, then at step 3. By the time you've been on step 3 a while, you really aren't chemically addicted at all.
The problem with the gum and lozenges is that you have to think about it and regulate your nicotine levels. In a way, that's as bad as smoking. Plus they taste awful. Just try the patch. Trust me on this, it really works. After you get off the patch, though, it's all up to you.

[Mels]

I have a box of Nicorett lozenges sitting on my desk. Why havent I started taking them? I think I am sitting in fear and working through that....why fear? I know it sounds stupid, but I fear the failure...I know, I am working through that......and I am slowly feeling better about it.

You can't use the nicoret unless you quit first. That's the way all the nicotine replacement therapies work. First you quit, then within hours you get a nic fit and the nicotine replacement covers your craving. It can actually be a bit unpleasant at first, on the patch you just feel like you're oozing nicotine out of every pore, it's total nicotine overkill, but at least it completely suppresses any chemical dependency on nicotine, and your lungs start to feel better immediately. You're supposed to use nicotine replacements to suppress the chemical dependency for a few weeks until you break all your remaining psychological urges to smoke. Then you taper off the nicotine dosage gradually, which reduces the withdrawl symptoms. The patch has 3 steps so you really only feel a little crappy twice, when going down to step 2, then at step 3. By the time you've been on step 3 a while, you really aren't chemically addicted at all.
The problem with the gum and lozenges is that you have to think about it and regulate your nicotine levels. In a way, that's as bad as smoking. Plus they taste awful. Just try the patch. Trust me on this, it really works. After you get off the patch, though, it's all up to you.

Exactly on the mark Charles. I have to wait until tomorrow morning before I take the lozenges. Truthfully, I dont want to replace the nic. that I get from cigs with something else. I want to just stop. However, I know me and this may help.
I tried the gum and patch and didnt like it LOL..the gum burnt my tongue and the patch made me feel weird. That was five years ago...so if I cant stop on my own and the lozenges arent working well, I will look at the patch. I am sure they may have improved on it.
At this point, I also HATE having damn cig crap all in my purse, etc....

Thank you so much for your posting. I will keep what you wrote in mind and look forward to being smoke FREE...

[Captain Japan]

Treaty will curb smoking advertisements in Japan
Kansas City Star

TOKYO - (KRT) - Japanese smokers may be pushed to butt out by an international treaty that takes effect Saturday.

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, an international agreement aimed at reducing health hazards from smoking, includes a number of antismoking measures, including regulations on cigarette advertisements, to a nation that has been described as a smokers paradise.

But there is no immediate prospect in sight of any draconian price increases to push people to kick the habit, as has been used in Europe and the United States. Just how effective the convention proves to be in Japan will depend on what the government and the tobacco industry decide to do to cut tobacco consumption....the rest...

I don't have a whole lot to add to this thread. But a bunch of my friends on my baseball team back a few years ago used to dip (you know, smokeless tobacco). Well, they were all completely hooked (to me, smoking and dipping are equally unappealing). Anyway, some guys went on the patch. In the end, they were patching and dipping simulataneously. It was pretty hopeless. I wish you all the best in quitting.

[ahochaude]

I also want to quit. I am running five miles every other day and tomorrow is my long run..8 miles. I dont know why, but I am able to run without any problem, or so I think.

I know that if I were to quit, my running would probably improve ten fold within six months.

I know what you mean. I started smoking when I was 12 years old. I played soccer since I was 9 years old all the way till when I was 21. I myself had no respitory problems whatsoever. I could (then) still run my mile in at least 6 1/4-6 1/2 minutes. No problem. I know I could've improved myself if I didn't smoke, but who's fault is that?! No wonder I didn't recieve that soccer scholarship that I had dreamed of and worked so hard for.
It's when you stop your "regular" cardiovascluar activity that'll make you realize that smoking is kicking your butt. I guess while doing cardiovascular activity while you smoke is just like somewhat "maintaining" your cardiovascular ability, in a sence. Not like you'll get much better or anything. You're only doing a negative action to offset the positive.
According to my experience, it's when you stop (cardiovascular activity) and start again where you can feel it the most, while smoking.
I'm 23 going on to 24 this year. I've been smoking for almost 12 years, and not until 2-3 years ago could I feel the effects most during cardio exercise.
Although I enjoy smoking, especially with a beer, I must quit soon. Especially when the time comes for me to be a father.

[fatslug]

i have never smoked a cigarette in my life.....not once......