People find quitting smoking difficult.

MrMetalFingers · 2015-09-05T14:48:50+00:00

Let's say that you want to start a new hobby or activity. What do you do? You just show up there. The sole part of showing up is the trigger of the change. You wake up and do it.

That's a good way of looking at it; the cessation of a bad habit is certainly achieved in the same way as the adoption of a good habit. Excellent point!

_frog_mastery · 2015-09-05T15:29:56+00:00

I finally quit smoking myself after about a dozen years of heavy use, and I too found it remarkably easy. I've thought about this a bit and I've come to the conclusion that the difference (between having a hard or easy time quitting) is whether you are quitting because "I'd probably get cancer at some point and that would suck, but right now cigarettes are great" and "I don't want to smoke cigarettes anymore."

I could enjoy a cigarette right now if I lit one up, but in exchange for that minor pleasure I'd go back to having a second stomach to feed. Cigarettes just aren't fun. It's a chore to have to have a cigarette with your coffee and what not. "Ugh I wanna go to sleep, maybe one more cigarette first". Much time is saved when you aren't having to come up with stuff to do while you smoke cigarettes.

MrChillBroBaggins · 2015-09-05T15:42:55+00:00

Quitting was the best decision I made. I remember watching a vid of a 2 pack a day guy. Shit rattled me pretty hard.

The best way to quit is to understand how cigs affect the brain. Smokers are no different than any other addict, fundamentally.

Learn about how nicotine binds with acetylcholine recepters. Learn about up-regulation, MAOI's, and freebase nicotine, all of which give a rush and subsequent cravings. Smokers are addicts.

The best tool for me was knowing how I'd feel if I smoked again in the future, good at first, then pretty shitty.

Smoking is dumb, and I was dumb for falling into the trap. +1 Easy way to stop smoking

trpSenator · 2015-09-05T17:35:59+00:00

I'm a smoker and I hate it. I mean, I love smoking, don't get me wrong, it is really enjoyable -- especially after a few drinks. However, it's really one of those nasty little things in life that realistically adds absolutely no value, and in fact as we all know, actually just adds harm: The smell, the cost, the lack of breath.

But addiction is silly like that. Because it's actually a really simple drug to quit; withdraws only take 2 days and you're off. However, the problem is that it's not something like heroine where you actualize the immediate damage going on. Instead, it's a real slow killer, so it's easy to continually put off for a long time.

killerofgod · 2015-09-05T15:55:16+00:00

"Hard to quit smoking" I called bullshit on this after watching my dad go cold turkey on them about 8 years ago no patch or substitute still had over a cartons worth of packs in the garage he never touched except to move them to make way for a desk to work on radios.

Glassland · 2015-09-05T16:27:17+00:00

Alan Carr explains cigarette addiction very well. With his help and understanding of the addiction, I stopped permanently. It wasn't that hard really. To control your masturbation habit is way harder.

theoctopuss · 2015-09-05T17:20:03+00:00

I know a guy that is "trying" to quit smoking, as well as drinking.

He first started in 2012 or so. Before that, he would get this air of superiority around people who smoked. He bought a pack and said "I won't get addicted."

Fast forward to a month ago. He bought 3 packs of patches to signify his transition to a victim mentality. All he does is bitch and whine about how he can't quit smoking, how it's "so bad for him", and blah blah blah. He blames his childish antics on trying to quit.

He's also going through the same thing with alcohol. He wants everyone around him to feel bad for him because he's an alcoholic. He asked his mom to admit him to the hospital for detox, now he's stuck with the bill for that. He still drinks heavily, as well. He can't pay his bills, yet spends $30-40 a night on specialty beers. His roommate, myself, and many others comment on it, but it doesn't seem to bother him.

Basically, this guy has no sense of agency. Don't be this guy. Quitting something is easy as shit; you just don't do that thing anymore. Many other posters have anecdotes of them quitting cold turkey, as have I, which shows that it can be done.

holytrpbatman · 2015-09-05T17:06:51+00:00

This is exactly how I quit, 5 years ago. It is nowhere near as difficult as smokers have been led to believe.

Myrpl · 2015-09-05T18:53:57+00:00

I finally stopped smoking after a decade. In my new job, everyone and their dog is a smoker in the office. When they asked me if I also smoke I told them my story and they were like wow, good for you and they kept smoking.

They decided their limitations for themselves.

Truckyouinthebutt · 2015-09-05T21:26:54+00:00

quitting smoking has increased my sex drive 10 fold. If anyone is debating this do it now. Try an E cig to help. Thats what I am currently doing.

phrostbyt · 2015-09-05T17:35:03+00:00

I used to be a heroin addict. I was addicted for many years. Often quitting and subsequently relapsing. The real key to staying quit is will power, you just have to want to stop bad enough. Smoking is the same. I've smoked for a long time as well, often quitting and relapsing. I haven't quit yet.. But these past couples months I've been getting closer to finally making that decision. I need to pick a date and stick with it

RedBigMan · 2015-09-05T18:14:39+00:00

Good job on quitting smoking.

Inertia is what makes it hard to get things moving. It's also what makes things hard to stop once they get moving. The difficulty is in deciding to apply force to go from one state to another.

red445 · 2015-09-05T18:49:12+00:00

I got question: Is there something like 'fake cigaret'? I want to smoke for social reasons, but without damaging my body. Alcohol is easy to fake, but never heard about cigs.

[deleted] · 2015-09-05T21:34:26+00:00

How much weight did you gain? Or, are you doing extra stuff for money? Or, do you drink more?

It's actually very easy to switch from one addiction from another.

askboobmen · 2015-09-07T13:08:10+00:00

Chiming in here with a newbie question. Started smoking two months ago while conscripted, and have since then gone through two packs of smokes. I only smoke during the weekends with friends, haven't smoked a single one on my own yet.

Will keeping up with this scheme risk me getting hooked on them? At the moment I simply cannot grasp how I would get addicted to them. But taking into account all the hype around the impossibility of quitting I feel like I shouldn't drop my guard.

abetterarsonist · 2015-09-06T04:14:22+00:00

I actually just quit myself. Similar thing, just spontaneously stopped. It's only been a few days though. I thought the first day would be the hardest, but day three is seriously kicking my ass! My lungs feel so thirsty...but I'm doing it for the muscle gains.

oldredder · 2015-09-06T07:48:19+00:00

meh. I love smoking. Just I love fitness more so I will let smoking die down enough it isn't fucking with cardio & lifting.

I think coke's the way to go for a strong addiction. Oh, I know, doing it yourself is way bad. But if you always have a little on hand let's be honest: girls will suck a dick to do a line and love it the entire time, feeling like a special princess.

Jus' sayin'

iamanalterror · 2015-09-06T10:12:16+00:00

This happens with a lot of things, actually. Not just smoking.

Your words resonate with me, because a couple of years ago, I quit facebook for a while, and it just happened suddenly as the culmination of a whole lot of anger and disappointment. I actually remember sitting in a lecture, thinking about my life and shit, and how people were treating me, which is what triggered it.

I managed to last 3 months (to which my friends were surprised, since they thought I would only last a week at most).

And now, I've been gone from Facebook, permanently. A few months ago, I was talking about how I was going to do it, and I had some friends criticizing me for still being on Facebook. I remember taking the decision again, right on the spot, and I deleted it. It's been permanently deleted now, for a few months.

If you're waiting on doing something, make the decision right now, immediately, on the spot, and deal with the consequences (if there even really are any) later. You'll thank yourself for it.

iamanalterror · 2015-09-06T10:13:38+00:00

On another note, has anyone tried buying an e-cigarette, and just reducing the amount of nicotine in it, bit by bit, until you're vaping on no nicotine?

LubricatingOil · 2015-09-06T11:22:49+00:00

I quit smoking by replacing cigarettes with electronic cigarettes. All I needed was to spend 70 bucks on a kit and a few bucks on a liquid, which had 12mg of nicotine per ml in it. It helps, a lot. Sometimes I do get cravings for a normal cigarette but nicotine does the job well done. Nicotine is still unhealthy, so its intake should be reduced, like periodically.

Trying to quit cold turkey you will start hamstering yourself for occasional smoking and you wont even notice until you satisfy the cravings. It's a good exercise for holding your inner frame and self-awareness. You may as well start new healthy habits to replace shit like smoking or crack.

Ketaminewarrior · 2015-09-06T13:17:55+00:00

Anyone who is trying to quit smoking I encourage you to give Swedish Snus a try. Great stuff in its own right but also fantastic way to quit smoking.

luigitheturtle · 2015-09-06T13:43:56+00:00

Even the most intelligent people will make BS excuses to continue with their addictions. Subconscious>conscious.

Richard Feynman was an alcoholic. Christopher Hitchens was a smoker who died of esophageal cancer. The list goes on.

I'd consider myself to be aware but I still needed a couple kicks in the ass to stop smoking weed. I even moved out of the US temporarily to get away from all the cannabis in Cali. Ultimately it's a battle between your primordial "feelz" brain and your rational brain.

Respect to anyone who can cold turkey say "fuck this" to smoking/alcoholism/etc. and stop permanently.

IGoYouStayTwoAutumns · 2015-09-05T14:57:15+00:00

I quit smoking more than 4 years ago--don't mean to sound flip about the whole thing (for those who've had trouble quitting in the past) but honestly it was one of the easiest things I've ever done in my entire life. I really do believe the whole "It's SOOO difficult to quit smoking!!" schtick is just a thing invented by cigarette manufacturers to keep their customers from even attempting to break the habit... Fact is, once you stop smoking the nicotine is physically out of your system in 72 hours, and psychologically you're pretty good after two weeks--and that's it, that's all it takes.

Me: when I finally got around to thinking "OK, this is it, I'm feel like I'm gonna quit soon..." I didn't put any particular time limit on it, I just knew, I just FELT, that my time with cigs was coming to a close. Friend of mine told me to check out Allen Carr's EASY WAY TO STOP SMOKING (most highly recommended), book (and video) pretty much said exactly what I wanted to hear (it's easy, you just decide to quit and do so), and then a few days later, one morning I was smoking a cigarette and I suddenly realized "Huh, you know what--this is my last cigarette!!" And so it was. It was just obvious--the time had come. I chose to make quitting easy, and that was exactly my experience--no patch, no gum, no drugs, no withdrawal, no cravings, nothing. I was just done. It really can be that easy, IS that easy, if you want it to be.

mccuda · 2015-09-05T20:20:23+00:00

I found quitting smoking far easier once I had done a few successful 90 day rounds of no fap

CognitiveVortex · 2015-09-07T13:02:46+00:00

How do you guys avoid smoking while out or drinking? I find that is the hardest time for me and i usually cave and bum smokes or buy my own.

Obviously not drinking is one option but does anyone have other tips?

MSCHVSVCTRY · 2015-09-05T17:51:00+00:00

I got a joke for you.

It's always me, the Elephant, and the cigarettes in the room, but I'm the only one who smokes.

[deleted] · 2015-09-05T21:56:59+00:00

I know it's hard to quit smoking. That's why I never started.

[deleted] · 2015-09-07T13:49:23+00:00

[permanently deleted]

Title	People find quitting smoking difficult.
Author	[deleted]
Upvotes	48
Comments	54
Date	September 5, 2015 2:07 PM UTC (10 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/TheRedPill
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/TheRedPill/comments/3jqu4g/people_find_quitting_smoking_difficult/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/TheRedPill/people-find-quitting-smoking-difficult.36142 https://theredarchive.com/post/36142

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