Damn cravings are driving me nuts

[Mungler]

Okay, I have been off the tabs now for over 2 weeks - I just stopped.

 

What helped me:

 

1. knowing "the game was up" and that I was the last person I knew who smoked

2. seeing and knowing so many other people were packing it in helped. I don't know why, it just did.

3. the day before stopping (stopping was planned but something that was on my mind) I went for a coffee where the shop was half indoors and half outdoor terrace where there were ashtrays on tables. I had a smoke outside in the designated area and the other 30 or so non smokers sitting outside looked at me as though I had just dropped my trousers and crimped one off on the table. They were disgusted.

4. one of my clients told me the trick to giving up was to tell yourself each today "tomorrow I will have a cigarette but today I won't, just for today". Strange too, but that worked. I supposed the human mind is such that it doesn't like to be denied anything and tricking it works.

 

In the meantime I am eating like an Ethiopian with luncheon vouchers. Once I have done a month I will get on the scales but I would estimate at least 7lbs weight gain (not to mention the 7lbs the holiday put on anyway).

 

Treadmill anyone?

 

So, picking up this earlier thread, who is still on the wagon, fallen right off the wagon and slipped off the wagon to get back on again?

[Markio]

Well done Mung. Number 4 worked for me too, but slightly different. Every time i wanted a ciggie i just told myself 'not for the next hour or so', by the next hour that craving had gone. I did that a lot and before i knew it it was a few weeks down the line.

 

Your at another hard part which is easy to relax and think you've done it, keep at it. I'm 18 months without a ciggie now and i don't have any cravings for another ciggie at all but the idea appeals to me at times.

[Dr W]

So I gave up at beginning of July and it's been alright, ok so I've slipped on 3 occasions when sitting outside in the sun having one too many shandies but they thing is the next morning when my mouth tastes like an elephant has **** in it I don't want to carry on. So 6 weeks on feeling much better for it.

 

I certainly don't miss the first fag of the day, they were disgusting.

 

Things that helped me.

 

Getting back on the bike and cycling the 6 miles to work 3-4 days a week which is definietly easier since stopped smoking

 

Healthy eating (as put on half a stone on honeymoon which has now gone, just the rest of it to go)

 

Mrs putting me on a budget so that I could try and repay some of my credit card debts which meant that I've cut back on drinking during the week which also helps waist line and stops the time when I most wanted a fag.

 

Medical coming up in September so trying to be healthy so doctor doesn't shout at me too much.

 

Getting myself in shape so that we can try for a family next year.

[ME]

1. knowing "the game was up" and that I was the last person I knew who smoked

 

Mung,

 

I was one of those 16 years olds with you mate. I used to spend my £1 dinner money on 10 B&H when at school. (10 B&H was 60 pence)

 

For me the milestone in giving up was around the 5 years mark, at that point I knew I could never go back to it. Having said that, I still miss a cup of tea with a fag and a fag after a nice meal.

 

You could always convert to chewing tobacco, do Blaser do a spittoon attachment for the F3 ?!!!

 

LV

[Cranfield]

Congratulations to all those that are resisting the cravings, as another ex smoker who also went "cold turkey", I know how hard it is.

 

When you are a smoker you scoff when the ex smokers say how they now hate the smell of cigarette smoke etc., but when you stop smoking, one of the first things that you notice is how offensive other peoples cigarette smoke is.

[Axe]

Its now been over 6 months for me since I ditched the need for tobacco. Tried everything at some stage in my life from patches to accupuncture. Nothing really workeduntil I read Alan Carr's book, even that didnt actually do it in its entirety. But 1 month after reading the book that was it, no more fags.

 

I do find the odd moment when catch the odd woft of smoke and think mmmm I remember how nice it was. But then that is almost immediately replaced by the smell of an ashtray which keeps me off them.

 

I'll not return to smoking and i'm enjoying the benefits of a healthier llifestyle.

[JJaxeman]

I gave up just over 8 months ago and did the same as Axe via the Alan Carr Method, it has worked for me

[Mungler]

Okay, I am 3 months into "given up" and the lungs are feeling much better. The fact that no one I know smokes anymore and you can't smoke in a restaurant or a pub (or anywhere) has actually made it surprisingly easy. Don't get my wrong, the last time I gave up it was murder - when friends still smoked and I could cadge a ciggy and when you could smoke in restaurants and buy ciggies in restaurants.

 

So, now we move to my next dilema. I am now officially 1 stone 5 lbs heavier than when I smoked. Yes, that is 1 stone and 5 lbs in 3 months - no wonder I wasn't smoking because I was too busy *** well eating - working the probability and time factor involved if I was still smoking and eating at the rate I currently am, the cigarettes would have probably just collided and extinguished themselves on whatever food it was that I was ramming into my gob.

 

To narrow the food thing down I would say that it was mainly junk and in particular curries at lunchtime. Incidentally, the *best* curry house in the world is in Gidea Park and it is called the Zafran for anyone passing. Stay away, to enter is to embrace the dark and fat side, never to return. I have never been what is commonly termed "slim" and I have eaten in more curry houses than most of you have had hot dinners - I can confirm that this curry house *is* the best.

 

So, it is diet time. I have joined a Gym (full year's fees up front - ouch) and so have the incentive to go hanging over me like a huge pile of money that could have been spent / burnt on something much better and more interesting - indeed, the numbers pan out such that I have blown what could have otherwise been a full on Sky HD package and all the movie channels.

 

All you other ex-smokers - how's the waist lines - fess up all the fatties out there.

[Chard]

Okay, I am 3 months into "given up" and the lungs are feeling much better. The fact that no one I know smokes anymore and you can't smoke in a restaurant or a pub (or anywhere) has actually made it surprisingly easy. Don't get my wrong, the last time I gave up it was murder - when friends still smoked and I could cadge a ciggy and when you could smoke in restaurants and buy ciggies in restaurants.

 

So, now we move to my next dilema. I am now officially 1 stone 5 lbs heavier than when I smoked. Yes, that is 1 stone and 5 lbs in 3 months - no wonder I wasn't smoking because I was too busy f'in well eating - working the probability and time factor involved if I was still smoking and eating at the rate I currently am, the cigarettes would have probably just collided and extinguished themselves on whatever food it was that I was ramming into my gob.

 

To narrow the food thing down I would say that it was mainly junk and in particular curries at lunchtime. Incidentally, the *best* curry house in the world is in Gidea Park and it is called the Zafran for anyone passing. Stay away, to enter is to embrace the dark and fat side, never to return. I have never been what is commonly termed "slim" and I have eaten in more curry houses than most of you have had hot dinners - I can confirm that this curry house *is* the best.

 

So, it is diet time. I have joined a Gym (full year's fees up front - ouch) and so have the incentive to go hanging over me like a huge pile of money that could have been spent / burnt on something much better and more interesting - indeed, the numbers pan out such that I have blown what could have otherwise been a full on Sky HD package and all the movie channels.

 

All you other ex-smokers - how's the waist lines - fess up all the fatties out there.

 

Well done Mung :(

 

I quit 2 years ago - cold turkey. There is NO other way, just cold turkey. Nancying around with chewing gum and hypnosis is futile and there's nothing more useless than "cutting down". You have got to WANT to give up, which sounds silly, but it's no good giving up because you're being nagged, or you feel you ought to.

 

I found it hard for about 3 weeks, doesn't bother me now. However - big downside, I've put on 3 stone in 2 years :lol: :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

 

Consequently, I don't feel much better, because I'm lugging all this extra weight around. I find dieting so much harder than quitting smoking, mainly because healthy food bores me to death Why is it that all the food I like is fattening?

 

Glad I gave up and I will get round to dieting one day

 

I'm pleased to say that I have not become a sanctimonious pillock If there's one thing I couldn't stand and still can't stand it's the holier-than-thou ******** who witter on about smoking as if you were committing genocide by lighting up

They're enough to make me start smoking again, just to pi$$ them off. :look:

[Dr W]

I'm still struggling on and ocassionally stray which is what I need to get over.

 

As for weight I've never been slim but I haven't put on any additional just never got rid of the extra 3 stone the doc has told me to lose.

 

I did try the gym route but you have to be very dedicated and keep remembering the cash as I found that after a year I'd been about once a month and it had cost me best part of £500 so that was £60 a time???

 

I'm now into cycling to work as it forces me to do it and less boring as I'm constantly trying to avoid getting flatterned by London traffic.

 

For me I find the cravings for cigs similar to hunger so I don't know if it is metabolism that changes when you stop or just that you feel hungry all the time.

 

Doesn't help having a job where you sit on your *** all day.

 

Good luck!

[tuck1]

"Apparantly" having a jam jar with some old tab ends and half full of water is the way to go. Anytime you get the urge for a swift tab, unscrew the lid and inhale deeply. The smell is enough to put you off.

 

I'm not a smoker, so cannot vouch for it, however it has worked for friends of mine.

 

As far as Munglers curry addiction goes, there's no help my friend. Just stay away from Bradford....

[Jonsey]

3 months is some achievement, well done Mungler.

 

Although you’ve put a bit of weight on you’ve still got to be really pleased with yourself. A friend of mine said he thought he put on extra weight because everything tasted so much better once he’d stopped smoking, and he kept having second helpings. There must be an element of truth in that because I’ve heard other people say food tastes better.

 

Anyway good luck at the gym.

[Axe]

Mungler, 8months on and i'm feeling great. I have put on weight but now regularly swim 50 lengths at the local pool and the weight is falling off.

[Mungler]

Okay chaps, I have had the formal weigh in as witnessed by chief secretary.

 

Flippin hell.

 

I don't know who was more shocked, me or the scales that only go upto 18 stone

 

I will find a VOSA weigh bridge on the way home and have my fears confirmed.

[Axe]

[Cranfield]

The best way to lose weight is to join a slimming club.

The weekly weigh-ins, the competitive element, the peer pressure, the healthy eating advice, all combine to make it very effective.

[Mungler]

Okay, I have had my first "weigh in" at work as witnessed by chief dieting secretary.

 

My starting weight, yes get this, was 19 stone 10 lbs (oh yes, I ate all the pies and more to the point all the Indian takeaways).

 

After 1 week on Atkins and more exercise my weight has fallen to 19 stone 2 lbs.

 

Yes that's a wopping 8 lbs in one week and I am the firm champion slimmer.

 

Okay so it's only week 1 people but the tedium of the diet has subsided with the good news.

 

EDIT:

 

Also, I will be packing in Atkins after week 2 and migrating to Slimming World, else I am concerned I might get scurvy (the official Atkins diet kicks you off with no fruit and practically no veg for 2 weeks!)

[berettaman1]

Well done to everybody who has kept off them, as Chard says its best to go cold turkey and as mungler pointed out it is when in the company of friends smoking that you really feel the torture, I too have put on three stone which is the worst thing to do if, like myself you have heart disease, my biggest weight gain is I am afraid , due to drinking too much alcohol daily, which I do to block out another health problem which when drinking I foolishly think will go away. but as you all know makes me post remarks on this forum, which I regret when sober, so now just like when I smoked I am addicted to another habit, wish I could pack this one in.!

[Axe]

Mungler, I have heard great success of the slimmuing world diet. I witnesed a colleague loose 8 stone in 9 months just through the diet and swimming 40 lengths a day.

[Chard]

Mungler, I have heard great success of the slimmuing world diet. I witnesed a colleague loose 8 stone in 9 months just through the diet and swimming 40 lengths a day.

 

 

My wife always does well on the Slimmers World diet and speaks highly of it. (not that she needs to lose weight)

 

I don't think it's so easy for blokes though. I have been and I was about the only bloke in a room full of large women, all gossiping about the price of oranges and what that woman at number 42 is up to with the milkman and how she's no better than she ought to be :blush:

 

It was a great atmosphere if you were a large woman who was interested in what the woman at number 42 was up to, but I never really got into it. They all clap when you lose a pound :lol: :yp:

 

It's the best diet from a food point of view though. On a Red day you can eat a whole cow from what I can gather. Green days are a bit grim though - all lettuce leaves and Mung Beans :yp:

[Mungler]

Today's weigh in = 18 stone 12 lbs.

 

Fell off the wagon over the weekend with some nice grub and a few bevvies, that being said, a continued reduction in tonnage.

 

According to the NHS website, for my height and age my ideal weight is somewhere around 12 stone, so I am still (in round numbers) just the 7 stone over weight. Hey ho.

 

Am off the Atkins this week and on to eating sensibly with no takeaways, no mixing proteins with carbs and with more fruit and veg - indeed, the side effects of the first 2 weeks of atkins (all protein and no fruit and no veg) have been most unpleasant I can assure.

[Dr W]

Well done Mungler, any loss is good and I think a small regular loss of 3-4 lbs per week is a good amount if you can keep it up.

 

Berettaman1, I know you said you've just replaced one addiction with another but I reckon cutting back from the silly stuff down to a more regular strength would help unless of course you just drink twice as much.

[berettaman1]

Yes your right there Doc, my problem is getting worse and with the extra I am now drinking my weight is going up and up , not very good with having heart disease ( caused by smoking )I am getting the shakes in the morning now and have found a drink stops it , problem is, starting drinking so early means I am now consuming dangerous levels, (so my doctor says,) But as I told him At my age, Something or other is going to keel me over! the doctor said cant you ever be serious ? every time I tell you off you make a joke of it.(TRUE)......I will never forget the last words of my grandad, he said.....................look out he,s got a gun!!.

[LEFTY478]

Yes your right there Doc, my problem is getting worse and with the extra I am now drinking my weight is going up and up , not very good with having heart disease ( caused by smoking )I am getting the shakes in the morning now and have found a drink stops it , problem is, starting drinking so early means I am now consuming dangerous levels, (so my doctor says,) But as I told him At my age, Something or other is going to keel me over! the doctor said cant you ever be serious ? every time I tell you off you make a joke of it.(TRUE)......I will never forget the last words of my grandad, he said.....................look out he,s got a gun!!.

 

Ron, are you gonna make it to next Sunday, or should I start advertising for a sub, now?

 

 

[berettaman1]

Oh lefty! Ye Of Little Faith! Did I not turn up last time after driving 110 miles + with a hangover And shot to my now usual decrepid form?? I will be there! remember I am not driving that day, Hope in my drunken state I dont think every stand is..... A FLUSH!!