X-smoker check-in and cigarette poll (for smokers and non smokers)

[rbnyc]

Rbnyc is smoke-free: One year, eleven months, 16 hours, 7 minutes and 55 seconds. 28026 cigarettes not smoked, saving $8,408.06. Life saved: 13 weeks, 6 days, 7 hours, 30 minutes.

How much do you or did you smoke?

[catpower2000]

1. I have now been quit for 13 days...nt

[rbnyc]

6. rock on!!

That is so great. You're doing great. Keep it up. I'm so proud of you!

[MissMillie]

7. wtg cat! (n/t)

.

[ForrestGump]

34. Here's to fresh air!

Congratulations! As we cruise in to two weeks of it.....













EDIT: unruly smilies!

[GOPisEvil]

2. An alternate choice.

"Smoked as a parental rebellion, but disliked it so much, I never took up the habit!" I have probably smoked 3-5 packs of cigarettes in my life. The last one was probably 15 years ago or more. :-)

Changed a word!

[rbnyc]

13. That's lucky...

...and smart. I wish I'd never started.

:hi:

[GOPisEvil]

16. My dad was a smoker, and I wanted him to quit.

So, not wanting to appear as a hypocrite was a motivation not to start either. Gladly, dad's been smoke free for at least 6 years now!

:hi:

[SiouxJ]

14. That's me too!

except I probably smoked more packs than you :-). In college I smoked like one cigarette a day, just to be social. Pretty dumb actually.

The only addiction I have is my addiction to

[demnan]

3. I quit back around 1982 for good

best thing I ever did.

Oh yeah, and I still crave a cigarette now and then.

[rbnyc]

9. Me too.

This is the 3rd time I've quit. I quit once for 2 years and once for 3 years and started up again. Actually last night I found a pack that someone had left in the apartment and I wanted one really bad.

;-)

[KinkyDem]

4. all this thread has done ...

is make mne want a ciggerette and my pack is empty and I have an hour and a half till I can leave work.

Damn you I say!

[rbnyc]

10. spoken like a smoker

I remember the first time I was waiting for the subway as an x-smoker and I thought, wow, I'm not fretting about how long it's going to be until I can have a cigarette. I could wait for this train forever. It was a great feeling.

But no one can quit until they want to.

;-)

[MissMillie]

5. MissMillie is smoke free too!

Five years, five months, three weeks, three days, 18 hours, 58 minutes and 56 seconds. 50094 cigarettes not smoked, saving $6,887.89. Life saved: 24 weeks, 5 days, 22 hours, 30 minutes.


I reached the 2000 day mark over the weekend. Pretty cool, eh?

[rbnyc]

11. cool, we have the same software.

I love it. Congratulations. That is great!

:party:

[LunaSea]

30. smoking software???

Could you elaborate please.
I was thinking you were counting the seconds. I've heard from so many ex-smokers that they continue to miss them for years.
My sister kicked em with the help of zyban. I shelled out $100.00 for a prescription myself and then did some research and decided there was no way I wanted to try a drug like that without it having a lot more testing.
Anyone tried it and experienced the "blank spot"?

I'm thinking of trying nicotine gum though.
Any suggestions?

[rbnyc]

31. software

keeps track of smoke-free stats. www.silkquit.com (EDIT: Hmmm, link doesn't work anymore. I guess they're gone. Try doing a search for silkquit. Sorry.)

I really think the only way to quit is to make up your mind and go cold turkey.

Good luck.

[Fovea]

8. Tobacco free

Since I had a stroke and two heart attacks on the same day two years ago.

[rbnyc]

12. Wow.

Well, you know, some people would go through that and still smoke, so good for you. I wish you the best of health.

:hi:

[Chovexani]

24. My aunt

Drank heavily and smoked like a chimney for years. About ten years ago, had a triple bypass.

Still smokes and drinks like crazy, now she has diabetes and her chest x-rays probably look like Cheney's.

Can't seem to talk any sense into her, despite repeated health scares and trips to the hospital. :(

[rbnyc]

27. My mom's old boyfriend...

...had cancer of the throat and tongue and mouth, had his lower jaw removed, and used to hold the cigarettes up to the gap at the bottom of his head and try to breathe the smoke in. My mom called me and told me that the second time I quit. I put out my cigarette, threw the rest away, and didn't have another one until September 12, 2001. (Then I quit again in October 2001.)

It's sad.

[GumboYaYa]

15. Initially quit over 13 years ago,

but then I became a "social" smoker. I would smoke when I drank. When I started having the urge to smoke during the middle of the day I quit cold turkey. That was about three years ago. I still crave cigarettes sometimes, but have not given into the urge since I went cold turkey.

Good luck to all you who are currently trying to quit. Get past the first week and it gets easier.

[leftist_rebel1569]

17. whoops....voted for the wrong thing...

i accidentally voted for less than a pack a day, when it should be smoke-free and less than a pack a day....oopsies...

[rbnyc]

19. That's right! Good for you!

I was so glad when I heard you quit smoking.

:loveya:

[BiggJawn]

18. Smoke-Free 4072 Hours.

Now I blow all the money on bicycle accessories....

[rbnyc]

20. that's WAY better!

Congratulations.

:)

[SPICYHOT]

33. Hey i started the same!

i quit the smoking thing ( cigarretes ) and now i spend the money in my bikes. Cool huh?

[Chovexani]

21. I smoke clove ciggies

Every once in a while, usually only socially. Sampoernas are the best.

Regular cigs make me gag, they smell and taste disgusting.

[Spirochete]

22. Not sure how many i smoked...

but I sure LIT a lot of them. Would forget them, leave them sitting in an ashtray, and go in another room and light another one. I had a terrible smoking habit. But I quit close to 10 years ago. Sure glad I did.

[ET Awful]

23. Well I voted for Smoke Free and used to be a pack a day

but it was closer to a pack and a half :). . . so 2 wouldn't fit either.

Anyway, it's been over a year since I quit, (May 23, 2002 was my first smoke-free day, so I guess I quit on the 22 :)).

[rbnyc]

26. WTG!

Congrats on being cigarette-free and welcome to DU. I think this is the first time I've seen you here.

:hi:

[gratuitous]

25. Quit just before Christmas 2000

But I can't recommend my technique for others. Our law firm won a lawsuit against Philip Morris (verdict on appeal, naturally) back in 1999, and it was my job in the aftermath to screen callers who were interested in suing the tobacco companies. After you interview 250 or so persons who are in various stages of dying from tobacco-related illness (or their survivors), you begin to have serious doubts about continuing to smoke.

Also, in developing the discovery evidence against Philip Morris, I got a real good close-up look at the sort of scumbags I was supporting by buying cigarettes. Believe me when I say that they have no compunction whatsoever about profiting from your misery.

[BiggJawn]

37. The "Scumbag Factor" did it for me, too.

Only my Scumbags were the state legislators gleefully rubbing their hands together while they plotted yet ANOTHER cigarette tax increase... "Yeah, hit the smokers again. They'll pay, sure they'll bitch and threaten to quit, but they're ADDICTED! We're in their pockets for as long as we want to be!"

They wee WRONG!

[TEXASYANKEE]

28. Smoke-free .... but

I do crave them when I've been drinking. Especially Swisher Sweet cigars.

Kudos to all that have quit. That is one incredibly tough addiction to break, and I'm very thankful that I didn't like smoking enough to get hooked.

[KCDem]

38. how about: never bought my own cigs, but

occasionally bummed them off others 10+ years ago. In my whole lifetime, I've probably smoked the equivalent of 3 packs. Occasionally, I sorta wish I smoked so that I could go outside and have a cigarette while doing nothing but staring into space.

[Vitruvius]

29. "Quitting smoking is easy! I did it many times." -- Mark Twain

Most attempts to quit smoking fail. But most smokers who keep trying eventually succeed. Tho' I still feel a bit of a yen every time some smoke wafts my way (it smells so goood), I've been smoke-free for 29 years now.

[Rowdyboy]

32. Smoke free for 12 years after 2-3 packs a day....

for 18 years.

[Skittles]

35. I'm still right behind you, girl

Oct 25, 2001. :D

[DoctorBombay]

36. Totally clean four years in late October

This after smoking for about ten years, started in high school. Quit on my fourth attempt.

[peterh]

39. Was upwards of around 2 packs a day in college…

Quit in `79 and last had one in `81 or `82….still enjoy trying to inhale (cough) a cigar from time to time.