|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Privateer
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Location: Easy Street.
|
 Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 5:13 am Post subject: |
 |
|
| dogbert wrote: |
| rapier wrote: |
| After quitting and restarting several times, I've come to realise the problem for me isn't the physical addiction. Its that I need a positive image of myself as a non-smoker. |
The positive image of oneself as a non-smoker is basically the same as the positive image non-smack users have of themselves: they have enough self-respect and willpower not to be helpless addicts. They have control over their minds and bodies. They are strong people. |
That's the positive image of myself I'd like to keep. I went through 2 weeks fighting an almost constant intense urge to smoke 2 years ago, and 2 more months of decreasingly frequent urges and finally quit. After 15 years of over a pack every day I felt proud of myself. I genuinely felt if I had the willpower for this I had the willpower for well...anything. Then a year ago I had one with a drink and god it was good. I started smoking one or two every time I went out for a drink, which was only once or twice a month so I figured it wasn't a problem.
Now I'm on the edge of a slippery slope. I've had 5 a day for the past week. Even though I know full well that every time you give in and smoke one once, it gets harder to fight the urge the next time, I really enjoy smoking and the temptation is strong. It's got nothing to do with self-image and never has done: it's all about the buzz.
Well, obviously that's my decision. The will has not merely physical addiction but psychological weaknesses and perhaps a proclivity for addiction to overcome. I don't have time for people who moralize about it but anyway the point is people who do succeed in quitting deserve respect cos it's tough. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Alan_Partridge
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: in the posh part of town
|
| Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 7:13 am Post subject: |
|
|
Curses...this thread brings back the old urges (why I continued to read when I started salivating I don't know)
Anyway, I've recently beaten my old record for stopping (4 months on nov. 11th since I stopped) so I'm "butting" (fnar fnar) into this discussion...
Never read that book that was being discussed earlier in the thread, but 2 things are working really well for me at the moment.
Firstly, the reason I stopped is that I got sick (throat infection, nasty cough and all that fun stuff that living in Seoul kind of exacerbates) which made the 1st week or two easy-peasy. So the stoppin and the sickness combined have led to an incredibly nasty "lung evacuation" of the worst kind of toxic waste, and I'm seeing this grim crap still quivering in the toilet bowl after I've spat it out, and I'm thinking "No way am I ever going to put that back in me." (I'm imagining taking a dump, peering into the bowl, and thinking, "How would that taste served up with some lovely peas and carrots?" )
Secondly, recently I've actually come to perversely enjoy the craving...kind of like having an itch and holding off scratching for as long as possible...the longer I hold off, the stronger I feel (maybe this is what tantric sex feels like....maybe...?)
Hmmm...this was a long one, wasn't it? Sorry, if it's nonsensical, must be the lack of nicotine.... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
|
| Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 6:34 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I told myself that when I had to interrupt my workout for a smoke break it would be time to quit. Now I'm doing that ... If I can bench my body weight ten times, do 15 chin-ups and 50 sit-ups, and run 6-minute miles, need I really feel bad about a pack-a-day habit?
Time to head out for another smoke. At least I won't do it in the men's toilets like I saw a teacher doing five minutes ago. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
simone
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Now Mostly @ Home
|
| Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 7:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Yu_Bum_suk wrote: |
| Time to head out for another smoke. At least I won't do it in the men's toilets like I saw a teacher doing five minutes ago. |
When I was teaching at a Uni I was basically told to smoke only in the washrooms or my office. It was unseemly for me to smoke behind our building...
It was almost enough to make me quit. I've since quit again for the umpteenth time, but back then I was 25 and partying. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 3:39 am Post subject: |
|
|
Smoking linked to impotence
Sarah Boseley, health editor
Thursday March 23, 2006
The Guardian
Men who smoke a pack of cigarettes a day are 40% more likely to be impotent than non-smokers, according to new research.
The researchers suggest the prospect of sexual problems in the future may offer the deterrent needed to encourage young men to quit smoking.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1737462,00.html |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
joyfulgirl
Joined: 05 Jan 2006
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 4:15 am Post subject: |
|
|
| i smoke far too much here. and it makes me feel awkward around my co-workers. none of them smoke. we all go for beers, and i find myself trying to enjoy the ciggie, but more worried about if the smoke is blowing in their direction. i wish i didn't smoke. but i do. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
yesnoyesyesno
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 4:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
| canadian_in_korea wrote: |
Hey there...I don't know too much about smoking in Korea vs. smoking at home....but I quit about 9 years ago......The best advice I can give you is this....1. Don't tell anyone that you are quitting, that way if you have one you don't have people saying "i thought you quit?" 2. When you quit drinking people say you have to take it one day at a time, well when you quit smoking you have to take it one HOUR at a time...if you goall day without one and cave at 9 or 10 pm its no biggy there's always tomorrow. I tried to quit about 7 or 8 times in total before I actually did quit. Everyday I made it until 5 pm then I caved......then one day I just decided okay, I'm going to see how long I can really go without one.....that was 9 years ago. When you do decide to quit...good luck and hang in there.. |
i quit smoking like this too. i would be like if i didn't smoke for 2 or 3 days i would think that if i smoked that cig then it would take another 2 or 3 days to get to that point again. it was difficult at first but the times between would get longer and not smoking became easier |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Privateer
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Location: Easy Street.
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 5:07 am Post subject: |
|
|
As I posted above, I was on the slippery slope back to smoking again recently but that Allen Carr book really helped put things into focus. So I'm completely off cigarettes (even when I'm at a party, had a few drinks, and everyone around me is chain smoking).
So let me add yet another endorsement for Allen Carr's book. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Gardimus
Joined: 23 Feb 2006
Location: Formerly Ontario, Canada
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 6:37 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Privateer wrote: |
As I posted above, I was on the slippery slope back to smoking again recently but that Allen Carr book really helped put things into focus. So I'm completely off cigarettes (even when I'm at a party, had a few drinks, and everyone around me is chain smoking).
So let me add yet another endorsement for Allen Carr's book. |
Thanks for the recommendation guys. I have friends who are trying to quit and I will buy them the book. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
andrew
Joined: 30 Jan 2003
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 8:23 am Post subject: |
|
|
*****
Last edited by andrew on Sat Aug 26, 2006 10:55 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
SirFink
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 11:12 am Post subject: |
|
|
I smoked for more than half my life and quit cold turkey 1 year ago. Was much easier than I thought it was going to be. Moving into a clean, smoke-free new apartment helps. That and laundering everything you own to get rid of the cigarette smell.
Trouble is, whenever I'm around smokers I get serious cravings. Just the smell triggers it. I'm not in Korea yet, but I'm wondering how well I'll be able to stay away from smoking in a land of cheap ciggies and lots of smokers.
Oh, and I gained 15 pounds after quitting. Myth my ass. I eat and exercise exactly the same as I did before I quit. Exactly. So there's that little voice that's telling me to start smoking again to drop the extra weight.
Interestingly, a Korean school director asked me last week during our interview "do you smoke? do you drink?" I said "no" to both, which is technically true right now. But the question was a surprise. Anyone esle ever asked this? Maybe she was trying to find out if I was a real man.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
simone
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Now Mostly @ Home
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 4:11 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| visitor q wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Women especially get addicted and use them for weight control through appetite suppression. |
Okay. The problem is what, exacty? I'd rather have a chain-smoking smoking honey, than a fat, Mc-Pounding poonany sitting on my lap. Wouldn't you? |
I recall once, back when the hubby and I were in our more-partying days, having to actually take a break from er, relations, for a minute or so so that we both could finish our coughing fits.
Not good. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
SPINOZA
Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Location: $eoul
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 6:23 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I'm always quitting and starting again, so in Korea I've turned that into a lifestyle choice. The expensive tobacco products back home were a deterrant to me. Here, the cheap smokes means SPIN smokes more. That bothers me, because I am health-conscious. So I smoke my head off on Friday and Saturday, yet don't smoke at all on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. Often on wednesday and Thursday I'll smoke between 5 and 10 cigs, sometimes not at all depending on how weak I am in a given week.
To quit anything, you need to want it enough. If you're not 1000% committed, don't even bother trying. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Hanson
Joined: 20 Oct 2004
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 6:43 pm Post subject: |
|
|
igotthisguitar,
You've been doing some digging lately, haven't you? That's the 2nd thread I've seen you bring back from the dungeons of dave's... Well done, my archeological friend!
I'll be back in a minute. I gotta go & buy a pack of smokes! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
seoulkitchen
Joined: 28 Dec 2004
Location: Hub of Asia, my ass!
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 10:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Butterfly wrote: |
| Swiss James wrote: |
I smoke when I drink- simple as that.
In an average year I'll possibly have one or two cigarettes when I'm not drunk or at least drinking. So colds, flu, bronchitis, emphysema- well I'm not going to be out drinking if I feel so rough am I? When I'm ill I don't smoke, when I'm hungover I don't smoke, when I'm working I don't smoke, when I'm driving I don't smoke, when I'm swimming I don't smoke ...(OK that one's daft- but you get the picture). |
That's very unusual though, not that many people are like that. |
Is that really unusual?
That's exactly my style of smoking. I'll even go a few months without one, then just on a whim have a couple of smokes. I've even gone a few years without smoking when I date a nonsmoker.
I dig coffee and cigerettes (a neat movie by Jim Jarmusch BTW), beer and cigs - a mighty fine combo too.
I started drinkin and smokin when I was about 13.
Fun stuff! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
