Korean Job Discussion Forums

[caniff]

I need some inspirational ideas to stop smoking. Perhaps some others here could also can use some advice. Personal experiences would be most helpful, I believe, because we (smokers) do realize it is a bad habit.

I enjoy smoking (the problem), but I don't want Philip Morris to kill me. He doesn't need my money anymore. And that reminds me that money doesn't really enter into the equation here in Korea as a pack is so damn cheap. Anyway....

So, if you are aware of any techniques (mental or physical) that would help, I will be waiting.

Thanks.

Can(cough)iff

[djsmnc]

The best way to stop smoking is to stop.

[poet13]

I have never quit for more than a few months, but I found if you can get past the first day or two, it gets easier.
Identify when you smoke. Ok, ok, so I smoke any damn time I can. I get up, make coffee, have a smoke. I have a few more before I leave for class while I finish my coffee. Then at school between classes, I automatically head to teh smoke room (yup, we have one)....
Some people only smoke when they go out drinking....
Point is, if you can figure out what your smoking triggers (or habits) are, and change or cut out those triggers/habits, then maybe that's one small help.
Another thing that helped me before was to constantly remind myself how much better I felt when I wasn't smoking. Trust me, a week ro two without smokes, and suddenly you can breath again, you don't wheeze walking up stairs, and one more thing....hangovers aren't nearly as bad.
You are also much more sexually attractive to others if you don't stink like an ashtray. I saw maybe the prettiest girl I've ever seen, at a party in DC years ago. A girlfriend (friend who was a girl) came up to me and said, "That girl wants to hook up with you. Do you want me to introduce you?" SURE!!! She introduced us and it lasted all of about 30 seconds before she smelled the stank on me and made an excuse to get away. She hadn't seen me smoking and I guess assumed I didn't.
The times when I haven't smoked, I have felt so much better. I wish I didn't now, but for those of you who have never smoked, please don't chime in with silly comments. For those of you who have managed to quit, good for you. I don't know, but I imagine it's like being an alcoholic. Never taking another drink, but thinking about it every damn day. Thats what life after quitting smoking was like for me. But I was happy for it.

[poet13]

Oh, and one more..... I will probably die 40 years before my wife. It's a horribly crappy thing to do to someone I love so much.

[lulu144]

to address the above post..... wow, no sh*T, that's all?.......

anyways..... I've quit here in Korea.... I've smoked for I think 6 years.... ( ew)
before I finished uni I said... if I don't quit now I'll smoke forever. So I tried and I just couldn't do it... bc there was a huge part of me that liked it when I drank and other times etc etc.....
So here... I was kind of concerned as well bc it's soo damn cheap.... and for the first 2 months here I guess i was smoking a lot.... more than I was before I came here.....

But now I've finally quit. finally. I guess my motivation was having an older friend who has MS, and had her cancer has come back... this time to her brain, lungs, liver..... She doesn't have a lot of time left right now and I just feel soo guilty smoking. She is seriously one of the most amazing and motivational ppl I've ever met and I just can't do it anymore. Just having someone close to me in that situation now, I can't help but think... what she would be thinking if she knew i was smoking.
It's not like I didn't feel guilty before... my degree is in the health field....and I knew i was a hypocrite but I didn't care....

and somehow now it's come to the point where I didn't like it anymore... I don't really know how that happened....it just did....
so my advice.... I don't know really.... just try to find out why it is important top you to quit and why you are doing it in the first place.
I'm still totally in a vulnerable place right now and can easily be tempted but i'm trying to be strong...

so.. good luck!

[Son Deureo!]

I quit smoking during vacation. At the time, I was teaching children, and there was no way I could get through a day of teaching kids without nicotine coursing through my veins to keep me from losing it and beating one of them senseless.

I cut down drastically to 5 then 3 per day over the course of a month, then stopped. After about two weeks of staying in (avoiding the coffee shops and bars where I was always smoking, and the people I would inevitably snap at), drinking coffee, watching a lot of TV and old movies, I was ready to face the world again, nicotine free.

In retrospect I think that cutting down for a month before going cold turkey just prolonged the agony of headaches, irritability, and coughing up a lung every half hour or so. If you can take time off of work to quit, though, it's definitely helpful.

This doesn't work for everyone, but I found that drinking a lot of caffeine made me feel better. Nicotine is a stimulant, so replacing it with caffeine took some of the edge off of the withdrawal.

I've been smoke free for almost four years now, and I feel so much better for it.

[poet13]

The first, and longest time I did not smoke, I went on vacation to Belize. My habits and routine were so different from the rigamarole of real life, that I didn't even think about smokes until I got back to the US. But when I got back, all I could think about was smoking. I've also been smoking for about 30 years. I started part time when I was twelve. I'm 42 now. Damn I wish I had never had that first one.

[Zyzyfer]

Change your habits. Quit drinking for a month if that's your thing. Mine is sitting on the computer at home. Or the PC room.

The one I can't solve is work. I'll go in on Monday thinking, "I'm gonna quit this week!" Then some crap happens or I get a bad translation on a program and the stress leads to a smoke. Then more. Then I give up until the next week. Been trying to do that for about six weeks now. Can't start until Sunday or Monday because I'll be with two heavy-duty smokers Sat. night.

You can try all of the tricks and games and whatnot you want, but it all boils down to it being relatively easy to quit if you don't like smoking, but if you enjoy it, even just sometimes, it's a lot harder. Think about your health, people smelling it, staining your teeth, chicks thinking you're gross, something like that.

[Alan_Partridge]

Are you a betting man? I am, and I've used this to help me stop. Basically, I've bet a friend that I won't smoke before Christmas. If I win, I get 10 000won, if I lose I pay 100 000won. I could cheat if I wanted, but I do take my bets seriously. If I make it to Christmas, I'll place another wager for the following 3 months.

Also, it helps to get sick. I quite coincidentally caught a bad chesty cold this week, and there's nothing like coughing hard enough to break a rib to curb your urge...

anyway, good luck however you proceed!

[mnhnhyouh]

I have smoked on an off for the last 27 years (I am 42) but have now finally managed to beat it, mostly.

I only smoke on holiday. In the past I could never do this as giving up was so hard. Now, however, I can stop more easily as I have learned how to deal with the cravings.

Avoid triggers, especially alcohol.

Exercise regularly, like every day. This will allow you to replace your nicotine addiction with a much more healthy endorphine one

h

[otis]

Why bother stopping?

Your time is limited anyway.

Suppose you stop for a week, then get into a tragic car accident?

Enjoy yourself.

[igotthisguitar]

Caniff ... you CAN DO IT!

It's all to do with your "WILL".

"Cigarette" smokers are weak minded slaves & disciples of death.

Bon Chance mon ami

[otis]

[gang ah jee]

[Cohiba]

I quit smoking about 2 years ago and replaced cigarettes with
cigars. Now I smoke about 5 Cubans a week. Cuban people
say untreated, non-processed tobacco is very healthy. Well,
my lungs would agree. Problem is when I leave Korea my
tax free Cuban cigar supply via the internet will probably stop.