(This post was inspired by ivorrian)Quitting smoking cigarettes is the easiest thing I've ever done. I smoked for 3 years straight before deciding that I was going to beat the odds all in one shot (contrary to the title of this entry, I was never off and on). Ironically, I made the decision to quit without fail shortly after my 18th birthday (that industry truly is full of treacherous scumbags...).
But why was I going to succeed where so many others before me have failed? Some of the most intelligent and successful people alive are smokers, and they're more often than not fully aware of how awful a habit it really is. They won't defend it or endorse it for a single second, but they keep on blowing smoke. They've often tried to quit many times over the course of their lives and have repeatedly gone back to the pack. I'm sure that intellect will assist in the process, but there's some other drive you've got to have in addition to execute this delicate maneuver.
So what do you do whenever that raspy cookie-monster sounding voice inside of your heard starts screaming:
"SCHMIGARETTE! SMOKEY SCHMIGARETTE YAYSE?"
In order to quit smoking cigarettes, run a mile the instant the idea of smoking even crosses your mind. Even if you don't have any on you. Even if you haven't gone through any of the motions associated with acquiring one. It doesn't matter where you are, what you're wearing, who you're with, where you're going, or what time you have to be there. Just do what I say and do it the whole way through without stopping, and by the time that mile is over you will say "FUCK THIS NOISE". The urge will still come back, but it will take longer for it to return each time, and then you just run again. Smoking will never seem like a good idea ever again if you just keep this up, plus it neutralizes the weight gain that is usually a symptom of quitting.
This worked for me and it's been over 3 years since I stopped. I'm now disgusted just by having to walk through someone else's cloud of smoke on the way into the library or a movie or the local smoke shop (wait for it...).
If you're worried about being embarrassed about running through downtown Portland in a winter coat and flip-flops with a heavy backpack through the snow (I actually did this), just remember that you're improving yourself, and that you're automatically better than everyone else who complains but doesn't make even half the effort.
I remember a time when I'd be out of breath long before even reaching the quarter mile marker. I'm now three years out of that stage, and I can run comfortably for mile after mile without stopping. I don't believe it's because I'm so awesome or such a badass, and I don't think that it makes me special at all. Anybody else can do this, and anybody who's in a position to try it should.
I hope this hasn't fallen on deaf ears, because this was such a sensitive subject for me back when I was still a smoker. I would have reasoned that simply by reading an article like this, I was acknowledging myself as a fulltime smoker, and as long as I didn't acknowledge it then it wasn't true. The amount of shame and inner-conflict I felt at that time was overwhelming and even managed to distort my perception of who I was. It was even a big secret (or I thought it was... if you think you're hiding it from anybody it's a really fat chance). If I've helped anyone at all through this post, then it was entirely worth swallowing my pride and going public with this experience of mine.
Please recommend this post by clicking on the heart just below!
Comments (29)
Yeah, I was basically in denial that I was a smoker. I always said I smoked when I drank, which was true at first. Then it gradually became half a pack a day. I haven't had a cig in almost a year. Congrats to you!
I really like this idea, and it could be beneficial in combatting almost any vice. Good for you for quitting!
That's a really cool story. I'll rec. (:
"I remember a time when I'd be out of breath
long before even reaching the quarter mile marker. I'm now three years
out of that stage, and I can run comfortably for mile after mile
without stopping."
Before you said that, I was thinking, plus, your lungs are getting healthier the longer from snapping the Smokers Anon board back to zero, along with endurance building up, so a mile is becoming less of a big deal. (Did you ever up your "smokers urge distance" from a mile? Or did they just become (or supplemented by) pleasure-runs?)
Ha ha I'm sure we will.
Sorry to offend you =P
Props for staying healthy! I'm guilty of a cigarette once every two months. It makes me feel sick though and i still do it! Time to dust off the running shoes!
I've tired it out of curiosity/boredom. Smoked a few and may have purchased my own pack if I knew where to get cloves on the college campus, but I didn't and glad. Never picked up the habitat.
Portland, as in ME?
I've never been a smoker. I just don't understand why you would blow hot smoke near your face in the summer or stand outside in the winter to smoke.
That's actually a really good idea. I don't smoke regularly, but at parties, I tend to have a couple more than I should. Recently, I made a pact not to do it, not only because I play lacrosse, but just as a favor to myself for the future. Good job on the 3-year mark =D
I've never smoked before, but this is awesome. I'm glad it worked for you and I hope other people try it. That said, I know I couldn't run a mile without dying (not literally) anyway (and smoking would be a bad idea) since I have some form of asthma.
Wow, this is a good idea. I need to quit soon anyway. I'll walk though cause I can't run long even before I smoked. I have mild asthma so it's actually painful to run. Walking clears my mind and is an exercise as well, so I will try that. I appreciate your honesty and concern instead of nag like most people do to smokers.
@Hathaway_Lane - I'll bet that there's some operant condition effect at play here. You could probably associate the desire to engage in any negative ability with the exhaustion of sprinting a mile and end up automatically thinking of that once indulgent activity as something bad...
@pandasp0ts - By the time I increased running distance/ time, I was no longer even thinking of kicking the habit but rather improving myself as an athlete. : )
@XEverlasting_L0V3X - You can't offend me. There's nothing you could ever do to shake my rock solid confidence! : P
@wynnw - Do it! It will be so much easier for you. You should start with 2 miles.
@awokenfatality - There's a common misconception amongst high schoolers and college students that hookah or clove cigs are somehow or other less harmful. They're both still made with tobacco, just packaged with scents and spices. EVIL EVIL EVIL!!!
You're better off for your apathy! I'm so glad you never went out of your way to buy them somewhere less convenient.
@weirdbean - Thing is, that's the way many smokers and non-smokers (myself included) have always thought about it too. Doesn't make sense, but they do it anyway even as they stand around and complain.
@nbdyzangel - Thanks, but I don't even think of it as a mark. I had convinced myself that I was a non-smoker even though I smoked for 3 years straight. I just knew that smoking was bad, and people who smoked were somehow less 'good' (know that's not true anymore) and so I was automatically a non-smoker.
Props to you for getting out while you can! I'm sure they make you run plenty at lacrosse as it is. ; )
@Alex_Horschack - I heard that cloves are worse. Just because it taste better, doesn't make it better.
.. Watch me..
lol JK!
@IfonEarth - I hope the asthma doesn't get in the way too much... How do you get exercise?
@Alex_Horschack - Biking and swimming. It doesn't usually bother me unless I'm running. It used to be a bit worse when I was a kid, but it was never an extremely serious thing (as in we've never had to worry that I'm going to die from it).
@brickmelinda - Be careful not to underestimate yourself. If you know that you have a legitimate form of asthma, then don't push it... But quite honestly the whole point is that it's supposed to be hard and painful.
Smoking damages your lungs, so the focus of this strategy is to underscore that damage by bitching yourself out with cardiovascular demands. If you never ask your body to complete strenuous exercise, then you'll not notice the damage as much nor will you realize just how much you've withered in the first place.
Walking sort of misses the point in this case, but if you simply aren't able to safely (even less safely than the average nonsmoker) then there's nothing else that can be done. It wouldn't make sense to suggest some other form of cardiovascular exercise... I always encourage people to get more exercise than they already do though, so keep it up even if it doesn't satisfy the intent of this strategy!
@IfonEarth - It doesn't make sense that only running affects you except that you can bike and swim at more leisurely paces and they're both still called biking and swimming...
Running at a leisurely pace is either jogging or walking. XD
@XEverlasting_L0V3X - Oh I'm waiting for this!
@awokenfatality - They're worse because they're misleading! Grrrrr...