Farewell, My Lovely Cigarettes

[kpete]

a most xlnt article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/05/fashion/mens-style/farewell-my-lovely-cigarettes.html?_r=0






i quit smoking on June 2, 2014
ONE YEAR Nicotine free
& feeling really good,
peace,
kp

[stage left]

1. Congratulations!

I quit smoking May of 2009.

[Raster]

2. Many congrats, kp. Been there, done that... a couple of times.

[Rex]

3. Congrats! About 15 years ago, I was a chain smoker. GPCs were a dollar a pack.

I was overweight, did not exercise and smoked like a mad man. Went to my local doctor and he basically told me that I would have to do something soon or I would not live to see 40. I quit smoking and went on a diet. The diet didn't last long, but I kicked the smoking habit and never looked back.

[AgingAmerican]

24. Same here. I think it was 1997.

Will never touch a cigarette again. Was hardest thing I have ever done.

[Bluenorthwest]

4. Two years this month for me, I too feel much better for it. But quitting smoking is the Chipolte on

St Mark's Place. I really love this writer.

[underpants]

5. Congrats

I need to quit. I did once for 3 years. Just need to find the right date. Good for you kpete!

[Aerows]

35. You will quit

when you are absolutely done with it. I tried twice before, but this time, I was seriously sick of smoking and I have made it this long.

[johnnyreb]

6. Way to go Kpete! You made it.

I quit my 15 year habit 9/22/01. There was too much smoke blowing as it was.

At three months in, I never worried about smoking again. I can even "enjoy" a brief whisp of second-hand smoke to this day without any craving.

[closeupready]

7. I once had a 3-pack/day habit. Kicked it in 1992.

I gave in to urges on occasion after that, but haven't done so for more than 10 years, and no longer have even the slightest urge.

Keep it up, KP. K&R

[bigwillq]

8. Good for you.

Congrats.

[tenderfoot]

9. November 3, 2014

Smoke free since.

[pintobean]

10. Congrats. You quit a day before I did.

[randome]

11. Don't. Ever. Go. Back.

And congratulations!
[hr][font color="blue"][center]TECT in the name of the Representative approves of this post.[/center][/font][hr]

[Iggo]

12. Yay!!!

[daleanime]

13. Excellent!

but be careful, it's still ready easy to slip up.

[bearssoapbox]

14. 10 years ago this summer.

Quit cold turkey after a second severe asthma attack. Thought I was going to die.

Sometimes it takes a two-by-four.

[Historic NY]

15. 11 yrs now don't miss them, I buy lottery tickets for amusement now...

[sorefeet]

16. I knew 30 years ago

that they would kill me so I quit. One of the best things I ever did for my health, not a doubt in my mind. I look at my friends who have smoke for the last 40 years and they don't look healthy, not one of them. I have a friend today that has inoperable lung cancer and still smokes. She says she has it under control. The only time cigarettes cross my mind is when I shake my head in disgust. I despise cigarettes. CONGRADULATIONS kpete it makes me really happy when some one quits. They don't own you anymore.

[raouldukelives]

17. Good job bro. Just think, RJ Reynolds is missing all that money they could put to good use.

[Nay]

18. Congrats! Mr Nay had to have a heart attack before he would quit. nt

[UglyGreed]

19. Good for you!!!

I will be going on twelve years this summer on daughter's sixteenth birthday, welcome to the club

[Vinca]

20. Congrats! It's a stinky, unhealthy habit. Never look back.

[arcane1]

21. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

12/05/2013 for me!

Have you ever tried to add up how much money you DIDN'T spend on tobacco over this time? It adds up!!

[WillowTree]

22. Well done and good for you!

It's been a little more than 5 years for me and what they tell you is true, you do keep feeling better and better the farther you get from that last smoke.

Be sure to go out and do something nice for yourself!

[herding cats]

25. Congratulations!

Happy one year and two days anniversary!

[peace13]

26. Way to go!

Happy Anniversary !

[Nye Bevan]

27. One of the best things you ever did.

What happens when you quit smoking:

20 mins: Blood pressure and pulse rate decrease

8 hours: Carbon monoxide and oxygen levels in blood return to normal

1 day: The likelihood of a heart attack decreases

2 days: Nerve endings regenerate; sense of smell and taste are enhanced

2 weeks: Circulation improves and lung function increases

1-9 months: Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue and shortness of breath decrease

1 year: The likelihood of heart attack is cut in half

5 years: Stroke risk is reduced to the same levels as a non-smoker

10 years: Risk of dying from lung cancer is about half that of a current smoker

15 years: Risk of coronary heart disease and death become roughly equivalent to those who have never smoked

[potone]

28. One of the ways that you know that life is badly designed is that smoking is bad for you.

How I wish that that were not true! I say this as someone who misses smoking, but doesn't want to start again.

[Warpy]

29. The problem is that this poor advertising addled dummy still thought smoking

was what made him cool! I'm astonished anyone clings to that after his early 20s, that's when people tend to grow up and realize smoking makes them addicted suckers who smell bad. As they enter their thirties and start every day with a half hour of coughing up the previous day's tar while trying to suck as much smoke into their lungs as they can to replenish it, they start to think about quitting, saving all that money, no more burnt holes in clothes, no more mess on tabletops around ash trays, and being able to run up a flight of stairs for cheap exercise.

I give congratulations to anyone who was strong enough to quit, I know it's a real challenge.

Quitting smoking didn't turn him into a chain restaurant in a land of chichi bistros, it got him out of the chain restaurant and able to dine in one of those bistros without people around him giving him dirty looks because once he lit up, all they could taste was his smoke instead of their food. Nobody much cares what chain restaurant food is like, it's predictable if nothing else.

He'll also look a lot cooler on that long plane ride to a vacation hot spot, no more nicotine meanies making him want to jump out the window after an hour.

[War Horse]

31. You sound really tolerant

Surely you must be without any flaws or perconceived notions.

[Aerows]

34. You really do want to commit a heinous act

when you are in the airport having a nicotine fit, your connecting flight is in 15 minutes and you are racing through with your luggage unable to get out of the door to smoke. Murder is too strong of a word, but it's an absolutely evil feeling that grips you. You *know* you are an addict if you nearly miss your plane because the Dallas airport keeps you locked up tighter than a jail cell and you drag all of your freaking luggage outside when it is 20 degrees outside LOL.

I've been off of them since 4/10 of this year. I WILL NOT go back. I've had some freak outs where people were probably praying I'd quit being such an asshole, but I've worked through most of them.

[Warpy]

36. I know, just watching somebody with the nicotine meanies is painful.

Wow, I had no idea you had quit so recently. To your credit, it hasn't shown up in your posts.

That type of addiction is why I'd never want to try to make them illegal, although I'd love to end the subsidies for growing the poison. Keeping them too expensive for 14 year olds and keeping the smoke outdoors will do very well.

[Aerows]

39. I've off and on

tried to quit. I finally gave up caffeine because coffee and a cigarette go hand in hand, and switched completely to decaf iced tea.

I hope I wasn't too awful in the early days, though, as I said, more than one person was wishing I wasn't such a crab-ass in my day to day life.

I was just plain sick of it. That's the only way you quit anything - just getting so over it that it is worth the mood swings and the pangs of craving.

[Warpy]

40. I remember when my mother finally quit

She'd been to the doctor and had been diagnosed with moderate to severe COPD. She was terrified.

My dad told her she couldn't quit, she just didn't have the guts.

She never picked one up again for the rest of her life. It was too late, unfortunately, they'd already made her blind and she was already fighting for every breath she took.

I wouldn't wish that on anyone, not even Cheney.

[Aerows]

42. I've been ready to quit

and prepped for it with things, like I said, quitting coffee, etc.

It isn't exactly a new struggle, I just finally got to the point where I made it over the mountain, and absolutely NOTHING will get me to ever light up again. There are too many health benefits to start up again destroying my lungs, I don't stink anymore, and the *mess* they cause is no longer an issue.

I've tried to quit off and on, I just think I had to reach the point where I was sick to death of the habit.

[Warpy]

43. I've seen that a lot

They light up to scratch the unbearable itch, take two drags, and then look at it in sheer disgust.

I tell people if they start to weaken, rub a clean paper towel on the inside of one of their windows. What is on the towel usually gets the point across.

[War Horse]

30. It's like giving up an old friend, isn't it?

Congrats, really well done.

I'm down from 20-30 a day to 4-5, tops. But I'm getting there. Nice to hear from someone who has done it

[Gothmog]

32. Great cartoon

[Aerows]

33. I quit April 10, 2015

Nothing, and I do mean NOTHING will get me to go back to them. I use an e-cig, but I'm cutting back on those, too. I had to use the gum initially even though it tasted like crap.

I have NO intention of smoking again. It stinks, it's a lousy habit, makes you feel like crap and it's expensive.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

37. Phillip Marlowe quit smoking?!!?

[Zorra]

38. Congrats, kpete...stay clean, and you feel good, and it never stops getting better.

[RobinA]

41. Quit 4/1/14

Feel no different, gained weight, did stop coughing, sinuses still a mess, blood pressure still mildly high but controlled with medication same as before I quit. I guess it's supposed to be a good thing, but not the hyped miracle it's cracked up to be. I'm still going to die, just maybe of something different than I would have if I hadn't quit. Or not. I do like not craving nicotine, but I also miss the rush, so...

Quit if you want, smoke'em if ya got'em.

[maveric]

44. Congrats!

My wife and I quit 9/21/2014.