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Ask HN: How can I quit smoking?

7 points by bqdscx ↗ HN
I have a fairly stressful life and when I come home in the evening I like to have a few cigarettes which helps me to relax. I don't smoke during the day at all, but those few cigarettes in the evening are the highlight of my day. I'd like to quit smoking, but what could I do instead? I mean drinking is out of question, need to be in perfect shape the next day. What do you do to relax after the whole day?

20 comments

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greato
If you have access to legal recreational marijuana, try it if you think it may help relieving your stress.
mooism2
Exercise? Gym / jogging / Wii Fit / whatever.
jdstafford
This- but if exercise isn't your thing, find SOMETHING to do. I was a pack-a-day smoker from age 13 to 23, and the thing that kept me going back to it was idleness. Once I started finding ways to stay busy ALL THE TIME, I was able to quit. For me that busy-all-the-time threshold was crossed by working split shifts and doing martial arts. You have to find your own way, but just stay busy!
caw
I don't smoke, but one thing I noticed from being around people who smoke and have tried to quit is it doesn't work to hang out with smokers. I've seen 2 people take it back up after quitting, and another who has been trying to quit but he interacts with a group of 6-8 guys who all smoke. While they're cool with him trying to quit, it's probably very hard for him to actually keep from lighting up when all of them are standing around talking, and almost all of them are actively smoking.
tyomero
Smoke weed.
adroitcode
take this advice
bqdscx
Where I live, if get caught, I would get a suspended prison sentence for that. Not worth it in my case.
dueprocess
"How do I quit smoking?"..."highlight of my day"..."helps me relax"...

Do you see what you're doing here? Smoking is at the center of your universe. There is NO WAY you will quit an addiction like smoking until you refuse to even acknowledge its existence.

Get rid of your thinking first, then you'll easily get rid of the addiction.

FYI: I smoked for 10 years before I quit. That was 10 years ago.

rthomas6
Have you considered that your nicotine cravings are actually adding to your stress throughout the day, and the relaxation you get in the evening is simply from satisfying those cravings? Once a body is acclimated to a given cigarette use, the good effects diminish almost entirely but you feel bad when you don't get what you're craving. This is the same as a lot of drugs, including caffeine.
mahesh_gkumar
I quit cold turkey, but it took me a couple of tries to stick to it. I never thought about replacing it with anything. I just kept thinking about how I couldn't climb 2 flights of stairs without going out of breath, how my hair, clothes and fingers always stank, how smoking has taken over my life. I think it was the control thing that made me quit for good. I didn't want the cigarette to control my life.
exsmoker123
I was able to quit after switching to an e-cig for a few months. Several of my coworkers have done the same. I think it's because I was more drawn to the act of smoking than that nicotine kick.

With an e-cig, you still get the feeling of smoking (and nicotine), but it's still not really the same, and after only doing that for a while, I feel I mostly broke the habit of smoking, at which point giving up nicotine wasn't difficult at all.

I realize that doesn't totally address the "What could I do instead" part of the question, but it might help in the process of quitting. Best of luck to you.

lazyfunctor
Three years back I quit after 10 years of smoking (cold turkey). My notion of smoking was associated with break from work. So I replaced it with green tea and red tea(rooibos). You can probably give that a try.

Another thing that helped was sports, I started playing squash. I tried to be in better cardiovascular health to play squash, another motivation. Maybe you can pickup something (gym, any sport or anything physical)if you are not already doing that.

stevep98
I never smoked, ever. But, it seems to me you need some pleasant event to unwind in the evening. So, how about a nice piece of cheese. Or a movie.
amerkhalid
I quit smoking after reading Easy Way to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr. http://www.amazon.com/Allen-Carrs-Easy-Stop-Smoking/dp/06154...

The main idea behind book is that smoking is easy to quit. It is not addictive like alcohol, or other drugs, where withdrawal symptoms are intense. Quitting smoking is a big business like weight loss and there is a reason why they make it sound like a tough thing to do on your own.

As for relaxing, I haven't found a perfect replacement for cigarettes yet. I listen to music or read in my patio in the evening. Play video games. I also tried healthy stuff like running, working out, hot bath, or meditation. But nothing is perfect or I guess I am still not fully recovered from smoking.

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atmosx
Smoking doesn't make you relax. Doesn't relax your muscles or anything. I could go on and analyze (from a pharmaceutical perspective) what happens in your body when you inhale, but I guess you know the resume anyway: it's awful.

My father stopped smoking when I was a little child. He just took the decision to never do it again. After about 6 years he couldn't stand the smell of a cigarette. I know that this isn't a widely used strategy but I've seen it work fine.

Anyway, even if you can't stop entirely, I'd say try to limit smoking as much as possible.

Why don't you try some Yoga to relax? (not joking).

HarlowDuDy
I agree with most here... As long as your world revolves around that fix at the end of the day, it's going to be almost impossible.

But from my personal perspective, I didn't "quit" until I really wanted to. I also give myself the opportunity to make mistakes.

I don't buy cigarettes anymore. I rarely even want one. But if I'm in a situation where it sounds nice, I'll let myself indulge.

Basically, don't "quit". Just tone it down, find things to keep yourself busy, and eventually it will lose its power. If you have to have one, do it, but don't let the thought of it consume you.

bqdscx
Thank you all for your valuable comments and advice. I decided to tone it down a little, I'll have diet coke (my other craving) instead in the evening. But I don't exclude smoking occasionally at parties. Don't want to make resolutions I can not keep.
junto
Be aware that you stink, your clothes stink, and your house stinks.

Someone pointed that out to me. Somehow the fact that people thought that I stank was worse than all of the publicized health issues (to me).

I quit 4 years ago. Now I realize when I come across smoker how much they truly stink. As a smoker you haven't got a clue how much you smell.