What is the one thing that really turned you off from your own smoking?

Question

I've tried to quit many times, and I smoke maybe a third of a pack a day. If that. While substitute teaching yesterday, I SMELLED it on me. Yeah, it was embarrassing, and I was not being a good role model!
Did embarrassment or the sense of smell help anyone else?
What else has helped you all out there, especially what unexpected things helped you?

Answer 1

I smoked a pack or more a day it was really bad I would get up in the morning and have a cigarette. I always said to myself that it would be really hard to quit but for me I got pregnant and I stubbornly tried to still smoke but it was so gross. I would feel nausy and light headed. I went into a store bought a pack of Matinee Ultra Lights tried smoking one and couldnt' do it threw the whole pack in the garbage. I still some times crave a cigarette but not like I did. That was almost 4 years ago. And now what grosses me out is the smell. My husband goes out and it stays on his coat and everything. It is so yucky.

Answer 2

several things actually - 1) seeing a picture of me with an ashtray filled to overflowing sitting in front of me was a big gross out 2) not being able to climb a flight of stairs without having to stop at the top and catch my breath 3) the smell was a big factor; as a woman with long hair it just lingered there and wasn't particularly appealing to my non-smoking husband. I smoked at least a pack a day so I had to pyche myself out first to quit then I just went cold turkey. It really wasn't that bad, I chewed a lot of gum. I smoked for seven years and have been smoke free for sixteen. Best decision I ever made

Answer 3

I quit, because I figured 15 years at a pack a day was enough.

I quit cold turkey, but I did a little negative reinforcement; every time a craving came I would pinch myself, HARD, for however long it lasted.

The other thing is that my wife seems to be very turned on by the fact I don't smoke anymore (she never smoked). So I have a positive reinforcement from that.

I also noticed that when I do martial arts now, I don't get winded ... at all.

Answer 4

I smoked for two and a half years (not along time by smoking standards but long enough). Everyone told em to quit, my entire family smokes, and I used to HATE smoking. I refused to quit smoking mostly 1) out of addiction and 2) out of stubbornness. Eventually it got to the point with me being disgusted with myself, because of everything unhealthy that is in cigarettes.

When I began smoking, I smoked what are called clove cigarettes by a company called Djarium (an Indian company i believe). Then i moved to Marlboro menthol's, and then Marlboro Reds. Whenever i smelled a menthol cigarette or a clove cigarette, while i was smoking the reds, I literally gagged. I couldn't believe i used to smoke those. They smelled so repulsive. Now thats how i feel when i smell any cigarettes. I have no desire to begin smoking again, but I'd imagine I'm the exception, not the rule.

I stopped smoking mostly because i finally realized what i was doing to my teeth, my body, my clothes, and everyone around me. It is not a pleasant habit. It is being outlawed in restaurants, and mostly everywhere public, so if you want a cigarette you have two choices, at home or outside - like we really need something else to isolate us from the world around us?

It just got to the point where it was eating up my cash, making me unhealthy, causing me to get high blood pressure at 23, and smelling up everything i owned. Tell me where is the good side?

I got fed up and decided it wasn't worth it in any way.

Answer 5

I wanted my husband and I to quit after his father died of cancer, so we stopped and we got married, and i got pregnant. we had a preemie stuck in the hospital for 4 months... yeah, we went back to smoking. now, we have 1 a night each and NEVER smoke around the baby, and as soon as we come in, we change out of our clothes and get ready for bed after scrubbing the smell off of us and using ALOT of mouth wash. I know it sounds like alot, but with alot of stress, you just need one sometimes. I was soo tired one night that I just went to bed without washing my hands or anything, and i woke up in the middle of the night with a headache b/c i could smell the cigarettes on myself! it was disgusting! i still hate the smell! never again!

Answer 6

Personally, every time that I felt the necessity to smoke I chewed a gum or candy instead of the cigarette, until today I'm using the method to stop smoking, I had smoked for almost ten years.
This way really works for me.

Answer 7

I quit a few years ago but started again after meeting my hubby who smoked. We didn't smoke inside so the hassle of going out in the cold was enough for me to quit again.

Answer 8

Embarrassment helps, but it is to easy to say "I don't care what they think!"

All I have to say is.....a 2 hour conversation with a 35 year old man with a hole in is neck and a mechanincal voice box telling about how he has to live now. After the first hour, you will want to die. When its over, you won't want a ciggie.

Answer 9

well i'm on my 2nd week of no smoking

what got me to quit was on thanksgiving day (canada) my 2.5 yr old says that he wants to "try" it

so on october 24th i woke up and never had a cigarette since...i dont miss it and im not craving it.....and my son hasnt mentioned a cigarette to me since

i have more energy now...im not so out of breath and i love it

Answer 10

That everyday dozens of children die of cancer including infants.

I was watching a show not to long ago about a 10 month old boy who had cancer, they were able to get rid of it but sadly after his 1st birthday it came back and he died, it was so sad. I actually started to cry.