~Smoking Cigarettes~ I love my life/body, so why am I and other people paying to hurt/kill theirselves?

Hi worriedwife

I am an ex-smoker. I understand just how you feel. I stopped smoking July 5, 2005. You can stop if you really want to, but thats the hard part, convincing yourself that you really want to. When you start craving the nicotine, in your mind, you start making excuses for yourself for not stopping.The first week was the hardest for me. They have help lines that you can call for support. My wife used the gum to help her stop. They also have nicotine patches that you can get over the counter to help ease you off the nicotine. I did not use any aides to stop. I made up my mind to stop, set a date and shared that date with family. You may know all this already, but just have not convinced yourself that you want to quit.

But, Do it !! You will be so glad you did. You will look better, feel better and smell better. I support you in your effort to stop.

Dear Worried,

I smoked a pack and a 1/2 a day for 15 years. Finally quit cold turkey 12 years ago this past Dec.

Did I crave them? Oh yes, could not drink coffee for 6 months after, could not have an adult bev. without wanting one.

Hubby however, could not let go....and guess what? Had heart attack at age of 50 (too young), doctors attributed to his smoking.

You are young and beautiful!!! Don't let the cigs control you!! I'm wishing you luck and am propping you up!!

Remember you are worth it Worried Wife.

I wish you the best of luck, WorriedWife. You can do anything you put your mind to. I've never smoked so I can't know the awful addictive power of cigarettes but I can't see how people who otherwise take good care of their bodies would subject themselves to the harmful effects of nicotine. (When I was young, I always thought my dad's pipe was kinda cool!) Have you had a loved one urge you to quit? Let us know how it goes.

I add my congratulations to the others. You've made a great decisions. Just one more thing - DO NOT worry about the weight you might gain. Everyone gains some weight when they stop smoking and for an attractive woman that can be the kiss of death. Don't worry about it. There's plenty of time to go on a diet later and you'd have to gain a ton of weight to create the same bad health effects. So, don't pig out if you can help it, but make the nonsmoking the biggest issue right now.

I wish you the very best of luck. Being an ex-smoker I know how tough it is to kick the most addictive habit in the world. It will take all your determination. BUT-- it is the most wonderful thing I ever did for myself. I had to use a prescription medication to break my additiction. It worked but it wasn't magic it took being convinced in my very soul that I wanted to quit smoking. Now I'm one of those "ex" people that go about giving dirty looks and nasty coughs when I'm near a smoker. Fortunately, for me the City of Indianapolis went smoke-free a few years ago. Now I can go to restaurants and public places and not be near the smoke.

What happened? Did you stop in the middle of a sentence to light up? I quit when cigarettes cost $2.11 a CARTON! I will be smoke free for 38 years on the 27th of February.

Anyway, I thank God every day. Because I quit, my wife quit. Because neither of us then smoked, my children never started, Because they never started, when my son married, he married a non-smoker. Because they are non-smokers, my granddaughter, now a teen, is a non-smoker.

How many people didn't get cancer because we didn't release all the carcinogens we could have will never be known, but I'd bet the number is greater than 1.

Don't make it a resolution. Just do it!

$5.32 a pack? I remember walking with my best friend. I told him, "I wish you didn't smoke." He said, "I know...me too." $5.32? He smoked about 2+ packs a day. Walked to 7 Eleven many times with him to pick up another pack. The last time we visited that 7 Eleven, he held on to my shoulders to walk upright. I remember standing at the counter...but then he didn't place a pack on the counter. Why, because he was dying. He knew it ... I didn't. He died 6 days later. He was 51. That was in 2004.