Tomorrow makes 14 years.
 

February 17, 1999. That's when I last had a cigarette. I had smoked for more than 20 years and quit cold turkey. I honestly have had no desire to smoke since that day, just made up my mind I was finished with cigarettes.
It was the smartest thing I have ever done. My only regret is that I didn't take that step sooner. Today, my goal in life is to see my granddaughters marry. They are both 20 months old.
For anyone else trying to quit or considering it, don't think you can't do it. You can. And you will be glad you did.

Congrats for quitting. I also quit long ago - late '66, when they went from $.25 to $.35/pack. I was in the military then, and a carton cost $2.50. I refused to pay the extra dime a pack, so I quit. Never looked back. But even now if I put a pencil or pen in my hand like holding a cigarette, I remember.

Congrats!

It will be 10 years for me on June 13th 2013.

Man that's great news! Congratulations.

March 15 will be 4 years smoke-free for me. I don't know about anyone else but I have absolutely no desire to start again! Like most, I wish I had never started.
You know about hindsite..........:old:

Three months to the day.

I quit for good sometime in the early 80s. Stopped and started many times before then. Once you stop do not think it will be ok to have just one. Today the thought of having a cig turns my stomach.

...congratulations to all of you

...I have been in the tobacco industry for over 40 years and have never tried a tobacco product of any kind, but it has a hold on our customers unlike anything I have ever seen

...when I started selling cigarettes they were $1.84 per carton or 25 cents per pack in our vending machines, now we sell cigarettes priced at over $70 per carton in our stores...a very big trend towards "roll your own" the last few years and the new electronic cigarettes are catching on like crazy

...last October I quit drinking Coke, haven't had one since...I drank at least 6-10 Cokes per day for over 60 years

Be eight years March 14th. Greatest gift i gave myself. Life is much better without that addiction.

Good for you 400 4spd and all you other "quitters". My wife is a smoker. $6 A PACK!!!

I smoked from 78-81 there about, was very hard to quit. But from my experience I like to say the secret to quitting is very simple. ( you have to WANT to quit) . The sad reality that people need to realize is that you are not allowed to smoke in the hospital. Think about that, finally you will have no choice but to quit . Good for all of you who concord the habit, I can't stand the smell after quitting and I to think it was one of the most important decisions I have ever made!

Congratulations, you have too much to live for to die for a cigarette.

In October 1963 I was at a Pontiac dealership for a few minutes during a break between classes at a night school I was attending. A couple of salesmen in suits were standing talking and smoking. One spoke complaining "I've spent enough money on cigarettes in my life to buy that Bonneville over there!" (The Bonny was a loaded car stickered at over $4,000.)

Congrats to all of you who quit. It's been 14 years for me too. After 28 years of smoking I quit on March 5, 1999. I won't say it was easy but it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Congrats to You! With all we know it amazes me that people still smoke. I kicked the habit 17 or 18 years ago and I am glad I did. My younger brother smokes and I wish I get through to him!

Shawn

Well done!! With the cost of smokes as they are, I'm surprised anyone still smokes.

It's been 24 years off cigarettes for me. My mom smoked since before my brother and I were born. She would smoke in the house and I LOVED the smell of cigarette smoke. @ 7 years old I took to swiping cigarettes out of her purse and smoking with my dirtbag friends. Yes, 7 years old. I kept smoking off and on until I was 19 when I was in the Air Force and a buddy of mine bet me that I couldn't quit for a week. I won the bet and continue to win today. By the way, the smell of cigarette smoke is repugnant to me, now. My mom quit years ago. I think a big factor was watching cigarettes slowly kill her. Grandma couldn't speak a full sentence without hacking up a lung. It was painful to watch. Constant coughing. No one could ever get her to quit. Such an insidious addiction.

Your granddaughters are adorable.

Im lucky, i never picked up smoking, i see my friends and family struggle with trying to quit, and i've lost a few from its affects....a cousin to throat cancer, another to a heart attack and my granny to full blown lung cancer...

another cousin to tounge cancer from dip....terrible suffering...

I started smoking in high school and smoked for about 10 years. My father, who never smoked, asked me to quit about 3 months before he passed away from cancer. I quit on the spot and haven't smoked in 14 years. I applaud anyone who quits successfully as it is difficult.

"Well done!! With the cost of smokes as they are, I'm surprised anyone still smokes."

+1

Surprises me anyone would spend that much money on a habit that leads to nothing but serious health issues later in life. I see so many young folks who can't make their bills, but still putting a Marlboro in their face every 20 minutes and a cell phone in their face every minute or so.

It's a "no-brainer" for me, as every single one of my older relatives who smoked died much younger than those who didn't, and with serious health problems.

Lung cancer took my uncle at 52. He was the only of his 4 brothers that smoked, the rest made it past 80.

My Aunt lost her battle with throat cancer last year, HEAVY smoker most of her adult life. She made it past 70, but lost her heavy smoking husband almost 20 years earlier to a massive heart attack.

My grandfather on my dad's side died at 48, heavy smoker. My moms father lived well into his 80's, non smoker.

Lots of my friends smoke, none of them can quit, so I highly commend those of you on here than can do it.

Being the Chief CSI here in my County, I get to see the effects of smoking WAY too often for my liking. It is associated with nearly 100 percent of all of my "unexplained" cases. Sure there are usually other factors involved, but every single case under 50 years old where we don't know the cause, they are ALWAYS a smoker.....FWIW.....Cliff

I quit on 7/31/71, the day my first child was supposed to be born (She waited until 8/5 to arrive). I didn't want her to grow up in a house with a smoker. My dad was a heavy smoker most of his life. I never looked back.
Congrats to anyone who can kick the habit.
I agree with others who have said that to quit "you have to want to quit". It sounds pretty obvious but if you only want to quit because of health reasons or cost but deep down you enjoy it, you are doomed to fail.

Yep I also quit comin up 14 years in like June I think.
My Wife ..said back at that time " I wont date anyone who smokes " so I quit and asked her out ...I have her to thank for me quiting, did it cold turkey, smoked over a pack a day....

Congrats to all who kicked the habit :thumbup:

Congrats 400 4spd....and all the others too! I celebrated 2 years smoke-free on Jan. 24. Best thing I ever did was stop cold turkey...NO regrets...and more money in the pockets:)

I wish I could get my wife to quit also:(, but you guys know that no one can stop you, but you. We never did smoke in our new home we bought 7 years ago...and having to go outside will usually slow the urge...but not stop it.

Again, congrats:jumping:to all of us:usa2:

may 2000, best thing ever!

April 29 2012 No Beer or Cigarettes, cold turkey, 8 months ago I weight 135 lbs. and i weight 173 lbs. now. to much ice cream i guess :) Congrats to everyone It was easy for me with the help of the lord and my will power. Anyone can do it, if i can.

I quit when they were $1.50 a pack. So, that`ll tell you how long it`s been.

Good job dude. Not easy. Especially if you still drink.

Thanks for all of the positive comments. It's good to hear your stories, too. Some years the anniversary day passes and I don't realize it for a few weeks. Last night I was looking at a calender, planning the upcoming week at the shop I just opened. That's when the date struck me.
So anyway, I figured I would post about it. Maybe someone will read this thread and think about all of the reasons they should quit, including the people who love them.

Quit August, 1991. I fell off the wagon briefly in '93. No cigarettes since, although I do smoke a cigar once and a while.

My wife smokes out side i never new how bad the smell was until i stoped, As some said the money, I never knowed how much i did spend, 12 beers every day. Pack and a half of smokes, My wife gives me $100 per week after i quit, I have done paid for a 97 4x4 nissan. Now i need to get her to stop smokeing i do harp on her she has stoped before but i allways smoked around her, I know the feeling now.I am proud of all of you, Your friend Randy.

Way to go, Steve. Congrats on your milestone! You've got a lot to be happy about with those beautiful grand-daughters.

I pleaded and pleaded with my Dad to quit when I was about 13-14. Even told him I would give up sodas if he would quit. He did and never picked up another one. He lived to 82 from there...I'm quite sure that he added years to his life in doing so. He quit the Redman Chewin' Tobacco too. He might not have lived through my high school years had he not stopped. I thank God he did!

My dad picked up the smoking thing in the service. like so many did. He got lung cancer and had a lung removed , thats when he finally quit. About a year later I watched the paramedics carry my dad out of the house in a sheet, It was the only way they could carry him without hurting him because he waisted away so bad.He died in the hospital shortly after. He was only in his early 50s. ( Hows that for an incentive plan?)

Congrats!

That is my story too, almost to the exact month. I smoked for over 23 years, and in 99 I decided I had had enough and I quit cold turkey and never looked back. It is simply mind over matter.

Good for you!

Congrats to all who quit.

10 years ago this month for me. Don't remember the exact day but i do remember the place: sitting at a beachfront bar in Nassau having a beer and I didn't even want a cigarette. That's when I knew I was over them - never looked back.

Even if you struggle with quitting keep trying - it will happen and it's worth it.

10 years this past January for me. Still trying to lose the weight I gained!

Just saw this thread. Hats off to you, Steve! Not easy to do, but very wise. See you this weekend.

Brian you also become a PY member 11 years ago on feb 19 also Good to see your old avatar photo Your friend Randy. I am useing the one you posted for me years ago.

I quit 10/16/2010. I had some stints of quitting for a few years, and then starting again for a couple. For me personally, it was more of a social trap. Having a drink, post meal, post sex, break at work, at the end of a work day, drive home, etc. - all the usual mental triggers of "time for a smoke".

Once I was able to get past those mental barriers, it wasn't a problem. The night I quit, my wife and I smoked our brains out until the smokes were all gone. We must have put away a solid 3 packs between the two of us just that night. And then it was cold turkey.

During the first few weeks, it was tough knowing what to do with all the extra time I had previously devoted to smoke time. And the crappy thing about it was that I was bored silly, and I didn't feel like doing anything!

Glad I left it behind. And yes, I still puzzle over why young people still flock to cigs, from a sociological perspective. It makes me wonder if they are subconsciously flaunting their youthful immortality, or maybe some kind of rebellion? I can't even answer that for myself.

135??? Wow, I haven't weighed that since I was a Junior in high school. I'm 260, now. 5'10" trying to lose a ton of that but that's an entirely different thread. :focus:

Hi Randy, I haven't been on this site in quite a while. Starting to get the car bug again! Keep up the good work!

I quit 10/04/10. My transplant surgeon said he wouldn't cut me until I quit. I had smoked almost 2 packs a day for 55 years. I didn't want to quit. I loved it. I went to Stop-Clinic in Cary, NC. Took a drag off a cigarette; went into the clinic; came out in about an hour and a half and never wanted another one. No withdrawl at all. Had my kidney transplant and my 2nd anniversary was yesterday. Feel great. If anyone wants to stop smoking, contact Stop-Clinic. They are on the web. I've sent several friends to them with 100% success. Jon