Dec 20 Was My Cold Turkey Date

[vash]

so rick and Shrup..thanks. interesting start up stories.

[Rick Lee]

I don't think I had smokes around when I wasn't working for that summer, probably didn't even take them out of my work station at the restaurant. But then the next semester all my roommates were casual smokers and so it continued. The next year I lived in Germany, even started out working there for six months, and everyone in the factory smoked on breaks. Sometimes, when no one else is around, I jones for a smoke. But it's usually triggered by being around others smoking. Going to China is impossible if you're trying to quit. Everyone smokes everywhere and good smokes cost. $.50 a pack. Tax drivers will offer you a smoke when you get in. I've even heard doctors will smoke in the examination room.

[nynor]

Originally Posted by vash

how did you guys START smoking? thinking back, did you (being honest here, no offenses meant) think it was the cool thing to do? peer pressure?

i know the advertisements back in the day made it look all tough guy and cool.

i like to smoke. period. i just don't like how i feel afterwards. if you were to hand me a djarum clove cigarette, i'd smoke it right now. but only one, for a long long time.

[Schrup]

Originally Posted by nynor

i like to smoke. period. i just don't like how i feel afterwards. if you were to hand me a djarum clove cigarette, i'd smoke it right now. but only one, for a long long time.

Good luck finding clove cigarettes anymore, Obama outlawed them. The clove cigars are close but, no cigarette. I have a weakness for clove smoke though I try not to inhale.

[crustychief]

Congratulations on your milestone!

[nynor]

i think you can still get these, as they are marketed as mini cigars. these are what i preferred, anyway.

djarum black | Tumblr

[aigel]

John - congrats. I did not know you smoked and I thought Dec. 20 was a little early for x-mas turkey leftovers!

I think there lie some of your weight gain mysteries. I don't know anyone that quit who did not gain weight afterwards. From what I have witnessed it usually takes a year or two for people to find their new balance.

Stay strong and if you want a smoke, just hop on your bike instead!

George

[DonDavis]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

You won't believe this. When I was washing dishes in a restaurant the summer after I started college, you really only got to take a break if you smoked.

Navy boot camp. Similar situation, smokers got a break a few times a day. Nonsmokers kept busting their humps. After a couple days of watching the smokers, I followed and bummed a smoke and just puffed it. A week or so later, with the break area populated with as many nonsmokers faking it as there were real smokers, our Company Commander strolled in. It wasn't difficult to spot the fakers. He had everyone inhale smoke to prove they were actually smoking or face the music. We all inhaled and began coughing and choking accordingly. He said he was satisfied and left. Feeling light headed and dizzy, we returned only to find him announcing MASH PT ( Make A Sailor Hurt ). More than a few guys puked in short order. I didn't, but I never took another break that way again.

A couple years later while deployed to sea, I smoked a few from time to time. Never really liked it and was just bored, I suppose.

Rick, I hope you stay smoke-free.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by vash

how did you guys START smoking? thinking back, did you (being honest here, no offenses meant) think it was the cool thing to do? peer pressure?

i know the advertisements back in the day made it look all tough guy and cool.

Drinking and friends. When I started at 18 I just had a smoke or two when I was drinking, as most of my friends smoked. It snowballed from there until I was buying my own and doing it all the time, I was at a pretty solid pack per day until I quit. Fortunately I stopped at 20, so I'm hopeful that my stupidity didn't do any long term damage. I didn't feel any significant physical difference, but I did realize just how bad I had smelled to non-smokers.

[herr_oberst]

John, I had no idea you smoked.
Congrats on quitting. You can do it!!

Never caught the habit, but I did chew Copenhagen for a number of years. Quit cold turkey; 3 of the hardest days I ever spent in my life.
Nicotine is the devils own drug, that is for sure.

[72doug2,2S]

When I was a student at the British Institute of Florence, everyone smoked. Cafes, bars, post office, travel agent, restaurants, hotels, trains, etc.

This was a habit for half a year. We also rolled our own Drum and Samson. It was something to do when you were chatting up an Italian girl and you were struggling with the language.

[jyl]

Eh, after a year without, I can't really use the "quitter's gain" excuse for weight gain any more.

I think that after Dec 20, 2011 I gained a little bit, but not much. I was riding pretty diligently, going out in the cold and rain on weekends to ride hill laps, so didn't have much chance to gain.

This winter, I'm just a lazy slug.

John - congrats. I did not know you smoked and I thought Dec. 20 was a little early for x-mas turkey leftovers!



I think there lie some of your weight gain mysteries. I don't know anyone that quit who did not gain weight afterwards. From what I have witnessed it usually takes a year or two for people to find their new balance.



Stay strong and if you want a smoke, just hop on your bike instead!



George

[aigel]

Originally Posted by jyl

Eh, after a year without, I can't really use the "quitter's gain" excuse for weight gain any more.

I think that after Dec 20, 2011 I gained a little bit, but not much. I was riding pretty diligently, going out in the cold and rain on weekends to ride hill laps, so didn't have much chance to gain.

This winter, I'm just a lazy slug.

This article does not have references, but it has a lot of points that show that even at the same caloric intake, a smoker may be at a stable weight, while the non-smoker will gain.

Smoking Cessation - DEALING WITH WEIGHT GAIN

Why Ex-Smokers Gain Weight

Smokers weigh less because smoking depresses the appetite for certain foods, while quitters, whose appetites are not suppressed, gain weight because they take in more calories. While food intake may not be the only factor operating – nicotine may also alter the smoker’s metabolism so that smokers burn more calories and convert fewer calories into fat.

Smoking also affects digestion. Research has shown that food remains in the stomachs of smokers longer than it does in nonsmokers. Fullness of the stomach signals to the brain that you don’t need to eat. This could be one of the ways that smoking tends to reduce smokers’ body weight. Some other reasons for smokers not gaining weight are:

Smoking provides the smoker with a substitute activity for eating.


Smoking increases the passage of food through the lower digestive tract by increasing the propulsive activity of the colon. Thus, some food may be swept through before all nutrients are absorbed.

Smoking serves as a marker of the end of a meal. Rather than taking a second or third helping or having dessert, smokers are likely to stop eating and have a cigarette.

Recent studies of certain enzymes in our fat cells suggest that the reason some smokers gain weight after quitting while others do not may be in part a matter of genetics. One of the key enzymes in the regulation of fat storage is lipoprotein lipase. This enzyme breaks down circulating triglycerides, liberating free fatty acids that can then be taken up and stored by the fat cells. High activity levels of this enzyme are thought to increase the efficiency of fat storage, and thus to produce weight gain. Low levels are thought to produce less efficient energy storage, and thus to promote weight loss. Researchers believe that genetic differences account for high or low levels of lipoprotein lipase in different people.

Studies have also shown that smokers with high levels of lipoprotein lipase gained more weight after they quit, while smokers with the lowest levels of this enzyme actually lost weight after quitting.

The researchers concluded that a test that measured lipoprotein lipase activity might help predict a smoker’s potential for weight gain after quitting.

Another factor contributing to lower body weight in smokers could be impaired lung faction. Research suggests that it is only those smokers with the most extensive smoking-produced lung damage who exhibited weight loss. The researchers found that smokers with normal lung function weighed roughly the same as nonsmokers.

Another recent study found that smokers who consumed more food or liquids, or avoided other cigarette-associated substances such as alcohol and coffee, were more successful in cutting down their smoking than subjects who attempted to reduce smoking with no specific plan. Thus weight gain following quitting may be due to the fact that the quitters are using eating as a substitute for smoking.

[stealthn]

Good job, I know how hard it is and have it on my list to do this month

Started with a girl I liked when I was young, worst decision ever.

[911dean]

Feburary will be 11 years for me. One of the best things I've ever done. I wouldn't even think about having one, I'd probably become a smoker again, if I did.

It gets easier as time goes by. Some people claim they always desire a cigarette, for me never. I do wonder sometimes what it would be like to have one, though.
Ocassionally I'll dream I had one.

Keep it up! It's worth it!

Dean

[jyl]

I looked into the smoking-weight thing. Most of the weight gain that quitters can experience is just due to exchanging one oral fixation for another. But nicotine does elevate your heart rate which causes your calorie burn to be a little higher. IIRC the effect was around 100-200 cal/day. Not much but it adds up.

[dennis in se pa]

Congrats. Now that you are free DO NOT GO NEAR TOBACCO! No chew no nothing. You will be right back there. 10 years clean here at 61 years old. My 2 packs a day habit ended with open heart surgery 6/18/2003 at 2 PM ( congenital defect - mytral valve). Get a scale and an exercise program to fend off weight loss. Gaining weight is your new enemy. Good luck.

[HardDrive]

Some people who have quit claim the smell of smoke disgusts them. Not me. It was difficult to quit, but well worth it.