Post your stop smoking tips here

It's generally agreed that smoking is not good for singing. So post any tips you have to quit smoking for all the singers (or anyone).

1) You have to want to quit/cut down IMHO for this to work.

2) Try getting a prescription for Zyban

3) Don't hang around smokers

Makes it infinitely more difficult to not take smoke breaks at work when you've got people hassling you to go outside with them.

never start

just think about it this way

if its stopping you from obtaining something you aspire to, then you should be able to stop smoking through your own perseverance and will

but also gonna figure out what are your smoking 'triggers'. is it due to stress? boredom? social-aspects?

4) Move to Australia where it's $15 or $16 a pack.

Simple...

Stop smoking.

You're welcome.

Comments like "don't start" and "just quit" are not really what we're looking for here.

I'm hoping that those who have quit smoking will post in this thread. Those who have never gone through the process are probably not sympathetic to the cause.

It's kinda like a man thinking he knows what childbirth feels like :poke:

I chewed tobacco habitually for about 10 years or more.

My then girlfriend (now my wife) asked me to stop, as she was worried about my health. I finished the can I had bought and never bought another, period. That was about 12 years ago.

My roommate had success with hypnosis. But really, it is just a matter of deciding you don't want to do it anymore. I'm not saying it's easy, but making that decision is at the root of success and if you doubt your ability to quit, you haven't really made that decision.

And yes, I've smoked cigarettes and quit.

Yeah, this is the biggest part of it. You really have to want to quit.

It's the big reason why I've simply cut down a lot rather than quitting entirely. While I have no problems stopping and have done so before for various lengths of time, I don't actually want to quit. I don't get cravings or anything like that, but I enjoy smoking, and side from the absurd cost of doing so here, have no real reason to stop.

4) Move to Australia where it's $15 or $16 a pack.

lol I was going to say that.

Using an alternative, like coffee helps. That way you're kept busy. After you've decided to quit it can be hard to break the habitual side of smoking, and some people find that taking up an alternative thing to ingest is helpful (of course then the problem might be the massive amounts of coffee you drink)

you need to really watch people who smoke ,, smoke. Look at their face , see how rough some of them look. Listen to them hack and cough. Observe the whole habit and how it effects them. You will find that when you quit , you will get the jone for a butt. You will gut it out,,, and the jones will pass. then line clockwork it will come back. Keep track of the time. You will see that its like clockwork. You will also know how long the jones lasts,, and when it passes. Learn the habit and make up your mind you will control it and it wont control you. learn your triggers. Understand that when you quit , never , i mean never smoke another cig. Its tough ,, but it can be done. I quit smoking , I quit drinking. You can do this.

find someone to stop with

make it a competition

+1

i'm liking this idea

Good, sound advice, rhat.

I started about 13 and quit at about 15. I do smoke cigars on occasion, mind.

The main thing that stops me from smoking is the thought that it's some sort of weakness. I started to be cool but now I simply let myself know that it's pathetic to join all my mates for a fag and harm my health just because they are.

I feel as though the main obstacle is psychological for most - I still get urges to smoke, but I just don't.

Money also comes into it - I think about how much it costs and how much I could spend on other things.

Read the wikipedia article on smoking health effects for motivation if you care about your body.

This or other drugs on the market that do the same thing; there are a couple/few a doctor can recommend, it's the only way I could quit after a 1 1/2 pack a day habit for 32 yrs. I started smoking when I was four, habitually by the time I was ten and stealing for them and beggin for the goddamn things by the time I was 12 or 13.Trust me, quit as soon as you can if you care at all about your voice.

Or about your ability to live an addiction free lifestyle.

To the OP: HEAR ME OUT!

Even though it is just as easy to quit smoking as it is to

-cutting out soda from your diet

-making a plan and following it

-waking up/going to sleep at a certain time...

The number one issue you have is a lack of discipline.

Fix this and you'll do anything you put your mind to...

My advice:

Go to any hospital and talk to/visit with patients who have:

-lung cancer

-emphysema

-breathe through a tube

-have a hole in their throat....

If this doesn't sober you up from smoking you've been desensitised.

Your mind will attempt to convilute the simple principle of

1.) Proclaiming out loud (in front of family/friends is best)

-that you will never smoke again, start to be repulsed by anything related

to smoking.

2.) Completely follow through.

-The BS most people say:

"Sure, you will fail, but that is apart of the process)

Is complete bull{censored}.

You only fail, if you *allow* yourself to fail.

Many people say:

"I'll try" or

"I'll do my best"

Guess what?

This isn't good enough, not for you.

These quotes above are an allowance to fail, so you can

say, "Well, I tried, right?"

Nope.

There is no such thing as "Try."

Only I did it? -or-

I did not....

Succeed? -or-

Fail.

Don't listen to people that tell you it's okay to fail.

It is not.

Because if you do?

You will.

If you don't?

You won't (fail)

If you say, "Yeah, but?"

(this is your mind attempting to make excuses for not following my directions) so that you will marinate in the fail juice!

I've been there.

Build up your mental muscle.

The way TV brainwashes you?

Is the same way you need to BW yourself to do things you

*need* to do.

In the end, it's up to you.

Your responsibility, you owe it to yourself to take control.

-Discipline

-Accountability

-Responsibility

Focus on these with your mental mind and you WILL succeed

at anything you do:thu:

Do it for yourself 1st, and watch a chain reaction

that encompasses everyone around you

(specifically your mom, dad, grandparents, wife, children)

I know you can do it!

Once you realise this?

No limits man...no limits ever:idea:

best advice i ever had was if you want a smoke, go smoke. some people work with the cold turkey method. i smoked for a year and stopped slowly. i went from one pack a week to one pack two weeks three weeks etc. maybe on a hard take have an extra one.

keep in mind you will NEVER get over nicotene. i only smoked for a year and not ver much and i havn't smoked in 5 years. but everytime a buddy lights one up i still smell the wonderful smell and want another.

that's when you gotta grow a set of balls and control it.

also think about those guys with the electronic larynx things. not a good move for a singer.

i still have a smoke off the ole pipe every now and then but thats a little different than cigs. and your mouth is so nasty the next morning you dont want to smoke again for a week.

good luck!

Chantix - for me, a 25 year smoker - I quit three plus years ago and unlike all of the others who tell you that you will always crave nicotene, I am here to tell you I do not. That always scared me away from trying: stories about people who were still miserable and craving cigs after 10, 15, 20 years.

Chantix works on your brain's dopamine triggers. You start taking it, keep on smoking and it blocks the pleasure you get. After a couple of weeks of declining smoking I realized I didn't even want them. It was SUPER easy and I had tried everything in the past- gum, patch, tapering off, cold turkey. Granted I did WANT to quit as well, but I can't say enough about how much Chantix helped. My father and mother also used it and they really didn't even want to quit. After about 6-8 weeks of smoke free on the Chantix, I quit that too. It was a little bumpy b/c you miss the low level dopamine tickle, but still okay.

I had some vivid, but fun, dreams, no stomach problems and no suicidal thoughts like some of the scare stories that the tobacco companies were pushing out there.

Closest thing to a miracle cure that I've ever seen. Now cigarettes just stink. It's almost like aversion therapy.

* Know your triggers. Stress, frustration, boredom, drinking, etc can all make you crave a cigarette. Recognize what makes you want to light up, avoid situations that make those likely, and for those unavoidable situations, have an alternate outlet.

* Chew gum. It's something to put in your mouth to keep you busy. No it doesn't have nicotine, but after a couple of days the physical withdrawal's over, and it's all mental from there.

* Don't hang out with smokers. Not smoking is a lifestyle change and can require that others be made. This one can be hard to follow, especially for those in the music biz; smokers are everywhere in the live music scene. Try to convince your bandmates and others you regularly work with to quit with you.

* If cold turkey just isn't workin for you, don't try to tough it out. Yes, nicotine is totally gone from your system, and physical withdrawal over, a few days after your last cigarette. But, you have to not have a cigarette for those 3 days. Cold turkey's not for everyone, especially if you're a pack-a-day smoker or more. Pick up some nicorette gum or patches and work down.

Don't know if this will help, but I read an article the other day where sipping COLD water supposedly activates the same dopamine receptors that cigarettes do. Try it.

+INFINITY This was pretty much my exact experience as well, except that I only smoked for 2-3 years, and I can also say that first and foremost the most important thing for quitting successfully is truly WANTING to quit. Without that you really don't stand any chance.

I realize that given the lengths of time a lot of smokers use tobacco that the few years I did may not make me credible enough to offer advice, but I can say that I finally got to the point where I truly wanted to quit and started using Chantix and it worked beautifully, it really did completely kill any desire I had to smoke, it was great.

uab9253 is dead on when he says that it is the closest thing to a miracle cure for quitting, though again the prerequisite for it's success is TRULY wanting to quit and being immovably committed to doing so.

Its not rocket science.. you just have to understand you will go through withdrawl. Lean as much about it as you can ,, then grab on and just do it.

It will be over before you know it. NO pain no gain people.