So, I finally quit smoking.

[Donny Lucy's Avocado Farm]

Yes! So.....

 

I'm 35 years old. I've smoked for seemingly my entire adult life. I started smoking when I was 13, a few here and a few there. Mortal Kombat with my fellow metalhead brethren at the local bowling alley. No big deal. Then came college and later, professional life. Stress. Bills. And a new coping system. I was never a heavy smoker, maybe a pack or two a day depending on where I was and what I was doing. But my habit still kept me from doing things I wanted to do - like play pickup basketball with friends, exercise outdoors and other generally physical things that "normal" people do. Living in the south affords me certain opportunities I did not have in Chicago. I could take advantage of a few, but not all. Because I smoked and couldn't... breathe.

 

When my wife gave birth to our son, I decided to give it a shot. Part for him, part for me. I was going to quit smoking. The rising costs of such habits also contributed to my decision. So off I went.

 

It sucked.

 

First, I tried cold turkey. It was an invariable disaster. I was truly horrible to be around. I'd try for a few days and go right back. Just to feel normal. So my wife wouldn't want to kill me. Then the guilt would set in. I failed. So I would go back to square one and try again. Then fail again. I'd give up. Smoke for a few more months. Then quit (and fail) again.

 

Second, I went to the doctor. Apparently, the way I smoked a cigarette caused such unbearble withdrawal symptoms, I wasn't going to be able to do it myself. I never took "smoke breaks" like most do. I'd light the cigarette and drag it down in 3 or 4 puffs. Even once on a dare I smoked an entire cigarette in one drag. My stoner friends used to tell me how jealous they were of my lung capacity. Too bad I didn't see it that way. When I was in college, I worked in a record store 3 days a week. I had the place to myself. But, could only use the bathroom or sneak a smoke if the store was empty. So, that meant doing either task on a moments' notice and before another customer would appear.

 

What I didn't know was that smoking a cigarette as quickly as I did would release so much dopamine in my brain, it was the equivalent to shooting heroine. I wasn't necessarily addicted to the nicotine, I was addicted to the dopamine dump. So that became task one. Slow down. Maybe it would get easier.

 

I was always a pretty good athlete but never took it seriously. I would run with a family friend on the Illinois Prairie Path from time to time. I set the mile record at my elementary school and Junior High School. But as soon as I started smoking my freshman year of High School, running was replaced with coughing. The outdoors were replaced with my basement couch. When my wife was pregnant, I gained sympathy weight. Fifty pounds of it. I was a fat tub of goo. I decided to start running again. Maybe that would help motivate me to stick with a plan and follow through with quitting, finally.

 

I joined the local gym. Bought fancy, obnoxious shoes. I bought a sweet Affliction shirt so everyone could see how seriously I was taking this s***. Fo realz, yo. I walked out onto the track at the Bartlett Park District overlooking the basketball courts full of kids running a mock full court press - and took the first few steps. I felt great. Then ten more steps. My face got hot. Then cold. My strides quickly turned to steps. I had made it 50 feet and couldn't go any further. This wasn't going to work.

 

While my wife was visiting family in South Carolina, she decided to buy me one of those electronic cigarettes. How tragic things had become for me. An electronic cigarette. Ugh. She might as well have given me a fleshlight to go long with it. But much to my surprise, it was a passible alternative to a real cigarette but without the burn and horrible aftertaste. Maybe this would work.

 

And it did. That day was my last smoking a cigarette. As cravings came and went, I'd puff on my stupid little fake smoke. Then run. As my endurance increased by the week, my need for nicotine went in the opposite direction. Before I thought to keep track of any progress, I was running 2 miles without gassing out. Then 3. And less fake smoking.

 

Needless to say, I think back to the battles along the way - and I am glad I fought all of them. I have been cigarette-free for close to a year now and can thank my wife and the poorly-made chinese-import "eCig" she bought me. I'm not quite to where I want to be endurance-wise, just yet. But after all, I've gotten plenty of time.

[bigruss]

Congrats man, I've seen it first hand with my mom how hard that habit can be to break. She's been off an on cigarettes for as long as I can remember, and now I just find coke bottles filled with cigarette butts outside half hidden when I go home, it's sad that she thinks she's hiding it even though everyone in the family knows.

[justBLAZE]

Congrats!

[RockRaines]

Good for you, seriously. All the bad things we were told about smoking turned out to be true, the wrinkles, tooth decay, and of course cancer. Smoking is horrible.

[flippedoutpunk]

Congrats man! I quit smoking fairly recently as well. I turned to delicious juicy chewing tobacco instead. Its like smoking while im in class!

[southsider2k5]

Congrats. What a road to conquer!

[BigEdWalsh]

Congrats!!!! I smoked for about 40 years and I quit back in June. I really didn't think I could do it. I didn't even think I wanted to if that makes any sense. I just pretty much figured I was hopeless. But, it can be done. For years and years I always encouraged young people who were wanting to quit to do it. Telling them how much I wished I had quit when I was younger because it just gets harder and harder. But, no matter how long you've been doing it, it can be done.

[Iwritecode]

My wife has been looking at the e-cigs for a little while now but has yet to try them. Maybe I need to push them a little more. The cost savings alone would be huge. Not to mention the fact that damn near every single day one of her ashtrays gets knocked over in our house by a dog, cat or kid.

 

Personally, I never got into tobacco products of any kind. My parents didn't smoke but plenty of my friends and family did. I tried it once or twice but just didn't like it.

[Reddy]

Congrats man! I quit smoking fairly recently as well. I turned to delicious juicy chewing tobacco instead. Its like smoking while im in class!

mouth cancer instead of lung cancer? have you seen what dip does to guys? it's really f***ed up.

[flippedoutpunk]

mouth cancer instead of lung cancer? have you seen what dip does to guys? it's really f***ed up.

 

But id still be able to run marathons

[Reddy]

But id still be able to run marathons

without a lower jaw.

[RockRaines]

mouth cancer instead of lung cancer? have you seen what dip does to guys? it's really f***ed up.

I used it as a way to quit smoking then rolled off of it. Throat cancer is no joke.

[Steve9347]

That was a really well-written story. Congrats!