>The discrepancy on the weekdays is that I have a work routine of smoking during my breaks.

That, for me, is the hardest bit to get over. If I don't go out with the smokers I have to sit in the fucking funeral home atmosphere of the staff room with the other cunts.

Personally I've had success by simply switching to vaping. I'm sure it's not 100% as healthy as quitting entirely but fuck it, it's good enough for me; I don't have a single fag most days, I only ever feel tempted when I have a drink. I cut it down gradually at first and rationed out the cigs, using vaping to substitute because it wasn't quite the same at first.

Gradually I was at the point of vaping more than smoking, and after that I dropped the cigs entirely, and now I actually like vaping better.

>>4997
Yeah - the work breaks are very difficult to break. You get all the benefits of a break, a bit of a gossip and chat with some people who you probably wouldn't otherwise talk to.

Alan Carr's book is okay - a little repetitive - but it's a system and has worked for many people.

OP Have you tried stepping back to vaping? That brings its own risks/addictions, but my own view is that it seemed a lot better for my body than actual cigarettes.

>>4997
>>4998
I actually do own a vape from previous attempts at quitting. I think I got down to one ciggie a day with it but would like to quit totally rather than opt for the healthier alternative.

>>4999
Actually, looking back I now remember from my previous attempts that I did very well with something to distract me at home. Specifically video games as I find I can easily lose myself in those and focus on objectives with the associated dopamine hit.

During one such attempt I played some classics RPGs for the first time, namely VTMB and the two KOTORs. These in addition to Pharaoh and Rollercoaster Tycoon did wonders so if any /v/ lads want to chime in with recommendations then feel free.

>>5000

I've lost entire days to Civ II, honestly just looked up at the clock and realised it's eleven hours later.

>brings its own risks/addictions
I used to smoke ~5 rollies on a regular weekday and maybe twice that at the weekend with beers. I switched over to vaping and for a year or two it was great - I much preferred it to smoking, and while personally I felt the health impact was overstated, it was definitely an improvement.

Then I went through a particularly dark time in life, having trouble with medication and other things. Long story short, I wound up so hopelessly addicted to vaping that I was not able to get out of bed without firing up a storm for at least 20 minutes. Nicotine consumption significantly controlled my life. I tried cutting back many times and in many different ways, and I failed.

Eventually I realised that I was never going to be able to get back to the "good old days" of just having a few puffs here and there. I spoke to my GP, who prescribed me patches, while I weaned down the nic in my liquid. This wasn't much fun - I started out wearing three "20-a-day" patches at once, which just barely took the edge off cravings - and it was a long way down, but it worked. Finally I vaped for a couple of months with no nic in the liquid, before one day finding that some subconscious part of my brain had flipped to perceiving vaping as a waste of time. I kept it around for when I was drinking and so on, but the association was gone. That was over a year ago, I've not been back and to my surprise (and delight) I don't get any cravings even when drinking.

The irony in all of that is that I had to quit cigarettes to get properly addicted to nicotine. I want to be clear that I don't mean to scare anyone, with any of this, but I will say this much: vaping can fill the cracks in your day far more surreptitiously than cigarettes. Realistically you need 10-15 minutes to have a cig, it's socially proscribed in most places these days, and tobacco is hideously expensive. By comparison, if your work and life permits (as mine did) you can be vaping high-strength liquid from first thing when you wake up until lights out at night for fuck all money. It's easy and cheap to vape levels of nicotine that you wouldn't get close to on with tobacco. Don't do this.

Set out a plan of reduction, and get on board with the idea of spending a couple of months at the end vaping with no actual nicotine. You won't miss it when it's gone, honest.

I've considered using nicotine patches as an appetite suppressant but i don't think it's the right way to go in hop of loosing weight 'effortlessly'.

A mate of mine was very successful quitting fags with patches, and he was a proper full blown smoker- Started at the age of about 13, two on a morning before work, one when he got there, two on every break kind of smoker.

He still smokes weed (without tobacco and mainly bongs) though, so I don't think the habit-breaking part was quite as hard for him, and I can't help but think it's kind of cheating really. It's finding something else to replace the ritual that's really difficult.

What I'm struggling with about quitting is not the physical cravings, but the routine of it. Like a smoke when I wake up, a smoke on my way to work, a smoke at break time, a smoke between programs on the telly. I've tried vaping but I don't enjoy it, but feel like I need a ritual of sorts to replace the smoking.

>>5013
Have a wank m8

>>5014

Wanking more than 5 times a day for a prolonged period of time will break your cock mate. Believe me I know.

>>5015
Sounds like you've got a shitty cock mate. Believe me that's not universal.

>>5016

Not when you're a teenager no, but as you get older you'll find your regenerative properties lacking in comparison to your peak physical years.

>>5017
How old do you mean? If you're talking thirties you're full of shit. If you mean forties then obviously you should have found something better to do by then.

>>5017
>as you get older you'll find your regenerative properties lacking

Speak for yourself lad, fifty year old reporting in.

>>5018

You are in fact the one who's full of shit. It's a pretty linear decline for some men. Some men don't decline at all. Some men find themselves practically impotent as soon as their puberty finishes. I'm just hitting my 30s, and it's been a good couple of years since I stopped bothering going for a round two during sex.

Then again, that's probably also because I've had plenty of sex in my time, and to be honest I can take it or leave it nowadays. I've done it all before, and I've done a lot of things many men never will. By contrast, there's a single mid-30s lad at work, the type who exudes that specific desperation of an undesirable man who hasn't had a shag in years, and I bet he could go the full ten rounds and still have plenty left in the tank.

>>5021
It's strange how you say I'm full of shit and then immediately go on to restate what I started with.

>>5013
What about a lovely cup of tea?

>>5015
>Wanking more than 5 times a day for a prolonged period of time will break your cock mate. Believe me I know.

Sounds like bollocks.

Fucking hell this is hard work. On Wednesday I arrived 5 minutes before the start of a presentation for work and that was enough to make me crack and buy a pack. Managed to leave the pack alone until just now when the craving after a roast finally got the better of me.

Wish they still did packs of 10 so that when I do crack it's not such a commitment.

>>5062

>Wish they still did packs of 10 so that when I do crack it's not such a commitment.

I dunno mate, crack is moreish as fuck no matter how many fags you buy to go with it.

>>4997
>I'm sure it's not 100% as healthy as quitting entirely
You're right: it's 95% as healthy as quitting entirely.

OP, if you can switch to vaping, and maybe bear in the mind the personal experience of >>5002, it would do wonders for you.

If not, I don't think stuff like >>5062 is such an issue. Cold turkey is really, really hard, so don't beat yourself up if you crack. Cutting down is enough - just try and go as long as you possibly can without a smoke, and try to make those breaks longer and longer until you don't have cravings at all.

>>5002 Thank you, great post.

Vaping got me off the 'grets but I'm still struggling with the final steps. Chugging 3mg/ml at my desk and tapering to zero nic or putting the vape out of immediate reach has me back on the rollies. Probably a matter of mindset, I can easily abstain in the right social situations but left on my own end up huffing the douche flute like a champ.

Any further advice for getting out of the habit entirely would be much appreciated. Nicotine is a harsh and fruitless mistress.

>>5074
>Chugging 3mg/ml at my desk and tapering to zero nic or putting the vape out of immediate reach has me back on the rollies.
Sounds like you're reducing too much, too fast. Wear patches to get the nicotine you want and use the vape just as a physical crutch. Slowly reduce the patches over time - if you speak to your GP they should be happy to keep on prescribing them for as long as you feel is necessary. Obviously there are the three different strengths of patches, but you can also cut them down to size.

Don't try and get ahead of yourself and reduce too fast, or you'll just end up back on the cigs, as you've found. Slow and steady.

Nicotine gum is what got me off the fags for good. It not only gives you a hit of nicotine but chewing it also keeps the mouth busy.

>>5085

It's worth bearing in mind that vaping is at least 95% less harmful than smoking according to Public Health England, so even if you're vaping like a steam train you've gained most of the health benefits of quitting smoking. Quitting vaping is a bonus, but the important thing is staying off the fags.

I stopped smoking about the time of this thread starting. I was wheezing away with a chest infection outside in the cold and rain puffing away furiously on a pipe and I had a 'what the fuck am I doing?' Moment.

I am definitely still getting the itch but the fact that i was pretentious enough to smoke aromatic pipe tobacco means I'd have to go out my way to acquire more helps.

Might resort to vaping but for now I am alright.

Alan Carr's book is really working so far. I'm not even sure there is much "method" to it, what has really hit home is a section early-on where he just highlights the whole absurdity of it in terms other than health.

The example that if the shop doesn't have your brand you will still buy a shit brand that tastes awful to you is something I've never thought about. Made me feel like one those people who crack open the fag bins for ends.

>>5089
Not sure there is much of a method to it - it's just pleasant repetition of things you already know and agree to. It's a clever book, but there isn't a great deal to it.

>>5088

Vaping is more or less the same thing as smoking flavoured pipe tobacco, honestly. Even the way the inhale feels is far less like a cigarette and more like a good wide bowled pipe.

You'd probably take a shine to it if you tried. Maybe get some zero-nicotine flavours to try.

This won't work for everyone but I found that just seeing how long I could go without one helped. At 9 months now and I'm so determined not to ruin my streak that I haven't been tempted to have one since I quit.

Cutting back on boozing also really helped

Good luck bigman

Bumping this thread since I didn't know if my question warranted a new one on this completely dead board but I'm quitting smoking this weekend. What's your experience with e-cigs? Is there a consensus on which one to get? I have an Aspire (I think) which I sometimes use when reading in bed, but I'm not enamoured with it.

Oh, and you get some truly dreadful results if you look up e-cig "memes".

>>5488
I'm on my second Aegis mini, they're rugged compared to most others and fit well in a coat pocket. Battery lasts a year of regular use.

If you're really planning to quit; the main thing to do is to buy the liquid in a substantial quantity so you can deliberately taper off the nicotine. If you let yourself run low then you'll end up only being able to buy what the nearest corner shop has in stock and chances are it'll be a ridiculously high nic % that'll set you back months before your re-up arrives. Plus it'll probably taste filthy.

>>5488

I've got... Some kind of thing with a slipstream tank, pretty bog standard stuff. I've gone through a few and ended up with this simply because the bits are cheap and readily available.

Honestly people shit on vaping a lot but I've managed to entirely replace smoking with it. It did takea bit of effort, it wasn't just an overnight cold-turkey switch, but it enabled me to experience first hand how much better you feel without lungs full of tar without giving up the actual habit. After that it was easier and easier to turn down the fags- I never realised just how nasty that hacking, phlegmy morning smoker's cough is until it was gone.

If convincing evidence comes out that vaping is harmful I'm probably fucked, but until then whatever.

>>5488
>I'm quitting smoking this weekend
Why not now?

>>5491
It's my birthday - seemed like a good delimiter.

Okay I have 4 cigarettes left which gets me to after dinner on Sunday and then the pain starts. Is there anyway to mitigate the cold/cough you're supposed to get when you stop - that is liable to scare people at the moment.

>>5558
Same way you'd mitigate a normal cough/cold.

>>5558
Whisky.

>>5560
Or Whiskey.

>>5561
Only Irish or Americans spell it that way, and all their whiskies are terrible.

>>5562
I was simply making a callback to another thread which mentioned Whisky and Whiskey. And it ruins the show if I have to explain that to you.

>>5562

That's just wrong though. I'm not exactly into bourbon but I'd say a midshelf bourbon is often better than an equivalent scotch, and it's easy to say that as there's so much variety in scotch. Irish is great too, try redbreast.

>>5564

Agreed

There is nothing special about scotch most of it is piss water that tastes like it was found in a rotten tree in a bog.
You strip away the marketing of scotch "no no the taste isn't wrong you are wrong for not liking it" and you are left with the spirit equivalent of larger.

At least Americans endeavor try to make their drinks palatable.

>>5565

>larger

Oh dear.

>>5565
What a silly post.

>>5565

This is just "mass appeal" reasoning. You could make the same argument for a lot of things. Michael Bay movies are "better" because all the enjoyment is directly on the surface, it's very simple to understand, appeals to young children etc. Teletubbies is better than The Wire because it has none of that unpleasant violence in, you don't have to put any effort into appreciating the subtleties or things of value that aren't immediate sensation, because there are none. Dan Brown is better than Umberto Eco, for the same reasons.

All my workmates are into both whisky and whiskey, and I've sampled some very expensive ones.

It's all fucking rancid, with similar flavour notes to petrol and oven cleaner. Do people just pretend to like it to look manly?

>>5569

It's a similar sort of thing to eating very spicy curries in that regard I think, yes.

>>5570

Eating spicy foods causes endorphins and dopamine to be released causing an effect like a runner's high. Don't go casting false aspersions with those sour grapes, softlad.

>>5569

>Do people just pretend to like it to look manly?

No, but I didn't really enjoy any whiskey neat until I got a bit older - I do distrust any 20 year old who claims they enjoy Laphroaig, though even then, everyone's tastes are different.

It's an acquired taste much like any alcohol, and I just don't think you can expect to like every spirit out there - I fucking hate gin, for example, it all just tastes like soap or bath bombs to me.

>>5571

Sure, but there comes a point where the spice obscures all the flavour, which must already be enough to give ou the spice rush. Above that I can't see much point other than bravado.

>>5573

You build a tolerance to it. Much like you do with the strength of spirits.

This is basic stuff. Nothing to do with being macho. Nobody knows how hot your curry is unless you loudly announce it.

>>5568

It isn't mass appeal reasoning at all quite the opposite.

My argument was I think it "tastes like it was found in a rotten tree in a bog." which I am not sure is even an unfair label given how whiskey's taste is described by aficionados.

And that there is a pretension surrounding scotch, the same way there are significantly less people who appreciate diamonds for their properties than there are people who like the because the perceived value of diamonds.

>>5575


I know what you're saying and not liking whisky is perfectly valid, but I really don't think many people spend 50 to 200 quid on bottles of stuff they really just don't like - you don't like it, that's fine, but it doesn't mean nobody else does. I like the taste of scotch* and you don't, that's fine - I bet you like something I don't but I wouldn't presume to think it's solely because you think it's expensive or lends to your character. Not to mention people drank whisky long before marketing was even a concept. Though I suppose we don't really know if they liked it, or just liked being drunk. But I don't think them labelling it "water of life" meant they thought it was awful.

*there's a huge flavour difference in regions of scotch whisky to the extent that it doesn't make much sense to lump them all together, and islay and a speyside may as well be completely different drinks IMO.

>>5569

"Aesthetically crack doesn’t exist in the same milieu as vintage single malt whiskey but it should do really: at the expense of whiskey’s standing. You can say what you want about smoking rocks but there’s literally no way you can dress up what you’re doing like you can with liquor and it doesn’t matter how good your cooking method is. You can’t lie to yourself about why you’re doing it.

No one sits around saying: 'Lovely ochre tones on this rock. It’s got a honeyed pearlescent finish from the double cook. Lighting it up, the gentle sizzle reminds one of the refreshing rains that hit Lake Windermere in late April after sweeping majestically in across the Atlantic. It’s got a complex nose, full of barbed wire, cellophane wrapping from Lucozade bottles, dentist’s gas and a three-day rave piss. The front is like a left fist to the kisser from Gentleman Jim Corbett and then it settles in like wearing an ice balaclava during a ham-fisted trepanation procedure.'

But try telling any of this to people who pretend that whiskey tastes like anything other than liquidised badger’s gall bladder and see how far you get."
- John Doran

>>5578

In whiskey's defence, there's not much that tastes like a scotch. Like a lot of things, you learn to like the abrasive elements of the taste. As someone that really likes rich, smoky, bitterly strong tastes, I haven't found anything that really replicates it.

>>5579

Trigger warning: lovely booze.

>>5579
> Like a lot of things, you learn to like the abrasive elements of the taste.

As an alcoholic, albeit one who's mostly in recovery these days, I'm self aware enough to realise that most of the acquired taste phenomenon is just the brain reacting pre-emptively to the hit it's about to get. It's basically the same reaction that causes my anxiety to go down as soon as I leave the doctor's office with my month's benzo prescription, or that caused me to be as giddy as a schoolgirl as soon as I'd scored, before I'd even got home and got high. I'm sure a few of the lads from the resting actors thread would agree with me that when things got rough and you found yourself at the 24hr offie at 3am you'd feel a whole lot better before you'd even popped the first tin.

That said, I did have a love affair with scotch whisky above and beyond any other drug or alcoholic drink and would sometimes have ten or more bottles at home at a time. I travelled a lot for work back when duty free was actually cheaper than your local Tesco and used to buy a bottle or two of something different or special looking every time I came home.

I suppose it's almost cognitive dissonance. On the one hand I know that Doran's mostly right, but on the other I know that I appreciated whisky for more than just its ability to blow me into the void. I don't think I would have collected expensive collector's edition whiskies if they weren't 40%+, though.

I think everyone has one thing they like to think they're a cork sniffing connoisseur about, and will spend extra on because that's their thing.

I'm really into port these days but I doubt I'll ever find myself spending more than £12 on a Taylor's LBV. Spending £200 on whiskey seems unfathomable to me, but I did drop a grand on a guitar that's 99% identical to one I already own earlier in the year and I will defend that decision.

Now, if I were to get on eBay and have a look for a Klon Centaur, *the* middle aged, all the gear no idea, too much money too little talent, ultimate cork sniffer hobbyist's fantasy guitar pedal... Utterly ridiculous to pay what they're asking these days, but if I was loaded? Of course I'd do it. Might as well.

It's a bit of everything really isn't it. We shouldn't deny to ourselves that there's always an element of indulgent, opulent, "because I can" dopamine hit going on when you buy something unjustifiably expensive. I assume someone willing to buy top end scotch at least likes it, but at the same time, I don't think it really matters if that's an affectation or not. It's the same reward mechanism at work whether that taste is genuine or forced.

Sorry to interrupt this lively debate on how Scotland exports nothing but lies but I'd like to say that I want a ciggie. Not so much the ciggie itself but this is normally the time I step outside for a moment to think about my day and tomorrow. Strange how you can fall into these rituals without ever realising it. I'll have to find some other kind of compartmentalised space to do all my thinking.

Also there's an NHS phone app you can download to motivate you and show you what happens to your body and that. Apparently tomorrow my body is going to expel harmful gas which is something I could've told you anyway but it's nice to have an excuse.

I've never been an addict but found that having a 0mg vape stopped me from buying a pack when drunk or bumming cigs off people outside pubs. It's an excuse to go outside and puff but without the nicky hit. Maybe that'll help by still allowing you to go outside for a bit?

>>5581

That's an interesting hypothetical. If there were a magical alcohol-free scotch that tasted exactly the same, would I drink it?

If it tasted exactly the same, as in, somehow had the alcoholic taste without the other effects like Star Trek synthehol, if anything I would probably drink much more.

I've always liked the idea of having a ritualistic nightcap, but I am an absolute lightweight and would feel awful.

>>5585

You don't want a night cap. It is just a normalisation of alcoholism. Doctors say it actually disrupts the REM cycle, those doctors apparently undervalue what a disruptive fucker acute withdrawal is to sleep.

>>5577

I don't doubt your sincerity in liking it, but the post that provoked my stance was this >>5562 and doubt they were being anything other than pretentious.

>>5583
Two weeks later and I can report that I'm noticeably eating more but also that I've become much more popular on dating apps. The latter is as useful as a chocolate teapot at the moment but it's nice to learn that was the only thing holding me back. Unless Big-Aubergine boosts your profile when you quit.

What's worked for me is keeping score of the days and not wanting to break the streak. Last night I saw a couple smoking cigarettes and calmed the urge to go buy a pack by noting that I was near the two-week mark. Also drumstick squashies taste like shit now that I've stopped smoking.

I quit 7 months ago but now that it's summer the thought of a ciggie is just nice. Truly a horrible time of year, sunny out, benches in pub gardens ripe for sitting on and scantily clad women ripe for chatting to over a cigarette.

They need to invent a tobacco that's perfectly healthy and non-addictive.

Having quit nearly a year ago I thought I'd pick up a pack of cigars as it's Christmas. Never again, I feel absolutely ill and it tastes rank.

>>5974
funny that, isn't it? Tobbacco tastes delicious when you're a regular smoker, but absolutely disgusting after even a week abstinance.

How much better/worse do you reckon it is to be an occasional smoker, compared to having a full time habit, and compared to quitting fully?

I ask because I think I've come to terms with the fact I'll never quit fully. It's not that I don't have the willpower, it's just that I don't want to. I enjoy it too much, and it's too effective of a coping mechanism if I'm ever stressed or anxious (which is a great deal of the time.) Obviously I know fully quitting will always be the best idea, but I think I've reached that state of self acceptance where I realise nah, it's actually counter-productive to try and force it.

What I do now is I'll let myself have a pack every once a month or two, so I can enjoy a night out in the proper manner, or so I can stand in the doorway and stare contemplatively into the distance when I'm having a rough week, and that kind of thing. Weirdly enough it's not that hard for me to sustain this- I think there's a huge psychological factor to the fact that you know you're trying to quit, that makes it harder to do so. But for me, I can smoke the last one out of a pack, and easily go four or five weeks before I get that urge again, because I never tell myself "Right, this is the last one. This is it." I know I'll be able to have one when I want one, I just don't want one yet.

It's the forbidden fruit factor I think. Like how when you're not getting laid, it's all you can think about, but when you're a few years into a committed relationship, sex becomes routine and forgettable and an affair suddenly tempts you astray. If you don't actually deny yourself those things, if they're not actually forbidden, the temptation is never as strong.

Anyway.

>>5976

It's probably similar or less difference (occasional-vs-none) than living in or regularly passing through a high traffic area.

>>5976
The old trope of 'Grandma smoked 20 a day and lived to 120' probably goes the other way, too. I wouldn't want to be the one to develop cancer from 1 cigerette a week.

>>5976
> Anyway.

I agree with you and am much of the same person. I'm gonna die from something, I'm pretty healthy in most other ways, and like you said, I fucking ENJOY nictoine. An early morning fag, with a strong coffee, the whores breakfast, is one of the best things in the world.

>>5975

Maybe my mouth or brain is broken, but I've never habitually smoked cigarettes, yet I smoke cigars relatively often but also infrequently, and I enjoy the taste very much.

>>5975
I had 2 more cigars and they weren't bad. I have 2 left and and I'm starting to regret this whole thing as the monster in my head comes out.

Still, I'm far too tight to ever start up again. I know how much I save now and how much better my life is with that £200-odd a month in my pocket. If I don't then Purps can find me and you can all come kick the shit out of me.

>>5976
Its great that you can hop in and out but I used to tell myself stuff like this and you know it's bollocks. Learn new coping mechanisms like wanking or drawing.

>>5978
You hear of people getting lung cancer having never smoked at all though - that must be fucking heartbreaking.

i quit years ago using nicotine gum, i just chewed it all day long for about a month until all the nicotine was out my system and the cravings were gone, it was pretty easy