Reached rockbottom!

[Mimimya]

Hi everyone, I’m new here so forgive me if someone else already asked these questions. I would really love to go out runningand get back into fitness AND give up smoking. I have all the patches and smoking aids bought and sitting in the cupboard from last year. Has anyone been in this situation? I find after a long illness I lack motivation... all help appreciated. Thank you

[Pippatong]

The fact that you're asking might be because the motivation is returning. The only thing to do is start. That's it. Don't worry about anyone else and how they have done it,this is about you. Go for it and really good luck.

[ClarriePan Graduate]

Well done on having these noble aims. If you keep posting we can try to motivate you😄. Firstly I would get out there and have a go at W1R1. Nothing ventured, nothing gained 😉.

With regard to the smoking I was lucky to be able to give up cold turkey (on my third attempt) 20 years ago. My husband on the other hand gave up 2 years ago after trying everything. Cold turkey, patches, gum, Champix tablets (they made him feel depressed and are known to have that affect on some people). So he tried Nicorette Quickmist and it worked. Trouble is he’s addicted to this now. But much better than the fags. At 67 he’s going to graduate C25K in 2 weeks.

Good luck on your mission 👍.

[Irish-John Graduate]

Here's how I successfully and relatively easily I managed to finally quit about four years ago after over 35. Had tried it all - as we do - Patch, hypnotism, acupuncture, cold turkey, aversion therapy ( ugh), Alan Carrs books, promising God, loved ones and myself I would not pick up again...hell, I even spent a week with a misdiagnosis of Lung Cancer and it only made me grateful enough not to have it to stay off the damn cigs for about a week and a half.

But - there is a way. I was on a transatlantic flight and was so sickened with the longing for a cig. I knew I just did not want to keep on smoking.

I had enough time, desperation and lack of distraction in those hours that I was able to 'think it through' about why 'nothing works' and put a few things together that I had gathered about how the mind and body operate when it comes to addictions and - well, call it the FKT Procedure

(it works so well that some people who have tried it/heard about it are very frustrated that I don't 'write a book around it - you could make a fortune out of this!' But the hell with that, I am so grateful I don't smoke anymore I'm not spoiling it by making others have to pay for it )

You will need :

I pocket sized digital countdown timer with a loud beep or some noise. I used a digital kitchen timer. ( it also became handy when I later took up running

A sturdy box with a lid - I used an old cigar box.

A BIG roll of duct tape or similar very sturdy no-messing-about adhesive tape.

A sharp blade.

A big Black Marker.

Cut a narrow slot in the lid of the box - it is now your moneybox.

Tape the living hell out of the whole box leaving the slot uncovered but really go nutjob wrapping the tape all over and around it. The the idea is that while you can put money in...it will be one heck of a job to get money out.

Write the date one year from your quit day on the tape/box.

When you wake up on your Quit day, your timer is now going to be your permanent companion for a while - set it at four minutes.

EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU WANT TO SMOKE YOU HIT THAT COUNTDOWN BUTTON. DO NOT SMOKE UNTIL THE BEEPER SOUNDS.

Here is the nice part - if you still REALLY REALLY REALLY want to smoke then - go ahead.

Alternatively - you can start the countdown again.

The rationale behind this - and it is VERY rational and scientifically based - is this. I read where the actual PHYSICAL withdrawal/craving symptoms last only three minutes. After that it is sheer 'muscle memory' and 'habit' and our brain being too lazy to say 'Oh - OK, guess we are not getting our nicotine right now...well, other things will now be attended to".

So - if you can last three minutes, its all a mind game your brain is playing. You are also going to get into the

'I can't quit, I'm weak/stubborn/an addict/not worth it/helpless to overcome this/etc" crap.

So, if you want to stop smoking, guess what? - you just have for three of TOUGHEST ever times, when the craving is at its most powerful, plus one more minute.

Of course in the early days you will find that very shortly afterwards, you will want to start smoking again...and you can...in four minutes time.

You are not fighting the Herculean battle here we smokers face when we 'quit for good' You are simply not smoking for four minutes at a time.

That kitchen timer was beeping dozens of times a day for the first few weeks...then less and less...then one day I realised I hadn't felt the need to fish it out of my pocket all the day before and that day. I still carried it around for a few months and maybe four or five random times I needed to 'start the count' - but it was easy.

Now I simply cannot believe I spent all those years (and all that cash) smoking - it seems like a different person did it.

Oh - the moneybox.?

Well - what you do is, put it by your bedside. Every night put in it the money you figure you would have spent that day on cigs. Throw in some extra for good luck every now and then.

DO NOT KEEP AN ACCOUNT.

DO NOT - NO MATTER WHAT -OPEN IT UNTIL THAT ONE YEAR DATE ON IT IS REACHED.

Believe me - after a while the suspense and wondering just how much is in the damn box and how much will be in it when you open it will replace any 'thrill' of smoking with a much better one... ( I had enough for a week or two in Ireland from here, but believe me - if that box had been easy to open it would have been breached several times when 'emergencies' loomed...yet somehow, those 'emergencies' were sorted as they would have to have been if I was still smoking and the money not there anyway because of being spent on cigs )

There you have it. It works. You just have to work it - four minutes at a time

For the sake of 'white knuckling it' for just four minutes - nowadays I would want to have cigs now just as much as I would crave a drink of petrol, that's how little I think of it and a measure of how Nicotine is just not an issue anymore

Best wishes with it.

The Running part can be explained far better by others here - and worked for me also in that department

[Jell6 Graduate in reply to Irish-John]

Gosh , what a wonderful response. I went unplanned cold turkey about 18 years ago. If I'd known my last cigarette was going to be my last I'd have enjoyed it more!!

It can be done.

[Irish-John Graduate in reply to Jell6]

My last one was outside Dublin airport. I opened a new pack, lit one and then gave the pack away to a group of girls who were headed to Japan.

Now - if you can afford it or are on someone else's dime, Japan is a FABULOUS place. They could, had been there before and were SOOOO looking forward to going back. however - the pernicious addiction had one of them literally gleefully announcing 'Wow - free cigarettes! Thank John - this trip is already great! "

In other words - 'i am so excited about getting some free smokes, Japan is all of a sudden in the ha'penny place"...

Addiction is VERY ugly when it reveals itself fully

[Lillybeth30mins Graduate in reply to Irish-John]

Wow John, amazing.

[Lorijay Graduate]

Hi Mimimya, Yes I do understand fully. I have been smoking for 44 years (20 a day) and am now 14 days smoke-free (I am using a vape at the moment) and I can honestly say I will never light another cigarette. I started this programme as a smoker and after W1R2 knew running was something I wanted to do so that was my motivation for quitting. I don't know if I would have stopped without falling across Couch25K. Please just try W1 and don't put added pressure on yourself to quit and hopefully you might just like the feeling running gives. By the way I'm only on W3R3 tomorrow so just a newbie too and definitely not a reformed smoker who will lecture. You can do it!

[lagatachocolate Graduate]

Hi Mimimya,

I stopped smoking on New Year’s Eve; it wasn’t planned for that date but I had been thinking about it (again) for a long while and I decided it was time. I had patches and vapes I’d had purchased at least a year previously.

I am a recentish member of the ‘Hawaii’ (50) club 😉 , I could definitely do with losing some pounds, and some might say I’ve been ‘blessed’ in the lady bump department 😳. All in all not an ideal set of circumstances to start running, or so I thought.

Tonight after a full-on day at work I achieved the first run of week 8! This plan has surprised me as one of my favourite sayings is that I’m built for comfort not for speed.

I guess what my ramble is trying to say is that we are so much stronger than we give ourselves credit for and our bodies can and will do amazing things if we have a little faith and perseverance.

Pick your time to quit, let yourself see the benefits (it won’t take long) then pick an activity you enjoy that will also contribute to your fitness

Ramble over, sorry 😐

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

Check this out and welcome You have the motivation... you are here... and now we know

The cigarette bit I cannot be helpful on, except to say...listen to Irish-John .... he is absolutely inspirational And...this is your life... your choice... and we are all capable of making choices...

" Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing, are the same"

[mrrun Graduate]

I loved smoking and was smoking for decades. I wanted to get fit and take up physical activity but those guys are not good friends so in order to get fit l had to quit my beloved cancer sticks.

I quit on 1 May 2015, never tried any therapy, patches or commercial s..t that we can see on billboards and have not had another smoke since and will never have another again.

There and then l convinced myself that should l have another one, for whatever reason, l would suffer either a fatal stroke or cardiac arrest (no particular preference). I simply believe that one more smoke would deck me proper on the spot. It worked, lol.

Oh, and soon l started running and I've run ever since. That works too.