beer is the hard one - any suggestions?

[nsd_user663_4754]

has anyone found a good way to deal with drinking after quitting other than the obvious not drinking method!

one beer and im fine and then the psychological fixation is there knocking at the door.

I'm guessing that it goes away the more you deal with it, and as time goes on, as long as you don't succumb to the associational triggers does it?

i really hope so, cos I really cant imagine a life without beer but equally after all the hard work i really cant imagine a life where i go back to smoking!

advice needed! :eek:

[nsd_user663_2190]

Eat peanuts.. find something to do with your hands while drinking that is not smoking such as lifting another pint to your lips. I fully intend to get absolutely slaughtered on Friday cos it's a big drinking party here and if I drink enough smoking may very well be the last thing on my mind cos I'll be too busy drinking that's the Finnish maybe also Scottish method and I'm sticking to it. By the by did we quit on the same day bman?

[nsd_user663_4754]

yeah ive heard that method before - a pint in each hand!

i think im a day ahead of you, not sure, i had my last on 9th june before i went to bed but Im really counting since last wednesday 10th. - race you to 100!

[nsd_user663_2190]

well bugger cos I'm on day 8 just now and quit on the 11th so I'm a day behind you, not that this is a competition.. of course not.. it's just.. I'd like to be on day 9 too I suppose that once we've re-trained our brains then you'll be able to have a pint and enjoy it just as much as people who have never smoked or maybe even better cos you'll remember the taste of a pint when you smoked and the hangover associated with one too many whereas as a non-smoker you'll taste the pint properly and not have such a hangover win-win situation

[nsd_user663_4754]

definitely - im with you on that one - good luck on with the solstace celebration - ive got a big one coming up in about 10 days as my brother is holding a festival and im gonna see a lot of old faces - its going to be one of the biggest nights of the year - just gotta not smoke though and we'll be fine at both events - easy when you put it like that isnt it. was thinking about getting a henna tattoo on my head that says "recently quit smoking - dont you dare offer me a cigarette under any circumstances" - youd look pretty stupid but i bet it would work!

[nsd_user663_2190]

No-one offers anyone a fag over here they're all a bunch of grippy gits so I'm in no danger of that one when I next go home to Scotland though I'll get one of those tattoo's and I'll just have to avoid my nana's kitchen like the plague cos that's where all the smokers in my family usually end up and it's difficult to see them through all the smoke. Well 20 to 3 in the morning here now, so I'd better go get some kip and stop this infernal tap tap tapping or I'll be going for a jog in the afternoon instead of the morning and all the afternoon traffic will get a laugh watching me attempt to jog. Why is it that when you see some dame jogging she's always skinny and hot eh? Where's all the lardies? Surely there should be in-between-joggers or should people like me avoid running in public altogether? ack weel. Night night bman. See you tomorrow in this forum. Can't believe I'm in week 2 already :S

[nsd_user663_4754]

maybe you can be the first of the jogging lardies and start a revolution?!

to be honest probably all the stick thin joggers are smokers like we used to be and you can take pride in bounding past them with your new found lung capacity!

enjoy anyway - i remember from my only other really close to sucessful previous quit attempt, the wierdness of your first few runs - when you realise that its your legs saying stop and not your lungs for once when it always used to be the other way round

congratulations on the end of week one! feels good doesnt it - toughest one down. keep going. i've had a b***h of a headache for 3 days now but in my mind its the sweetest headache ive ever had! worth it a thousand times for the rewards that lie ahead.

[nsd_user663_4754]

well bugger cos I'm on day 8 just now and quit on the 11th so I'm a day behind you, not that this is a competition.. of course not.. it's just.. I'd like to be on day 9 too

well just goes to show how bloody not with it i am - just gone back and checked my old posts and turns out we did quit on the same day!! my last cig was on the evening of the 10th not the 9th like i thought.

" 11-06-2009, 10:52 AM

bman

Member

Join Date: Jun 2009

Location: London

Posts: 60

everything in the bin - no looking back now"

so actually - ive just finished my first week as well! :confused:- no harm in celebrating it twice i suppose - blimey - gueniunely thought i was ahead of where i actually am - never mind - still diogn really well and happy with progress!

heres to a better week two!

[nsd_user663_4680]

To cope with not smoking when having a drink, I don't take any money out with me so I can't buy any ciggerettes. If I am going out with the wife I give her my money before we go out and just let her buy the drinks. If I am going out with friends I give them all a fiver before going out and just skip my rounds that way I have no change to go to the ciggie machine, also I have explained that no matter how much I beg none of my smoking friends are to give me a ciggerette ever under pain of a good kicking once I sober up (the good kicking would be off the wife not me otherwise no-one would be scared, I am a lover not a fighter :rolleyes:).

Also I have found that switching your normal drink helps, I normally drink lager which is what I associate with smoking, changing to bitter/wine or even better spirits seems to help a lot with cravings (I find neat spirits give a hit to the back of the throat similar to inhaling on the inhalor/smoking). No doubt about it though drinking is my biggest trigger and the time I struggle the most, although I have noticed that hangovers don't seem as bad since I quit the cigs (not sure if there is a scientific explanation for this or wether it is in my head).

And as much as you probably don't want to hear it, the best suggestion is just not to drink at all for a while until you are well into your quit

[nsd_user663_3728]

I agree with EndsNow about the drinking either switch to a different drink or

don't drink at all for a bit

If you must have a drink when out then limit to one or at the most a couple and switch to soft drinks

Love

Marg xxxxxxxx

[nsd_user663_4754]

thanks for that suggestion - changing drinks is a great idea

- might become a guiness or cyder drinker for a bit as im normally a larger man as well

[jackieinv]

Guys/Gals be very careful many who have slipped have done so while drinking.

Take care, enjoy, but do not regret.

Jackie

[nsd_user663_2190]

Will be vigilant. Luckily there's only one smoker in the group that I'm going out boozing with and I think I've learnt my lesson that I can never ever be a casual smoker, so 1 fag leads to a few more years of puffing. I'll concentrate on the laughs and the company and jump into the lake if I have a crave

[Maverick_uk]

Nevermind the beer drinking and smoking. Just tell me where all these hot joggers are?

Since I stopped smoking have put a few piounds on, well more than a few and trying loss it.

Might be a bit of goal trying to keep up and chat up a hot jogger

[nsd_user663_2190]

You should come to Finland. Lots of hot joggers over here and one lardy one Even old grannies cycle miles on their bikes. There may be a thing as being too healthy.