Any other people who used to be 'light' smokers?

[Matlockmale]

Hi, am just in the process of trying to quite. I have been a light smoker for many years- maybe 1 or 2 a day during the week and 5 on a friday night/saturday. Not smoking during the week has been no real problem so far but friday nights are a nightmare- I can't get out of the idea that just having a couple on a friday night will do no harm. Anyone else ever been the same?

[andi22]

Hi Matlockmale, I think most people are "normal" smokers - I think if I'd been a social smoker like you seem to be I wouldn't have bothered quitting. However, they do say now that even 1 or 2 a day affect you so I think you have made the right decision. I think in your case mayb one of those ecigs might be the answer. Apparently you can get flavoured, no-nicotine ones so in some ways you might still feel that you haven't given anything up. Good luck and please let us know how you get on as I'm sure there are other people out there like yourself.

Andi

[monky Administrator 35 Months Winner]

Aup Matlockmale, a big welcome to this lovely quit smoking site

It sounds as though your doing really well so its just Friday/Saturday may I ask if you go for a drink at these times ?? ( as in the pub ) If you can try to change your routine, this may help

Emjay is one of our lovely quit support advisers and she posted this a few weeks ago you may find it interesting Pete

Is changing your behaviour really that important?

Asked by EmJay ROY CASTLE

14 hours ago

1 answer

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It really is important to try and understand both the physical and psychological aspects of stopping smoking.

For many years now I have always argued that the smoker needs to understand their behaviour first and then work on changing their behaviour where it needs to be changed, this includes working on their thought process etc.

In an ideal world I would ask everyone to set a quit date around 2-3 weeks away and during those first couple of weeks we would work together on behavioural change and understanding everything first. This is why I'm always saying about planning beforehand. However, because everyone tends to want to go it their own way, we will work with every smoker individually, walk with the walkers and run with the runners - so to speak.

Sometimes however, there are smokers who really cannot get through the initial few months, weeks, days or even hours alone and so using certain therapies of their choice will help.

NRT and other therapies, when used correctly can help - it will never 'do' for the smoker what a cigarette will 'do', but it will take the edge off. Whilst it does this, the smoker can then concentrate on changing their behaviour. When the time comes, (and the smoker feels more confident) then they can work towards reducing and then stopping using their NRT or other chosen therapy.

If NRT alone worked so fantastic, then the smoker would be able to 'just stick a patch on' say and never smoke again. However, each time they wake up, put the kettle on or have something to eat (common triggers) then this is when the cravings etc set in and no matter what therapy they are using, the eyes still see and the mind still recognises these triggers. Working very much in the same way as Pavlos dog experiment.

Evidence shows that if a smoker uses a service such as Quit Support, their local stop smoking service or NRT (or both), then they are more likely to still be stopped at 4 weeks. If they stop for at least 28 days, then they are more likely to stay stopped longer.

However, further evidence shows that a high number of people go back to smoking with 12 months. Ths is largely due to those people not thinking and planning beforehand and getting 'caught out' just when they thought they were safe.

More time and effort needs to be focused on behavioural change to guarantee a long term smokefree life.

There's no reason at all why this can't be you who does this

Failing to plan could mean you may be planning to fail... Without meaning to