From the category archives:

Quitting Smoking

Smokeblogging: Smoking Update for March

by Ron Bieber on Saturday, April 12, 2008

I’ve been having a really rough time over the last week keeping myself from smoking. I still haven’t, but it has been a real struggle.

What is worse though, is that when I mention this to people I get a response a lot like this tweet from Chris Jones via Twitter:

@rbieber ugggh dude i relapsed after 3 years :( (of no smoking)

I hear this a lot. People relapse after a really long time of not smoking. I’ve heard from 3 to 9 to even 20 years.

So Chris is not alone. So obviously I start to question.

Isn’t life too short to worry about things you “shouldn’t” be doing? Do I really want to spend the rest of my life obsessing about something like this, only to know that its inevitable that I go back? If the ultimate result is failure, than what is the point?

Its really tough for non-smokers to get this – but every smoker (or ex-smoker) understands these questions.

This is definitely a hard habit to break and there is a lot of evidence of failure all around you.

[tags]quitting-smoking[/tags]

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SmokeBlogging: Day <shrug>

by Ron Bieber on Sunday, February 17, 2008

Andy asks in a recent comment:

So…. how is this project going?

and then I realize I really haven’t been blogging much.

I just started Step 2 of the Nicoderm CQ program today. For those that aren’t aware, Step 1 is four weeks long, Step 2 another 2 weeks, and finally Step 1 – another two weeks. 10 weeks in total before you take off the training wheels and start trying to keep balance on your own.

I suppose the question I’ve been asked most has been “is it getting any easier”. The answer is no. It is not as hard as I built it up in my head to be, so thats a good thing – but it hasn’t really gotten much easier for me either, except that I am no longer counting days. It’s just something I’m determined to do – and that kind of keeps me going.

So, I just keep on keeping on. So far, so good. Unfortunately, I’m not as disciplined around blogging updates.

[tags]quitting-smoking[/tags]

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SmokeBlogging: Day 22

by Ron Bieber on Monday, January 28, 2008

Photo by rbieber

Nothing to say about it … but sometimes a picture is worth 1,000 words. Might as well try and have a little fun with it.

[tags]quitting-smoking[/tags]

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SmokeBlogging: Day 18 (or Iteration 2: Day 7)

by Ron Bieber January 24, 2008 Quitting Smoking

I’ve had a few people email me asking me how I’m doing and realized I just haven’t posted for a while. No smoking so far. Just that one tiny infraction on Thursday (day 11). As I said in that post, I’m glad that happened. It strengthened my resolve to quit. Now, thats not to say [...]

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How To Quit Smoking – Mahalo

by Ron Bieber January 18, 2008 Bookmarks

The Mahalo folks have put together a How To Quit Smoking page.

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SmokeBlogging: Day 11 – Almost

by Ron Bieber January 17, 2008 Quitting Smoking

Some words of encouragement from my Committed Quitters Plan: Dealing with Relapse Withdrawal symptoms or weight gain shouldn’t be used as an excuse to start smoking again. Staying completely smoke free is your best chance to prevent a relapse. But if you slip and smoke a cigarette or two, don’t be discouraged. Your first cigarette [...]

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Using Google Calendar to Not Break Smoking Chain

by Ron Bieber January 13, 2008 Quitting Smoking

Photo by rbieber I’m using Google Calendar to implement the Seinfeld Hack sent to me by Tom The Architect in a Flickr comment. Now to keep the chain going.

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SmokeBlogging: Day Six

by Ron Bieber January 13, 2008 Quitting Smoking

Well, its day six. Still doing OK. I did have one cigar on Wednesday night with a friend, but you hold those and let them burn more then smoke them – so I am not counting it. Overall, I have found that the one key thing that I am not doing as much at home [...]

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SmokeBlogging: Day One Summary

by Ron Bieber January 8, 2008 Quitting Smoking

I never knew what a drug addict must feel until tonight. I know, thats a strong statement. Let me explain. I’m in Orlando right now for a conference. As I had mentioned earlier, I had decided to start today to quit smoking. Disney is very much non-smoking at this point. When I checked in, the [...]

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Morning One

by Ron Bieber January 7, 2008 Flickr Picks

Photo by rbieber Not smoking Its amazing how much ones morning ritual can revolve around smoking. A picture here is worth a thousand words.

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SmokeBlogging: The Night Before

by Ron Bieber January 6, 2008 Quitting Smoking

Ok, tonight’s the last night of smoking. Tomorrow I start being smoke free. I’ve given over the last two packs of cigarettes I have to Jonna – she’ll try to get rid of them tomorrow at work rather than throw them away (they’re expensive!). I’m kind of encouraged by my mood yesterday and today. It [...]

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SmokeBlogging: Time To Give Quitting A Shot

by Ron Bieber January 5, 2008 Quitting Smoking

I started smoking at 15, which puts me at about 25 years as a smoker. I’ve decided, once January 1st hit and the big “ban” went into effect to try and quit smoking. I think it also helps that I have a conference to go to in Disney, which is as of June of 2007 [...]

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