cigarettes are bad

[amyambro1]

can someone please remind me how I'm destroying my body by having the occasional cigarette? I know it sounds crazy to even bring it up, but sometimes it is a crutch to lean on. I've found myself addicted again. it's crazy that I even started again, right?

[spicyfull]

can someone please remind me how I'm destroying my body by having the occasional cigarette? I know it sounds crazy to even bring it up, but sometimes it is a crutch to lean on. I've found myself addicted again. it's crazy that I even started again, right?

You just did.....besides they are not RAW...........

[StarFire]

well sweetie...I'm an ex~smoker. but I always SWORE that I would not be one of those FANATICAL ex~smokers that got rude, demanding... always voicing my opinon...

sigh...

here's the thing. I started smoking when I was like 11 years old... I'm 51 now. I quit January 6, 2007... went raw April 2007....

that's A LOT of years of smokin. I smoked cuz frankly cuz well -- I enjoyed smoking. I never actually thought it was an addiction... I simply ... enjoyed it.

now - that I have stopped smoking... I have had time to 'review' my reasons for quitting... cuz it would be so easy to start again.

I had to stop and really think about what I wanted in life. and... what I wanted to LOOK LIKE for the rest of my life.

I chose beauty... vibrant glowing beauty. Truth be told.. you cannot smoke and be RAWMACIOUS... you can be pretty (perhaps)... but there is something ethereal... remarkably unique, strikingly beautiful... goddess~like to those rawbies that are pure in their nutrition and spirit.

so - what do you want?? and where do you want to be?

lemme tell you a story that happened to me when I was a smoker, young and in my 20's ...

this AMAZINGLY GORGEOUS GUY walked up to me while I was out with some friends... and honey -- I DOOO MEAN GORGEOOUS GUY!!.....
and you know what he said???

he said..."Hello, I don't know you. but ... I just wanted to tell you... you are so beautiful... you are WAAY to beautiful to be smoking..."

and he just walked away... :eek:

that statement stuck with me... I did continue to smoke -- but I never forgot his words.... so ... don't waste the time like I did... don't keep smoking and keep aging yourself and creating cellulite in your body like I did... until it was OUT OF HAND...

you have the path before you - right now... and well...

the choice is yours...

rawk on....

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s43/FireStar_830/hug-1.gif

[EZ rider]

amyambro1 -- We have all read over the long list of reasons not to smoke so just pick one or more reasons that connect with you and stay off cigs for whatever reasons you pick.

StarFire -- I loved your post. You have a really great way of communicating. :)

[amyambro1]

Thanks all. Today, NO MORE!!!!!!!!!:D

[trinity082482]

Smoking is stinky lol

[RawHeaven]

Smoking is stinky lol

yes it is.

a smoker who wasn't even smoking was in the house last night. i could smell the nicotine/smoke whereever he had walked or sat down in the house. :eek: the more raw you become the more your sense of smell increases -- you may not be able to stand being around yourself whether you're smoking or not! ;)

[EZ rider]

the more raw you become the more your sense of smell increasesYes it does and not only that but lately I have been surprised at the clarity of vision and the brightness of the colors and also the music has taken on a measure of depth that it didn't have when I was SAD. Raw just keeps surprising me :)

[RawHeaven]

...and also the music has taken on a measure of depth that it didn't have when I was SAD. Raw just keeps surprising me :)


EZrider, you are so right about the music! I've been listening to a lot of my old CD's lately and I've been hearing instrument tones I don't believe I've ever heard on certain tracks before. I thought perhaps my bf had upgraded the speakers or something, but nope it's my hearing! Wow, huh?

[emmanuel]

confession: i'm still smoking, but this post was good for me to read.
i can successfully quit for about 2 weeks at a time, and i always go back.
i've tried counseling, acupuncture, hypnotherapy, patches, gum. but i don't think treating my addiction with these methods will help without starting new healthy habits... I will be doing gymnastics and cheerleading, and yoga three times a week, plus I now that we have a vita-mix this will hopefully help.

I admit, Starfire's post was intriguing. maybe vanity isn't such a bad thing, especially when it fuels quitting unhealthy habits and promotes good ones.

How many times of telling myself "ok, last one." ???

amyambro, please let us know how you are doing, what worked for you before, etc. People reading this thread may find it useful. I shall do the same.

[rawgreenyogini]

:( :( :( :(

I'm at least down to 2 cigarettes a day. Better than 1 pack... but eventually that will fade away.

They don't even taste good...yucky....it's a mental thing for me.

[unbent]

From what I have heard, I think from David Wolfe, the smoking urge can come from the bodies need to compensate for acidic foods that have been eaten. This may be the reason many people feel a strong urge to smoke right after eating. Tobacco is a plant afterall. I think he had suggested increasing the intake of greens, especially in the form of green smoothies. Besides, smoking stinks! ;-})

Andy

[Mueller]

Well since you asked for it. :)

Smoking is gross. It has never really bothered me that much until recently. I was at a couple of concerts recently and when the people next to me start smoking it was like standing next to a camp fire. There were many other people smoking other items there but the cigeratte smoke irritated me like no other.

Further, I see cute girls walking around New York all the time and my thought process literally go something like 'oh she's cute, wait never mind she's smoking.'

It is an immediate turnoff and a total deal breaker for me at this point. Beyond the fact that it is just gross and is killing you, with me being so into nutrition and taking care of my body I automatically assume that anyone smoking couldn't possibly have any of the same interests in this area as me.

[apower2me408]

Well since you asked for it. :)

Further, I see cute girls walking around New York all the time and my thought process literally go something like 'oh she's cute, wait never mind she's smoking.'

It is an immediate turnoff and a total deal breaker for me at this point. Beyond the fact that it is just gross and is killing you, with me being so into nutrition and taking care of my body I automatically assume that anyone smoking couldn't possibly have any of the same interests in this area as me.


I feel this same way, even as a girl myself. My niece is 2 years younger than me and she took after her mother and now smokes and drinks. I just cannot believe how ignorant she is to smoke after all that she has seen her mother go through. She would be so much prettier and intelligent looking if she did not suck on cancer straws all day long and have everything she touches smell of it (her car, room, clothes, her cat!)

I saw the light from the very beginning of my childhood and have never touched an ounce of alcohol or drugs in my entire life and never ever will. I'm not even going to drink wine at my wedding! Why celebrate something so great with poison? For that matter, why do we celebrate another year of our lives (birthday) with poisonous cake? Sorry if I seem mean here, but I just dont understand the whole idea of alcohol or drugs.

[tanishamarshall]

Well, all I have to say is smoking killed my grandmother, it's funny that I see this post today as I was thinking about her earlier, I wish she were still here and I wish I knew what I know now about smoking, food and all of the stuff we do that harms us.

The day before my grandmother passed (She raised me since age 5) she called me from the hospital and said " I have cancer but I'll be ok, you just have to take me to Chemo" I was shocked, she had known for a while that she had lung cancer but didnt' tell me and died the next day at age 68.

Please save yourself and your lungs and also you might want to think about the people that are being effected by the fumes that your cigarette releases into the environment.

I didn't say all of this to be rude or mean but to be honest and to share that I lost someone whom was very important to me because of cigarettes and I'm sure bad bad food.

There are a lot of smokers in my family I'm so glad that I choose a different path. I also choose not to be a food addict anymore, it was killing me.

Maybe you could write down the postives and negatives of what smoking does to your body and start to research how the cigarette affects you, maybe search for pictures online of smokers lungs, I've seen some in real life and it aint pretty. I also had a cousin die at 35 and they said his lungs were horribly black.

I wish you luck in your journey to release this addiction, I hope that you find the reason why you need to smoke so that your able to deal with it and release the habit. I know it's not easy, but the fact that you're here I believe that there is hope and that you can do it.

Tanisha

[Garlic]

Here is what helped me TREMENDOUSLY to move on from the butts.
I came up with a mantra that I say to myself that really puts things into perspective.
I say it when I smell a freshly lit cigarette that smells sooooo good.
I say it to myself when I smell the nasty, stale ashtray smell on people.
I say it to myself when I see people walking down the street smoking and it looks so goooood.
I say it to myself when I see people standing outside in the freezing cold, just to have a butt.

"Thank you God I am not hurting myself." is my mantra.

it has even helped me with going raw.
seeing people hurting themselves with food all the time.
I see things that look yummy and I "thank God I am not hurting myself" with that food.

I will be celebrating my 50th birthday this year and I totally REFUSE to keep hurting myself.
I want to be vibrant 10 years from now and not in and out of doctor's offices.

as soon as you get that thought that having a smoke would be a mighty fine idea, just say this to yourself.
sometimes I would say it in rapid succession until it was drilled in my head that it would be hurting myself.
sometimes I would say it a couple of times a day.
sometimes a couple of hundred times a day.
but it always successfully redirected my thinking.
now it's just automatic.
and I think it will come to mind forever every time I see or smell smoking.

[greenday]

My uncle died this weekend from SCLC (smoker's lung cancer)....far too young for such a tragedy, and only days after his grandchild was born. I'm sure if he had it to do over again, he probably wouldn't have smoked and missed out on so much and caused the grief his family has to bear now. It kills, believe it. And in the short term makes one stink nasty and look low class. Trust me, nobody thinks smoking is sexy or cool anymore. Need more reasons? My PSA is over now! :)

[AvyB]

My uncle died this weekend from SCLC (smoker's lung cancer)....far too young for such a tragedy, and only days after his grandchild was born. I'm sure if he had it to do over again, he probably wouldn't have smoked and missed out on so much and caused the grief his family has to bear now. It kills, believe it. And in the short term makes one stink nasty and look low class. Trust me, nobody thinks smoking is sexy or cool anymore. Need more reasons? My PSA is over now! :)

:( I'm sorry for your loss. My dad died this past July - same thing.

[trinity082482]

Every puff poisons your blood. I don't know what you would do without blood? Do you? :)

[tanishamarshall]

a good number of my family died because of smoking... and no matter how high they raise the prices on cigarettes people will not stop smoking. I hated to buy cig's for my grandma I hated what it was doing to her, she had gotten to a point where she couldn't walk more then a block and she still wanted her cig's her lovely cigs. One of the reasons why I changed my food habit is because I don't want a habit to run my life and perhaps take my life. I don't want people to remember me as a plus size food addict who lived by food and died by food. When I bought cig's for my G'ma I felt like I was killing her, but she would get evil if I didn't go and buy them.

In her last days I remember her saying I'm afraid to die and about amonth before she died she stopped smoking, but it was to late.

[StarFire]

.

I admit, Starfire's post was intriguing. maybe vanity isn't such a bad thing, especially when it fuels quitting unhealthy habits and promotes good ones.


Thought I'd poke my head in and see what was going on in this thread....

My apologies for not communicating fully - and I didn't mean for it to sound like I had quit smoking purely for vanity sake...

there were several reasons involved in my decision.

When I decided that it was time to make some serious changes in my life... I was filled with toxins from alcohol and from cigarettes. As a result - my skin had aged, become leathered looking, I had wrinkles, looked puffy tired and unhealthy. I had ballooned up to 178 pounds AND ... my body was COVERED with cellulite - in areas where I didn't think it was possible to even GET cellulite... :eek: (smoking does cause cellulite - that is a fact.)

to change ones LIFEstyle -- so that you reclaim your health, fill yourself with nutritious vibrant foods will result in ... a rawmacious glow! We all know this. so for me to take what I thought at the time... was such a drastic step as to change my entire eating habits developed over 51 years --- was huge.

BELIEVE ME... I went round and round in my head... thought of every excuse I could to continue to smoke.... cuz I simply enjoyed smoking. I thought of weening myself off of them, I thought it would be tooo hard to make so many changes all at once... I went in and out - round and round up and down... and came to one conclusion...

if I truly wanted to become filled with light and vibrant life -- then to pollute that vessel would be senseless... there simply was no point in changing any part of my DIEit.... If I was going to continue to smoke! I might as well continue to fill every pore with clogging gooey cheese and meat and all of it...

To work sooo hard to clean everything up --- like mopping up a floor -- only to trudge thru it every day with muddy-tar feet... mop it again tomorrow - trudge thru with muddy-tar feet... and over and over and over...

made no sense no matter HOW I tried to tweak it - or convince myself it was okay. so - it became a matter of choice... what did I really want... do it all - or do NONE of it...

I'm 51. That's OVER HALF-A-CENTURY OLD...:eek: when you are young and healthy - things don't matter as much .... life is wonderful and you have many years ahead.... so much to experience and see...
but...
when you reach my age... SUDDENLY - there is a shift and you realize --- if I want the quality of my life for the rest of what I have left here on this planet... to be filled with vibrant health and adventure -- (cuz kids - I still have a lot to see and experience...) then -- it's time to stop 'playing games with myself' -- it's time to STOP lying to myself... and TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.. cuz the choice is MINE AND MINE ALONE.

LIVE or DIE ???? it truly is that simple.

so now ... the choice is yours.... do you want to play russian roulette with your life? is it worth it?

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s43/FireStar_830/gdpit_com_5610562_120.gif ... smoking .... is not your friend...

[beppa66]

The proof is in the pudding.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/images/bilungs.jpg

[beppa66]

And then there's always...
http://www.faqs.org/health/images/uchr_02_img0171.jpg

Yummy!:eek: