[Thad E Ginathom]

Smoking at all will certainly have had ill effects, but, unless you already have something that actually requires treatment, this is not relevant to giving up.

The point is to minimise/constrain the damage done, and allow your body to recover, by stopping the cause. Give up now!

[GTO]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

GTO, do you have a PDF version of Allen Carr's Easy Way book? I would like to read this book that may again help to quit an intermittent, occasional smoking habit.

Just get it on Amazon, bud! They have a Kindle version you can read in your browser too.

Since you were a smoker for 22 long years, how you assessed that these many years of smoking did not have any ill effects?

What's done is done. Quitting smoking is more about preventing further damage & leading a better lifestyle.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

The point is to minimise/constrain the damage done, and allow your body to recover, by stopping the cause. Give up now!

[Thad E Ginathom]

And... Although most people get some health improvement in the short term, full recovery is long-haul. I seem to remember as much as twenty years being mentioned.

This makes it important that giving up should be forever, because a lapse not only means having to go through the struggle again, but it also resets the recovery clock.

[bluevolt]

I agree. But what is most irritating is taking a break for a few days and then falling for it .

Anyways, I am marking this post as my reference point. Will update after 3 months from now, with a score of 0 cigarettes!

[Thad E Ginathom]

You only actually give up smoking once.

Whilst a few days is better than my previous laughable attempts when I didn't even get through 24 hours, it is barely long enough to be called giving up smoking.

Just... don't start again after a year or two: that's a huge waste.

[bluevolt]

Originally Posted by GTO

Just get it on Amazon, bud! They have a Kindle version you can read in your browser too.

Finished reading it. A great book helps in understanding the reason why a person keeps on smoking even when he doesn't want to.

You become an ex-smoker the moment you 'decide' that this was the last cigarette you have extinguished - that's the takeaway from this book.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

You become an ex-smoker the moment you 'decide' that this was the last cigarette you have extinguished - that's the takeaway from this book.

That is exactly how I did it, and exactly what all my posts say.

No need to buy the book ;-)

[bblost]

A very nice video from TED-Ed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y18Vz51Nkos

[bluevolt]

When people say that they are not addicted to smoking and smoke only occasionally like 3-4 times in an year, are they smokers or non-smokers? Also, is this fine for a person to do do?

What it means by 'statistically insignificant' smoking if a person smokes only for leisure few times in a year?

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

When people say that they are not addicted to smoking and smoke only occasionally like 3-4 times in an year, are they smokers or non-smokers? Also, is this fine for a person to do do?

Those people who smoke one cigarette every few months are obviously not addicted to nicotine.

I used to think they were lucky to be able to do that! Now, after so many years, I would not be interested in smoking at all (and I am fairly sure that it would cause me a lot of pain rather than any pleasure).

I guess... they are smokers on the day the smoke! But if it is for something more formal, like insurance declaration, maybe they are smokers always.

Does it do any harm? I don't know, but probably some. I have only known three or four people ever who are able to do this. I don't think they have a problem --- whereas my friend who thinks it is good to have cut down to one or two a day does have one.

Why do you ask?

[bluevolt]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Why do you ask?

May be to comfort myself!

I often see people talking that it is the 'addiction' to smoking that is the real culprit and not the cigarette itself (especially only if it is around you 3-4 times an year).

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

May be to comfort myself!

I thought as much!

Plainly, if you only smoke three or four cigarettes a year, you are not on the same page as those who smoke one, ten, twenty, or more, every day.

Quite possible each one does some small amount of harm. Probably there is some cumulative effect. Certainly, it is the cigarette itself that does physical damage, not the addiction.

Just because I personally consume a relatively small amount of white sugar, and a very, very small amount of salt, does not mean that they are not at all bad for me

Plainly, you are not an addict like most of us were. But the other side of the coin is that you should find it many times easier to give up altogether. If you want to.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

When people say that they are not addicted to smoking and smoke only occasionally like 3-4 times in an year, are they smokers or non-smokers? Also, is this fine for a person to do do?

I would categorise them as non-smokers.

Some people can do it - my brother is one of them. He smokes a cigarette sometimes once a month, once a quarter or twice a month. Depending on his mood & social occasions. He's been doing this for like 10 years now and in no year would have smoked more than 12 cigarettes.

Some people cannot do it - I'm part of this group as I'm an extremist. I'm either all in or all out. Prefer to stay all out on this one.

[Arjun Reddy]

A news report on a serious lung infection in the US caused by Vaping.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/myst...-in-us-2086248

[bluevolt]

Another news on Vaping - "Just one vaping session damages blood vessels, even if it’s nicotine-free"

https://epaper.timesgroup.com/olive/...4212&mode=text