Desiree's story: all bets are off
Desiree's story
(Desiree Gaw, 25)
Basically, I quit on a bet with my fiancé. He didn't smoke that much, but when he did he'd smoke a pack in an hour with his friends. He has cancer in his family, so he was scared of that. After a night of smoking, we would both have phlegm in our throats and feel terrible. We'd go, "OK, you know what? Let's just stop." But it didn't work. I'd let my friends convince me I could have just one. And later on I'd buy a whole pack.
At first the bet was for money, but we realized it was too easy to get out of. So we picked something embarrassing each of us didn't want to do. His involved wearing a Speedo if he started smoking again. I'm not saying what mine was! But it worked. We haven't smoked for two years now.
I started smoking in high school. Back then you weren't even inhaling; you just wanted to be with your friends. In college I smoked when I went clubbing. Smoking made it easy to meet people. But when I started sneaking out of my mom's house to smoke when it was freezing outside, I realized it wasn't just social anymore. I would also smoke when I was stressed out at work.
Smoking gave me headaches and was expensive. I wanted to have kids someday, but I didn't want to be smoking when it happened. It just got to the point where I wanted to be healthy.
Around the time I finally quit, I stopped clubbing so much. I saw less of my friends who did smoke. And I got a puppy. When I first started walking him, I'd feel tired and dizzy. After I quit, I had lots of energy to take him out. My fiancé is now doing 10-kilometre runs, and he's getting me into running too.
Stopping smoking made me concentrate on things I needed to do. I'm 25 now, and I just got a new job. I'm taking night school, and my fiancé and I just bought a house.
This year has been great. I've been happy.
* Name and some details have been changed.
You can be a quitter too! 3 steps to butting out for good has everything you need to know about becoming an ex-smoker.
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(Desiree Gaw, 25)
Basically, I quit on a bet with my fiancé. He didn't smoke that much, but when he did he'd smoke a pack in an hour with his friends. He has cancer in his family, so he was scared of that. After a night of smoking, we would both have phlegm in our throats and feel terrible. We'd go, "OK, you know what? Let's just stop." But it didn't work. I'd let my friends convince me I could have just one. And later on I'd buy a whole pack.
At first the bet was for money, but we realized it was too easy to get out of. So we picked something embarrassing each of us didn't want to do. His involved wearing a Speedo if he started smoking again. I'm not saying what mine was! But it worked. We haven't smoked for two years now.
I started smoking in high school. Back then you weren't even inhaling; you just wanted to be with your friends. In college I smoked when I went clubbing. Smoking made it easy to meet people. But when I started sneaking out of my mom's house to smoke when it was freezing outside, I realized it wasn't just social anymore. I would also smoke when I was stressed out at work.
Smoking gave me headaches and was expensive. I wanted to have kids someday, but I didn't want to be smoking when it happened. It just got to the point where I wanted to be healthy.
Around the time I finally quit, I stopped clubbing so much. I saw less of my friends who did smoke. And I got a puppy. When I first started walking him, I'd feel tired and dizzy. After I quit, I had lots of energy to take him out. My fiancé is now doing 10-kilometre runs, and he's getting me into running too.
Stopping smoking made me concentrate on things I needed to do. I'm 25 now, and I just got a new job. I'm taking night school, and my fiancé and I just bought a house.
This year has been great. I've been happy.
* Name and some details have been changed.
You can be a quitter too! 3 steps to butting out for good has everything you need to know about becoming an ex-smoker.
 | This article was first printed in the February-March 2008 issue of Homemakers Magazine. Click to subscribe online and never miss an issue. |
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