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Let's Take Back Our Tastebuds!


zilla369

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After one slip Friday night, on Saturday I became a non smoker.  It was a simple as that.  No pain, no fuss, no muss.  I've been a two pack a day smoker for 30 years.  Now I'm done.

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WOW! Marlene! There is still hope for me then!

At the moment I admit to only "toying" with quitting and yet every day I am aware of my desire to commit. I can't be pushed - it has to be my way or no way at all but I now leave the house without my smokes and go many hours without even thinking of them. I find the "habit" is the major problem rather than the nicotine so that patches and gum etc. don't suggest themselves as an option that will work. I light up far more cigs than I actually smoke having quickly forgotten that I even lit one and find it burned out in the ashtray. I never smoke inside the house and haven't for years so they burn out on the back or front porch! Anyway, my heartiest and heartfelt congratulations to you and the others who have succeeded and my best to those who are still trying.

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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- it has to be my way or no way at all

I think this is absolutely key. This is a very personal journey. And everyone has their own "aha" moment. ANd you can't do it for anyone else but you. All I can say is the difference the book and the seminar made to my mindset is nothing short of amazing.

I'm having coffee at the moment, thinking "I really need to try a stronger coffee!"

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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I quit smoking on New Years Day 2000. My reasons for quitting were really my boyfriend (now husband). Before I met him I lived in a flat in Dublin were everybody smoked and going out at night everybody smoked. That's just the way it was. I really have to say I knew very few people that didn't smoke. When I moved over here and started to date my now husband, he used to bother me so much about smoking, also within his group of friends, nobody smoked! It got to the point that I was embarassed to smoke in front of them. I almost felt like an alcoholic trying to hid the evidence every time I had one. So I just thought the easiest way to get people of my back was to quit (not really the best reason, but a reason). So New Years Eve 1999 I smoked my last pack and that was the last time. It was hard, especially after a few drinks, but what I think made it work for me was that the all the people I was surrounded by were non-smokers. I couldn't even bum a sneaky one if I wanted to.

When I speak to my brother who lives in Edinburgh, he has tried to quit many times, but ultimately his downfall is when he goes out at night , has a few drinks and is surrounded by friends that smoke. He is hoping that the new non-smoking laws will help him on this one.

Keep trying, it really is worth it. I exercise now (couldn't when i smoked due to lack of breath). If I get a cold it is not so hard on my chest as it is not clogged up with tar and crap, I smell better and I have more money in my pocket.

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Stay focused. Don't get discouraged. Those are the important things.

As folks above have said, everyone has his/her own path to follow in this.

I have three other friends who also quit. One of them, like me, always had acute senses of taste & smell, & noticed no improvement. The other two found some degree of heightened sensitivities. So don't bank on the "food tastes better now," thing, but if you find that it happens, it's decidedly a plus.

Thank God for tea! What would the world do without tea? How did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea!

- Sydney Smith, English clergyman & essayist, 1771-1845

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Hi all,

I'd like to join if that's alright; I quit smoking just a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't planned, we had smoked our pack the night before, I woke up deciding I wouldn't smoke that day for feeling mildly hungover, and I just didn't buy another pack for a week after that. It was a bit like Marlene said, I had no cravings (for a week anyway), there was no drama involved--it was almost like I was competing against myself to see how long I could hold out. Which was a week and two days. Then after having a near physical fight with my sewing machine, I raced to the convenience store, picked up a pack, and smoked two in a row. It took until Sunday to finish that pack (between two of us, but mainly me), and I had to fight hard not to buy more on Monday. Now I have a major head cold, so I can't smell or taste anything anyway, but I'm back on the wagon and hope to stay there for a while.

So thanks for this thread; it's a great thing just to know that other people want to quit too.

Eilen

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I find the "habit" is the major problem r

I'm not going to start preaching from the book. All I can say is that this method is working for me. But let me say this about my smoking habit. For the past twenty years, my "habit" had been to get in the car, start it, and light a cigarette before I even backed out of the driveway. 4 weeks ago, I stopped smoking in my car. Even before I stopped smoking, I just got into the car and didn't think about lighting up any more. So I broke a 20 year smoking "habit". So if I could break that habit, why could I not break the "habit" of lighting up at all?

Nor am I eating any more than I did before. In fact, in the last week I've dropped 5 lbs. It just hasn't occured to me to exchange one oral fixation for another. And I don't mean to make light of anyone out there who's suffering through this. I've done that enough times to know how real the mind makes that torture feel.

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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Congratulations to everyone out there who is attempting to quit or who has already quit. Don't give up, even if you do slip. When I was trying to quit & after several losing attempts my GP told me that based on her experience with drug addicts, it's harder to quit cigarettes than it is to quit using heroin. Nicotine is a very powerful drug so you can imagine how difficult quitting cold turkey must be.

For those in the process of quitting, allow me to share a few tricks that really helped me while I was going through my own personal hell. Do seek out professional help if you don't think you can do it yourself; use resources available to you at your workplace or on the internet. Fortunately in Canada, smoking cessation products (prescribed by a Physician) such as the Nicoderm patch, Zyban & Wellbutrin are covered by medicare. However, these are powerful anti-depressants that not everyone reacts well to. From personal experience, Wellbutrin helped me tremendously but my friend on Zyban had to stop because she reacted badly. I think if you can make it through the 1st week using Zyban without thinking you are about to lose you mind, you are well on your way to quitting. A good thing to remember is a cigarette craving usually lasts from 3-4 minutes & if you can distract your mind or your hands for that period of time, the desire will usually fade. I used a 5 minute timer (the ones with sand) & that worked for me. Another big help is if you can avoid places or things that enable you to smoke (such as bars or alcohol). Fortunately for those who enjoy dining out in Quebec, all restaurants have been legislated to go smoke free by May.

Lastly, I am very happy to say that I have been tobacco-free since February 2000 & all facets of my health have improved dramatically. Folks, please don't give up ... I had been smoking from age 13 until 39 & I NEVER thought I would be able to give up cigs but I succeeded & if you want to stop badly enough you will!

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Thanks Poutine, you said a lot of helpful things. This week has been hard for me and my weight gain is kind of scary. :shock:. Unlike other people, I want to eat and cook all the time. It keeps me busy! I'm also turning into a wino so look forward to drunken posts coming soon! Just kidding but yum, more suggestions for the red wine would be more than welcomed. I went to a wine tasting last weekend and couldn't believe the variety between the wines. Many of the wines tasted flat and/or/corked. I think the hostess got some of the bottles at

the discount srore. thanks for yuour email. Melissa LaFemina

Melissa

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Oh I'm cooking all the time. Especially things like braises that require lots of prep. I'm just not eating all the time.

And my house is incredibly clean. :biggrin:

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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Hey, good luck.

I used to smoke a pack plus every day, but I haven't had a cigarette since January 1, 2001. Five years ago, and my identity as a "smoker" seems very remote to me now. I may have had an easier time quitting than some people, because I somehow managed to become a smoker as an adult. I did it for several years, but not ten or twenty. Still, it wasn't easy: after quitting once for nine months, starting again, and trying (cold turkey each time) four more times, I finally licked it.

I could detect no change in my taste buds.

I did perceive-- or imagine-- the toxins oozing out of my body after I stopped.

The hardest part about quitting for me was the temptation to cheat. It seemed like you were doing fine, which led to the feeling that you could sneak one in, and then there you were, smoking again! I was successful once I determined never, ever, to succumb to the temptation to just try a puff here or there. But for other people, I'm sure they can handle the addiction differently.

Once again, good luck.

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

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I don't think it's likely that people will be finding that their sense of taste is greatly enhanced by quitting smoking. It is rather more likely that one's ability to discern flavor is increased, but taste and flavor aren't quite the same thing. Flavor is a composite sensation created by a combination of sense perceptions such as taste, smell, temperature, texture, chemical sense, etc.

Interestingly, there appears to be little evidence that smoking has an effect on the taste receptors. Smell is a different story, however. Smokers do seem to have a reduced ability to identify certain odors. One major factor seems to be that exposure to smoke causes increased death rates of olfactory sensory neurons to such a degree that this overwhelms the olfactory epithelium's ability to regenerate. The result is lower numbers of olfactory sensory neurons, resulting in a less acute sense of smell. Since smell is often regarded as the most important contributing sense to flavor, it makes sense that quitting smoking can have a big effect on the intensity and quality of flavor.

This isn't always the case, however. Sometimes the olfactory sensory neurons may not significantly repopulate after quitting smoking (age can also be a factor). It also appears to be the case that some smokers still have a better-than-average sense of smell, perhaps due to already having above-average numbers of olfactory sensor neurons.

Congratulations to everyone, by the way.

--

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To throw in my own anecdote -- I noticed no change in perception relating to taste or flavor. The only perceptual change I noticed was an enhanced ability to smell tobacco smoke, but the change seems to have been for tobacco smoke only -- I didnt notice any changes in sensitivity to other smells.

Toasted said " I want to eat and cook all the time. It keeps me busy! I'm also turning into a wino so look forward to drunken posts coming soon!" This is exactly the same experience I had.

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced" - Vincent Van Gogh
 

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I offered to light it for her and nearly upchucked on the spot! Cigarettes really do taste nasty after a while.

As someone who once dated a smoker (but never will again), I can relate to that!

To any of you smokers with partners who don't smoke, just think about how much more they'll want to kiss you after you quit smoking. A smoker's mouth really does taste horrible--and french kissing a smoker is the worst!!

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Hello! Not drunk and I haven't smoked! :biggrin: The last two days were tough though, I actually feel more cravings recently than I did in the first week. Not sure why? As for my tastebuds: I think I over-salted most of my food. I've gone a little wild with my extra-not smoking money and have fresh herbs on hand all the time. It really makes a difference in everything I make. I'm looking into getting a small green house thing so that I can grow my own herbs and have them around all the time. Any suggestions of how to build one or website to buy one would be so appreciated. About wine: I've been drinking Banrock Station Merlot as our "house wine" for the past few months. Now I think it tastes too "plummy" and I'm sick of it but I like the price. Any good Merlot suggestions under ten bucks? Thanks again for the support. Everytime I log on and see a post from someone who quit is inspiring and keeps me going. Please keep posting, it helps more than you know.

Melissa

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I quit smoking cold turkey in May of 2005. I used a book I found for 50 cents at the perpetual book sale at the public library: "Freshstart:21 Days to Stop Smoking" it's an old quit smoking book by the ACS (American Cancer Society), I think the copyright is 1986. It worked well for me, maybe it was just the right time but I think some of the information in the book regarding, deep breaths, drinking lots of water (and always having water around to drink), rationalizations, stuff like that, were very helpful. I also printed out two pages worth of a list of all the diseases, disorders that smoking makes worse and looked at them every few days. The NHS (UK) quitsmoking website--especially the "secrets" (of staying quit) section was helpful.

I had one really bad hour about a week or so into the process, it was a weird experience as well as difficult as it seemed I had at least 3 voices in my head arguing different positions re: smoking or not, my appearance, and other aspects of my life. To my surprise, walking, drinking water, three deep breaths and making sure I spent time in no-smoking places made the difference. I must've tried quitting at least 15 times before, and once managed to stop for 3 months. I also told people I'd quit--it's been interesting to see who is supportive and who is not--one of my friends who's a smoker was very supportive--to the extent of going outside of her own house to have a cigarette the first time I visited after quitting, to a non-smoker whose response was to say that her father had died of a smoking-related illness even though he'd stopped 10 years before onset (which sure made me feel like going though all the emotional swings was worthwhile!). All of the materials I've looked at strongly suggest working out strategies for dealing with stressful situations (frequent and hopefully infrequent)--"think" and "do" strategies, the think being what you tell yourself the do being what you will do (walk, take deep breaths, drink some water, whatever works for you) if faced with a situation that elicits a strong desire to smoke.

One thing that was sort of suggested in the Fresh Start book and some other materia ls I've looked at--is to reward yourself/look to see if/how you may need to 're-balance' your life--so that you do more 'wants' and fewer 'shoulds." I tend to be a bit, oh, well, it'd be nice to do that but . . . .work to do, whatever. So last August, when I discovered there was a big exhibit of the works of a photographer I admire at MOMA, decided I'd fly back to NY (used to live on LI years ago, my mother still does)--just for a few days--just to see the exhibit. And it was great--contrary to what I thought, I did not melt in the humid heat of August in the city (I'd forgotten how wonderful AC can feel), I re-experienced the steamy pleasure of walking on the upper east side in the early morning on a Saturday when no one is out and about except a few joggers and dog walkers, I saw another good photo exhibit at MOMA and yet another at the Museum of the City of NY (where I'd never been before) and--of course--ate some good food and saw my mom and a few friends.

I guess I've gone on for too long--I think it still surprises me that I did it (I strongly dislike flying for one thing, even though I do it at least once a year)--and I enjoyed the trip so much.

I'd really been looking forward to a better sense of taste/smell but have noticed little, if any improvement. Occasionally a smell (sometimes of flowers--alyssum, for instance) of a particular thing will come through strongly but generally there's not much improvement. And I'm still touchier than normal, although that's improved quite a bit.

Susan H. (Oregon coast)

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I used to smoke a pack plus every day, but I haven't had a cigarette since January 1, 2001.  Five years ago, and my identity as a "smoker" seems very remote to me now.  I may have had an easier time quitting than some people, because I somehow managed to become a smoker as an adult. 

I'm convinced that's why this hasn't been so bad - I smoked my first cigarette at the age of nineteen or twenty. So I've only really been doing this for eight years, and off and on at that. It's been months since I bought my last pack - can't tell you how many, 'cause I really don't remember. Mid-December, maybe...and aside from the occasional drag at the bar or stress nail, there's been no recoil.

I quit for good for a couple reasons - getting diagnosed with primary hypertension at 27 was the biggie, but the add-on was the exercise regime I put myself on this winter...5-6 days/week in the gym, tryin' for another 20 yards out of my driver. You just can't do the kind of cardio you want to do when you're coughing. Simple n' complicated as that.

But I have seriously noticed the difference in food taste (and wine tastes and scotch tastes), especially. I notice more - not that I couldn't pick 'em out before, but now there's a depth to it, a real richness. I love it.

Now, I did smoke the filterless version of The Green Death (Export A Plain), so I wonder if that would do more damage to your tastebuds than, say, a Marly Light...

Todd McGillivray

"I still throw a few back, talk a little smack, when I'm feelin' bulletproof..."

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I went out to a bar (yes, karaoke. *sigh*) last night for the first time since I became a non-smoker. Luckily the ventilation system was industrial-strength. Frankly, I wasn't even tempted to cheat. I took a big 'ol box of old-school SweetTarts with me, just so I'd have something to do with my hands.

Unfortunately, not-smoking doesn't seem to have improved my singing voice much. Man, I had forgotten how long "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" is.

Marsha Lynch aka "zilla369"

Has anyone ever actually seen a bandit making out?

Uh-huh: just as I thought. Stereotyping.

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I went out to a bar (yes, karaoke.  *sigh*) last night for the first time since I became a non-smoker.  Luckily the ventilation system was industrial-strength.  Frankly, I wasn't even tempted to cheat.  I took a big 'ol box of old-school SweetTarts with me, just so I'd have something to do with my hands.

Unfortunately, not-smoking doesn't seem to have improved my singing voice much.  Man, I had forgotten how long "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" is.

I'm avoiding bars, clubs, friends who smoke. I just saw a billboard that was like someone reading my mind...something like '75% of us don't lite up until someone else does'. (The state of Louisiana had some tobacco money left over after it doled out the mill each to it's hard working anti tobacco lawyers and is using it to cover the state with anti smoking ads. fortunatly for us, they actually hired a decent ad agency.). I do feel better but am still too bummed, po'd and busy being a bitch in general to notice. I am drinking green tea by the gallon, and taking vitamins. Something though is giving me a constant headache. Does nicotine withdrawal do that? I suspect it's the teeth clenching and brow furrowing.

Patty

Hiding out in my study...trying not to offend anyone.

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Hmmm....my head didn't hurt except during periods of active sobbing and wailing and teeth-gnashing. You sure you're not drinking too much tea? Although I guess green tea doesn't have caffeine...is that right? Maybe you're not getting as much caffeine as you're used to?

Marsha Lynch aka "zilla369"

Has anyone ever actually seen a bandit making out?

Uh-huh: just as I thought. Stereotyping.

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High Chef- I had a headache for a week- could be nicotine withdrawl, I don't know. Moody and pissed off, yes I can relate but it's getting better. As of tonight, I haven't smoked in a month, and I am determined never to smoke again. Drink a lot of water and start walking- it really helps. Good luck everyone.

Melissa

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www.quitnet.com

I looked at the above site and found some very valuable info and tips. Plus, it's sponsored by the Lung Association. I don't smoke and I detest the smell and what it does to your health (not to mention the second hand smoke.)

I'm helping my boyfriend to quite smoking and printed him some info from this site. I believe that if you arm yourself with as much info, it may help along with the quitting process.

I have my own demons to deal with and can empathize with how difficult it is to quite smoking. I have a lot of respect for those who manage to quit and are attempting to quit. I hear that smoking is harder to quite than kicking the cocaine or heroine habit...scary. Gives me thought as to what these cigarette companies are up to.

On this site, studies have shown that a very good support group and Zyban together offers the best success rate. It goes into detail as to what consitute a good support group. There is also a forum where you can share stories and get help or offer support. But different methods/combination of methods work for different people.

Kudos to everyone who is open to quit smoking.

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Now, I did smoke the filterless version of The Green Death (Export A Plain)

The Green Death? I had a few friends who used to swear by the Grey Export loose tobacco--they said that Canada didn't do as much to its tobacco (put in as many additives) as the US companies did . . . I think they eventually switched to whatever that US brand of allegedly untreated tobacco is. Is it Export brand that was stronger or just the Green type?

Since I quit, I don't know why I care but I'm curious anyway.

Susan H.

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I smoked two packs a day from the time I was fourteen until I was twenty-four. That's been a long time ago.

I used to keep a pack of cigarettes on the nightstand, right by the bed. In the mornings, literally before I opened my eyes, I was reaching for the ciggies. I had one in my mouth, lighted, puffing, before my feet hit the floor.

So I decided one day that maybe I couldn't quit for good, but I sure should be able to at least get up and out of bed before I lighted up. I did that until it was easy -- about a week.

Then I decided that, well, okay, maybe I couldn't quit for good, but I sure should be able to wait at least an hour after I got up before I lighted up. I did that, too, until it was easy -- about a week.

Then I decided that, well, okay, maybe I couldn't quit for good, but I sure should be able to wait until lunchtime before I lighted up. I did that, too, until it was easy -- about a week.

Then I decided that, well, okay, maybe I couldn't quit for good, but I sure should be able to wait until dinnertime before I lighted up. I did that, too, until it was easy -- about a month.

And finally I decided that, well, okay, maybe I could quit for good.

And I did.

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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