Smoking ban! Yippee!

[Edwina's Secretary]

Denyce...may I suggest you consider a career in drug counseling? You could tell all those heroin addicts they just need to make the decision to quit.

[Denyce]

Denyce...may I suggest you consider a career in drug counseling? You could tell all those heroin addicts they just need to make the decision to quit.

*L* I get your sarcasm here and I understand although I think it was snarky and unbecoming of someone whose posts I have usually admired for their wit and intelligence.

However, the truth is that the VERY first step to quitting any type of addiction is to TRULY make the decision to do so. As long as the addicted person uses the crutch that it is out of their control and it is all just a chemical addiction then they are going to have a much harder time. Once an addicted person takes control of their life rather than relying on the crutches of "it is a disease or I don't have control" then they have really taken the first step towards becoming clean. That doesn't mean it is easy but you have to admit it is much easier to quit something that you don't have to keep ingesting some of to keep alive. NO ONE NEEDS nicotine. Herion addiction or crack cocaine or any other of those types of drugs are a much stronger addiction and creates a different chemical imbalance in a person's body. Even losing weight is easier once you truly decide to do so and make a committement to it. It is a lifestyle change that has to start with your attitude first.

But this thread isn't about addiction but about the ban on smoking to which I say once again

YEA!

[Uabassoon]

Denyce I'm just a bit surprised about how you make that assumption so matter of factly. Maybe for YOU quitting smoking would be easier than losing weight. But that doesn't make it true. I lost 50 lbs over a year ago and have had no problems keeping it off. I don't stress out over my eating habbits, I don't cry if I eat an entire bag of cheetos, I just overall eat healthier than I did before. I personally found it easy, the reason why I had never done it before was because I just really didn't care. Now I wouldn't run around telling people, go lose weight it's really easy! As for smoking I've had a much harder time with that, I've had three failed attempts and I'm sure will have many more to follow and hopefully a successful attempt. But to say that just because you did it then it must be easy is a rather silly assumption to make.

As for the ban, I'm for it. I agree that those who choose not to smoke shouldn't be forced to inhale other peoples smoke.

[Denyce]

Denyce I'm just a bit surprised about how you make that assumption so matter of factly. Maybe for YOU quitting smoking would be easier than losing weight. But that doesn't make it true. I lost 50 lbs over a year ago and have had no problems keeping it off. I don't stress out over my eating habbits, I don't cry if I eat an entire bag of cheetos, I just overall eat healthier than I did before. I personally found it easy, the reason why I had never done it before was because I just really didn't care. Now I wouldn't run around telling people, go lose weight it's really easy! As for smoking I've had a much harder time with that, I've had three failed attempts and I'm sure will have many more to follow and hopefully a successful attempt. But to say that just because you did it then it must be easy is a rather silly assumption to make.

As for the ban, I'm for it. I agree that those who choose not to smoke shouldn't be forced to inhale other peoples smoke.

I am glad for you Ubassoon that you have kept off the weight and find it easy to keep off. I am sorry you have had a harder time with quitting the smoking. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses and they are different for everyone. I will if it makes you happier change my one statement

For ME it is much easier to quit something to don't HAVE to keep doing everyday to stay alive. But I NEVER said quitting smoking was easy. I also never said quitting any addiction was easy at all. I said I felt one was EASIER than the other. It is usually easier to run a 5K than a 10 K but that doesn't make the 5K EASY!

I had this huge long post defending myself and what I said but I deleted it.

Even Oprah on Friday's program said pretty much the same thing I said when she was starting her new Debt Diet thing. The first step to breaking any type of addiction is making the decision. It is not the only step nor is it easy, but it is the FIRST step. Until you make that decision deep within yourself, a committement to stopping whatever your addiction is then you will struggle with it. That does not mean anyone has a mental weakness it just means for whatever reason you are not fully ready to quit yet.

I have experience with both so please don't make the assumption that I am some thin pretty little thing sitting here behind the keyboard making blith statements. I am a 43 year old obese woman with PCOS syndrome which led to Insulin Resistant Type II Diabetes. I used to be a thin athletic young woman who danced, played racquetball and trained horses for a living. I went back to college and after I graduated I quit smoking for a very good reason. I smelled it on my beloved cat even though I smoked outside. I thought to myself...if I am doing this to my lungs can you imagine what I am doing to hers? And she doesn't have the choice. I quit that day and haven't had another cigarette since. But then the weight started and the PCOS was undiagnosed for most of my life and now here I am.

So. Good luck to you who are trying to quit smoking. It is not EASY. I never said it was. But I still stand by the fact it is easier than having to make better food choices every single day of my life. I made the decision to quit smoking one day and that was that I didn't have to confront it every time I went to the grocery store or opened the refridgerator. I have to make the same decision about food several times a day every single day for the rest of my life.

The simple fact is you can stop smoking and live you can't stop eating and still live.

Also as a friendly warning....I have not known a single person in my life who has quit smoking and didn't put on weight. Some managed to take it off quick and some didn't. That doesn't mean it HAS to happen to everyone but it has happened to everyone I know.

*L* And this was the shorter post.

Anyway I am done hijacking this thread. If anyone wants to debate me further can we take it to PM's? I have bared my soul enough on this public forum for now.

PS...Edwina's Secretary....my cat Smokey that I quit smoking for looked very much like your Edwina. She was a special cat also. It is also why I have always enjoyed your posts. Huh...smoking....Smokey...I never noticed that before....

[Edwina's Secretary]

*L* I get your sarcasm here and I understand although I think it was snarky and unbecoming of someone whose posts I have usually admired for their wit and intelligence.

I apologize if I came off as snarky. Next week will be five years since I quit smoking. It was very difficult. I was seriously addicted from the first cigarette I smoked. I blame no one but myself for having started. But I don't think it is accurate to say nicotine is not THAT addictive. Some researchers believe it to be more addictive than "hard drugs." Ann Richards, former governor of Texas was an alcoholic and a smoker. She found it easier to quit drinking than smoking.

When I was smoking I, nine out of ten times, would prefer a cigarette to food. I felt that food rather ruined the taste of cigarettes.

Any addiction, whether it be overeating, cigarettes, alcohol or drugs...begins with wanting to quit. But I believe it is more than just a matter of saying....I don't want to do this anymore...and that if you continue doing it is because of some mental weakness. It is far more complex than that.

One of the nice things I will say about living in California is that smoking is not allowed in many places. But ....I can see smoking bans in public places, offices, etc. But I think if a bar or restaurant wants to say..."we allow smoking...if you don't like second hand smoke you should not patronize us" they should be allowed to do so. Then those who want to spend their money in a places that bans smoking can do so and those who want to spend their money in a place that permits smoking can do so. Those who want to work in a place that allows smoking can do so and those that don't will know the rules up front.

I don't see it the same as an arena, courthouse, mall, theater, etc. There, smoking should not be permitted.

I just don't like being told what to do....

[Pawsitive Thinking]

[QUOTE=
But this thread isn't about addiction but about the ban on smoking to which I say once again

YEA![/QUOTE]

Ever wish you hadn't started something?