Hey everyone at ECf,
I started about two+? years ago (well maybe three years, see my join date) with a njoy gas station starter kit. I had been a Camel Filter "In a BOX" smoker for about 14 years (soft packs are made for those who don't want the cigarette outline in their pocket BTW, so always ask for box if you don't give a crap what people think.) Life was getting pretty terrible for me. My doctor would say every appointment "You really need to quit smoking, not only is it affecting your health but I can smell it before I walk in the room" I was 27 at the time, I really needed to make some alterations to my lifestyle or I was literally going to die at a young age.
About a month later. I saw a friend at work was using an njoy ecig. I'm in the TV industry and I have seen commercial after commercial for these things but I always thought it was some kind of gimmick. She said, go to 711 and grab one and some cartridges it's amazing. So off I went on a sneak lunch break to grab one. I live in New York, the home of taxes and dumb laws. Cigarettes had risen to almost $12.00 a pack for Camel Filters. So I was desperately looking for a way out of this prison I was in, and this was it.
So this gas station E-Cig was good for a few weeks, but soon the withdrawals set in. At the time everything on the internet was so confusing in regards to E-Cigs. Numbers for different parts and all sorts of junk, I didn't know what any of it meant, and with my work I really didn't have the time or the patience to sit down and dedicate myself to something. After a few weeks I moved to SNUS, the E-cig was not cutting it at all for long term (how I got into SNUS is another story) but I really enjoyed it. I was buying it online and I was really happy with it.
Well, SNUS was awesome for about 6-8 months. Then the taxes rose. General SNUS went from $40 bucks a 10pk to around $80 and I felt lost, literally. How dare someone ostracize me for something I enjoy. I was angry, confused, and no-one would give me any sympathy. "Just quit" everyone would say. I would tell them "Everyone needs a vice, good or bad, a human needs and outlet, mine is nicotine." I had tried to give it up, but imagine a human alone in a cage, grasping for some sort of pleasure they can't seek elsewhere but in the confines of their own solitude, it's amazing how little a person can occupy themselves with when they are alone.
So again the train left the station onto the next cheapest outlet. Cigars. I smoked cigars for quite some time and was really not enjoying anything but the price. At the time I was 300LBS and smoking cigars, I was in shambles, I just couldn't sustain my lifestyle anymore.
One day I woke up (not sure how long ago this was) and decided I was unhappy with my life. That day I remember saying to myself I wasn't going to treat my body like crap anymore, I was going to do something about it. I was sick to death of inhaling black & milds and I was SICK TO FN DEATH of getting out of breath everywhere I went. So that day I went for a walk, fast forward I am 190 LBS. This isn't a weight loss forum so I won't tell you my extreme battle with changing my eating habits and my exercise. I was feeling great, but I was now smoking "Cigarillos" from a local tobacco shop, they cost 2.75 a pack for cherry or grape. I was smoking them like they were going out of style (When a gas station or tobacco shop knows what you want when you enter, you know it's time to take a break.) I had gotten a new job with PBS, and I was chewing NIC gum at work and smoking cigarillos in boxers shorts on my porch at home so my clothes wouldn't smell like crap. I was no different than any other kind of addict. I was ashamed of myself, even after losing 100+ pounds I couldn't beat the stigmata of the smell of smoke. It was shameful that I could control almost every aspect of my life but one.
Fast forward to NOV 2013, a youtube video of an E-cig, and I am now smoke, SNUS, cigar, cigarettes, NIC gum and every other kind of FDA, ..... approved NRT free. Holy god, was this a battle for me. People don't understand where we come from, or what we may have been through. Now I have my life, I have my "me" time. I now blow all my cash on E-Cig stuff and "I DONT GIVE A FUDGE." I love my life now, I love that I have "something." I come home from work and I enjoy relaxing, going to the gym, trying a new flavor or two. I enjoy it. Am I a bad person? No. Am I a person? Yes.
I started about two+? years ago (well maybe three years, see my join date) with a njoy gas station starter kit. I had been a Camel Filter "In a BOX" smoker for about 14 years (soft packs are made for those who don't want the cigarette outline in their pocket BTW, so always ask for box if you don't give a crap what people think.) Life was getting pretty terrible for me. My doctor would say every appointment "You really need to quit smoking, not only is it affecting your health but I can smell it before I walk in the room" I was 27 at the time, I really needed to make some alterations to my lifestyle or I was literally going to die at a young age.
About a month later. I saw a friend at work was using an njoy ecig. I'm in the TV industry and I have seen commercial after commercial for these things but I always thought it was some kind of gimmick. She said, go to 711 and grab one and some cartridges it's amazing. So off I went on a sneak lunch break to grab one. I live in New York, the home of taxes and dumb laws. Cigarettes had risen to almost $12.00 a pack for Camel Filters. So I was desperately looking for a way out of this prison I was in, and this was it.
So this gas station E-Cig was good for a few weeks, but soon the withdrawals set in. At the time everything on the internet was so confusing in regards to E-Cigs. Numbers for different parts and all sorts of junk, I didn't know what any of it meant, and with my work I really didn't have the time or the patience to sit down and dedicate myself to something. After a few weeks I moved to SNUS, the E-cig was not cutting it at all for long term (how I got into SNUS is another story) but I really enjoyed it. I was buying it online and I was really happy with it.
Well, SNUS was awesome for about 6-8 months. Then the taxes rose. General SNUS went from $40 bucks a 10pk to around $80 and I felt lost, literally. How dare someone ostracize me for something I enjoy. I was angry, confused, and no-one would give me any sympathy. "Just quit" everyone would say. I would tell them "Everyone needs a vice, good or bad, a human needs and outlet, mine is nicotine." I had tried to give it up, but imagine a human alone in a cage, grasping for some sort of pleasure they can't seek elsewhere but in the confines of their own solitude, it's amazing how little a person can occupy themselves with when they are alone.
So again the train left the station onto the next cheapest outlet. Cigars. I smoked cigars for quite some time and was really not enjoying anything but the price. At the time I was 300LBS and smoking cigars, I was in shambles, I just couldn't sustain my lifestyle anymore.
One day I woke up (not sure how long ago this was) and decided I was unhappy with my life. That day I remember saying to myself I wasn't going to treat my body like crap anymore, I was going to do something about it. I was sick to death of inhaling black & milds and I was SICK TO FN DEATH of getting out of breath everywhere I went. So that day I went for a walk, fast forward I am 190 LBS. This isn't a weight loss forum so I won't tell you my extreme battle with changing my eating habits and my exercise. I was feeling great, but I was now smoking "Cigarillos" from a local tobacco shop, they cost 2.75 a pack for cherry or grape. I was smoking them like they were going out of style (When a gas station or tobacco shop knows what you want when you enter, you know it's time to take a break.) I had gotten a new job with PBS, and I was chewing NIC gum at work and smoking cigarillos in boxers shorts on my porch at home so my clothes wouldn't smell like crap. I was no different than any other kind of addict. I was ashamed of myself, even after losing 100+ pounds I couldn't beat the stigmata of the smell of smoke. It was shameful that I could control almost every aspect of my life but one.
Fast forward to NOV 2013, a youtube video of an E-cig, and I am now smoke, SNUS, cigar, cigarettes, NIC gum and every other kind of FDA, ..... approved NRT free. Holy god, was this a battle for me. People don't understand where we come from, or what we may have been through. Now I have my life, I have my "me" time. I now blow all my cash on E-Cig stuff and "I DONT GIVE A FUDGE." I love my life now, I love that I have "something." I come home from work and I enjoy relaxing, going to the gym, trying a new flavor or two. I enjoy it. Am I a bad person? No. Am I a person? Yes.
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Isnt it amazing how non-smokers or non-tobacco users think we can *just quit*. It's miles away from that simple - otherwise I would've done it years ago! It sure sounds like you have made many difficult life changes with fabulous outcomes in the end- the pay offs make the hard parts so worth it!!!
