Whoopi's smoking vow gets quitters talking

Posted on Nov 2nd 2007 8:00AM by Jacki Donaldson

Filed Under: Diet & Weight Loss, Celebs & Entertainment

WOW. My post about Whoopi's quit smoking venture has generated a bunch of discussion among readers. Right now, there are 91 comments -- and what powerful and inspiring comments they are.

Reader Janet says: I kicked a 14-year smoking habit by picking up a new habit -- a boyfriend who eventually became my husband. He didn't care if I smoked but I did. I quit for good one month before our wedding and we have been married 11 years next week! If I had a cigarette now I am sure I would vomit -- and that is enough of a deterrent for me! I highly recommend slowly phasing out an old habit with a healthful, positive new one.

Reader Mary says: I smoked 3 packs of cigarettes a day. I thought about quitting for years. Until one evening while I was driving home, I decided to try not to light up until I got home, then I decided to wait until I got ready for bed, then I decided to wait until morning.....etc etc etc....I lived like that for a couple of days and haven't had a cigarette since. All you have to do is put them down and the rest will take care of itself....

And another reader says: My doctor asked me if I wanted to quit smoking. I said yes. He said I will start you on Chantix and you will continue to smoke for 8 days; then you will stop. That's exactly what happened. I smoked for 43 years! I have not smoked or even slipped for 5 and a half months. Vivid, weird dreams would be the only side effect I noticed. The money not spent buying cigarettes more than paid for the monthly Chantix prescription. It works!!

Yes, smoking is a problem -- an epidemic really -- and it's critical that smokers wishing to live long, healthy lives find a way to kick the habit. I say we keep encouraging this group, but I also think we ought to pay some attention to those who, after a lot of hard work, have become non-smokers. We might just learn a lot from them.

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Tags: comments, habit, kick, quiiters, quit, readers, smoking, Whoopi

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)

Dan 11-02-2007 @ 9:00AM

Whoopi, Captain Picard just called. They need you in 10-forward immediately.

Thel 11-02-2007 @ 9:17AM

I quit cold turkey in 1964 after having smoked for 13 years (2 packs a day). Food tasted better. I didn't stink up the car, the house, the drapes, my clothing. My breath was fresher. It takes resolve, but you are a smart cookie, Whoopie, and you know it is bad for you and those around you. Eat a pretzel. Good luck

Jibbie49 11-02-2007 @ 9:47AM

I'm even smarter, because I'm 58 years old and NEVER started smoking. None of my five children smoke because I talked to them about NOT smoking from the day they were born. I watched my mother smoke and vowed that I'd never be addicted to anything in my life. She'd run out of cigarettes and have my father go to town to buy a pack in the middle of the night, which being the loving heart he was he'd go. I thought it was pathetic.

wendy 11-02-2007 @ 9:46AM

I was met someone I really was interested in and told him I could not be around smoke, it irrated my eyes, I was really allergic to it and they burned and watered, the whole nine yards (not to mention I didn't care for the TASTE!) So after the first date I asked him if he would quite smoking, the third date I asked him to marry me and my two children, 3 and 6...we just celebrated our 26th anniversarry! He never picked up another ciggarrete (I don't know how to even spell the nasty thing!) he ate some licorice instead and had that to hang on to for the first year! What a great person and a great thing to overcome!!!!

Deby 11-02-2007 @ 10:08AM

Congrats Whoopi, That is the hardest thing you will ever do. Good Luck & keep up the good work. I am 45 & I have been smoling since I have been 10, I have decided , If Whoopi can Do this , So can I . Thank you Whoopi for being who you are, You have given me the courage to try this also. Hopefully I will over come this awful habit .

sue 11-02-2007 @ 9:46AM

the way i quit was to think of it as poison. every time i walked by somebody who was smoking i held my breath and pretended i would die if i smelled it. it worked for me. but all it takes is one cigarette even after 11 years and i went right back to it, but then after two years i quit again for good

Deb 11-02-2007 @ 9:46AM

I smoked for 30 years, the last ten of which was with a diagnosis of asthma & allergies. One day, when the allergens were high, my asthma kicked up and I couldn't stop coughing. I had to go to the doc for a breathing treatment and I vowed that day never to smoke again. BUT, giving up the 'friend" I had for so long was not easy. I kept my cigarettes and mentally smoked (never lighting up) whenever I felt the need for a cigarette. I've been smoke free about six months and have no desire to ever light up again.

Jim McKinley 11-02-2007 @ 9:59AM

I am 71 now and I started smoking at 7. I smoke 3 packs a day. The only ailment I have is my legs are not too good. I cant walk 18 holes anymore.

joyce 11-02-2007 @ 10:05AM

Congrats to all who have managed to kick the smoking habit! It takes resolve and patience to do such a hard thing. I know because I managed to lose 85 pounds and it took me over three years to do it.
Hang in there!

Brenda 11-02-2007 @ 10:04AM

I smoked for over 30 years. I woke up one morning and started coughing and I didn't think I was going to stop. I had chronic bronchitis. I quit cold turkey and haven't smoked since in the 1980's. Anyone can quit if they put their minds to it and really want to, but you really have to want to.

Mom 11-02-2007 @ 10:05AM

I smoked from age 16 to 40 and quit for each of my three pregnancies plus several times in between for a month, 10 months, then 5 months etc. It wasnt until we moved to a place where it was cold and windy that once again I used the patch. It was too cold to comfortably smoke outside and almost impossible to find a place wthout a wind tunnell. It helped that everytime I did smoke my kids would either sing "no more smoking mommie no more smoking" or my husband would make disgusted comment bout the smell. I think combined with the patch, the constant nagging made me think "geez, this isn't worth it" When you figure that most smoke to relax or unwind, how can nagging help you unwind???? Glad to say I've gone 2 years. I hope I never see my kids pick up a cigarette.

Carol 11-02-2007 @ 10:05AM

I am an ex-smoker. I started when I was just 13, wanting to be cool with my friends back in 1969. They were cheap and easy to get. I quickly became popular to hang around with. I didn't quit until 19 years later in 1988, just before getting married for the 2nd time. My then future husband was doing a southern nasty habit known as "dipping" (chewing tobacco). EEEEWWWWW. He thought my smoking was gross. We then made a mutual vow to each stop our habits. All I did was make up my mind to throw them out and use the money saved for something better that the two of us could share. Never looked back. I pray that the tobacco companies lose more and more customers abd eventually go out of business.

Patricia McCarthy 11-02-2007 @ 10:06AM

I quit smoking November 18, 1987 10:45 PM (night before great american smokeout) - 6 months later (4/23/88) I had a heart attack - It was a mild one but I think it could have been worse had I still been smoking - Also after YOU make up your mind to stop smoking it's very easy - the tobacco was out of my system after 3 days but you never lose the habit - Good luck to all who are trying - get it out of your life - you can LIVE without it!!!!

John 11-02-2007 @ 10:06AM

I quit smoking Feb. 15, 1973, 11:35am..COLD TURKEY..ran out at my job..went to the machine in the lobby to buy more..saw how much they were by the pack, $.75, said that's rediculous. I have never put a cigarette in my mouth since..When I got home my wife had just bought two cartons of Winstons..they sat on top of the refrigerator for two years..finally threw them out. Best thing I ever did for myself..and think of all the money I saved over the years!!

TutiGz 11-02-2007 @ 10:11AM

Good luck Whoopi, It's gonna be hard to do. I've did it a few times but I seem to go back to smoking again. It's HARD,HARD,HARD but you can do it Whoopi. Watch your eating, cuz not smoking for some reason makes you hungry.

Dottie Beadles 11-02-2007 @ 10:22AM

I smoked for 35 years, a pack a day, more sometimes. When they removed my sisters right lung that was all I needed to help me to quit.

Lisa 11-02-2007 @ 10:23AM

We all have to find our own motivation. It's clear that what works for one person, doesn't for another.

I started smoking at 17 & smoked for years. At my heaviest, I smoked a pack and a half a day. I always smoked very light cigarettes tho, so when I'd try to quit nicotine products didn't work for me (more nicotine than I was used to). I quit 3 times in my life - the last for good. The difference? The last time that I quit I emphasized the POSITIVE aspects (being able to run without my chest hurting, pink pretty lungs, etc.) and did it for my children. I started the week with a pack, finished it on a Thursday & haven't smoked since. It's been 4 years.

Marianella 11-02-2007 @ 10:26AM

After 35+3years of smoking, this past Martin Luther King Day I demanded my freedom too. Lots of Our Fathers later- I am smoke free! Hurray-It is very difficult but I do not miss the stinkiness.

rick 11-02-2007 @ 11:21AM

I just recently quit after 26 yrs. I didnt want to quit but tried Chantix and it worked. Could only use chantix for 30 days because of insomnia.. The drug got me thru the quitting used it 30 days....Its been 2 months and i feel so much better....Good Luck Whoopi you can do it...

Rick