[testos111]

Since the time I've dived into freelancing and affiliate marketing, I'm mainly working from home and cafes. Though I love what I'm doing, I'll admit that sitting in front of the laptop the whole day does begin to take its toll.

I've found that lighting up a stick after a session of work or after accomplishing a task relaxes my mind and makes me look forward to the next task with more enthusiasm. It's like I know there is a little reward waiting for me and it makes me accomplish more. Smoking feels very meditative for me. Even a single smoke a day sometimes does the job.

Playing football(soccer) and working out have similar effects but I can't do them whenever I like.

Since I've always been very health conscious, I'm a bit worried as to what can be the long term consequences smoking around 1-2 smokes a day. Do the risks outweigh the peace and the productivity that I seem to find and relate this habit to?

Also, I'm not addicted to it by any means. Never in my life have I ever NEEDED a smoke. It's always been under my will.

Would love to get some opinions.

[spalex]

Another week and you aren't going to get the same relaxed feeling from 1 or 2 cigarettes. You will have to smoke more. Then eventually it wont do anything but you will keep on smoking and say that you are addicted to justify your habit.

Pick ANY other drug out there, and it is a lot more fun / relaxing than a cigarette.

Also, think about the last time you made out with a girl who had recently had a cigarette.

[Ringo]

Ex-smoker here.

Smoked up to 30 rolled cigarretes a day, quit about a year ago, occasionally take a drag or two from other peoples cigarrettes, but tastes/feels bad now.

For me, smoking tobacco is not worth it. It is indeed a good meditative break, but it harms your health and your wallet, and before you know it it makes you look and feel like shit. My breathing specifically was a huge issue, as I have sensitive lungs and struggled with bronchitis as a child.

The thing with smoking is that even if you keep it at very low levels, it has a way of creeping in and taking control. Maybe you only smoke one cig a day and you won't increase that amount (like I did after 1-2 years of one cig/week), but then maybe you will find yourself in need of that single smoke as part of a habit. It's easier than we think to condition ourselves to get rewards. And once a habit lodges itself in your day, it's a dangerous territory, specially if you "need" (in your case just desire) it for extra productivity.

Linking your daily actions to smoking (even if one a day) is enough to print in your brain a desire to smoke so as to complete a process or cicle. Without the cig, the task does not seem complete. Example: after a large, delicious meal, drinking an espresso and smoking. I did that so many times that after I quit, even marvellous meals felt incomplete, which stressed me out.

It's like if you put ketchup on all of your burgers and then you go and eat a burger and there's no ketchup to be found. It just doesn't feel right. Same if you are working on a project and reward yourself with a smoke by the end. Don't let this nascent habit kid you, it is addictive and the odds are playing against you.

Link 1

Quote:

"Young people generally underestimate the addictiveness of nicotine, and most of them at first intend to smoke only for a few years6. However, once they begin to smoke, many become addicted to nicotine, and this addiction sustains the self-injurious behavior into adulthood. [...] . However, approximately 10 percent of current smokers (a group sometimes called tobacco "chippers") regularly smoke five or fewer cigarettes per day and appear not to be addicted. Most do not have withdrawal symptoms when they stop. Typically, such people smoke in specific situations, can skip smoking for one or more days, and can quit smoking without great personal distress. [...] Of course, there is no sharply demarcated threshold level, and there are some people who smoke fewer than five cigarettes per day and have great difficulty in quitting and others who can smoke more than five cigarettes per day and quit with ease."

Link 2

Quote:

"Shock endurance was used to measure the amount of anxiety experienced in a stressful situation by nonsmokers, smokers allowed to smoke cigarettes containing low levels or moderately high levels of nicotine, and smokers not allowed to smoke. [...] Results support the hypothesis that the calming effect of smoking is due to the action of nicotine in ending withdrawal symptoms in addicted smokers rather than to a sedative property of cigarette smoking."

[Dr. Howard]

(03-13-2014 08:01 AM)testos111 Wrote:  

Since the time I've dived into freelancing and affiliate marketing, I'm mainly working from home and cafes. Though I love what I'm doing, I'll admit that sitting in front of the laptop the whole day does begin to take its toll.

I've found that lighting up a stick after a session of work or after accomplishing a task relaxes my mind and makes me look forward to the next task with more enthusiasm. It's like I know there is a little reward waiting for me and it makes me accomplish more. Smoking feels very meditative for me. Even a single smoke a day sometimes does the job.

Playing football(soccer) and working out have similar effects but I can't do them whenever I like.

Since I've always been very health conscious, I'm a bit worried as to what can be the long term consequences smoking around 1-2 smokes a day. Do the risks outweigh the peace and the productivity that I seem to find and relate this habit to?

Also, I'm not addicted to it by any means. Never in my life have I ever NEEDED a smoke. It's always been under my will.

Would love to get some opinions.

use caution, I was working on one job where I had to do daily inspections and part of the routine that developed was I'd stop to have a cigarette with a cute girl, (I was an occasional smoker before) that then turned into that plus one after work at base camp. At some point I realized that they did nothing for me any more but were an essential part of my routine so I stopped.

Keep it irregular and I think you'll be fine.

[Hades]

Yes, smoking negatively affects your health and it is addictive.
No, there is no "safe" (??) dosage of cigarettes.

I did like you did for a year, just one or two cigarettes a day.
Take a month off from smoking anything every now and again or it will increase quickly.

[Chaos]

Agree with Ringo here. Cigarettes takes more than it gives.
I quit smoking one year ago during a hell of a flu in the Philippines.
My addiction disappeared strangely fast and I've never wanted to smoke again after that. I've tried a few times but it taste like shit and now I almost hate it.
Not to mention that I've saved 2000€ in cigarette expensessince that.

But like other guys say, use caution.
Addiction can put a hook in you before you even notice.

[hervens]

I started smoking when I was 16, and quit about 8 months ago (I'm 22)

During that time, I never smoked more than 6 cigarettes per day, and despite everyone around me telling me to quit and that I would eventually start smoking more, I still never smoked more than 6 or so cigarettes per day.
Also, I never really felt addicted to nicotine, but just liked the sensation of smoking. For instance, during that time, I went to my aunt's house for about 1 week. Since I didn't want them to know I smoked, I simply didn't smoke at all during that 1 week, and only experienced minor cravings the first 3 days or so

The trick is, I wouldn't just smoke when I felt like smoking. I smoked only at VERY specific and planned times, or ONLY after a major positive, or negative event.

For instance, daily routine was like this: 1 cigarette at 10am, right before going to class. 1 cigarette right after lunch. 1 cigarette while stuck in traffic in my car on the way back home (around 6pm), 1 cigarette after I've completed a homework or assignment, and 1 cigarette about 1 hour or so before bed.

I'm not encouraging you to start smoking or whatever, I'm just staying If you intend on staying a light smoker, than it's very possible as long as you don't just smoke when you want to smoke, but only at specific times, or after a major event. (ie. You just finished all your midterms. Go have an extra cig to celebrate! )

However, know that at the end of the day, your're not gaining anything whatsoever by smoking, and that any ideas you might make yourself about how smoking is helpful, is just you trying to rationalize your guilty pleasure.

Even though I was only a light smoker, 8 months later I'm still very happy of my decision to finally stop this nasty habit, however, that doesn't necessarily mean I regret the 6 years I spent smoking my 5 daily cigs

Anyways, be careful, and try not to make it a life long habit. Try to set a time when you'll quit smoking 100%, as making it a life long habit is just wayy to risky.

Last thing is, also keep in mind that ANY amount of cigarette DOES increase your chances of lung cancer, even if it's by a slight amount.

[Jackreacher]

Smoke cigars, try to get cubans(Cohiba). You don't need to inhale when you smoke a cigar I think that might be what contributes to the addiction with cigarettes but I could be wrong. I go months without smoking as a mere afterthought and both my parents were addicted to smoking 1 pack a day each. I've done this for years and it's very relaxing. I'll smoke one once a week or every 2 weeks I'll usually just feel like smoking one(like today).

[Flavius Aetius]

Regarding the OP's question. If you still want your nicotine fix, but don't want to incur the health risks of traditional cigarettes, switch to something less harmful like e-cigs, nasal snuff, snus, or gum.

[Monty Brown]

Hell yeah, I was just telling a friend last week how much I missed that benefit of smoking. I loved taking a little five minute break to smoke a square after doing some work. Also some smokes on the drive home and after food.

If they didn't cost so much or fuck with my hair, I'd still be smoking!

[astronut]

I've smoked for about six years now. Apart from a one-year period when I was smoking about five cigs per day, I've always been a one-or-two cigs a week kind of guy.
No amount of smoking is harmless, but we are probably doing worse things to our body than smoking one cig per day.
It's good that it is under your control so far. But I advise not carrying a pack with you. If it's just two per day, carry just that much every day.

[testos111]

Some amazing responses here. Thank you everyone. I have to say I was secretly looking for someone to tell me it's all fine so I'm a bit disappointed haha.

But the conditioning part really hits home. Four years back I had to receive therapy from a psychiatrist for an issue that was related to conditioning and anxiety, so I know it's true.

The other responses seem to suggest smoking irregularly is still fine so I'll make sure I don't make it a habit but just light up sometimes.

As for trying the alternatives to smoking, I think that won;t work. Not even an e-cig. There's just something about smokes that really relaxes me. I red a Sean Penn interview ehen he quit smoking 4 packs a day, and he said if he could smoke 8 cigs a day, he'd do it for the rest of his life. I'm really confident I will never be addicted to them, simply because the high of staying healthy and playing sports beats everything out there, At least for me