How I Quit Smoking After Many Years

My Journey - It Can Be Yours Too

 

Keep in mind everyone is different so what may work for one person doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for others. You have to find what works best for you. 

When I started this quitting thing, I went into it thinking it was going to be really hard and I didn’t think I would be able to quit, not after smoking for 40 years.

But to my surprise, it really wasn’t as hard as I expected it to be.

These are the things that I did and it was successful:

The first three days will be the hardest. But if you keep this in mind, “a craving only lasts 3 minutes and you can get through 3 minutes”, it will be easier to get through the cravings. You really can get through 3 minutes!

Get something for your mouth. I used lollipops and jolly rancher hard candy. Have a lot on hand. Don’t run dry on these like you wouldn’t run dry on cigarettes. Chew on a stir stick. Anything to chew on because when that craving comes, stick something in your mouth. Also, it helps to do something active. Walk or exercise. When that craving comes do something to get your mind off of it. This is probably the most important advice I can give you. After a couple days the nicotine withdrawal is over. After that, it is now you fighting your brain and getting it back to the way it was.

The reason cigarette smoking is so addictive, besides the chemicals, is the fact that it is intertwined in every habit we have. For example, we talk on the phone, we light up a cigarette, we finish eating, we light up a cigarette, we wake up in the morning, we light up a cigarette. You know what I am talking about. These are the times we need to change a habit and create a new habit of doing something else. Instead of drinking the coffee in the morning with the cigarette, pack your lunch and then go brush your teeth. New habit now, with no cigarette involved. Plus you changed a brain wave. I still want a cigarette after meals, so I pop a jolly rancher into my mouth now and start cleaning the kitchen up. In about 1 minute I am no longer wanting a cigarette. It is all about creating new habits and teaching your brain to forget the old habits.

Find a song to pump you up especially while driving to work and to home. I used “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus. Listen to it.

Get some pictures from the internet of people who have cancer or who have died due to smoking. Look at these EVERYDAY, I mean EVERYDAY. Don’t stop looking at them on a daily basis, until you can say “I won’t ever smoke again.” Look at these:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/health/policy/22smoke.html?_r=0

Be sure to read this article. It is a time line of what happens to your body when you quit. Quite amazing.

http://whyquit.com/whyquit/A_Benefits_Time_Table.html

Talk to someone whom you admire or is very important to you and tell them you quit smoking. They will be supportive of you and you won’t want to disappoint them.

Find someone who will be there for you 24/7 if you need to talk.

There are going to be times where you feel you can’t concentrate and are restless. Go walk for 5 minutes. Even if it is just around in your house. The exercise creates a chemical in the brain that revs you up and you’ll forget about being scatterbrained. This will all go away. Just say to yourself during this process, hit me with your best shot. I am going to beat this. I am stronger than a stupid tobacco stick. Then the next thing will hit and you’ll beat that one too.

I quit on a Monday, a workday, when I wouldn’t be sitting at home doing nothing. My mind would be thinking about work, not cigarettes.

Cigarettes have changed. Since they put that chemical in cigarettes where you have to puff on a cigarette so that it doesn’t go out, something didn’t taste right to me anymore. I started to get an upset stomach after smoking. Plus, it is just another chemical in your lungs. Cigarettes have HUNDREDS of different chemicals like formaldehyde, pesticides, and benzene.

You CAN do this. If I can, then I know you can. I had been smoking for almost 40 years.

And don’t forget:

“a craving only lasts 3 minutes” and you can get through 3 minutes

“a craving only lasts 3 minutes” and you can get through 3 minutes

“a craving only lasts 3 minutes” and you can get through 3 minutes

“a craving only lasts 3 minutes” and you can get through 3 minutes

“a craving only lasts 3 minutes” and you can get through 3 minutes

“a craving only lasts 3 minutes” and you can get through 3 minutes

It is not a catastrophe if we fail. We start over again and try again until we reach the goal!!!