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I was a 2-3 pack a day smoker... I always had a lit one in my hand. And I made the decision.. I was done. I knew if I could make it through 17 days and nights... I was done smoking. Avoiding those triggers helps too.
Like after eating instead of lighting up... go brush your teeth right away... establish some new habits.
Best of luck.. I am now 6 years with out one. It can be done!
Get some Nicotine patches (step one’s) and a small box of nicotine gum. Follow the steps with the nicotine patches and use the gum as back-up just case of a bad craving. You might want to by some sporting tape for the patches, too. They have a tendency to loose there stickiness. And you don’t need that happening. Also, join a gym or do something evolving exercising, and most importantly, stay away from alcohol for a while, that means no going to bars. Alcohol makes you weak minded and you might find yourself smoking before you know it. Try to stay away from people who smoke, too. If you can, of course. In Addition to your arsenol, buy some sugar free gum and toothpicks. You will end up using a lot of these. I chewed the crap out of those dentist floss Plaquers.
Some people will eat a lot when they quit. Eat healthy, like snacking on baby carrot sticks when you’re bored. It keeps you from thinking that One Won’t Hurt; in which we all know that it takes just ONE to mess you all up. Keep a strong mind! Tell yourself every morning that you're a non-smoker. You are in control of yourself; not those **** cigarettes. You might want to look into meetings, seriously. They have those, and it does help. Equate Nicotine Patches have numbers to call in case you feel like you’re going to have one. They help you change you’re mind, put you back in control. Any motivation is great. Being encouraged by others is a plus. The psychology part of the addiction can be a real pain, if not worse than the nicotine addiction itself. That's what the patches and gum are for. They weaken the Nicotine Craving so you can deal with the mental parts of quitting. It's tough, but if I can do it, anyone can. You got to want to quit. If you want it bad enough, you'll do it. Don't let failure discourage you, either, it takes practice. Sometime several tries. You got to find out what works well for you in order to quit, and use it. Remember, One Will Always Hurt. Screw those tobacco companies. You don't need it. You’re not hacking, not sick all the time, and not dishing out all that money. It's much better being a non-smoker. People say, we all are going to die sometime, so they continue smoking. I rather die my way—after living a full life. Look up online of all the things smoking causes. Print yourself a copy and read it several times. More motivation.
I also recommend going to the exhibit called The Bodies. You'll see real human bodies, in a form that obviously isn’t gruesome. You see everything, full bodies to individual organs and nerves, etc. It was very fascinating. I learned a lot. Especially what a pair of smoker's lungs look like. What Bronchitis looks like, for that matter. I had seen the real deal, and it's not pretty. You'll might as well be a coal miner. The lungs were pretty black. I was already a non-smoker for sometime when saw that, but it was definitely reassuring.
I quit cold turkey 14 years ago. I bought a ton of bubble wrap and started popping it when I had a craving. I also drank a lot of tea and brushed my teeth when I had a craving. Sometimes I would fake smoke and pretend I was holding a ciagarette and "puff" on it. Also never have just one after you decide to quit. It's like being an alcoholic. Good luck! You can do it. Think of all the thousands of dollars you can save and put toward your children's future.
Well, maybe it was bad timing-oh, it was, what with all the Christmas goodies, but I stopped on Dec. 12, just thought, 'if I can wait 5 more minutes...', then find something else to do, then it was a whole day-then a week! Been eating like a horse though-fudge, Christmas cookies, pumkin pie-I HATE pumpkin pie!! Don't miss traipsing through the house to get a cigarette, freezing my toes off, before I can go to the bathroom and pee, then go back to bed. But the cravings [nicotine, that is] are still horrendous. My new Year's resolution is probably going to be to exercise [sp??]-or just hope the supply of munchies gets back to more normal proportions-while I still am!!
When I decided I wanted to start a family, I quit smoking. When I first decided, I decreased the amount of cigarettes I smoked per day for about a week. Then, I put the cigarette packs in a drawer, told myself, "I AM A NON-SMOKER" then never lit up again. I knew those cigarettes were in that drawer, but rather than wanting what I could not have, I CHOSE not to smoke. The first day was ROUGH, got better & better with each day.
For me, there is a big difference between choosing something, and not being able to have something. Those cigarettes were in my house, but I CHOSE not to smoke them. It would have been a whole different deal if I had no cigs in the house and COULDN'T have them.
I used to worry about what I would do with my hands, what would I do when I have my first cup of coffee in the morning, what about after dinner? None of these amount to anything after you really quit.
I have also been through some terribly stressful times since then, and have never been tempted to light up that stress cigarette. That's how I know I really am a non-smoker!
I have to say, that 25 years later, when I smell someone else's cigarette smoke after dinner, or catch a wiff after leaving a breakfast restaurant, I take an extra deep breath. Those were my favorite cigs of the day, but I would NEVER go back to smoking.
You can do this!!!
I got the flu Thanksgiving of 1998, and all I wanted to do was smoke a ciggarette and I couldn't even breath, I felt like a fool, here I was dying and puffing. So I quit cold turkey, it was not as hard as I thought it would be, so you might be surprised, some people have less trouble than others. I smoked three packs a day and smoked for 35 years, after I quit saved enough money to buy a new truck.
This year I picked up a cigarette and my youngest daughter looked at me and told me if I started smoking again that she would start also, I believe her. I also believe my oldest daughter smokes because I smoked, so give that a thought.
I quit New Year's 2000. It's exactly 7 years now.
I used the patch, and I made up my mind that it was my time to quit. You have to really put your mind to it. Lollipops helped too. Instead of my after dinner butt I now have an after dinner cup of tea. I still do to this day.
If you can excercise just enough to breathing heavy at least once a day, taking deep breaths of fresh air and visualize the crusty black tarr in your lungs, the clean fresh air cleaning it each day you go without smoking.
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