How I Gave Up Smoking.
Giving up smoking is a top priority for many people and will make it to many a new year’s resolution list, but how many are really serious? It is true that a person will not give up smoking until they are ready; someone must really want it to happen. For myself, I gave up smoking because of a growing list of logical reasons and it took a lot of effort, but in the end I did it. Why I gave up smoking and how I did it.
By McDonald, T. | Updated 10th of January 2022
Why I decided to give up smoking.
Everyone must agree that smoking is an expensive habit. When I gave up, cigarettes were around £4 for a packet of twenty and about the same for 50g of tobacco. My habit was costing me around £30 to £40 a week, so I moved to rolling tobacco. At the time, I also thought that moving to rolling tobacco would help reduce my intake as well as the cost.Furthermore, I knew that smoking was killing me and making it difficult to achieve real success in health goals like running, so this added to the desire to stop, but it was not until I started to experience pain in my lungs that I really made the extra effort.
It is worth noting, I did not realise that my clothes smelt of smoke until non-smokers started to point it out to me. This knowledge added to my reasons to quit.
Another reason for quitting presented itself to me when someone pointed out that a smoker's house is coated in nicotine stains, but because it happens over time the smoker in the house does not notice it, however, visitors do.
Subsequently, cost, health and practical reasons had grown into a list that I could no longer ignore: I had to quit. Now I had a list of reasons I could use as evidence that nicotine was not my friend. Next, I needed to think about how I was going to approach this problem.
How I quit smoking and what worked.
Giving up smoking always seemed like a daunting task and it was never easy. Each time I made an attempt to quit I would experience intense feelings of anger and irritation. For this reason, I sort out medical advice.When I did finally make an appointment to see a doctor, I was sent to a nurse who had great information on nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and lead me through the first real attempt with patches. However, within a year I was smoking again. Next, I tried lozenges, which was successful but not for long. Finally, I started using a nicotine spray and a vape, which kept me of the cigarettes, but I was still addicted to nicotine.
Throughout my life I have made the effort to quit smoking, but kept making excuses as to why it was not the right time. When I was finally ready to quit, I managed it, yet would find myself slipping back into my old ways. However, when this happened, I would set a new date and try again. I must have tried three or four serious attempts to quit before I was truly successful.
I found that breaking the routines that had developed around meal times really gave me back control from the slave like habit of smoking after eating. Meal times were the best place to start my attack on the habit; I would use a vape or nicotine spray after meals. In addition, keeping records of when I had a cigarette or NRT gave me more control, which made quitting easier.
The key to success is to keep on trying and break common routines around smoking. If one plan does not work, try a different one. It is important to remember that it is ok to retry an old plan again in the future, or even try a combination of plans. There is only one secret to successfully quitting: perseverance!
What is a smoke free life like?
When I did finally give up, I felt a huge sense of achievement. I now find breathing is no longer painful and I can sleep better because I do not have to keep getting up in the middle of the night to have a cigarette.To conclude, I found the reasons to give up and enjoyed my victory over this old enemy, but what worked in the end was perseverance and breaking mealtime habits. Now I lead a smoke free life and feel confident for the first time that I will continue, to lead, a smoke free life.
Are you ready to quit?
- Cancer Research 'How do I stop smoking?'
- NHS help and advice
- ASH
- Lloyd's chemists
- Boots: stop smoking online clinic
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