Stop Smoking Forum - If I Stopped Smoking 30/day...so Can You!

I stopped smoking 24 years ago, I was getting through nearly two packs a day. Then, everyone seemed to be a smoker, certainly where I worked it was the norm. Evenings when I met friends for a night out cigarettes were a must!

I was really hooked but at the same time hated the habit, so I decided to quit. I am sorry to say that I found no 'magic formula' for stopping, I only had my own desire to kick the habit.

You have to be in the right frame of mind - I did it by confronting the habit head on. I had an open pack of cigarettes, there were about twelve in the packet, I crushed the pack and threw it into the bin as I did so I gave myself a promise that whatever happened I would never buy cigarettes ever again - I have kept that promise to this day!

The mechanics of quitting is straight forward, take it hour by hour or if the urge is really powerful 30 minutes by 30 minutes. What I mean is that I said to myself...

'Even though I am absolutely desperate for a smoke, I will hold out for another hour and see how I feel then'.

When the hour was up I would congratulate myself and extend the next period of holding out to two hours - IT WAS NOT EASY!! I continued in this way until I was promising myself not to smoke for 48 hours. Surprisingly the feeling of achievement was a really good boost which helped off set the craving.

Fairly soon I had held out in this way for a week. When the urge for a cigarette was becoming unbearable I would say to my self...

'Surely you are not going to undo all the good work over the past week for the sake of a smoke?'

Honestly, I found this strategy really effective - the longer I had refrained from smoking the stronger the feeling of achievement became. This feeling was almost as addictive as the habit I was kicking. Herein lies the key! As the urge to smoke weakens so the feeling of personal attainment strengthens!

Giving up has got to be approached as a challenge. If you are not mentally tuned to the task then you will never succeed, I know, it took me two attempts. The first time I just gave in to the desire to have a smoke. You will have side effects but they will pass. For months after I gave up I used to have awful dreams at night that I had restarted smoking, I would wake up and be so relieved that it was only a dream.

The benefits? More money to fritter on other things, lungs that are not congested, air smells better as do my clothes and food tastes good. By far and away the biggest benefit is the knowledge that I beat the habit!