Quitting Smoking isn't really so bad, it's the withdrawal symptoms that knocked me on my bum. They made me question whether is was worth quitting at all. (Obviously any reason is a reason to quit smoking, but follow me here.) I never knew beforehand how many different bodily functions are controlled or altered by smoking and nicotine. The 2 am Google searches for " Does this mean I'm dying " were so frequent, I decided that I should put together all the answers I searched for, the emotional roller coaster I forcefully rode, and how I was able to stop after 10 years of smoking.
My biggest motivation here was knowing that 80% of kids who's parents smoke, end up smoking themselves. I don't have kids yet, but I don't want to be the reason other people's lives are ruined. You have to have a motivation for quitting or it won't happen, just saying this upfront.
I can't even begin to count how many times I attempted to quit on my own. 10? 50? Who knows? It was becoming a bi-annual mental battle to quit smoking or to at least cut down to make it easier in the end. Nope, I continued to smoke. I actually was increasing how much I would smoke after each attempted quit. Probably because I felt I "deserved" it. I hope this blog will give you the tools and education you need to finally kick this nasty habit. That being said, everyone is different and some friends of mine that quit (or tried) had no withdrawal symptoms outside of irritability. So, some of this may apply and some may not. Either way, get educated on your situation. Knowledge is SO powerful with quitting, it's almost the horse I rode out on. :) I'm also going to be posting the the photos I kept saved on my phone to keep me motivated to quit. WARNING: Some are really gross so if you've got a shy stomach, imagine boogers and dirty toenails and skim past those guys.
Doesn't it sound strange to you right now? You being a non-smoker?? It took me 30 days to feel like I fully "QUIT" w/o cravings or thoughts of relapse. The first week is the worst.
First tool you must have to begin this process. TIME OFF! Too many people don't see smoking as a drug addiction, it's insane! If you had a friend addicted to crack, I'm sure you'd advise a little personal time. Take a week off if you can. I feel the biggest part of my success in quitting was not having an outside source of stress weighing me down or making me want to light up again. I personally took two weeks off for my Smoker Battle-2014.
Second, The CIGGY RAID. You need to raid your house, apartment, car, garage, work space and any other areas you frequent while smoking, of any smoking appliances. ( I.E. Ashtrays, filters, cigarette making machines lighters.) Especially any leftover smokes you may have. I don't know if I necessarily recommend it, but I smoked the last of the pack I had bought previous to deciding to finally quit. I did this because, 1. I'm a cheapskate and wasn't going to waste the money, 2. I knew if i had smokes near me I'd be tempted to smoke them. SO whatever works for you, finishing them or destroying them are your options.
Third, you need a catalyst. Something that you can look at, listen to or imagine to keep you motivated with this change. For some peeps it may be how much money you'd save in a year. Calculate how much you'll save. Search online what you could buy or where you could vacation (that's right, VACATION WITH $$$ YOU USED TO SMOKE) with that savings and print out the pictures\, tape them up, or save them to you're phone or tablet to have them readily available anytime a craving may hit. I painted a canvas with the dollar amount I would save! LOL. It certainly kept that number in my mind and it ended up being a great go to when I needed something to occupy my mind.
These 3 things were the most useful and ultimately the staples I had to help me through.
I'll be doing this blog everyday until the whole kit and kaboodle is relayed. I want you to know everything I know about this. Please let me know if you have any specific ?s you want answered or if you're quitting or recently quit, what's worked for you? What made you make the change? I want to know too, how YOU did it.
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