Stop Cold Turkey- I Stopped My Smoking Habit

Yes, I became a successful quitter 4 years ago. I know that doesn't sound like a good thing but when it came to my smoking it was a great thing. Even better I managed to quit cold turkey, no gums or expensive patches. I know how tough it can be to quit even with help so cold turkey probably sounds even harder. What was my secret? Simple I made it a goal.

First I had to have a reason to quit, a reason to want to quit. I came up with several reasons. I would get up on Saturday morning raring to go. I would have plans to take my kids to the park and enjoy the day. Then after my first cigarette that all changed, and I would just sit there on the couch for the rest of the day. My kids suffered from my smoking. Then I tried out for the fire department. Part of that was a mile and a half run. I never finished, I even had a man twice my age pushing me. Next I tallied up the money I was spending. 5 dollars a pack, a pack a day. 365 days a year. Let's see that's ummm 1825 dollars a year. That could buy a lot of other things for me and my family. I could go on down the list but that was enough to get me started.

Now I had a reason to quit but I needed to know the secrets to quitting, how to know that I could do it when my whole body didn't want to give it up. So I researched it, I read pamphlets, I read blogs, I also talked to other quitters. Here's a few helpful things that I learned along the way.

Everything in life takes practice, even quitting. So don't expect to quit the first time, most people don't make it. But don't stop there either, try again in a week or even a month.

There are others out there willing to help you, they are either going through it also or have made it through. Don't be afraid to talk about it or pick up the phone.

The average craving lasts no longer than 5 minutes. When you feel it coming on start something else. Remind yourself why you are quitting.
Avoid the situations where you usually smoked before. These are everywhere. The after dinner smoke, the driving smoke, even the chatting with friends smoke. You can't always avoid these but try to replace the smoking with something else. After dinner do the dishes instead. I turned to chewing sunflower seeds when I was driving.

I don't know if this last is a tip for everyone. Some people say that it is okay to cheat once or twice, but I knew that one cigarette would lead to a pack and I would lose again. So I never cheated for 3 months. My biggest help? I left half a pack on my dashboard, I knew I could have a smoke anytime I wanted . Anytime I was ready to give up quitting. It stayed there for 3 months until a friend mistakenly through it away.

Yes I did quit that time, I was proud of myself. For 6 months I held my head up high. Until a particularly stressful month knocked me of the wagon. I started up again, feeling guilty every time I lit up. A month later I was ready to try again. So I told my daughter to help me and watch out for me. She was on the spot whenever she saw me reaching for a cigarette, what seemed to me just a quick puff was smoking all over again to her. She got me through those 5 minute cravings. A couple things helped me know when I had finally smoked the last cigarette, and had my last craving. One morning I woke up feeling incredibly guilty about something but I couldn't figure out what I had done. I wasn't able to shake that guilt for the entire day and it weighed on me. Finally later that night I watched a friend go outside to smoke and it hit me. I had had a dream about smoking a cigarette. I had cheated in my dream by lighting up! Imagine, I felt horrible about something I hadn't really done! Once I realized this a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and I was on cloud 9. Then a while after that I was at work with a couple people when they took off outside. I couldn't figure out why they left all of a sudden. There was nothing we needed outside. It wasn't breaktime. Finally it dawned on me what they were doing. They were having a nic fit. I had finally done it, I didn't see what they were doing because I had killed the beast! I no longer had those cravings, that's why I didn't understand what my co-workers were doing outside. That's when I knew I had stopped my smoking habit. I had quit cold turkey.

Now the only problems are preaching to others about quitting, and noticing how people smell after smoking. It stinks!