How I Gave Up Smoking
By Lindah, 27th Sep 2011 | Follow this author
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Posted in WikinutWritingPersonal Experiences
I am a lot healthier, fitter, more energetic now, food taste better and have money in my pocket.
- Time To Give Up
- The Bad Habits.
- The First Step.
- The Next Step.
- Ok. Thats The Easy Part- now its time to cut down.
- Hurray.
- Success.
Time To Give Up
I decided that I was sick of smoking. It was becoming far too expensive and was not doing my health any good, so it was time to give it up.I knew though, from previous experience, that I would not be able to go cold turkey, so I decided the best way to go about it was to gradually cut down on how many cigarettes I smoked a day until I could go without them. I.also needed to get rid of the bad habits I had to do with smoking to help me cut down.
The Bad Habits.
Lighting up a cigarette in bed as soon as I opened my eyes. Having a cigarette every time I had a cup of coffee and having a cigarette every time I had something to eat.
The First Step.
The first thing I did was get rid of the ashtray next to my bed and leave my cigarettes in another room when I went to bed, so that I could not have a cigarette as soon as I and opened my eyes in the morning or during the night. If I wanted a cigarette, I would have to get out of bed to get them, but as I couldn't be bothered getting out of bed, it made it easy to break this habit.
The Next Step.
As I always had to have a cigarette every time I had a cup of coffee, I needed to learn to drink a cup without having one. I would only have to have a sip or two before I would be lighting up, so I started making myself finish a cup before I had one. It was only a habit, so it wasn't that hard to do and before long, I could drink a cuppa without a cigarette and could even wait for awhile after the coffee before lighting up.
I also had a cigarette every time I ate something even if it was a couple of spoonfuls of something. The minute I finished the last mouthful, I would light up, so I made myself wait for about 5 minutes after I finished eating before I could have a cigarette and gradually, without realising it, I could go longer and longer after eating before I needed a cigarette.
Ok. Thats The Easy Part- now its time to cut down.
Making myself go a certain amount of time between each cigarette, seemed like a good way of helping me to cut down and helped me keep a check on many I had a day. I needed to be realistic though. It was no good making it too hard or I would give up too easy, so I made it relatively easy from the start. Fifteen minutes between each cigarette before I could have one to start with, gradually increasing the time between each one once I became used to going that length of time without a cigarette
It was fairly hard at times and also got quite monotonous continually watching the time.. Some minutes just seemed to drag sometimes, especially when I was hanging out for a cigarette. Persistence and determination was needed to keep going on with it. A few times I cheated and had a cigarette sooner than I was supposed to, but overall I stuck to the times I imposed on myself and after a time, it gradually got easier and easier to go longer and longer without a cigarette.
Hurray.
Eventually I found myself counting the hours between cigarettes, spreading it out so that I would only be smoking 5 cigarettes a day. There were a few days when I might have had one or two extra, depending on what sort of day I had, but that was ok, as long as I didn't make a habit of it. I mostly stuck to 5 a day and was quite happy with that for a while but knew that if I didn't stop altogether, I would end up back where I started, so eventually cut that to 3, then 2, then none. It certainly wasn't that easy and I had to keep at it, but in the end I got there. Hurray.
Success.
It has now been just over 2 years since I quit smoking and I am glad that I did. I am healthier, fitter, have more energy, food taste better and have more money in my pocket. They say you never really get over smoking and they are right. There are occassional times when I miss smoking and feel like a cigarette and I know I could easily start smoking again if I let myself, but I won't because, I DONT WANT TO BECOME ADDICTED TO SMOKING EVER AGAIN.
Comments
29th Sep 2011 (#)
I am glad you shared this. I can't afford this habit much longer. My health is failing because of it.
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30th Sep 2011 (#)
It sure didn't do mine any good either. I wished that I had given it up sooner than what I did before any damage was done but at least I have now before any more damage thank goodness and I hope that you can give it up too if that is what you want to do.
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30th Sep 2011 (#)
Once I stopped, I really enjoyed knowing that I no longer smelled like a wet ashtray! :-}
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1st Oct 2011 (#)
When I was smoking, I could never really smell it but I can now.
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