I am not a medical professional or a licensed therapist but I am an ex- smoker who would like to help you quit smoking as well. The way I quit may not work for everyone. If you don't succeed this time it is okay, just next time try taking what worked with this and something new to customize your own way of quitting. I tried quitting several times before I actually quit.
Congrats on taking a step toward quitting smoking. The first thing I want to say is this will be extremely hard, but it can be done. You will need tons of will power and a strong desire to quit. I tried the patches, the gums and medication. I am not saying they don't work, but they did not work for me. I did okay on the patches for a while but I did not have the will power and the knowledge that I needed to quit smoking at that time.
What are your reasons for quitting, those can be strong motivators in helping you stick to quitting. My decision came after I thought about something I had always told my kids. I had told my kids that if times got so hard that I could not afford groceries I would give up cigarettes to buy food. I thought to myself I am a liar. I would eat less food so that I could smoke. I decided to put myself through a test to see if I really could. The funny thing is I had only really planned on quitting for a month or so just to see if I could really quit. That has been over three years ago.
Now that you have the will power, the desire and the motivators, you will need support. Your family and friends will have to be understanding and supportive. There are days that you are going to be hard to live with and emotional. With a strong supporting family it makes it easier. If you can find someone who can be like a quitting buddy it is a blessing. What I mean buy quitting buddy is someone who has been through this that you can call when the craving get so bad you are ready to give up. My dad had quit a couple of years before me and he was the one I called. Without his help I really think I would have never made it. When the cravings would get bad I would call him up and say “ Dad, please tell me this gets easier and the cravings go away.”
My dad would reassure me and let me know it did get easier and the cravings would eventually get better. He did say that however I would still have smoker moments. He told me that even though it had been two years since he quit that there were still times he reached into his front shirt pocket for a cigarette, forgetting that he had quit smoking. To hear from an ex- smoker that it will get better helped so much. If you do not know any ex- smokers you might be able to look online for a quitting smoking forum to find a buddy or mentor to help you quit.
Okay now it is time to put those cigarettes away. I did not pick a quit date I just enjoyed my last pack of cigarettes and decided to quit cold turkey after it was gone. I did drag out the pack to last me longer. If you don't feel comfortable cold turkey and want to try other methods to quit that is okay. The part we are going into now I think will still help even if you use other methods.
When I would crave a cigarette I would count the hours since my last one and say to myself “Self it has been two hours since my last cigarette if I smoke now I just wasted these two hours.”
Pretty soon it was six hours, ten hours, and so on and each time I would crave a cigarette I would tell myself if I smoked now I would have wasted those hours. I hate wasting my time and that helped me. The next day started my day count. If I smoke now I will have wasted one whole day and will have to start over on my quit date. Why waste that whole day of no smoking just to have to start over. The first few days were not so bad and each day I would use the why waste day one, two, and so on.
One of the hardest things for me was finding something to do with my hands. I missed the motions of smoking. I chewed gum and sucked on candy to help ease up some of the cravings but that did not help the motions. I grabbed an ink pen one day when the craving got terrible and acted like it was a cigarette. I put it to my mouth puffed on it and put it down. After a couple of times of doing that it helped me feel better. I have talked to others who used crochet, painting and other hobbies to keep their hands busy. Some of the hardest cravings are going to come at trigger moments. What I mean is like for me it was after eating, being on the computer, it is things that trigger a craving something you always did and smoked either during or after. Those might be some of the times you will need your buddy.
