Community post
How I quit smoking
A few people on steemit have been asking the community.... how on earth do I quit. This has inspired me to take a departure from normal posts and to recommend this plan, developed by myself, after several failed attempts initially. I hope it helps and good luck....
Stage 1
First 2 weeks is the biological addiction stage. Yip it's in your DNA steemer, you have to accept this! Like a virus that must be purged. Once you accept that it's like a bad case of flu, that you just need to get over. Program your brain for 2 weeks of flu like symptoms, accept your fate, just as there might not be a lot to be done about flu, you just have to let it pass.
When you want that big boat of a cigarette... have a sip of water, it cleanses and somehow reinforces the purging process! Also a strange dehydration effect that will last 2 weeks, and usually an episode of phlegm artillery wars. Yes expect to cough up people, it is normal! Purge away!
Also, try not to replace with any other habit during these first 2 weeks. Just do mostly usual things, except for ciggi associations, like drinking while smoking ...etc..try to keep these lower than normal.
Stage 2
This is your 6 month goal, u will want to reboot, your habit system , it's good to start a sport or something healthy, think of what you did as child for inspiration , you grew up with it, so you will most likely love it, for me it was swimming.
Sage 3
You will have another potential lapse at 9 months. Try to doing something completely different , like start a new hobby, mine was building a new business.
Stage 4
Once you get to around 18 months I'm convinced that your body changes and permanently rejects cigs, you just can't remember how you had anything to do with this stinky, oral replacement of a dummy. Stage 4 can take 2 years as was the case with me.
I've been quit for 10 years after many stop starts, good luck smoking steemers!
Oh and below is a piece of original art work I did, on my ipad a while ago! I call it "I am the man, not!"
Replies (43)
Congratz. This is a big one, for many, many people. Tobacco is wack-o!
I stopped 2 years ago by going cold turkey. Once you get past the first month or so the cravings start to die. Just stick with it!
Thanks for the post.
Did you notice that food tasted different after you quit? Some foods that you used to love, you no longer like as much and other foods that you never noticed now taste delicious?
I quit 3 years ago and do not miss it AT ALL. About 6 months after I quit I took a drag off someone's cig at a party and wondered why I even bothered. Sometimes I'll see someone sitting outside alone, leisurely enjoying a smoke and I will miss it but...NAH!
This friend told me about this book by Alan Carr that he had read and after reading that book he quit. I laughed at him for like 5 mins, called him gullible and said he had a weak mind. Then one day months later I stumbled upon this series of videos by him about quitting, lazily watched it part by part (I think there were 4) and after every 20-30 mins the video would ask me to smoke a cigarette. I happily did. Then as it came to an end it said go ahead smoke your part cigarette and I was like Wtf?! It was genuinely quite scary but that was the last cigarette I smoked. Didn't believe me try it out, ive won this bet a few times after that myself. ALAN CARR. Check it out!
I did notice this at the start! Also the hunger does set in a bit, I say drink more water, when you get the hunger, wait 20 min, and see, if you still hungry.....then eat.
Great stuff!
Agreed!
Yes I've heard of that book, never tried it myself, but good recommendation!
Congrats, I quit smoking by switching to an e-cig. The first 3 months were horrible. Now I prefer vapor to smoke.
I started smoking at the age of thirteen, here is my story.
I had a dark habit, packet cigarettes when I could afford otherwise I would use rolled up cigarettes
When I was in around the age of forty, I was so ill with the tobacco; my breathing made it difficult to get up the staircase, once in bed I was okay.
Every morning I would get up, go to the toilet and vomit several mouthfuls of acrid, foul tasting phlegm.
I admit I was not deterred, as I would have my morning cigarette with my coffee and then on throughout the day.
The cure. My fifteen-year-old daughter said to me, dad if you stop smoking I promise that I will not smoke in my life.
I accepted the challenge and yes, as you said, getting it out of your DNA is not easy.
All went well, though painful, it is in the mind always, especially for the first two weeks.
At that point one of my social care clients gave me a cigarette, I put it in my pocket, then the war of wills started.
My next job was in a close by town. On my way there I stopped at a lay-by, I still had rolling papers and lighter. I took the cigarette, split it and rolled some of the tobacco into a cigarette.
I lit this cigarette and sucked the smoke into my mouth; the reaction was immediate, I started sweating profusely, and my body started shaking.
It was a now or never situation, I took the cigarette and all the other paraphernalia and threw them out onto the road.
It took some ten minutes to recover sufficiently to allow me to drive again.
The story ends with me in this situation, from that day I have never had a cigarette in my mouth and I will be seventy-three next month.
It takes a lot of will and determination, it is doable though it is hard.
By the way, my daughter kept her side of the bargain and has never smoked.
I quit cold turkey a little over a year ago. Great post!
good to hear
I smoked for 20 years.Gave up twice for a year each time. In 2010 I had a son born in America while I was living in Australia. In 2011 he came to Australia. On May 11th, 2011 the day he arrived (but before I saw him) I smoked my last cigarette. Having a reason is a great motivator but it is how you execute after is the important part.
I learned this from the 2 previous attempts, everything you associated with having a cigarette must be deleted from your life like a file in the trash bin. For example, I use to make a coffee light up a ciggy and go about my work on the PC. So I stopped coffee on May 11th aswell. You build habits around the smoking which work together like a dark team,lol. Break the habit then you will break the urge for a cigarette. Keep busy Try not to sit down for long periods of time like you use to when you would lite up. Find something physical to do, for me, i trained in the gym anyway even when I did smoke, so all I did was increase the amount of training.
The important thing is to attack the core events associated with your smoking this is key to success. All food drink aids are the secondary help factors but will also help with sobriety.
The hardest part I had to deal with was sitting working on my PC. I would light a cigarette accompanied with a coffee every 30-60 minutes, to be honest I don't know how my body survived it. My combat technique for the sitting down at the PC, was to build a stand-up desk that is electric. Every time I had a craving I would raise the desk and stand for a while. The cravings do get less over time, but it takes a few years before you actually finally get over it.
Anway that is what worked for me hopefully it may help someone just a bit:)...Great post!!
I found that if I just downed a glass of water every time I craved a smoke it helped me stop craving in three day's. Basically if you down a glass of water every time you crave your body will then start to associate the craving with water and flush itself faster. You need to replace one habit with another! In this case a bad onw with a good one.
I would also recommend tons of exercise! The faster you can get the nicotine out your system the faster you will kick the habbit.
This is just my personal experience and I have stopped now for over 2 years and cant stand smoking anymore!
Vaping helped me tremendously. I've been smoke-free for eight months now thanks to e-cigarette devices, and I'm still going strong. Working at a vape shop, I've also heard a lot of success stories from, surprisingly, my older customers. These are people who have been smoking for 20-30 years, some of whom have emphysema and COPD. Thanks to vaping, many of them haven't touched a cigarette in months, and it's dramatically improved their well-being.
Might not work for everyone, but it's a tool that is definitely worth a try.
Same here man. Now it's a fun hobby for me and I haven't needed a cigarette in over eight months.
Food tastes like food! And your ability to smell returns. Sometimes that's not the best thing, as I had to not be able to smell my dog farting when she slept, but I'll take it in exchange for smelling and tasting things much more vividly! :D
👍nice article @sotura
Thank you for sharing your story! Makes me even more grateful I quit!
LOL!
Thanks for sharing your story, really helps to reflect!
Fantastic
I had never heard of Allen Carr's method before, so I just went looking for it based on your review. I have his updated ebook on my Kindle now waiting for me to read it.
Thank you!
PS - If you find the link where you watched the video, could you share please? I could only find small clips of interviews on Youtube.
You should try some LSD and just get rid of cigarettes.
Allen Carr's book worked for me, after hundreds of failed attempts to quit smoking. Here's the URL to the book on amazon. (Do links work in comments here? I guess I'll find out.)
https://smile.amazon.com/Allen-Carrs-Easy-Stop-Smoking/dp/0615482155/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470821224&sr=8-1&keywords=allen+carr+easy+way+to+stop+smoking
I smoked for close to seven years, one pack a day.
Let me tell you how I quit smoking -- it will BLOW YOUR MIND.
Ready?
Step 1: Decided to stop smoking.
Step 2: Finished cigarette. Damn it was enjoyable.
Step 3: Never bought or asked for cigarettes again.
Anything else is just masturbation really.
Want to do it?
..............................
Here is some heavy reading if you are still struggling to understand how on earth such an incredulous feat in this age of 2-second attention spans was even possible.
STEEMIT FOLLOW ... JUST A SMALL STEP
https://steemit.com/follow/@foxkoit/steemit-follow-just-a-small-step
It is good of you to share this. If it helps just one person quit it would be a great success.
Hi, here's a link to the video from his official website, its $149 which is a bit pricey but with the current cost of cigarettes a no-brainer of an investment.
http://www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com/Online
If your looking for a free version there is a torrent file that i found but it doesn't have many seeds, feel free to try it out.
http://sectorrent.com/the-easy-way-to-stop-smoking-by-allen-carr-tf2428526.html
Alternatively, there is an audio book for all of you who prefer that format
https://torrentproject.se/1ea4ed32cd8107752cccf623ce087c74c4faaf57/The-Easy-Way-To-Stop-Smoking-By-Alan-Carr-torrent.html
Finally, he does seminars throughout the world, a friend of mine went for it and really recommends it , here's a link to his seminar schedule as well
http://www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com/Seminar/Dates-Locations
The seminars are a bit pricey(though well worth the health and cost benefits of not smoking) , but come with a money back guarantee where if you complete the seminar and 2 telephonic or in person follow up sessions and start smoking within 3 months you get your money back.
Please let me know in the comments how it goes, im currently trying to convince my fiance to give it a shot. The thought of stopping is scary but the day you make up your mind to do it This is the best way.
I am currently in week 2 of quitting. The water sipping method is truly working. The hardest part is the oral fixation cravings and dealing with the combo of new spurts of energy and getting a normal sleep cycle back. I think I will have to exercise more to get the energy/sleep balance restored.
My way :
returning from the club in the morning, I bought a pack of cigarettes. Not opened it, I decided to smoke as I wake up. After I woke up, I decided that I open a pack later, after a couple of chasov.Dalee I'm just putting off the opening of the pack throughout the dnya.Na next day, I threw it. Then a couple of weeks I was breaking, was a bit nervous. But, for cigarettes he never returned. I do not smoke for 8 years.
:)
"Many people ask how I managed to quit smoking. Incredibly, I just stopped to insert a cigarette in my mouth and set fire to them. It worked!"
Please do not use the steemit tag unless your post is actually about steemit (which this one is not). You have so far escaped flags but that is probably going to start changing as people have are fed up with the tag abuse.
I quite 5 months ago from one day to another, no preparations, nothing..Just spanish cojones. I smoke for 18 years like 20 cigarretes a day. I only can recoment to stop smoking. Your body and your mind changes completely. My mind is sharper, way sharper. #cigarretsmakeyoustupid
i´m starting to tag properly, the fear was I maybe dont get any visibility if I dont tag on #steemit or #steem. I actually made a post talking about it and then I kind of contradicted myself. I will just tag properly and hope that good content will be rewarded by any chance or miracle. Followed Smooth
https://steemit.com/steemit/@gargon/everyone-posts-in-tag-steemit-as-first-option-why
Awesome, thanks for sharing your story!
I do think cold turkey is the best. It also prove you are ready! Just get your mind into the right thought process, and go for it!
Exercise is great if you can do, it! Some find it hard. Using sleep to pass the time, in these first 2 weeks, is prob not a bad, thing. Whole life ahead of you as they say. The reward is huge!
Totally agree! Thanks!
Thanks, different things work for different people. My buddy took my advice but replaced his energy smoking habit with fizzy energy drinks, better but at least I now just drink loads of water lol!
what a rush