Quit Smoking! I DID!

NicoDerm CQ Stop Smoking Aid

Well, I hate to admit it.  However, I used to smoke!  In fact I smoked for 12 years.  It's not something I am proud of or happy I wasted all that money and all that time slowly killing myself.  Thankfully, it has been a year and half since I quit smoking, and I am so proud of myself. 

A couple of tips for you smokers out there read this before you try to quit:

1.  You can't be too hard on yourself if you quit and start back up.  Almost all smokers try quitting SEVERAL times before they succeed.  I know it's a little discouraging, however, if you are hard on yourself if just makes you want to smoke even more!

2.  I personally, cannot do the 'Set a date and Quit then'.  It always seemed like when I tried to do that something inevitably came up that stressed me out and that date would come and go...

3.  If cold-turkey is for you do it that way!  If the patch works, DO IT that way!  You have to find out what works for you.  I tried: cold-turkey, the pill, the gum, the rubber band method, lozenges, the inhaler and what finally worked for me were the patches.

4.  When you find, and I say "WHEN" because you will and you can! So, WHEN you find what works for you FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS!  Do not stop whatever it is that you are doing because you may 'FEEL' like you are smoke free.  I don't know how many times I did that.  I would do the patch and stop after 7 days.  Well, there is a reason there are directions on the back of the box, FOLLOW THEM!

5.  You need to stay positive, if you 'CHEAT' a little just take it as a bump in the road.  You have been smoking for how long?  Now, it takes 21 days to build a habit and 1 day to break a habit.  REMEMBER THIS!  If you FEEL or SAY you CANNOT do this YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO DO IT!  You have to stay positive, and ignore or forget the 'other team' scoring on you and keep moving forward!

6. Celebrate SMALL VICTORIES!  If you went a whole week without smoking go somewhere and get an ice cream cone, or celebrate it however, you seem fit (WITHOUT SMOKING!)

7.  Keep track of each day.  I used a calendar and had it marked off when the next patch started and how many days had passed.  My goal was 100 days.  I know sounds like a lot, and I thought I was never going to get there.  However, I marked the calendar off EVERYDAY and counted to my 100 day mark and calculated how much I was saving everyday.  As of RIGHT NOW I have saved a total of $5,090 for the 509 day I have been smoke-free. 

8.  Try not to do it alone!  Sometimes, you just have to do it alone, and that is ok too!  My husband and I quit smoking at the same time and we had each other to support the other one.  Surprisingly, we didn't say hey "Do you wanna go get a smoke?"  We NEVER said anything about smoking as much as we wanted to sometimes.  With the both of us smoking we smoked a pack and a half each day totaling about $10 a day.

9.  Stay away from people that are smoking during the hardest time, the first 100 days.  And, then SLOWLY introduce people back into your life that smoke.  It's been 509 days and we still try to stay away from people we know that smoke.  Although, now I have had people smoking in front of me and I didn't even realize it until they were gone.


NocoDerm CQ Stop Smoking Aid

10.  DO NOT DO MORE THAN ONE GOAL AT A TIME!  Quitting smoking is hard enough.  DO NOT subject yourself to quitting smoking, losing 20 lbs, eating healthy and exercising everyday.  Quitting smoking is HARD, but doing a hundred other things is even harder when you are quitting smoking.  Just stick to the quitting smoking for a while and after your 100 day mark then you can add something SMALL then!

11.  If you smoke at home, stay away from home.  I went on a lot of walks with my family during that time.  Walking may not be for you, it worked great for us.  We quit at the end of April and went for walks all the time.  If you live in the country, walk around your yard.  STAY BUSY!  Organize a closet, clean your basement, clean out your car, have a garage sale with the stuff you want to get rid of, clean out the garage, organize the shed, go through old childhood things and de-clutter.  There are a million things you can do to get your mind off of smoking.  I actually, downloaded the game 'Sodoku' on my phone and played that like crazy!  I am sure my kids and my husband wanted my attention at times, however, I just needed to 'get away' for a minute or two.

12.  Ok, here is another TIP:  quit something small before you quit smoking.  Preferably, something that triggers a cigarette.  For me I drank coffee and pop.  So, I knew I was going to need my coffee so I gave up pop instead.  I only drank 1 pop on Friday for over a year.  And, then I eventually gave up pop.  However, I looked forward to that pop on Friday like you would not believe.  That was so rewarding.  I did that for a few weeks before I actually quit smoking.  If you drink alcohol try to give it up as much as possible.

13.  Stay away from ALCOHOL.  When I would have a drink I would smoke even more...  So, for a while after quitting smoking I didn't have a single drink.  I am not much of a drinker anyway, but I still stayed away from alcohol. 

Ok, so now that you have my tips you can quit right now right?!  I know, it seems like a long way away.  However, it's closer than you think.  I woke up one morning I had the patches at the house and I just quit.  It just felt right to quit that day and I have not had a smoke since. 

Good Luck!  You can do it, and keep telling yourself that!