Tips for Quitting Smoking For Good!

[MaraPetra]

If you're thinking about quitting smoking, congratulations on thinking about cleaning out your "temple"! You'll be taking charge of your health,and your life. Smoking is a leading cause of death world-wide, and leads millions to an early death. Don't let the Lord call you home sooner than He has to.

YOU CAN BE FREE OF NICOTINE ADDICTION

Your body starts healing immediately after you stub out that last cigarette. Your lungs try to clear out the tarry, sticky goo that smoke has deposited in your lungs' air sacs...That's that hacking cough a smoker usually has. Within days, you find that things taste and smell differently.

Clearing the nicotine out of your system for good also is completed within 4 days. Yep...That's it! However, the "habit" part of the addiction can take months, and in some cases years, to overcome. But rest assured, this addiction CAN be overcome. You CAN be successful.

You CAN be a non-smoker!

One of the hallmarks of nicotine addiction is a lowered self-esteem. You may be on this forum, looking at successful "quit" stories, and thinking to yourself that these people were somehow less addicted than you are, that they are "stronger" than you are, or that they are just "better" than you are! This is SO not the case! Everyone here has had those thoughts, and they come with the territory. Rest assured, there are those here(me among them!) whose friends and families never thought they could quit.

With God, all things are possible. You're among those that have struggled,

NO PERSON'S "QUIT" IS THE SAME

Every person who has quit smoking has their own tips and tricks for their personal, long-term success. Some quit "cold turkey", some use nicotine replacement therapy (NRT's) such as patches or gum, some use Chantix (Champix in the UK), and others use alternative homeopathic replacements. No nicotine cessation product works the same for everyone, which is why there is such a vast variety of quit-smoking paraphanelia out there.

No matter which method you use to quit, you're going to get cravings. Your body will demand, in an anxious and terrible way, its nicotine fix! But rest assured, these cravings last an average of only five minutes. You only have to get through those next five minutes...The craving will subside, and you will be one step closer to "the peace".

THE ELUSIVE STATE OF PEACE

Yes, "the peace" does exist! It's that state you get to when all of your withdrawal symptoms are gone, and you learn to live life without the horrible addiction of cigarettes. Imagine, God gives us a state of mind where we spend every second of every day without EVER wanting a cigarette!

It's there, if you want it. You'll have to sacrifice your comfort for a while, and your sanity. But it really is worth it.

WISDOM COMES FROM EXPERIENCE

Look over the tips below, and try the tips and tricks in your quit!

For those who are actively quitting, please feel free to post what works or has worked for you on this thread.

God bless!

 

[MaraPetra]

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING ~ God helps you through this! There's been many times where the only thing keeping me from borrowing a cigarette from my co-worker was a prayer for God to make me stronger. Quitting did wonders for my prayer life, and brought a closer understanding as to what God wants from me. He asked that I make my body a temple to Him. Quitting smoking does that.

TAKE IT A DAY AT A TIME ~ It's easy to get depressed if you think, "I'll never smoke again", "I miss it", etc. How about thinking, just for today, I won't smoke. For the first few months of my quit, I had to promise myself that I would start smoking again if I knew I was close to death! Hey, whatever gets you through the crave without smoking. I'm past that stage, but those words to myself made it easier to not light up.

ICE WATER ~ Water detoxifies the body, and helps you to clean out all the toxins of smoking. For some reason, a glass of ice water can stop a crave cold!

SUGARLESS GUM OR HARD CANDIES ~ These items can keep your mouth busy, and give you something to do instead of "mindless" snacking. Quitting smoking slows down your metabolism, so you don't want to replace cigarettes with high-calorie foods or mindless eating.

AVOID TEMPTATION ~ You may have to change out your routines as you quit. You may want to find an alternative to your morning coffee, if coffee is a big trigger. Or, you may have to change around your computer so that you aren't tempted to smoke there. Changing your drive to work, who you visit and when you go out may also change.

AVOID ALCOHOL ~ Alcohol and cigarettes sort of go together, so it's no wonder that drinking alcohol can make you seriously crave. Avoid alcohol for the first few months of your quit.

EXERCISE ~ One of the miracles of quitting is that your lungs, in most cases, increase their capacity within weeks. You'll find exercising a great way to get those endorphins flowing and keep craves at bay. Plus, even a 5-minute walk is beneficial to a body. Don't forget to check with your doctor before you start any exercise regimen.

THE McDONALD'S STRAW PLACEBO ~ In the first few weeks of my quit, this was a lifesaver. I noticed that McDonald's straws were exactly the diameter of a cigarette. Right before I quit smoking, I took a straw, cut it to the length of a cigarette, and placed a clean cigarette filter in it. Just having something to hold was awesome! For the first three weeks, I would go outside and "smoke" that straw. Yeah, I know, it was strange. After a few weeks, the main withdrawals subsided, and I gradually lost the need for the placebo.

FIND SOMETHING NEW TO DO! ~ If smoking a cigarette takes 5 minutes, then a pack-a-day smoker "wastes" 100 minutes, or an one and two-thirds hours a day. It doesn't sound like much, until you realize that means you were smoking:

11.67 hours per week
50.69 hours (that's over 2 days wasted!) per month, or
608 hours ( 25.3 days, or over THREE & A HALF WEEKS) per year

You're going to need to find something new to do, my friend, because you've suddenly freed up a huge chunk of time! Reading new books, finding a new hobby, or spending time with loved ones are good alternatives. Or, you can...

REWARD YOURSELF ~ Make sure you celebrate your quit milestones, no matter how small! A week "smober" might not seem like a lot to a nonsmoker, but if you're quitting, that one week can seem like forever! Reward yourself. Work out how you'll treat yourself for each goal accomplished.

TRACK YOUR PROGRESS ~ The Internet has a bunch of great "quit tracker" proggies for quitting smoking. Mine says:

I am 1 y 1 months, 2 weeks, 3 days & 18:10 hours into my precious life as a nonsmoker. Had I not been set free, 12,408 cigarettes would have polluted & poisoned my body. I have added 1 months, 1 week, 6 days & 2:00 hours to my life just by quitting! I have saved $1,551.00. Wow!

A google search will bring up a bunch of great ones. From experience, it's fascinating to see how quickly those numbers add up. You want to see how far you've come.

 

[MaddiesDad]

Awesome and thanks. I have been smoke free over 2 years.

 

[bydluv4Jesus]

Thanks for posting this- i am an on again off again smoker and really need to get this under control! So be praying for me

 

[~Amped88~]

Thank you for posting these great ideas. I have quit smoking since May 4th (my birthday). I will most assuredly use some of these ideas. Can't wait to be smoke free!!

 

[FireyAngel]

These are great tips. What a blessing you are for posting this!

 

[TealTuesday]

i must be lazy because it's all too much to read and do. lighting up is the loser's way they say. shrugs here.

 

[Kathleen111]

Six months smoke free here. Wish I would have read this about six months ago. Don't worry, because it's still a nightmare for me. I'll take all the tips I can get. I do have a few of my own:

Swimming and water sports seems to help since I don't know anyone who has ever smoked in the water. I have never known anyone who smoked in the shower or taken too many showers.

You're going to crave another cigarette whether you have another one or not.

Keep a list in your pocket of all the people you have known who have died from cancer. Look at that list anytime you want a cigarette. There are more people who have died from smoking than that one legendary 95 year old man/woman who smoked 3 packs a day. The odds are quit or die.

It's a whole lot easier to lose 25 lbs. than it is to lose cancer.

If you are to the bronchitis/pneumonia phase, the incurable disease such as COPD/ Emphesema are next.

Your teeth are disgusting. Make a trip to the dentist to have the tar and goo sandblasted off and ask to see it in them before cleaning in the special mirrors. Your lungs look the same and even worse because there is no lung cleaner every six months.

You will feel 1000% better in no time and still want a cigarette. I echo the pray with an emphasis on replace an unhealthy obsession with a healthy obsession. There is none better than daily meditation. Any daily meditation book or an automatic e-mail. If you can read this, you can read one little paragraph, a day, every day, every morning or night.

Smoking suppresses certain emotions. You will rediscover which ones. Most likely others will tell you or ask you just what has gotten into you? For me, it was anger. Tell people "I just quit smoking" and they will break out the kid gloves, because you are a basketcase. I WANT MY PACIFIER! GIVE ME MY BINKY! You may feel like an idiot but you look like an even bigger one when you were smoking yourself to death. Others are much more tolerant and forgiving than you thought when you express rather than suppress your true emotions. Everyone gets madder than a wet hen or cries like a baby sometimes. An emotional corpse doesn't take long to be the real deal.

 

[ahiggs]

i had tried many times to quit. i tried for me, i tried for wife, i tried for my kids, and unfortunately it never worked. i prayed and asked God to take them from me. i never quit until i got my prayer right, i asked Him to help me quit...been smoke free for 3 years this past May...my advice for anyone that has quit. just don't ever smoke another one. i know that sounds simple, but i know that if i even picked up one i would be hooked again. once you get the nicotine out of your system the cravings will pass quick enough. fyi i still get cravings, but i know that it would be like spitting in God's face if i started again, because He is the one that helped me quit. the cravings just remind me of what he has done for me (not just the smoking)

 

[Carolyn H]

I think everyday of quitting. I hate smoking already. I quit for 6 months once, and then started again. I remember what quitting feels like...hell, and I am not looking forward to going there again...

 

[Kathleen111]

Carolyn,

The average smoker quits 5-6 times before quitting for good. We get good at quitting until we quit for good. The closer you are to that 5th or 6th "big quit," the more likely it is the big one.

The important thing is not to quit quitting. Try again. And again, again, and again. If at first you don't succeed...

I haven't heard of a smoker ever regret quitting. I have heard of smokers who regret ever starting or starting again.

Kudos for six months once! I bet you weren't born with a cigarette in your mouth? And you coped with life and all its stresses without a cigarette. How far did you get before you rue the day you first smoked? Remember those days and years?

This is my 4th "big quit" at six months. I'm trying to beat my record. That first year is miserable and please keep seeking support. The more you reach out for help, the more likely you will find a method that works for you. This is so miserable that I am doing my best to remember just how miserable I am so I don't wind up quitting again. I remember that smoking was killing me. So it is misery either way, just which kind. Just talking about quitting, helps. It does.

Kathleen

 

[~Amped88~]

I have quit for a couple of months now. I am extremely happy now that i do not smoke. I smell and feel better, and no wheezing up any stairs or whatnot. The way i quit was pretty simple, my wife said I must quit. I dont want to feel her wrath so i am smoke free.

 

[Carolyn H]

I am praying and thinking...and I need to set a date and psych myself up for it....ugh!!!

 

[Kathleen111]

It doesn't have to be today. This is what happens to your brain and body:

Nicotine is a stimulant and it feeds anxiety. It makes mental, emotional, and physical anxiety worse to smoke. The first couple of days of quitting is detox. Detox is usually a "crash" slumped over effect as your brain and body finally get a break from those every 20 minute hyper mental alert cravings followed by a rush of nicotine if you satisfy the cravings. You are a nervous wreck FROM SMOKING. Not the other way around. Smoking and nicotine is not a depressant, sedative, or calming at all. It is a nervous habit and a subtle yet powerful addiction always wanting more.

You will recover from anxiety attacks quicker without smoking, if you are a "stress smoker," where any stress signals it is time to make it worse with nicotine.

Your brain is used to sending out a signal for nicotine anytime there is a stressor, usually about every 20 minutes as it switches from left to right hemispheres.

Put your finger over your nostrils. Which side are you breathing through, left or right nostril? That's what side is in charge for the moment and it won't stay there any longer than 20 minutes before it switches over to the other side. It is a brain habit as much as a body habit and you can switch hemispheres without a cigarette. That is what is waking you up at night, with "HELLO! I'm switching give me a cigarette!" It doesn't take long for you to switch without nicotine and the grey spagetti is grateful for the rest. You will sleep sounder and not stress for nicotine every 20 minutes in less than 2 weeks and your anxiety will drastically reduce.

 

[Carolyn H]

 

[Kathleen111]

Hi Carolyn,

I wanted you to know I was thinking of you and I did talk to a lot of exsmokers for a long time before I quit. It's a positive sign. We are the company we keep. We can't go back to being nonsmokers. Just hanging around people who know exactly how you feel helps a lot. It makes quite a difference to long term abstinence to have exsmoker friends to lean on.

 

[MaraPetra]

Hi, Carolyn!

It's okay to be scared. It's okay to feel like you're going into a "hellish place". It's okay to doubt your own strength, even.

God is behind you on this 100%.

I went through a bunch of quits. I think my final one was my 19th one, and I didn't think it was my last one. If you're like me, you're probably thinking, "Okay, here I go again. This is going to be agony." You would be right, of course. Quitting is hell.

But there's something else there, something beyond the six months where you started smoking again. There's waking up, drinking coffee and reading on the computer without even thinking about smoking. There's driving to work without thinking about smoking. There's walking in a mall or a store for hours and hours and not thinking about smoking. There's a life after nicotine.

One of the most important things to have when you quit is a plan for when things get rough, and the craves get really bad. Smoking covers up emotions, and it gives you what feels like a "moment" where you can call a time out from the stress, and go smoke. However, that moment is a lie. Regardless of whether you take 5 minutes to smoke, or 5 minutes to stare at a cloud, your "crave" is going to be gone by that time. Whether you choose to smoke, or drink a glass of ice water, your crave will be gone by that time.

Quitting smoking is like starting smoking. It's a choice. For the addicted mind, though, the choice to quit is much more painful than the choice to start.

Do you remember what made you start back up again? Look over the situation, and look at what could have been done differently. Aim to overcome the circumstance successfully. THIS is the secret to success...To be able to live smoke-free through moments which would otherwise have you lighting up. Again, make your plan. Have strategies ready to deal with the urges as they come along.

There is no "perfect" time to quit. There is no "less stressful" time, no "not-so-busy" time, no "more emotionally stable" time to quit. Life will continue to bombard you with difficult situations after you quit. The difference will be how you handle the challenges when smoking is not an option.

For example, I quit on January 7. Here is a basic timeline:

Jan 7...Quit smoking
Feb 7...Argued with husband, smoked 1/2 cigarette, wondered what in the world was I doing?! Never smoked again.
March 15...Husband got tired of job, found another one which required him to leave for 1 month of training.
March-April...Step-son went to live with mother
April 7...Drove 8 hours to see husband at training facility for one weekend.
April 26...Husband returned
May 10...My grandmother, who helped raise me, begain to have failing health
May 21...My grandmother quit eating
June 1...Death watch
June 5...My grandmother died. I was in the room with her. One minute she was breathing, the next, God called her home.
June 7...After helping my parents arrange the funeral, funeral takes place
July...7-7-7 on CF happens. I flip my wig, tell off Erwin, and resign from staff.

So, you can see from above that my life didn't get less stressful after quitting. But with prayer and with a plan, I got through it all without the first cigarette. I faced the emotions. And God made me better for it.

He will do the same for you

 

[jwu]

There are two things which helped me quit:

Whenever i got a craving for a cigarette i imagined the boss of a cigarette company standing next to me, trying to convince me to have that cig..."come on...you want it...ruin your lungs, smell bad, i don't care... but give me your money!!!".
It helped me to refrain from smoking just so that nasty guy in my mind doesn't get what he wants. Basically it utilized the bullhead effect to my advantage...it sounds cheesy but it worked very well for me.

The other thing is setting up a reward, as it already has been mentioned here. I talked to my boss about it, and i asked him if for a few weeks i could leave from work earlier if i didn't smoke - about the time earlier that i otherwise would have spent smoking (i work with flexible times, so being absent isn't a problem).
I expained to my boss that for now this would be neutral in terms of my work performance (whether i leave 15 minutes earlier or spend it smoking works out to the same effect), but that if it helps me to quite smoking, then i wouldn't waste those 15 minutes a day in the future anymore. My boss agreed, and this really helped me through the work day.

 

[AllFoHim]

Awesome and thanks
i stop smoking over than 2 years

 

[Lainy68]

MaraPetra, thanks for the posting--I'm finally at the point where my employer is actually paying for quit smoking help 100%--so I am jumping on it. Your tips that you posted are extremely helpful, I have quit smoking yet--but I have in the past and it's been one heck of a rollercoaster ride when I have and I'm very anxious this time around. GAH!!!