Quit Smoking Suggestions Needed

LordByproduct

Didn't read all the responses you got, but here's how I finally did it (smoked for 15 years, quit 15 years ago):

1) BEFORE you stop, concentrate every time you smoke on how the back of your throat tastes. Really notice that rancid, rotting flavor that lives back there at the base of your tongue. That *kitten* is gross. Tattoo it on your brain.

2) Again, before you stop, concentrate on the tight, almost head-achy feeling you get in your temples when you over-smoke (if that term makes any sense). That just feels so unpleasant. Really seriously yucky.

3) Still before stopping, notice yourself clearing your throat. Notice the texture and the taste of that stuff you're moving around when you do that. That is some of the nastiest goop ever. Like just so disgusting it's hard to imagine. Now notice it some more.

4) Stop any of the behaviors that encourage your smoking before you try to quit cigarettes. Like if you really enjoy a cup of coffee and a cigarette, stop drinking coffee before you tackle smoking. When I stopped cigarettes, I first quit coffee, drinking, and my loser boyfriend. I have since gone back to the coffee and drinking. :drinker:

5) On the day you quit smoking, get rid of the smokes. Either by smoking them or by wetting them down so they disintegrate.

THEN

6) Begin fantasizing about the next time you smoke. Yes, I know the whole point is to QUIT, not to think about starting again. But much of what you're doing when you stop smoking is training your brain to stop (mental stuff), not just getting over the physical withdrawals from nicotine. When I first stopped, I woke in the morning thinking about how I would reward myself at lunchtime with a cigarette. I told myself I would concentrate on getting through the whole morning and then going to a certain store to purchase a certain brand and then go to a certain spot to enjoy it. Then when lunchtime came, instead of actually going out and buying cigarettes, I'd move my reward out to after work, then after my drive home, then tomorrow morning -- each time building my perfect smoking moment in my mind, beginning with buying a pack of smokes. I was very specific. There were times I wanted to smoke something dark and foreign -- Gauloises perhaps -- and other times I wanted more of a straight-forward American flavor like regular Marlboro's or maybe Camels. Sometimes I wanted to smoke on the balcony at my work, sometimes on my sunny back porch, sometimes in my car. Get creative -- this is YOUR fantasy. And it's pretty amazing how satisfying it can be if you give it a shot. Pretty soon I noticed my stretches of time between thinking of smoking grew longer and longer until they were just gone. Was it easy? Oh, hell no. But it worked.

7) This is actually a disclaimer, not an instruction: I made this "system" up. It occurred organically within my own little mind and it worked for me. There is no science behind it and I have no proof that it works except myself. It may help you, it may not. I certainly hope it does!

8) This IS an instruction: Remember to be kind to yourself. It's a hard addiction to kick.

great advice....just one more thought to add. EAT a cigarette, or at least chew one up and really let the taste and disgustingness fix good in your mind. (i have done it, it WAS GROSS) the negative taste/image will be burned into your mind for a long while. this is like what parents used to do to their kids to teach them a lesson.

abilik

many people around me quit smoking after reading Allen Carr's book and never started again. Please give it a try before using pills or patches. The physical addiction only lasts a few days, it is the psychological addiction that is hard to give up

http://www.amazon.com/Allen-Carrs-Easyway-Stop-Smoking/dp/0615482155

TheVimFuego

I've recommended Allen Carr to a couple of people of MFP, both of whom quit and have kept it up for months.

It deprograms you, if you don't want something you can't crave it.

lisa2job

I am 47 years old and recently quit smoking. I smoked for more than 30 years.... I was having surgery and my doctor told me i had to quit before I could have my surgery. so I started with the electronic cig. and they had different strengths , I went straight to the lowest strength after a month of that I then quit ..... I had no real side effects and didnt miss it at all. I have been smoke free for 3 months now...

elishazf

I used to smoke 2-4 packs since I was 16 , but it started affecting my performance in soccer, track and cross country so I quit. what I did may not work for a lot of people but I just went cold turkey and powered through it and haven't smoked since. I didn't chew gum since it can make you bloat haha

Hadley_SM

Bump to read suggestions later! Thanks to the OP!

LordBear

stop cold turkey and man or woman up... depending on the case..

i smoked severall years...finally said f@$#@k it and quit. never went back.

seaKind

there are tons of ways, and something different works for each of us. Mostly, you have to Really Want to Quit, and it's NOT EASY:mad: :ohwell: :frown: :brokenheart: :sad: :explode: :grumble: , how ever you choose to do it. But You Will be Glad you did it once you've done it!

(I was a pack-a-day smoker for 20years. I quit several times, for weeks or months, and once for a couple years. But I never really wanted to quit, and would always allow occasional 'cheats', which always lead to backsliding and failure. This time- birth of our daughter- is the first time I have really really wanted to quit, for good. And so I did. And I am glad...)
good luck :flowerforyou:

diligentjosh

Yes, I want to become a high school science teacher, and I don't want to be a bad influence on the kids I would teach, and the kids I will potentially have. Statistics show that a majority of the people that smoke grew up in a household where their parents smoked. I want to break that cycle, as it is true for my family.

seaKind

smoking is well tagged as an ADDICTION! why else would normal, healthy-minded people do it?

I still wish I could smoke one every now and again but I finally got to where (and you will too!) I can kinda want one, but not really. And I like to smell other people smoking; But NOT stale smoke on a chain-smoker- gag puke!!