How to quit smoking, my experience

Quitting smoking is certainly a difficult task but it is not impossible: with the right tips even the most ardent smokers can get rid of this bad addiction forever. In this article I will tell you about my experience, hoping it will help those who have decided to say goodbye to cigarettes .

Stop smoking: motivation and willpower are needed

To quit smoking you need motivation and willpower and anyone can give up this bad habit, including heavy smokers.

With the right motivation, in fact, no nicotine patches or gum, electronic cigarettes or other cigarette substitutes are needed and even those who smoke many cigarettes a day for several years can get rid of the addiction in a short time.

First of all, write on a piece of paper the reasons that lead you to quit smoking : generally those who want to quit smoking are driven by health reasons and want to get rid of shortness of breath, yellowed teeth and fingers, sore throat and cough, as well as of the fear of getting seriously ill.

The reasons may also be economic, or you may be driven by the desire to rediscover the freedom to enjoy a movie or a walk without thinking about the cigarette, so freely write down everything that comes to mind.

After having written down the motivations that push you to get rid of cigarettes, prepare a diary . The diary must contain daily tables in which you will indicate all the cigarettes you will smoke in a day and you will have to note the time, the progressive number and the reason why you are smoking .

From the moment you start filling in the diary, always keep it with you, preferably with the cigarette pack.

The diary is very useful because it will help you keep track of smoked cigarettes, will clarify the reasons why you are about to smoke and will drastically reduce the number of cigarettes smoked during the day: you will notice that after a week you will have reduced by at least half the number of cigarettes smoked .

Writing down the reason why you are about to smoke will be very useful to understand why you smoke and to replace the act of lighting your cigarette with another activity: in fact you often smoke out of boredom, to take a break or because you are in a bad mood and the cigarette can be replaced with a phone call to a friend, a walk or five minutes of meditation to regain calm and lost energy.

After a week of starting to complete the diary, you gradually reduced your cigarettes, reducing the total of cigarettes smoked by one to four cigarettes a day and coming to smoke three to five cigarettes after ten days. To do this, spend as much time as possible between one cigarette and the next, trying to postpone the moment you turn it on.

Every day, especially in the most difficult moments, reread your motivations and continue to complete the diary . After ten days, commit not to smoke for three days : it's only three days, you can do it!

Stop smoking, how to resist without cigarettes

The first days without cigarettes are certainly the most difficult but you have already reduced the number of cigarettes smoked and you have already learned to eliminate many cigarettes replacing them with another one.

After the first three days you will have eliminated the nicotine from your body, so you will only have to eliminate psychological addiction . In moments when you feel like you can't resist without smoking, simply do something else : nibble on a carrot, drink a glass of water, go for a walk, brush your teeth, drink a relaxing herbal tea, call someone, reread your reasons. The urge to smoke will pass within a few minutes and will decrease from time to time until it disappears.

Throw away cigarettes, lighters and ashtrays and for the first time stay away from situations that resemble cigarettes, trying to replace habits that lead you to want to smoke: for example, if after coffee you feel like smoking, for a few days replace the coffee with a cup of tea or ginseng.

After a few weeks you will realize that quitting smoking was simpler than expected and you will only have to continue on this path: in order not to start again it is sufficient not to smoke anymore and not even give in to a shot. In fact, it only takes one shot, even months or years later, to risk falling back into the flawed vanishing efforts made, but if you do not fall into temptation you will be free from addiction and you will remain happy ex-smokers for a long time.

If you need additional help, you can contact LILT, which periodically organizes free routes in various cities to help you quit smoking, or you can subscribe to one of the many groups on Facebook to receive support from those who have already stopped or are quitting smoking: union is strength and together you have more chances of success.