I quit after being a slave to cigarettes for 11 years of my life. You can too!!!
Sep 14 '00
It has been ten years since I have picked up a cigarette after indulging in this habit for over 11 years of my life. I can honestly say that though the “habit” of smoking is gone, there are still days I suffer with the desire to smoke. This may happen when I am nervous, upset, or around someone who smokes. I even to this day will dream that I have
started smoking again. I will wake up so angry at myself and the dream is as real as life. In the dream I convince myself that I smoke and I rationalize it away as something I will quit easily enough since I’ve already quiet once. I wake up in a real panic when this happens more determined than ever not to smoke again.
Here is how I quit: I had been suffering with the effects of smoking for some time. The weariness and fatigue I would feel after satisfying my nicotine craving was depressing. The coughing in the morning disgusted me. The smell on my clothes and the look of disdain from non smokers made me really think about how good it would feel to quit. I began to look at my smoking as a handicap.
My two concerns were:
1) I would get fat because I would probably replace my habit with eating.
2) How difficult it would be to be around my normal friends who smoked with me.
In the summer of 1990 I came down with a serious illness which pushed me past the “want to” position into the “have to”. I was in bed with an upper respiratory problem and though my desire to smoke was strong I knew that would only exacerbate my problem. I forced myself to drink an abundance of juices. (I have heard that flushing your system with vit. c juices will help rid your body of toxins more quickly and thus relieve your cravings.) I drank a huge glass of juice every time I was tempted. I later exchanged the juice for water.
I slept a great deal of my free time away initially. This helped the first days past quickly. When I awoke I could say, “It’s been 3 days since I’ve had a cigarette.” This was encouraging. I figured if I could last 3 days then I could last a week, then if a week I could last 2 and so on.
I had to give up my morning coffee as I’ve always associated this with my first cigarette of the day. I felt like I was giving up two vices at once. What torture it seemed!!! I replaced my coffee with green tea and drank a ton of that at work as well. Green tea is also supposed to have anti oxidant properties. I took up the tacky habit of chewing sugarless gum. It seemed to help if I had something in my mouth when a craving came upon me.
I started a small exercise program which helped me feel like my body was getting into shape. I slowly increased my pace and endurance level and began setting more goals for myself. This helped keep in check the weight I expected to gain.
I had to ask my friends to respect my decision to quit and not smoke around me at least until I was past the hump. Not all of them were happy for me. I tend to think that misery loves company!! Some were very kind and one even offered to quit with me.
The next thing that seemed to really help is I began to simulate breathing patterns of when I smoked. If I was desperate for a cigarette I would breathe in deeply as if I was taking a drag of one and exhale slowly as if I was releasing smoke from my lungs. This really helped in times of stress. I began to realize the reason I was so reliant
on cigarettes when I was anxious or upset was because of the regulated breathing which calmed me. I learned to do this and it was very helpful I still practice this today ten years later.
Conclusion
Quitting smoking was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I am not a person with tons of will power. I am still amazed and proud of this accomplishment today. If I could do this trust me, you can too!!! I never would have imagined I would be successful. I took it one day at a time and refused to look back. I feel great and am so so so happy that I am living a smoke free life. If this is your goal.....believe you can achieve it!!! It's one of the best things I have ever done for myself.
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Epinions.com ID:
braggio
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Location: Florida
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