Quit smoking cold turkey

Personal Experience
Blogs should not really be full of personal experiences but they are necessary for this How To Guide. Having smoked cigarettes for around 20 years giving up the weed was not going to be easy for me. Still here I am more than another 30 years plus down the road, still smoke free.

I have never smoked a cigarette since the day I quit. That means not even a single drag or puff of someone else’s cigarette. What would be the point of that? As far as I am concerned I am now a non-smoker.

Most of the time these days cigarette smoke smells dreadful to me. However there are still the occasional times when someone’s cigarette smoke smells lovely. This tends to be if I am sat on a beach in the summer sun relaxing.

When I stopped smoking there were a few products available which were designed to help, but not as many as today. However, I choose to go cold turkey and for me that was the right choice. Perhaps it will be for you? However, only you can decide. You know yourself and your addiction better than anyone else.

For those that have read this far and are still considering quitting smoking, the cold turkey way, here is my advice learned the hard way.

A priority is to stay mindful and keep focused. After the initial high you will sink to the depths but there should be light at the end of the tunnel, but not a cigarette light. It does get easier with time but as I have already said, all these years since I stopped smoking, I still get the occasional yen. However, these days it is slight and easily put in its place.

Let’s get started then
Firstly consider all the reason's to quit smoking. Now think about the reasons, if any, to continue puffing away. Write these down, the pros and the cons, and weigh them up against each other.

The reasons to stop may be to:-

• Live longer
• Support someone else
• Be healthier
• Be around for your family and to see them grow up
• Save money
• Smell fresher
• Improve your hair and skin
• Keep looking young
• Be independent of your addiction - In other words be free

In the UK, for example, these days smoking is not as easy as it used to be. Smoking has been banned in all sorts of places and smokers find it hard to indulge their habit.

Today’s the Day
Many people find that setting a day to quit smoking works best for them. Others, like me, for various reasons just say, "right that's it, I am stopping smoking now." Again it is up to you. However, if you procrastinate you will probably never stop smoking.

​Maybe you would benefit from quitting smoking with others. In England, once a year there is an official no smoking day, when many people choose to give up smoking. The UK also offers smoking cessation services which really help some people.

However this How To Guide is all about quitting, smoking the Cold Turkey way, so today is the day.

Will you join me?

It can be hard quitting smoking, if those around you continue. My hubby continued smoking has recently tried to quit but failed.

But we should talk of failure.

Remember that you cannot make someone else quit. Concentrate on YOU.

If you can persuade your significant other to join in it will help. Living in a home that still has a smoker residing there will not be easy. However, the very least others in your home who smoke should be doing is stepping outside to do so.

Smoking around someone who is battling to give up is cruel and thoughtless.

Clearing out your home, locker, desk and the like, from temptations
OK. So you are serious about quitting smoking. However, you know that the spirit is strong but the body is weak. The best thing that you can do is go around your home and desk, for example, with a large carrier bag in hand and put anything smoking related into it.

This means lighters, matches, cigarette papers, tobacco, cigarettes, cigarette money off coupons, ashtrays and so on and so on. Be ruthless. Ensure that there is no stray cigarette left lurking in a pocket or handbag somewhere.

At some point or another your will power will feel stretched and you may waiver in your resolve to stop smoking. If and when this happens you do not need anything smoking related close at hand.

If you are truly joining the non-smoking ranks you should be able to throw all of these items into the trash can. Most of us cannot, however.

If you cannot, make sure that everything is stored well away from you and your home. Some people feel that hanging onto smoking apparel means that you know you are going to fail. I think for some it is just a safety net. Hopefully, in due course you will enjoy burning or disposing of all of these items. Perhaps you could even sell them?

Keeping a diary

• For many people, who are about to quit smoking, keeping a diary is useful. It can help identify your problem times and weaknesses, For example, I always had a cigarette after a meal. This meant that once my meal was finished the cigarette craving was strong. Knowing what are you testing times will help you to avoid failure.
• Initially I just reached for the biscuit barrel but of course those sort of habits cause increased weight.
• Try to have an action plan for such times. Either some exercise, a hobby or, if you must eat, try food such as an apple.
• Keeping a diary, if you are experiencing cold turkey symptoms, may help to keep you focused on what is important and why you are quitting.

Keeping busy
Perhaps you will be fine and not have any cigarette cravings, until you sit down to relax each evening. One of the best pieces of advice I can give is to keep busy. When I finally stopped smoking I was at home for most of the day. In some ways this helped but in other ways it made things worse.

Yes it was good that I was away from fellow smokers. However, I had all the time in the world to indulge my cigarette urges. Here are some of the ways that I kept busy. As an experienced smoker there were many jobs that I could complete whilst I had a fag in my hand. However there were many that I could not. So, I:-

• Baked almost everyday. Money was tight when I was at home and so I made pies, homemade jam, home brewed beer, pastries and more. All of these meant that I was smoke free, well, at least, while I was busy baking and the like.
• I did gardening. We had only recently moved into our home and the garden was fairly large and rambling. Never one to be afraid of a little hard work, I dug this garden, back and front, in fits and starts. If I sat for a while and started to crave a cigarette I would head out into the garden. I had stopped smoking on the April 1 and so I had all of the summer to get to grips with my withdrawal. I planted potatoes, strawberries and tomato plants.
• I went out for regular cycle rides. Once I had exercised a little in the fresh air the smoking cravings vanished.
• I exercised my dogs more than ever and of course they loved it. If I had no cigarettes or money with me there was no way I could indulge in a fag when I was outdoors.
• I decorated the home. Admittedly in the past I had smoked occasionally whilst decorating but not this time. Painting and wallpapering needs both hands anyway.

NOW THAT YOU ARE A NON SMOKER
Please try and be a little tolerant to those who still indulge in cigarette smoking. There is nothing worse than a reformed smoker laying down the law. One thing that you will notice is, no longer smoking sets you free. When you are an addicted smoker you always need to have cigarettes, tobacco or money. The thought of being deprived of your smoke can be really scary. Once that habit or addiction is broken this need will disappear and boy will your bank balance improve.

NOTE:
"Don't Do It. Smokers going cold turkey are more likely to cheat or relapse on their quit smoking plan than those who use nicotine replacement therapy. The urge to have a puff or two, or even to smoke an entire cigarette is easy to give into. Addiction is addiction, however." That advice recommends using a nicotine replacement or other therapy to quit smoking.

But for this blogger doing it cold turkey was the best way.

https://quitsmokingcommunity.org/how-to-quit-smoking/cold-turkey/
https://www.nhs.uk/smokefree