Thread: Cold Turkey or Stopping Gradually?

I tried to stop smoking twice, started them e-cig things, quickly went back to old school smoking. Found out that I wasn't mentally ready/willing to stop smoking. Still smoking now and happy with it. Damn, gave up enough goodies in the past. Would be happy if one pack could last me 2 days instead of only half a day though, so this new year I will reduce the tobacco intake, but giving it up completely ? Nah, not for me.

I found that what worked for me, after the hardest part which was making the decision that I was quitting, not that I was trying to give up, but the very real and final decision that that was it, I was done with the smokes, no more, I'm a non smoker, after that I found if I named it, and I named it the addiction, and hated it and fought it, smacked it around everytime it popped up, it was a lot easier to beat.

I was a bit crazy for the first week. It helped that it was during the holidays, in fact these very holidays 3 years ago, so my routine was broken and many of the triggers, my daily habits, sitting down with a coffee at my desk (light up) get out of the car (light up) were broken so that made it a bit easier.

I didn't deny my enjoyment of the smoke, just the addiction, so at the bar for example, I would light a cigarette and hold it without puffing, (just to piss it, the addiction, off). I would pick up a pck of smokes lying on the table and open and smell them.

Everything hurt at one stage or another that first week and it was the addiction telling me "have a smoke and your headache will go away" " have a smoke and your bones will stop hurting" "have a smoke and your stomacheache will go away".

I swear, nearly every bit of me at some stage hurt, and always the addiction was there in the background, saying "have a smoke and the pain will go away".
But as long as I'd named it and recognized it for the devil it was I could deny it.

I'd wake up with such a start in the night you couldn't imagine. and had the most vivid hallucinagenic dreams you could imagine, I'd break out in sweats and muscles would twitch, it was a wild ride man, but everytime, I named it, hated it and denied it it's pleasure.

Now after 3 years almost to the day I don't even get the urge anymore, it took about 2 years to stop coughing up phlegm and for my taste buds to kick in again (that was a delight).

Apart from the physical benefits (I can swim, run and generally be more active a lot more without running out of breath) one of the best things is how good I feel about myself for doing it at all, let alone in such a brutal way.

I was a heavy smoker for 30 years and it was such a part of my life that 5 years ago I couldn't have imagined me actually being a non smoker but here I am, and here you can be to.

Name, it, hate it, deny it.

You'll love yourself for doing it.
Good luck.
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