How I gave up smoking.

From the age of 15 years I began smoking because it made me feel grown up like an adult. By my-mid 20’s I was a very heavy smoker, fifty to sixty cigarettes daily. I loved smoking and it gave me much pleasure. At the age of fifty-three, which is now 15 years ago, I made up my mind to make a genuine move to quit. I did make some half-hearted attempts over the years by trying to reduce my intake, but this only makes cigarettes taste more enjoyable and who wants to quit when they taste so nice? In my opinion there is only one way. And that’s Cold Turkey. There are many so called aids on the market today but why contaminate your body with another product that may have side effects. I personally think that they are only a crutch.

In reality a week passes by fairly quickly and a week of Cold Turkey is all you need. From then on you are in control, and even though you may feel like the odd cigarette this desire quickly passes.

I set myself a target date to stop smoking about ten days prior to quitting, and for the next ten days continually reinforced my mind that my target date selected was the day I would stop smoking for good. I kept imagining what it would be like to be totally free of this addictive habit. I made up a small card that when doubled over would fit in my shirt pocket. On this card I graphed up 240 squares, each square representing one hour without a cigarette, the object being to place a tick in each square each hour that I went without a cigarette. I figured that after ten days I would be on top of the addiction. As it turned out I was on top and in control after seven days. From your very first tick on the card you are a non-smoker. If you have your very last cigarette before retiring for the night, then in the morning you can immediately add seven or eight ticks to your card and you are well on the way as a non-smoker. If you have many ticks on the card and your weaken and have only one cigarette then you are no longer a non-smoker, but once again a smoker. When you have thirty or forty ticks on your card you certainly don’t want to spoil it by having a fag, and having to start off all over again. I believe that this little card that you created is a real motivation to continue.

I found that the third and fourth day without nicotine was the real testing time and you need to have something that can keep your mind occupied during this period.

A good supply of peppermint candy is also good to have handy. By the fifth day and thereafter the cravings loose there intensity and pass quickly. If you decide to quit I wish you much success.

Jim Lee. July 2002