Don't put it off any longer. If its been in the back of your mind for a while, start working on your plan now! You don't have to stop smoking today or even this week, just set a quit date. That's the first step!

I smoked a pack a day for nearly 14 years. I tried to quit many times. I tried patches, I tried gum, I tried lozenges. I researched acupuncture treatment, and I was very close to signing up for hypnosis. Ultimately I decided to go cold turkey and I'm glad I did. Nicotine withdrawal, especially for long term smokers, is no joke. It is not shameful to get some help. The most important thing is to kick it so whatever plan you come up with is ok, just come up with a plan!

Today starts my 2nd week as a non smoker again, and I feel great. One week clean is certainly not out of the clear, but since I went cold turkey I am through the worst of it and the cravings are 99% gone. There have been several threads on this topic in the past few months, and I was inspired by them. If I can inspire even 1 other person with this thread, it will be worth it. And I want to post this while everything is fresh on my mind, and also as further accountability. Accountability has been a part of my process, and this will help me reinforce my resolve to make sure I never light up another cigarette again.

I want to recommend going cold turkey like I did and I want to provide some tips for success. The reason I never had success in the past is because of the cessation aids I used. The patches, gum, etc. relieve your need for nicotine while you try to get over the psychological need to smoke. For me this just made it harder and elongated the process. You know its going to suck, you know its going to be hard, face it HEAD ON and get it over with. I am so glad I did and I want to share some tips:

Please note that these are guidelines for a cold turkey plan, but certainly can be incorporated into a plan using a cessation treatment.

1) SET A DATE:

I cannot reinforce how important this is. I recommend planning several months in advance, so whatever start date you set will be reinforced over and over again mentally as the day approaches. Convincing yourself that you will be successful will be greatly help in achieving success, and this all begins with setting a date.

2) TELL EVERYONE:

Tell everyone you are quitting and what day you will quit. Tell your family, tell your friends, tell your coworkers. Tell people you know that hate smoking and are irritated by your habit. You want to be held accountable --- you want to know that if you fail you will most certainly be given shit by people for not sticking to your plan/word.

3) GET OUT OF YOUR ELEMENT:

In the past I tried to incorporate quitting into my daily routine, and that just makes it so much tougher. In the past when I failed, a lot of it had to do with stress from work. My job is extremely stressful, but then again, I don't think there are many jobs that aren't stressful. It sucks dick to waste vacation time on this... but take vacation time. Your chances of success will be so much higher. Take vacation and get out of town. Your daily routine has so many triggers that will make you think of smoking. Part of the trick to getting through is passing the time. Being in a new or different place will help with that.

My dad has a house in the mountains. I went there for the week. I was by myself, and its secluded setting was perfect. I stocked up on food and planned plenty of activities to keep me busy. I wanted to do this alone and I recommend the same to anyone else. But if you have a supportive gf/bf/wife/husband, they may be able to hlep you succeed, as long as they can accept the fact that you will be a basketcase for at least a cpl days.

My alternate plan was to get a hotel room in a nearby city (but not in my town) for the week. Sure it will cost you a few bucks, but it will be worth it financially if you are successful in quitting. Stop for a moment and calculate how much you spend annually on cigarettes.

4) CUT OUT ALCOHOL, CAFFEINE, AND THC

These were all triggers for me. Caffeine is not too bad, I consider it the least of the 3. I basically just made sure I didn't drink any coffee and limited how much soda I drank. I tried to drink plenty of water. Alcohol is a huge trigger. I think you can drink if you want to, but you have to be aware that your nicotine cravings will be much, much worse if you drink. You really should try to limit your exposure to triggers so if you can avoid drinking, do it.

I know people who have tried to quit by smoking weed whenever they needed a cigarette. This is not smart imo. Smoking is smoking. THC is not highly addictive like nicotine. But half of the process is getting out of the habit of inhaling smoke into your lungs. You don't have to quit weed forever, just cut it out until you are over your nicotine addiction. For me personally, I plan to cut it out almost entirely. I might partake from time to time on a special occasion, but I'm at a point in my life where I don't enjoy it like I used to.

5) EXERCISE YOU LAZY FUCK

I am not the most active person in the world. I exercise minimally, but I am not in the habit of hitting the gym every other day. Exercise was critical to my process however. First off, physical activity releases happy chemicals in the brain. You're gonna need them. The first few days absolutely suck, and exercising will help make you feel better. It also helps you sleep at night. The worst problem in the first few days for me was insomnia. Without being physically tired it probably would've been even harder to fall asleep. Also, you are going to eat more and potentially gain weight. Exercising will help minimize the risk of weight gain. The whole purpose of quitting for me is to become healthier. So far I have kept with my exercise regimen and I haven't gained any weight at all. I haven't altered my diet -- in fact I have been indulging in good food as a reward to myself. Its pretty amazing how much more flavorful food is when you aren't smoking.

In addition I would recommend any special exercise systems that help clear toxins from you system. Personally I practice Tai Chi and it helped immensely. I hear yoga is great at clearing your system as well, and I'm sure there are others. Even if you just pickup an instructional DVD on one of these systems and try to learn, it will be beneficial.

6) STAY BUSY

I don't recommend a tight schedule of activities for each day --- you might feel physically sick at certain points, I sure as hell did. But give yourself plenty of options for activities that will help pass the time. I was in a secluded mountain home with no cell service and no internet, so during the day I chose from hiking/fishing/exploring, etc, and then for nighttime activities I had my xbox and laptop. I brought season one of House (lol made me paranoid about getting cancer anyway) and luckily the new fallout game came out last week and I was able to kill a cpl hours almost daily on that game.

Time killers are essential --- sleep is a good one. Sleep the fuck in if you can.

That's basically it. You can add your own guidelines to your plan, but the most important thing is to have a plan and to put some thought into it --it does wonders.

GL!

This is super tl;dr, so thanks if you made it this far.
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or need any support.
Special thanks to joeschmo for his helpful pms as I was working on my plan.

#4 is the problem (not so much the THC). I love coffee, and drinking a few beers. Don't see that stopping.

It isn't how you quit but why you quit imo.


http://www.adamlight.net/personal-de...a-good-reason/

I quit cold turkey roughly 3 months ago, you are going to go through times where you get awful/random cravings. I'll go like weeks without even thinking about smoking (haven't cut back drinking), and then I'll randomly be sitting at home and get an awful urge. It probably will take an extremely long time to get completely in the clear, but its nothing that you can't overcome. GL

 

Originally Posted by cdmalgee

Congratulations, Glo4m. Don't ever touch another one. EVER.

I'm getting ready to make another attempt in ~3 weeks.

I won't. Part of the process for me was knowing that if I am tempted, I will remember all that I went through to kick the habit. I don't want to go through those first few days again.. ever. GL in your attempt, pm me for advice/support.

 

Originally Posted by tamayo85

congrats, keep it up man

people who cant quit smoking (yet say they will time and time again) are pathetic imo...i understand it's difficult, but how fucking weak are you guys? how do you not snap stop after knowing how much damage this is going to do to you? it's completely mind bottling

It's different for everyone, but it is a real-deal addiction. Even knowing the damage its doing to you and the health risks its still very tough to quit. But where I'm at now I feel like a complete idiot for ever picking up that first cig.

 

Originally Posted by negativeROI

I quit cold turkey roughly 3 months ago, you are going to go through times where you get awful/random cravings. I'll go like weeks without even thinking about smoking (haven't cut back drinking), and then I'll randomly be sitting at home and get an awful urge. It probably will take an extremely long time to get completely in the clear, but its nothing that you can't overcome. GL

thanks man, i appreciate the heads up and I anticipated it being several months before I am over it completely. as stated accountability has been a part of the process for me, so posting/talking about it will hopefully help keep my resolve when faced with temptation. i am glad im through the toughest part but i know its not over completely yet.

 

Originally Posted by stackinsideways

I will be turning 25 in a little over a month... hitting that number has deff made me sit back and evaluate life a little more...

I see myself quitting real soon here

So weird, I pretty much went through the same shit (turned 25 3 months ago). Told myself I would quit when I turned 25.

Also, you need to become obsessed with something else. I go to the gym like 6...sometimes 7 days a week and have been ever since I quit. I feel like it helps me in the sense that if I'm going to invest that much time in the gym then I shouldn't be adversely affecting my health by smoking.

 

Originally Posted by Bigblind Popper

im glad i finally found a post of yours that i can agree with. "Part of the process for me was knowing that if I am tempted, I will remember all that I went through to kick the habit. I don't want to go through those first few days again.. ever." this frame of mind is what got me thru. im goin on 3 and 1/2 years. if you die early cause of lung cancer it will severly diminish your chances of dying in a greese fire.... so keep up the good work!

HATERS GONNA...be...umm....weirdly supportive and i dont really know how to respond... thanks? :)

Im thinking of quitting (again). Been smoking 12 years already (Almost half my life.)

I just recently broke up with my long term g/f and that has motivated me to stop being such a slob.

Signing up for the gym today (first time ever) and gonna work on the cigs. Gotta cut back on the weed to quit the cigs.

Plus I want to be able to say Im absurd on the reg like FWK.

GL Glo4m

You lost me at #4

more power to ya though