How to Quit Smoking

For smokers, quitting can be the hardest thing one can do in life. I smoked for eight years, I have quit now for two years. When trying to quit smoking the main thing to remember is it is all up to you. You have to really want to quit. You have to put in your mind that you will never smoke again. In fact the key to quitting smoking is very simple, quit.

I tried a few times to quit. The reason why I couldn't quit those times is because I didn't really want to, I didn't make it something I had to do. I tried cold-turkey, that didn't work. I tried cutting back, to wean myself off them, maybe limit myself to a half a pack a day, that didn't work. Again, to quit, you really have to put your mind to it.

The first thing I did was to set a date. I decided on December 11^th, my birthday is January 11^th, so the 11^th is a date I can remember. That way I could keep track of how long I quit so I could brag about it.

After setting a date I decided to try the nicotine gum. I went to Wal-Mart and picked up the cheapest gum I could find. It was an odd feeling the night before I quit realizing that the cigarette I was smoking would be my last one. The next day would be a new start.

I awake the next day and try the gum. In the first weeks you can chew two pieces an hour if needed, and that was fine for me. When I got a craving I chewed the gum, it cured the nicotine craving but the physical addiction was harder for me to break than the mental one. After eight years you are so used to the same routine. Go for a drive, smoke a cigarette. Finish a meal, smoke a cigarette. Not using my hands for smoking was weird. I needed to find something else to do with my hands but smoke. So I became a chronic masturbator. Just kidding, but the physical addiction was the toughest for me.

You will get cravings, you will want a cigarette. To this day I still get cravings. I have dreams about smoking and it is the realest thing ever. I wake up in the morning wondering if I really did smoke one it seems so real. The cravings won't go away, but you have to tell yourself you will not smoke. It takes quite a bit of determination.