Many people asked how I did it, or what was the right way to quit smoking. All I can say is If it wasn’t because my wife was pregnant with our first child, I would still be smoking today. I loved smoking, and quitting hadn’t really crossed my mind then. But reality struck me like a bolt of lightning when we visited the gynecologist for the first time. Boy, did he give me a good lecture on the harmful effects of second hand smoke on the unborn baby! I cringed at the thought that my child would be born with any kind of birth defects as a result of my smoking. That was enough motivation for me to quit, really.

I didn’t go cold turkey right away. I tried that a few times on previous occasions, but ended up smoking more! I decided that the best way for me was not to repeat the same mistake, but to try new methods, and that was to cut down on my cigarettes daily. I planned on stopping smoking completely in 2 months. As I was on 20 sticks a day, my plan was:

Day 1-10: 15 sticks
Day 10-30: 10 sticks
Day 31-40: 8 sticks
Day 41-50: 5 sticks
Day 51-60: 3 sticks
Day 61 on: No more cigarettes

I had hoped that this “cutting down” technique could minimize the withdrawals that I had experienced the last time I tried to quit. And indeed it had. As a matter of fact, by around day 53, I had already stopped smoking. I was always ahead of schedule along the way. The trick is to set yourself a realistic target. I feel this is the right way to quit smoking for people who are worried about withdrawals. It is so much easier to completely stop smoking if you’re on 3 sticks a day than if you’ve been smoking a pack a day.

Of course, it wouldn’t be easy to quit without the support and encouragement of my wife. I guess you could say the anxiety of being a first-time parent helped overcome the nicotine addiction as well.

It had been a long time since I’ve had a cigarette. In the course of it all, I still had to fight withdrawals, but the discomfort soon disappeared. It took about 5 months for me to completely forget about smoking, about the same time as the birth of my son. Talk about perfect timing!

I was already completely a non smoker when my son was born. Seeing what a lovely and healthy baby he is, it is indeed not difficult to find just one reason to quit smoking… for my family.

Another Reason To Quit Smoking is a post from: Quit Smoking Aids

It was in high school that Joan Tandy started smoking. Urged on by her friends, she smoked her first cigarette when she was barely out of her teens.
“It looked cool then, and all my friends in school were doing it, so I joined in. In retrospect, I was really stupid to have caved in to peer pressure,” said the 27-year-old programmer.

Joan did try to quit when she was in her early 20s.
“I managed for about a month. But during those few weeks I was smoking socially. So it didn’t work. I picked it up again after going to a party,” she said.
And it didn’t help that all her friends were smokers.
“Usually when I hang out with them, I will have the urge to smoke. After all, they are my friends. I can’t drop them like I dropped cigarettes!” She said laughing.

But after 10 years of smoking a pack a day, Joan decided to call it quits.
“It was late last year. My poor health has been affecting my work, and since the new year was just around the corner, I thought I should make quitting smoking my new year resolution. I tried different ways and means to quit smoking without much success. Then I chanced upon this quit smoking hypnotherapy thing, and haven’t looked back since,” she said.

Although her reason for wanting to quit smoking was because of health, vanity was also part of the reason why she wanted to kick the habit.
“Every time that I had a manicure done, no matter what color I used, they would end up yellowish a day or two later. My hair and hands also reeked of cigarette smoke all the time – no matter how many times I washed them.”
The hardest part to come to term with was her teeth.
“They were so badly stained that when I went to extract a decayed tooth, the dentist actually gave me a free cleaning of my front teeth to make them presentable. Now how insulting was that!”
“It was also devastating to hear people telling me that I looked much older than my actual age. That really hurt,” she said.

For women that don’t care much about their health, these bad experiences can be good motivations to quit smoking.
“Indeed, whenever I have the urge to smoke, I will think about how I used to smell and how unattractive my nicotine-stained teeth and fingers used to be. It’s worked so far,” she smiled.

Joan has also taken up karate once a week to build her stamina.
“Karate is a better way to work out frustrations and stress than cigarettes. Having that puff may have made me feel I had got the frustrations out of the way, but only now do I realize it just added more problems,” she said.

Her advice: “Don’t start. It is easy to pick up that first stick. It is really hard to put down the last one.”

Reasons To Quit Smoking is a post from: Quit Smoking Aids

Eric Owen hopes this will be third time lucky. In his third attempt to quit smoking, he has not picked up a cigarette for 8 months, a personal record, considering that he was on more than a pack a day. His previous record was his second attempt –six and a half months, or 198 days to be exact. His first attempt was a total disaster.

“I tend to smoke whenever I have alcohol. I was at this party where they served alcohol, and I couldn’t resist the temptation when someone offered me a cigarette. That is the reason I picked up smoking again after having quit for more than 6 months,” said the 36-year-old banker ruefully.

This is a classic case. If there is a single most important tip to help quit smoking, it is the word avoidance. Now Eric is much more careful about mixing his vices. He is aware of how vulnerable he is when confronted with both alcohol and cigarette at the same time. He has smoked for more than half his life, at the ripe young age of 16, when he was hanging out with older kids around the block that offer him the occasional cigarette or two.

“I started smoking seriously when I was in college. I had a part-job then and could afford to buy my own,” he said. For almost 20 years, he smoked at least a pack a day.
“I tried to quit smoking twice. I used nicotine patches, gums, basically any kind of medicine to help stop smoking. I managed to go smoke-free for quite a while, until that unfortunate night at the party,” he said.
His final reality check was last year, when he had lung infection and was too sick to work. He ended up spending more than 3 weeks at home alone – his wife had to work during the day.

“It was a really unbearable 3-week. I was too weak to even get out of bed!”
Encouraged by his wife, he decided to quit – once and for all. It also helps that he has an understanding employer.
When he returned to work, “The company organized a talk about the perils of smoking and encouraged us to sign up, which I did. So this is how I quit smoking, by taking that first step.” he said.
“I am happy to say I haven’t picked up a cigarette for 8 months,” he said firmly.

More and more companies have banned smoking in the workplace, and many have even dismantled the smoking rooms. All these measures help, but Eric knows he has to do more. A consequence of which is that he stopped seeing friends who are smokers, or going to parties where alcohol is served. It has not been easy. He also looked for a distraction, and found it in exercising.
“I started exercising the moment I was well. I hit the gym 3 to 4 times a week, and work out for about an hour and a half each time,” he said.

Aside from a sense of personal satisfaction, he has seen his decision pay off in other ways. His blood pressure is no longer dangerously high, because of the exercise and the absence of the harmful chemicals. And he no longer gets breathless each time he climbs up the 3 flight of stairs to his office.

“It is back to normal and I am off medication,” he said, smiling.

His advice to smokers who want to quit: “Stop associating with activities that will generally make you smoke. Avoidance is really one of the best ways to quit smoking. Let your smoker friends know that you are trying to quit smoking. Seek their understanding and tell them you can only meet them if they don’t smoke in your presence. Indirectly, your actions may also be able help someone stop smoking!”

I Quit Smoking is a post from: Quit Smoking Aids