How can I quit smoking today?
If you are a smoker, you probably have done some of the shady things I have done as a smoker. Find out how the 7 unusual tips I used to #quit smoking saved my life. You know you need to quit smoking but you can’t. If you have ever committed some of these smoker’s sins, start quitting today.
Have you ever tried to tape broken cigarettes together?
Have you dug in ashtrays looking for a cigarette long enough to re-light?
Have you spent your special money to buy cigarettes like $2 bills or silver dollars you were saving or may have received as gift?
Did you borrow from your kid’s piggy bank?
Have you ever smoked in negative 40 degrees?
Have you ever dug in couch cushions and rolled pennies just for one more pack?
Were you a hard core smoker who actually lit a cigarette in a subway while it was punishable by jail?
Do you find yourself one of the only people you know who still smokes at children’s softball or football games?
Can you still afford to smoke? Do you want to quit smoking but tried everything? Try the 7 unusual tips to quit smoking.
Tips, Tricks and Advice to #quitsmoking that worked for me as crazy as they sound
One of the things I wondered when I finally made it was where in the world did I find all that time to smoke? As they say, if I can do it, ANYONE can do it. Click on the tips below and read my story. I hope it helps you to #stopsmoking. What I know for sure is that I wouldn’t be here today if I didn’t do these seven things. Here are the most unusual tips, tricks and advice I used to quit smoking.
1. First cigarette when you wake up
This is the first cigarette I quit. I set my alarm 10 minutes later so I would not have time to smoke. I immediately jumped into the shower so I would not have time to smoke first thing. This was my first step. After three or four days I was ready for step 2.
2. Smoking in the Car
My second step was to stop smoking in the car. First, I stopped my cigarette on the way to work. Next, I stopped my cigarette on my way home on my lunch break. A few days later I stopped the cigarette on my way home from work. How? I placed my left hand under my leg while I was driving. I also threw my purse in the back seat so I couldn’t reach them. All of this took a couple of weeks.
3. Standing outside without a cigarette in my hand the same amount of time I would have with a cigarette
It occurred to me my body wanted to go outside a lot because that’s what I did with a cigarette break. So, I went outside and stood there for ten minutes at a time pretending to smoke with something in my hand. Sometimes it was a Cheetoh. Sometimes a straw and sometimes thin air. I felt RIDICULOUS. But that’s what it was like when I smoked!
4. Licking the cigarette
There were times when I was so desperate I didn’t know what to do to stop myself. I don’t have a strong stomach and could NEVER be in the medical field. So, when I went to pick up the cigarette to smoke, I LICKED it up and down until it made me sick and it was too wet to smoke. Sounds nuts indeed, but guess what? It worked.
5. Writing my son’s name and a specific word in marker on my cigarette box
While I was trying all the physical ways to stop myself, I needed psychological warfare. So, I guilted myself into quitting by writing my son’s name IN MARKER on my cigarette box and also the word “DEATH”. Does anyone remember the JIF commercials that said, “Choosy moms choose JIF”? This is a true story. Back when my son was two or three in the early nineties, that commercial was on constantly. I guess like any good marketing campaign it affected me. When I went to buy his first peanut butter jar, I went for a less expensive brand. As God is my witness, my hand jerked back before I touched it while I was thinking “wait, I’m a choosy mom”. I felt like a bad mother for going cheap on his peanut butter. The same psychological warfare applied to me with cigarettes. I actually pictured him crying at my funeral. While I was doing that, the time was passing by and the moment to light up a cigarette passed. I forced myself to feel guilty. It was bad enough the D.A.R.E. was going to my son’s school and advising kids drinking and smoking will kill you. My son cried and said, “My daddy drinks and my mom smokes”. He begged me to quit. I hope D.A.R.E. still has that impact on children today.
6. Timed my last cigarette to Friday at 5 p.m.
Every smoker who tried to quit knows what happens. Anything that excites you in a good way or bad triggers the craving. You go nuts when you can’t have it. You get angry, your hands shake, you don’t know what to do with yourself. So, I timed my last cigarette to a Friday after work so I can go through withdrawals privately.
7. Avoided people who triggered me to need a cigarette. I stayed pathologically calm the whole weekend.
I avoided everyone I could during the weekend I quit. I stayed pathologically calm. I didn’t drink alcohol, I didn’t spend time with people with anxieties, and I avoided arguments. I did what I had to do to stay level and force myself to quit.
I didn’t tell a living soul I was quitting. No one noticed. I did that to avoid drama and comments like “again?”. It took that whole weekend to get the cravings out of my system and the few weeks before to ween myself of each cigarette habit one by one. Call the LUNG HELPLINE if you need to.
Each year I gave my son a “special gift” for Christmas. Some years it was a game system or something he really wanted. It didn’t have to cost a lot money but it did have to be special.
That year, I put a Christmas card under the tree. It said, Merry Christmas, son. This is your special gift this year. Your mom #quitsmoking two weeks ago. That was 18 years ago.
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