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Are You Ready to Quit?

So you’ve decided that it’s about time you quit smoking – CONGRATULATIONS, you’ve taken the first, very important step to improving your health and can look forward to a longer life. It’s not going to be easy, there’s a long road ahead and you’re gonna’ be tempted along the way, but follow these few steps to getting ready to stop smoking and your chances of success will improve lots.

Prepare Yourself to Stop Smoking

More precisely prepare yourself for two milestones along the road to stopping smoking – prepare yourself for your final cigarette, and prepare yourself for the cravings and urges that will follow soon afterwards.

Five Steps To Get Ready To Stop Smoking

1. Set a quit smoking date – yeah yeah, 1 January 2028 doesn’t count, it’s gotta’ be within the next few days, why not give yourself a week, that should be plenty of time to really get your head around it. You could even start to cut down on the number of cigarettes you smoke in that time. Make sure that you tell your family and friends of the date and they’ll be able to support you and help you to stick to it. It’s a good idea to write down your intentions and sign it, with witnesses, a kind of no smoking contract.
2. Pick a method to quit smoking – are you gonna’ cut down the number of cigarettes you smoke each day between signing your contract and “Q Day”, are you gonna’ smoke less of each actual cigarette, stubbing them out after only a couple of puffs, or are you gonna’ go cold turkey? The choice is yours, choose the method which you realistically think will be most achievable for you. By the way, if you decide to go cold turkey it won’t necessarily make the quitting process longer or more difficult, so it’s up to you.
3. Decide whether you’ll need any medicine to help quit smoking – some people do manage to quit smoking “double cold turkey”, they just stop without any help at all, but realistically, if you’re hooked and smoke more than around 20 cigarettes each day then you could maybe do with a little outside help for at least the first few weeks. Nicotine gum can help, as can nicotine spray and nicotine patches – but be careful where you stick ’em. I was a much better quitter than my other half, and although we were supposed to be quitting smoking at the same time I actually mastered the art a good 6 or 7 years before he eventually followed suit. During one of his pathetic, half hearted attempts – sorry, that’s unkind, during one of his many failed attempts he decided that all he needed was a few stick on patches and he’d be able to crack it, he even went to bed with a patch on his arm. Now, to say that I was feeling a bit funny the next morning is an understatement, I did feel decidedly queer for no apparent reason . . . until I discovered that the patch had swapped arms during the night and I was now being drip-fed nicotine a good few years after I’d kicked the habit.
4. Write up a quitting smoking day plan – make sure that you’re well stocked up with fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, gum, hard candy and any other stuff you think might help you in your quest to quit smoking. Remember, you’re like to gain a few pounds whilst stopping smoking so the healthier options are definitely the best to go with, but don’t worry too much at this stage, you can deal with that later. Get yourself geared up with something you enjoy doing, something to keep your hands busy when you might ordinarily be smoking . . . take up knitting, sewing, reading, walking, visit friends (non smoking friends if at all possible). Also rid your house, car, garage, garden shed, office and secret stash of cigarettes, ash-trays, matches, lighters etc.
5. Quit smoking on your chosen quit smoking day – you’ll feel so proud of yourself once you’ve cracked it. Pretty soon your blood pressure and heart rate will improve, your circulation will get better and you’ll notice that breathing becomes easier after only a few no smoking days. Your sense of taste will improve, things will really get their flavor back, and your sense of smell will also improve . . . every no smoking day it will get easier and easier, and don’t beat yourself up too much if you fall by the wayside, just don’t give up giving up, pick yourself up and start where you left off.

Quitting smoking is never easy, but if you prepare yourself as well as you can for “Q day” then it’s definitely a great start.

What a legend!