I’m on day 5 of being a non-smoker, woo!!
My last attempt was yet another failure, I only managed to resist smoking for a couple of days. All it took was feeling bored and fed up at the end of a long day in work to make resisting temptation almost impossible.
Then hormones came along and gave me Depression for a couple of days, reducing my willpower and motivation to zero. I figured I would let that storm pass before starting again.
Again, I decided Monday was the best day to quit. So last cigarette on Sunday night, and awake Monday morning as a non-smoker.
On Saturday night I finished a book and went on to the Kindle store to find another. I thought I’d search quit smoking, just to see what literature was about. I looked into Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking. I’m sure I’ve heard about it before, how the method is to make people believe quitting smoking is easy. So I downloaded it, hoping it would help with the motivation and resolve I would soon need.
The book claims that you can easily stop smoking once you’ve read it. You’re encouraged to keep smoking whilst you get through the book, and have your last one when it tells you to near the end. There are endless reviews saying how effective it is and over the top praise for the book, method and author. I was worried that my sceptical and questioning tendency would mean it wouldn’t work for me. But you just need an open mind, and to pay attention as you read the book.
The method is to read the book and follow the instructions in it. I guess most of it is really undoing the brainwashing – surrounding smoking, smokers and nicotine addiction. You can’t argue with the points it makes, that smoking is disgusting, that you only smoke to soothe the withdrawal pangs, that your addiction is an endless cycle and you just need to break the chain to be free, etc. The messages are repeated over and over, and they all make sense, and soon into the book you’re really looking forward to being a non-smoker, rather than worrying about how you’re going to cope. A big part of it is not feeling like you’re giving something up and depriving yourself of a pleasure or crutch. It’s about weakening your psychological dependence.
The method doesn’t involve any nicotine replacement products, substitutes, e-cigarettes, or even willpower! Now willpower was my biggest downfall in all previous attempts, so I couldn’t quite fathom how I wouldn’t have to exercise it if my body and mind were addicted to something so strongly. But, like promised, it has been easy to quit smoking, and hasn’t required willpower!
Because I no longer have the desire to smoke, I don’t have to resist temptation. My partner is still currently smoking, and I can be around him whilst he smokes and not have any urge to take a drag. Reading that book put me just in the right mindset I needed to be to walk away from smoking for good. It gave me the counter-arguments and perspectives I needed to argue against myself when I told myself I wouldn’t cope without cigarettes, that I wouldn’t enjoy my holiday without smoking, that it was a much needed crutch for my anxiety, that I would struggle to concentrate, focus and relax without the assistance of a cigarette.
Ahhh, what a relief!
So I definitely recommend Allen Carr’s method of quitting smoking.
I’ve gone five days without smoking (after ten+ years of averaging 15-20 a day, I’m sure I was almost up to 30 a day before I quit!). I haven’t been tempted, and haven’t worried about going back to it. No withdrawal symptoms either! Apart from being a bit restless when sitting down at home. I have struggled a little with sweets and gum as I have to be careful not to use them as a substitute for smoking. Other than that, it’s been all good 🙂
One Step Forward 