My hubbie tried diversion therapy. Every time he fancied a smoke hed say "Im craving, how about you take my mind off it;-)"
so hed get a shag (or at least some head) instead of a smoke, which he ultimately preferred.
He doesnt seem to have cravings anymore, its been maybe 6 years since he stopped.
Haha. I like this one. It would work for me, but I'm single.
Here's my 2 cents:
I think that quitting is a private affair. Support from people close to you is good but don't go telling everyone you are about to quit. It just adds pressure and most people crave cigarettes when under pressure.
Gently extract yourself from the smoking environment. No more hanging out with other smokers whilst you are quitting.
1st, you really have to want to quit. We all have our reasons for smoking.
Decide on your top 3 or 5 reasons why you want/need to quit and take your time to convince yourself. This could take a few weeks or a couple of months.
I found that just forcing myself to quit just turns the monkey on my back into a Gorilla.
2nd, start cutting back on the amount you smoke but more important the nicotine strength. If you smoke 8's then buy 6's. 2 or 3 packets later buy 4's, etc. Every time you go to lighter cigarettes you'll notice that you might smoke more per day initially but that's only for 3 to 10 days.
Do this on how you feel. DON'T pressure yourself with deadlines, this just empowers the Gorilla.
Keep reminding yourself why YOU want to quit, not what other/media say.
Also postpone having your first cigarette of the day. The later in the day you light up the longer it has been since your last one the night before.
Spread over 4-8 weeks you'll notice that the cravings are much milder and easier to deal with.
3rd, satisfy the cravings with only a little bit at a time by putting out cigarettes halfway or sooner. Again this way you smoke less and less.(Keep the half siggie and light it up next time. This tastes so bad it will help put you off)
By now you'll notice that you are smoking less than half or a quarter of what you used to smoke without much effort.
End result. Now you are smoking 1-3 2mg cigarettes late in the evening or maybe not even every night.
At this point it feels silly to still smoke and you almost just forget about it.
This worked of me. Nobody starts as a one packet a day smoker, this happens over time hence reversing the cycle.
Remember that there will always be times you'll have a craving. I believe this never goes away so try and find some sort of diversion. (see quote)
Good luck and be strong. You will relapse a couple of times but stick with it.
C
olice:
