Life Tips Daily

Yesterday, we talked about our favourite bad habit, smoking. Today we’ll look at some quitting methods. A few 451 Press writers were kind enough to share the story how they or someone close to them quit smoking.

Because of the burden on the health care system that smoking can cause, many governments have developed anti smoking campaigns. In Canada, Health Canada has a number of programs in place, including the Quit 4 Life program for children and teens aged 12 to 18. In the United States, Smokefree.gov is a resource for smokers or the loved ones of smokers to help them quit. Australia has a National Tobacco Campaign in place and you can find out more about this at Quitnow. On a large scale these campaigns draw attention to the habit, but on an individual level it’s hard to tell what the impact is.

In parts of Canada, some other measures have been taken to deter people from smoking: in the province of Ontario, restaurants no longer have smoking sections because the whole restaurant is smoke free, government buildings and all work places (in Ottawa, at least) are also smoke free. In fact, employers could be criminally liable if they fail to provide an employee with a smoke-free workplace. Bars and nightclubs are smoke free too: if you want to smoke, you must go outside. Government buildings, universities and many other buildings also require that smokers stand a certain distance from public entrances when smoking, which means on winter days you can’t hover around the door and smoke (though many do, even in nice weather). Cigarette packages contain warnings and gruesome pictures of the effects of smoking.

Unfortunately, until you’re ready to give up the habit, all of these measures are uncomfortable or unpleasant, but do not prevent you from having a smoke if you really want to. If you’re ready to quit, I recommend you visit the government websites above, or search for some of your own. There are many online resources you can turn to. Some cities have campaigns during the year and in my city when you join a certain program to help you quit smoking, you can enter a draw to win a new car!

Other ways to quit smoking are:

Nicotine gum
You still get some nicotine, but it’s a lower dose and the goal is to go from chewing gum with nicotine to regular gum, and giving up cigarettes completely.

Nicotine patch
Similar to the gym in that you still get nicotine, but in lower doses.

Hypnosis
A former coworker of mine went to a hypnotist to help her get rid of her dependency on cigarettes and it worked, just like that.

Cold turkey
Just stop smoking (if only it were that easy!). Some strong willed people simply throw their package of cigarettes away and never turn back. Others may have small lapses in judgment, but get back on track again. If you want it bad enough, another coworker told me, you can do it.

I’d love to hear what you think of the above methods.

Now, it’s time for stories of real people who quit smoking, and how they did it.

Dana’s father quit because the woman he fell in love with would not go near him while he was smoking. Things heated up and once they got serious about each other, his smoking days were over for good. It’s been 26 years and counting.

For Beth’s mother, it took a very serious health concern for her to quit smoking: her heart had enlarged and she was told by a doctor that the lifesaving operation she needed could not be performed unless she quit smoking. I always wonder if an ultimatum like that would work on me with my personal bad habit, and I hope it would (I mean how much more serious can things get other than being told you will die if you don’t quit, right?). At the same time I hope it doesn’t come to that for any of you.

Randi’s husband Scott had quit smoking before, and recently quit again. In his case, stress is a big motivator for his smoking (see, smoking is good for something, in this case stress relief) and that was the reason he started smoking again. His tactic to make the quitting stick is one that many experts recommend when you’re trying to quit any bad habit: replace the bad habit with a good habit. If this good habit is something you enjoy doing, the chances of it sticking are that much greater. In Scott’s case, he replaced smoking with…exercise! Very impressive.

Lastly, we have Summer. Although she smoked a pack a day from the age of 13, she had always said that if she got pregnant she would quit smoking. Well, it happened and she did. Like Scott, Summer put herself in a position to win the battle against smoking: she stopped going out to smoke on her lunch breaks (where do people get will power like this?) and did not allow anyone to smoke around her. Summer knew herself well, and knew that a time when she would be vulnerable to buying a package of cigarettes was while paying for gasoline so she started bringing along her credit card so she could pay at the pump and not have to enter the convenience store at all. Very smart move.

Don’t let these stories fool you into thinking that quitting is simple. In fact you may have already experienced that quitting a bad habit is not easy: you will have withdrawal, you may fall off the wagon, you may find that your good intentions just aren’t enough to prevent a relapse. Summer shared that it took her three months before the cravings went away.

I hope these personal stories have inspired you to consider quitting. If you are a former smoker that quit using a different method, or you want to share how you did it, please do so in the comments.

smoking, cigarette, quit smoking, anti-smoking