So, if you’re a current smoker, how can you quit so you can start to see these health benefits? Deciding to quit is the biggest step in the process according to the ACS. After that, check out this step by step guide from SmokeFree.gov to guide you all the way through the process.
Related Article: The Ultimate Guide To Help You Quit Smoking
Changing your lifestyle is always an all or nothing decision. You have to be completely resolute in your new routine, and as others have said, you need to be strong when it matters most (when you experience strong cravings or even if you happen to relapse). It is unfortunate that long-time smokers will be battling a stronger addiction than others, but the immediate and long term benefits are more than worth the trouble.
Is your mind holding you back from quitting smoking? If so, sign up for our 6 Step Goal Achievement System and learn how to get your mind on your side to achieve any goal you have…even quitting smoking.
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I used to smoke, quit for 22 years and started again slow but back to I guess how I smoked before…now it’s about 4 years I’ve smoked. I kept saying I was going to stop for many reasons, not just for my health. I quit before cold turkey. I think I will find it more difficult now, but after reading these posts and the articles that led me to these posts (just by chance I saw ‘what happens when you quit smoking’), I just put ran the last few in my pack under water so I wouldn’t be tempted if they were just thrown in the garbage, and I’m stopping as of NOW!
I’m glad I came upon these articles. It costs too much in terms of money and health. I’m glad I read those articles. That was the impetus for me to stop, effective now. I’m going to pray and do my utmost to not smoke. I wish everyone health and happiness.
There are at least two things to qualify to be a smoker:
1. A person who smokes should be able to finance his packs of cigarettes.
2. He should be able to take care of his/her medical problems along the way.
If he/she cannot do both then he should not smoke at all because this is expensive and also hazardous to health for life.
These two things apply to most things in life – having children, drinking alcohol and eating disorders too. Why pick on smokers to preach to on this site?
Quitting smoking is the hardest thing, SMOKERS will ever do, People will tell you its easy, its only will power, trust me it isn’t, you have to find that one thing, that’s says enough is enough, I’ve tried the lot, everything that went i tried it, cost me a fortune…..
I’ve gone 3/6 even 9 months giving up but nothing lasted.
There in lies the problem, well for me it did, if it costs me more to give UP than continue, smoking why give up..
That’s until one day the shop keeper said to me, that will be £16.80 sir WHAT!!!! they where only ***** yesterday
£8+ per per pack x 2 per day, there was my enough moment, but if the truth be told, that’s the only reason i did it, not health or family but money, if they where a £1 a pack id go back tomorrow, but there not, so my 9 months and counting continue, i can even go to the gym twice a week, but its NO where near as nice a smoke after a good meal
Used champix 4 years ago for 3 months. Still hard but helped kick habit. Remember 1 cigarrette will cost you €10k. Also look around at those smoking around you. Do you identify with them?
i smoked since i was 15 and i am 56 now i really didn’t want to quit but where i live smokes are 10 dollars a pack i and my husband smokes so it was costing 400 a week …..i went on champix and by the end of the second month i was smoke free and that was 3 years ago i sit with people that smoke all the time i have no cravings or desire to ever smoke again …I quit three months before my mother was told she had stage 4 bladder cancer (and bladder cancer occurs in smokers and when you find out u have it …..it is to late she died 2 weeks later the thing is SHE WAS NEVER A SMOKER IN HER LIFE i hope this helps someone out there good luck
i quit smokeing for a year and put on 60lbs and lost most of my friends ,most of my friends drank or smoked and i could not be around them or i would have smoked ,i cant drink because all i want is a smoke if i do drink.the urge to smoke during the year i quit never really went away.by the end of the year my urges were not as strong but they were still there.everytime i would eat i wanted a smoke afterwards.it was truly a miserable life i lived when i quit.needless to say i am back smokeing and i have friends again i am nolonger miserable and lost 30 of those 60 lbs i put on.i am not trying to discourage anyone from trying to quit.this is my expierence with smokeing.wish i never started.
That’s really sad. I quit, didn’t gain anything and didn’t lose my friends.
I think you just have shitty friends and shouldn’t have over-eaten. Just sayin’.
you are crazy learn to control your appetite
I quit 9 years ago, gained 35lbs while watching what I ate and still crave a cigarette at least every other day, somedays so strong I want to start again….9 years is a long time….this is a powerful addiction, so I thoroughly get where Robbie is coming from…even if I didn’t, I wouldn’t take time out of my day to pass judgment on him.
I started patches on 2nd Nov 2012. Gave these up on 2nd Jan 2013. I had a handful of cravings but now – none at all – it’s been over 4 months and I’m loving it. I went from around 40 roll-up’s a day to a big fat zero. It can be done, just get your head in the right space and it should be fairly easy for you. Good luck everyone – but you’ll be fine.
After a couple of ‘fails’ I quit smoking 30 cigarettes per day on April 15 2013. Still on patches and an occasional fiddle with an e-cig. To hear my son’s congrats and to see his happy face when he realises I really have packed it in is reward enough, although the money saved & the lack of stink are good motivation.
I got pneumonia..Rushed into hospital feeling like i had been leathered with a baseball bat.
Now i feel like i don’t ever want a cigarette again, like i used to feel like i really needed a smoke. No cold turkey, no tablets or anything. Just stopped smoking. My social life has gone seriously downhill because i stopped drinking at the same time..Am not saying if it’s a hot day i won’t have a pint of real ale sat outside a pub in the sun, but industrial strength lager i ain’t touched for over 2 yrs, just like the roll ups.
if I have to choose between social life and my survival, I choose the latter. Fortunately I never smoked in my life (well one cigarette at a party as a teen I was curious to taste it it was so disgusting I threw up)
For the last while I have been buying cigarettes every Friday night. I tend to smoke uncontrollably until the pack is done about 12 a day starting with morning coffee.
My girlfriend likes to drink red wine on Fri and Sat evenings and will smoke those evenings from my pack.
If I had no girlfriend, I would buy another pack Sunday night and not quit. I do not have the will power. So I have to quit smoking every week. Monday Tuesday and Wednesday are miserable, but Thursday is ok and Friday, I almost don’t want to buy cigarettes, the craving has left me and I feel way healthier. I still buy them because I have this habit and anticipation, plus I know my girlfriend wants some, so I’m still in this cycle but I’m trying to break it.
My Point is this. The first three days are hard. When you get a craving, ignore it, and it will go away eventually. Having someone support you that you are accountable to helps as well.
3 days plus support and you can be free!
BTW it’s Thursday and I just had a 30 minute run and I feel good!
30 a day for 20 years ! After watching my mom die from lung cancer and listening to her say ..please don´t smoke anymore…..I ´gave up´ during 4 years, first using Alan Carr´s book…then patches..then gum….then e-cigs…after 4 years of nicotine replacement I went back to smoking!!! I was really frustrated as I hated smoking. Last year I used Champix and although I wouldn´t recommend this drug to my worst enemy because the side effects were really horrible. I´m quite a happy normal person and the drug made me question my own sanity, I was aggressive and moody and tearful for no reason…I only managed to stay six weeks on the 12 week course but it was enough to get me over the worst of the addiction. One year later I´m still not smoking. Smoking is a side effect too, a side effect of being addicted to Nicotine. If I talk to a smoker now I have to take a step backwards because of the smell. However you break free from this addiction, it´s the singularly best gift you can give yourself.
I’ve had the very same experience as yourself but after 15 months went to Cyprus with 35 others 28 of witch were smokers and I gave in after a few beers to my kids disapproval, I have been back on champix since January and have not had a cigarette since 1st February and I am now determined to make it forever 3rd time lucky .!! if needed keep going for your goal !!!
I smoked for 18 yrs. Have been quit for 40 years. I used to be very athletic and had the mile down to 4 min.s Then I started goofing around with the wrong crowd and started smoking. By the time I quit, I could not run a block, and was very unmotivated. When I quit, I turned my whole life around. Became a quite successful Entrepreuner and am now comfortably retired. Walk 3 miles a day and go lift weights at the gym 3 days a week. Thank God for my health everyday.
I quit cold turkey without using willpower. It was one of the easiest things Ive ever done. All that was needed was a change in my attitude towards smoking. Once I realised that it did nothing for me, I just stopped. The “addiction” was so easy to break. Allen Carrs Easyway to Quit Smoking. Its a book many of you will be able to get for free from your local library. Try it!
I heard about Allen Carrs Easyway to Quit Smoking from so many people I thought there must be something to it, read it, found it interesting but it didn’t help me in any way to quit smoking.
After reading all the comments im going to give up starting from today! I smoke 20 a day for the past 14 years and hate smoking – time to say goodbye to the cancer sticks.. thanks for the info
I stopped smoking and took up using an e-cigarette. It works well for me, although many people still see it as smoking because it looks alot like it. Either way, I think it is better for me. I feel better and don’t smell. I would recommend trying it if you can’t quit cold turkey.
Agrees with this. I tried many times to stop and always went back to it. I use the e-cig. I don’t think I can mention the company however they don’t look like a cigarette, though they are obviously the same shape, and use e-juice. I can make my own strength or buy ready made and have low or high in the mouth piece. Yes I know it is a substitute however it has worked for me for over a year. Often it is just a play thing. Yes some will say it is still a habit/addiction as I am still getting nicotine all be at a low rate however I feel tons better I don’t smell and I am alot better off. My Husband also bought 1 a few days after me. It cost me a weeks smoking to buy the kit I use however it has been worth every penny and paid for itself. Yes there are risks with nicotine, which are the same as drinking caffeine. I am not getting all the tar and other rubbish that was poisoning me. I did slip last September when my Hub was rushed into hospital and had a traditional cigarette off a friend. It was the best thing in a warped way that I could have done. It made me feel ill and I could feel all the poison seeping back into me. If you struggle to stop research and buy a decent e-cig. It has worked for me. I know how hyper I am. So it can work for me it can for anyone
I was a smoker for the past 30 years and i learn that the best way to quit smoking is DON’T BUY ANY CIGARETTE………
I stopped smoking nearly seven years ago and although I gained a little weight then, I have gone back to my usual weight over time.
It really annoys me that, in today’s enlightened way of thinking, people still insist on referring to smoking as a “habit”.
It is most definitely NOT a HABIT. It is an addiction and needs to be treated as such. Once you realise that you have a ADDICTION, you are able to easily deal with that and stop smoking.
Tobacco companies add addictive chemicals to their products to ensure that, even if you wean off nicotine, the other additives will keep you addicted.
Research it and learn for yourself and that will make quitting easy and permanent.
I smoked for 35 years but the army kept me fit. An office job had me smoking 40 a day, but as soon as I returned I reduced to zero. I swam 30 minutes a day and walked our dog daily. When at 58-years-old I was faced with heart by-pass surgery because of five coronary artery blockages, I proudly replied that I had given up smoking five years previously – only to be told that the fact that I had ever smoked and my age were against me! The point I wish to make is that it is never too late to stop smoking – the sooner the better….
My dad had no problem quitting his forty a day habit. He quit immediately after the doctor told him he had six months to live. It was a piece of cake. But he died anyway a few months later.
He had the will power after all – and he didn’t know it. Everybody quits in the end, one way or another. When you’re scared enough quitting’s easy.
great comment….
while I appreciate where you are coming from, most people who smoke are well aware it may very well kill them and continue to smoke, just as obese people continue to eat and people with diabetes don’t take care of themselves….its a powerful addiction that some good human beings get caught up in, no amount of judgement, scorn, sarcasm, etc… is going to change that and isn’t helpful at all.
I quit smoking 30years ago and I used to smoke 40 a day, I hate anything to do with smoke now, I had put myself in the situation of passive smoking at my cousin who is a chain smoker and it cost me my health even though I have stopped. I have the start of COPD which is no joke when your lungs get infected. The people who say that it is better to smoke rather than put weight on are totally ridiculous, I would love to see smoking banned totally.
I quit smoking 23 yeas ago after smoking for 15 years. I just had a smoking flatmate move in a week ago.He has been smoking outside the window. I had a cold on the same day that has developed into my not being able to breath properly. I have had to come home from the doctor and ask him to leave as my chest is rattling like crazy a week later and I am medicated to the hilt. I wish I had never started smoking – I will have to avoid smokers from now on.Best thing I ever did – I Quit Smoking !!
I quit 6 days ago
i quit smoking 6 months ago after 10 years of smoking. I feel no better but i know its the right thing to do. I ate more food for the first few months and put on about a stone, then just cut down on pop and junk food and now im back to slim. I still feel like a smoker and have no problem being around people smoking.
I did it cold turkey. No pointless patches or gum. All you need for the first few days and weeks is a big bag of lollies, lots of chewing gum and most importantly, will power.None of this ‘have a couple a day and cut down slowly’.
I must say, i did buy a fake cig from ebay, its basically a little tube that looks like a cig and you suck air through it. I bought that 2 weeks into quitting and used it for a few weeks. Really helped on nights out when outside with my smoking friend and stopped the cravings.
I quit 20 years ago, but I know of people that have bought the E cig. and suck on it all the time. Isn’t this supposed to help a person to quit? I would think all that nicotine would be bad for a person. Glad it is not me. When I quit I had to quit cold turkey, dr. said I would not make 10 years. And now I still get the urge, but I don’t want to smell that bad anymore.
Happy to say i quit 10 years ago…
After 2 month you’ll be the size of a house and obesity will give you a heart attack
not true, i quit 16 years ago and although gained weight it was not a lot and never had this problem. You exaggerate, perhaps out of lack of knowledge or experience.
I thought my mother would never quit smoking. Tried many times. 2 packs a day from 14 – 58yrs of age. My oldest son was born and she quit cold turkey with no help. It’s been 18 yrs. now and both of her sisters died of lung cancer from smoking and she is still going strong. She has effectively erased all that damage and has the same risks as a non-smoker. It was the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed. Ofcourse, I tease her that I wish she quit when I was born instead. I wouldn’t have had to have lived in the clouds all my childhood. You know, that layer of smoke that stagnates like a cloud in the room. Quit smoking and you will add at least a decade or two to your life, my mom has.
After my heart attack, I did as the doctor me , and quit! I was 82 kilos, over the next 3 year I went up to 97kilos, had nothing but problems, stomach, gut and tingling. I didn’t get better I looked and felt ill. 9 months ago I started smoking again…All the problem went away, my weight returned to 84 kilos, and I feel great, my last 3 check ups found all levels had returned to normal. The only difference with the smoking I do now is to puff and not to suck hard, I don’t want the smoke deep in my lungs, but I smoke like you would a good cigar. That way i get the benefit of the tobacco (Which it has) and not the tar coating my lungs and I smoke half a ciggie at a time. I agree if you inhale deeply and take no care of youself, you will lose all your teeth and create for yourself an early death, as they say a beer or glass of wine a day will do you good, but not case or bottle…same goes for smoking.
You sir are an idiot…
I know your kind you cry about everything, obviously you do not have the will power to stay as a non smoker I quit smoking about a year ago and feel better then ever. Your just looking for excuses to not quit. Your just fooling yourself but your not fooling anyone else. Enjoy your shortened life…
I quite agree with that assessment
The only erson you’re fooling here is yourself. I quit smoking nearly 10 years ago and have never felt better. Yes there was some weight gain but I attribute it to menopause and aging. As for smoking allowing you to return to your former weight, I have one question to ask you – Who controls what goes in your mouth? Enjoy your early grave as that’s where smoking will take you.
Anything in moderation. I have smoked a pack a day for more than 54 years and have never had a problem. Last two funerals I attended were for my non smoking and eat healthy friends. We are all born with that stamp……..”best before………….”. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.
you know what? if it was scientifically demonstrated that smoking makes you healthy, i still wouldnt do it because it’s a disgusting habit.
I agree, u are an idiot.
quitting smoking is not hard i was a smoker for 15 years and a pack a day smoker for 7 of those…i read a book called allen carrs easy way to quit smoking and i went from 25 -30 cigarettes a day to absolutely nothing in the 1 day it took to read it was oct 3rd the day i quit and to this day i have not smoked another cigarette and i never will…quitting is not as hard as its made out to be but if you do the feeling is like being let out of a dark room into the light
I read this book as well, quit after reading. I did relapse after 3months.
I read the book again, and now 4 months smoke free
I could never get it, most of the world fights smoke with billions of hard money, governments increase taxes and legislate laws that prohibit to smoke in public but they are AFRAID to ban tobbaco (ban their tax income and loose voters).
Meanwhile millions around the world burden the medical system because of malnutrition from industrial food, i.e., genetically modified food, even if you buy fresh food it probably lack of nutrients your body need, lot of people “think” that drinking mineral water from a plastic bottle is healthy…which is not.
You can get more diseases from an ATM or from the MONEY you handle than from a pack of tobbaco.
You got it all wrong buddy, those statistics you quoted are not correct. Smoking is a direct and an indirect path to an early grave, granted that we would all die some day, but better to go with ease than as a wreck.
Thanks.
What happens when you stop smoking: A) You stop sweating as much as your getting more and more oxygen in your lungs. You produce better sperm and with higher motility. Your sense of smell slowly comes back where your able to smell things like, rain. In the first 8 hours, your body has a much higher percentage of oxygen in your bloodstream. Your erection is harder and much faster in the first week. You will also notice more and more chemicals in your brain that you where low on while smoking, these include feelings of empathy ,but one draw back is your more angry, and you stay angry longer, even trying to hurt people around you, so there are benefits and not many, just more less everything in moderation, even water will kill you.
I would rather die from smoking my pipe than to be one of these asshole nonsmokers who bitch, complain and generally think that they are better than the smokers.
My husband is having his voice box removed this month after a year of unsuccessful radiation, real pain and an initial partial laryngectomy. Have fun now, pay later. No bitching. Just fact.
Well thats you but if you keep on smoking I dont be complaining when ur hiring almost to die when I’m over here all having fun asshole!!!!
When your HURTING
you must be a Nerd ……..just like most Pipe Smokers…..non smokers including
former smorkers realize that the tobacco industry has enslaved the dumb smokers.
My young brother smoked a pipe until he had a short hospital stay, due to an injury. The other person in his room was there for some treatment related to his mouth cancer, which had already destroyed his inner cheeks. He could barely talk.
So my brother got to see the reality of what smoking a pipe did for this man. My brother never smoked again.
where to Begin, Menachem?? The world cannot sustain all of these people now, so thanks for doing your part to leave it early……
Huh, thats strange, thats what my mate said and he was a pipe smoker too.
He also reckoned smoking a pipe was far better than cigarettes.
He died of mouth cancer, took him 4 years, It was horrid.
Well said sir.