Quit smoking without a gimmick

I quit smoking almost ten years ago and was able to do it without the help of a patch, gum, or any other type of gimmick. Maybe these products work for some, but I’ve never known anyone where they used these products and have actually quit smoking for good.

What I found that really worked for a plan to quit smoking was to get away from all the things that I associated with smoking. Cigarettes and everything that went along with them, including coffee and beer, were part of a lifestyle that I had to give up and change. Here are a few tips that helped me and I haven’t touched a cigarette in almost ten years.

• You are going to have to associate with different people. If you the people you currently hang around with are smoking, it is going to be tough to ever even think of quitting. At the very least, you will have to avoid these friends in the initial first few weeks.
• You are going to have to stop going to bars and stop drinking for the first few weeks. This is similar to the friends that still smoke. You need to re-wire the way you think. You’re not a smoker anymore and so you can’t do the things that you would normally associate with smoking. This doesn’t mean you can’t ever go to the bar again, but at least until you have two weeks of smoke free time under your belt, you’re asking for trouble.
• Trying putting something else in your mouth to help with the oral fixation of not having a cigarette. I used to chew gum or pop sunflower seeds into my mouth and then spit out the shells. Anything that can help, right?
  

Take this advice and if you really are serious about quitting these tips will really help you get under way. Good luck.