StopMySmoking

And mind it when I say that quitting smoking is not difficult. All it takes a little will power to survive initial phase of your cigarette free days and then it’s a smooth ride thereafter.

Some things that helped me quit:

1. When you smoke, you make friends, social friends, smoker friends. And till the time you are hanging around with them, it will be difficult for you quit. Distance yourself from them. Don’t stop hanging out with them but when it comes to kick some cigarette butt, take a step back. Surround yourself with non smokers.

2. Be lazy. This helped me. I made sure that I never keep any cigarette in my home incase I have the sudden urge to smoke. Since I became lazy in this context, I didn’t feel like going out travelling to a mart to buy some. Worked wonders for me.

3. Eat chocolates. Studies show that Dark chocolate has same effect on your brain as smoking. And chocolates are good for sex too. Double win.

4. Each day, one day. This is important. Now, I am not asking you to suddenly wake up one day and decide ‘ Damn, I am gonna quit this smoking, and damn, I am gonna be healthy, damn‘. Nopes, this will never work. Instead of deciding for eternity, tell yourself each day ‘No matter what happens, I am not going to smoke today’.

5. Strengthen your will power. The urge to smoke can be triggered by anything. Seeing anyone smoke, seeing anyone light a matchstick. In times like these, resist yourself, and try to fight the smoker inside you. Also, those who smoke have less stamina in every sense. Now, who wants to come before his wife does?

Giving up smoking isn’t difficult. All it takes is a little will power, little determination, healthy habits and thinking of all those people who care about you.

Cheers.

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I smoked my first cigarette when I was what, maybe 11. I became a smoker at the tender age of 16 (I have an excuse: my girlfriend smoked.) I smoked between 1 and 3 packs a day (depending on how long the day was, or how I spent the evening.) Camel Lights were my favorite. I tried quitting a few times, especially after some 3-pack days when, the next morning, my mouth really felt like I licked an ashtray clean. Sometimes, I managed to stay away from cigarettes for a few days, a couple of weeks at the most, but I always started smoking again.

Meanwhile, I got married. My wife never smoked a cigarette in her life. (Smart lady.) That was one more incentive to quit. I still couldn’t. However, I refrained from smoking at home; if I had to have a cigarette, I’d have it on our balcony.

Just over a year after we got married, I spent a couple of weeks in late autumn in Beijing on a business trip. Everybody was smoking there back then. The day before my trip home, I came down with the flu; a rather nasty one, too, it took me weeks to recover.

As it was getting cold in Ottawa, and I had a temperature, smoking on the balcony was not really an option. So I smoked in the bathroom instead, with the fan on. This was beginning to feel real stupid… like I was a bad schoolkid, hiding in the bathroom to smoke.

A few days before New Year’s Eve that year, I realized that I had exactly enough cigarettes until midnight, December 31. I made up my mind; this was it. As midnight was approaching that day, I grabbed my last cigarette, an ashtray, and my lighter, setting it all up in the living room. I’d have my last cigarette in comfort! And that’s indeed what I did: I enjoyed my very last cigarette with the New Year’s Eve champagne, and it was good.

When the cigarette was finished, I stood up, took the ashtray to the kitchen, emptied it, washed it, thew out the empty pack of smokes, and put my lighter away.

I was 30 earlier that year. I’d been a smoker for a little over 14 years before I went cold turkey.

In the days that followed, it was really hard not to light up again. I avoided alcohol, coffee, big meals, indeed anything that would make it harder to resist the temptation to light up. As months went by, it became easier. Eventually, I began to accept that I was now a nonsmoker.

When I turned 40, I noticed that I felt significantly healthier than 10 years prior. I am fairly certain it’s because I quit smoking a decade earlier.

I stopped smoking more than 20 years ago, but to this day, I miss cigarettes from time to time. Just now, we had a nice lunch, more food than usual, and as I am writing about smoking, I salivate a little. A cigarette after a meal like this would be so nice!

Thankfully, no effort is required to resist the temptation anymore. Nonetheless, I know that if I were to try cigarettes again, I’d become an addict in no time. For this reason, I never once touched a cigarette in the 20+ years since I quit.

—–

Here are three reasons why the time is Now:

Quitting now increases the health benefits that you gain from being smoke-free.[1]

Studies show that ex-smokers who quit before the age of 35 can regain a similar lifespan as a non-smoker.[1] Now is the time to quit.

Even if you’re older than 35, all is definitely not lost. Your body begins to recover within minutes after putting down your last cigarette.[2] Your blood pressure and accelerated heart rate from smoking begin to return to normal in just 20 minutes after smoking.[2, 3] Just a couple of days without a cigarette allows the nerve endings in your fingertips to recover. Depending on how much you smoke, within a year of being smoke-free, your risk of sudden death by heart attack is reduced by half.[2, 4] It can be amazing how much and how quickly your body can recover! (See more in our article: Benefits of Quitting Smoking) Who can say no to that!

The older you get, the harder it is to become smoke-free.[5]

You probably don’t want to hear this, but as tough as it may be to think about quitting now, it will only get harder the older you get. Young adults 18 to 24 years old have a higher success rate of quitting than any other age group.[6] The older you get, the more attached you might become to smoking (even if you don’t think so now). And, some people stop trying to quit as they get older.[5]Even if you don’t think this will be you, why risk it? Take the opportunity to quit now.

It’s easier to find a ‘quit buddy’ when you’re young.

Two out of three young adult smokers want to quit.[6] Plus, young adults are more likely to try quitting than older adults.[6] So find a friend who is thinking about quitting too and quit together!

Take advantage of this time in your life when you can set goals together with a friend—it might be harder to find someone to quit with you as you get older. Quitting with a friend can really help keep you stay accountable to what you’ve promised yourself you’ll do. Even better: Your friend will know the challenges you’re going through and be able to provide support and encouragement.

Even if you don’t know anyone who is ready to quit with you, we’ve got Text Buddies in the StopMySmoking program. We can pair you with another young adult who is also quitting—so you really don’t have to go through it alone!

You have many options for quit help available to you!

While it may take some trial and error to figure out what works for you, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends text messaging-based quit programs for young adults. They say that “…text-messaging cessation interventions could offer additional potential channels for delivering cessation assistance, considering their accessibility, potential reach and low cost… they likely would appeal especially to young adults, who in this report were the most likely of all age groups to make quit attempts but the least likely to use cessation counseling and medications.”[6] Knowing this, you now have an edge in your quit process! Now is the best time to quit, so don’t spend another day thinking about it – do it today!

References:

[1] Kirchheimer, S. Quit Smoking Before Age 35 to Regain Health. WebMD. http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/news/20040608/quit-smoking-before-age-35-to-regain-health

[2] Within 20 Minutes of Quitting. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/2004/posters/20mins/index.htm

[3] Mahmud A & Feely J. Effect of smoking on arterial stiffness and pulse pressure amplification. Hypertension. 2003;41:183.

[4] US Surgeon General’s Report. The Health Benefits of Smoking Cessation: A Report of the Surgeon General. 1990. http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/NN/B/B/C/T/

[5] Young Adults More Likely To Quit Smoking Successfully. ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080111193824.htm

[6] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Quitting Smoking Among Adults—United States, 2001-2010. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2011; 60(44):1513-1519. 

Well, we noticed that some aspects of existing quitting aids can discourage young people from trying them—some can be expensive, some can be disruptive – especially with your social life, and some can be difficult to get or use.  In short, many quitting aids aren’t really made with young adult smokers in mind [1]. 

We knew that over half of young adult smokers want to quit and that young people are more likely than older adult smokers to try quitting [2].  However, we also understand that the quitting process is difficult and can be extremely frustrating.

So when we thought about how widely used cell phones are—nine out of ten young adults own a cell phone [2]—we realized we could create a program tailor-made for the busy young adult.  Because 97% of young people who own cell phones also use text messaging [2], we could reach a lot of people during the ups and downs of their quitting process through text messages that give encouragement, helpful reminders, and useful info. 

Most people read texts as soon as they receive them [3].  In comparison, other types of quitting aids sometimes require you to have a lot of accountability to use them properly. You might need to make time to go to a support group or remember to log on to an online quitting account. This can be hard to remember during the frustrations of quitting and the busyness of life—but Stop My Smoking sends texts that arrive directly and discreetly to your cell phone.  All you have to do is open your cell phone whenever it’s convenient: on a lunch break, during the movie previews, when out with friends, etc. 

Life has unexpected moments. Sometimes, you need in-the-moment interaction when challenges arise in your quitting process.  Fortunately, texts can be saved, and since your cell phone often goes with you wherever you go, you can reread your favorite Stop My Smoking texts whenever you need them [3].  We also offer Quit Buddies, a buddy-up system that pairs you with someone else in the quitting process, and Text Crave, which instantly sends you advice and support whenever and wherever you need it.

Before we launched the program, we wanted to make sure that Stop My Smoking actually works. So, we tested it out with young adults.  As it turns out, people who used Stop my Smoking were twice as likely to quit 4 weeks later compared to those in a different program. Almost all our participants said that the program made them feel supported [1].  Three in four found that the messages speak to the feelings they had during the quitting process. Seven in ten found that Stop My Smoking made quitting smoking a lot easier [1]!  More than three-fourths of our participants said they would recommend the program to their friends—and, if you haven’t signed up already, we recommend Stop My Smoking to you too!  If you have more questions about Stop My Smoking, Quit Buddies, or Text Crave, be sure to check our FAQ page or contact us at our Support page.

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[1] http://dev.innovativepublichealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Medicine-2.0_2012_Boston-MA.pdf

[2] http://dev.innovativepublichealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/WCTH_2012_2_Singapore.pdf