Smoking - my experiences

Being a bit caught up in everything recently I totally forgot that March 1st was my 2 year anniversary for quitting smoking. Forgetting it isn't such a bad thing really as it shows that I don't really think about it any more. Even thinking of myself as a 'smoker' feels very foreign.
There were many reasons that I gave it up, some of which were that it was expensive, I felt and smelt gross, I hated the idea of something having a hold over me i.e an addiction, but mostly it was holding back my health gains.


For a long time I went through phases of having healthy and unhealthy habits. Having a healthy habit was always held back by my unhealthy habits and in the end, the unhealthy habit won.
When I started getting really serious about exercise then I knew that I had to quit. I reached a stage where my level of fitness was being held back by the fact that I smoked. This was my third official time that I would quit and wanted it to be my last. I chose not to use any patches, gum or any other nicotine substitution. From doing a little research I could see that the physical addiction didn't last that long so feeding it whilst trying to battle a mental addiction was pointless. My strategy was to change my habits. I swapped around all my rituals (for example, have a smoke before dinner instead of after) and changed from tailored cigarettes to rollies (making it a hassle as I had to roll one every time I smoked). I did this for several weeks. My mental addiction was thrown off but I was still feeding my physical addiction. This is all theory of course as when I finally quit I was craving them! But I thought about them less because I had changed my habits. I only had serious cravings for about 4 days. My cravings would occur at weird times too and I would just sit there and tough it out. There is definitely a positive effect to someone who quits as it takes so much will power to stay quit. Quitting itself is easy. I know people who do it all the time. The hard part is staying quit!



Aside from my story it is important to set yourself realistic goals. The prompting to quit might coincide with a recent health kick. In this case you are trying to take up one habit while getting rid of another which can prove too much. Through experience I have been unsuccessful at this myself. Focus on one habit at a time. I see a lot of the guys from my gym around town smoking or even having a smoke outside the gym. It is possible to be a smoker and be fit but not so to be a smoker and be healthy. My suggestion would be to set yourself fitness goals that can only be achieved by quitting smoking. That's how I have made it these last 2 years.


Further reading:  Smoking and Fitness,  Smoking and Bodybuilding, Infographic of the science of addiction


-Lucas