How I Quit Smoking

Quitting smoking is easy—I’ve done it dozens of times! At least, that is what I used to tell people to make light of each failed attempt. In reality, quitting smoking is one of the most difficult things that I have done in my life, and also one of the most rewarding.

I started smoking in about grade 7 or 8. The other kids I hung out with all smoked and it was the “cool” thing to do. My parents weren’t smokers, so smoking wasn’t a bad habit I picked up from them. It was peer pressure and my inability to stand on my own two feet that was my downfall.

I tried to quit smoking numerous times over the years. I tried just about every common approach, including quitting cold turkey (I don’t recommend this approach!) nicotine patches, nicotine gum, and even some none traditional approaches like acupuncture and listening to recorded subliminal messages. My most successful “failure” was through my doctor when he prescribed Zyban.

Zyban is a tablet to help quit smoking. It contains a medicine called Bupropion. Bupropion is also the medicine in Wellbutrin, which is used for depression. Zyban is started before quitting smoking, with a target date usually in the second week of taking Zyban. Zyban is only available on a doctor’s prescription. (Drugs.com)

The reason I say it was my most successful “failure” is because I was able to quit smoking for about four months when I first tried Zyban. The process was painless. I started taking the pills and in about two weeks I just totally lost interest in smoking. Cigarettes started tasting bad and by the third week they had become so repulsive to me that I couldn’t put one in my mouth. I don’t remember any physical withdrawal symptoms. It truly was a painless process. However, I ran into a major issue in my life and started smoking again to deal with the stress. I don’t know why I turned to cigarettes—probably because I didn’t have a good outlet to deal with my stress. Within a week I was back to smoking about a pack a day.

As I mentioned in my Three in Three Challenge, around Thanksgiving last year (2009) I was sitting on the couch when I started to experience some rather severe chest pains. I hadn’t been taking care of myself. I was eating poorly and was about 50 lbs overweight, I wasn’t exercising, I was stressed out, and was smoking like a chimney, none of which makes for a healthy lifestyle. So I decided to do something about it. But what would make this attempt different from all the previous times I tried to quit smoking? What could I do to make it stick?

I spent the next couple of days searching for and reading stories about people who had successfully quit smoking. The tools that they used to quit smoking were as varied as the people themselves. However, I started to see some common characteristics between their stores. The most successful stores all seemed to include different variations of the same four points:

Point 1: You have to want it.

Nobody can make you quit smoking. It is something that you must want to do for yourself, not for your spouse, not for your kids, not for your friends, not for your parents or for your significant other. There is only one person that matters in your fight to quit smoking and that is YOU. If you haven’t made up your mind that you want it, and want it REALLY BAD, you will probably fail. Sorry to be so blunt about it… but according to the statistics I’ve read, about 95% of the people that attempt to quit smoking will fail long term. What makes you think you will be any different? You must get to a point in your life that the pain of continuing to smoke is greater than the pain of quitting. You must be willing to give up whatever it takes to kick the habit. If you’re not there yet, your chances of quitting are greatly reduced. But wanting it still isn’t enough. You must also take actions that support your burning desire to quit.

Point 2: Eliminate your triggers.

Certain activities or situations can trigger your desire to smoke. For example, I love to smoke while drinking coffee or beer. Both are triggers for me. I also loved smoking after a big bowl of ice cream. Some need to smoke while driving the car? Hanging with your friends at the bar can be a trigger. Playing golf with the boys while drinking beer and smoking cigars? The examples are endless. The point is that you need to identify your key triggers and eliminate them. That’s right… I said eliminate them.

Point 3: Pursue a healthy lifestyle.

Here I am referring to eating properly and exercising. I could write numerous posts on the topic of eating properly, but I am not going to dive into that here. Instead, take some time to research proper nutrition and make changes to your diet to better align with the general guidelines around eating healthy. I was about 50 lbs. overweight and during my last physical my doctor informed me that my cholesterol levels were dangerously high. He advised me that if I didn’t do something about it, I would increase my risk of heart disease. He also told me that I could positively impact my cholesterol levels by quitting smoking, improving my diet, and regularly exercising. Strange how this all comes full circle!

Point 4: Create accountability.

You must create some way to hold yourself accountable for the decisions you’ve made. As a project manager, accountability is something that comes natural to me—I am very comfortable creating milestones and reporting progress. The process of outling the milestones and then knowing that my progress is visible to others creates the accountability I need to ensure I am doing what is necessary to achieve my milestones. But I realize this process isn’t natural for others. You must find what works for you. Accountability is about sharing your intentions with others and then asking them to regularly monitor and hold you accountable for your progress.

Success… finally!

Armed with my newfound knowledge I returned to my doctor and asked him to put me back on the Zyban medication. I told him about what I had learned and that I REALLY wanted to quit smoking. He agreed to refill my prescription and I started taking the pills the following morning.

I also identified and eliminated my primary triggers. As mentioned, coffee and beer were both big triggers for me, so I eliminated them both. The beer was no big deal as I was a very light social drinker. But the coffee was more difficult. When I quit drinking the coffee I went through about three days of caffeine withdrawals. The headaches were almost unbearable. But again, I wanted it so bad that I was willing to go through just about anything to create an environment that would maximize my chances of success. No more ice cream. I stopped golfing with my drinking/smoking buddies. I avoided situations where I would be around other smokers. Did I have to sacrifice some of my relationships in the process? Yes. But what I found is that when I explained to my friends what I was doing they were very understanding and supportive.

To pursue a healthy lifestyle I decided to join Weight Watchers and follow their advice. Through the Weight Watchers program I am learning about proper foods to eat and also learning about portion control. Not only is the program helping me to eat healthier, I am also losing weight! For exercise, I started jogging the trails near my home. When I first started I couldn’t jog for more than about 5 or 10 minutes. On a few occasions I coughed so hard that it caused me to throw up on the side of the trail (sorry for the visual). Oh, the joys of cigarette smoke. As I write this almost a year later I am still coughing a little bit, but nothing like those early days. My doctor told me it could take more than a year for my lungs to heal from the damage caused by smoking.

For accountability I leaned on my experience as a project manager. Any project can be overwhelming if you try to tackle it all at once. There’s an old joke that explains this well:

How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time!

You must break the elephant into small chunks, and then continue breaking down each chunk into smaller chunks until you have bite sized pieces. So that is what I did with my overall mission of getting healthy. I defined three goals and gave myself three years to achieve them (my Three in Three Challenge):

• Quit smoking
• Lose 50 Lbs.
• Complete an ultramarathon

To hold myself accountable to these goals I created The Trail Jogger to document my journey and to capture my successes (and failures) as I pursue my goals. By doing so, I’ve made myself accountable to the entire world (well, at least to the three or four people who might actually read this!). I am trying to connect with other runners and healthy people on sites like Twitter and Facebook (the links will open new tabs to my pages) in the hopes that they will help hold me accountable (and maybe cheer me on). I am surrounding myself with the type of people that I want to become—people with the desire to live healthy lifestyles.

At the time of this posting I have been smoke-free for around nine months, I’ve lost 10 of my 50 lbs, and I have increased my maximum running distance to six miles. I’ve further broken down my ultramarathon goal into short and medium term milestone races and I have started training for my first race (Rockledge Rumble 15K). I’ve gone through a lot of pain to get to where I am at today. Has it been worth it? Absolutely. Will I achieve my goals? Without a doubt!

Well, that was my story about how I quit smoking. If you’ve taken the time to read this, thank you! Please send a link to someone who might benefit from this. If you have successfully quit smoking, please leave a comment and share your story. I’d love to hear about your transformation to a healthier lifestyle.