I smoked for 20 years.Gave up twice for a year each time. In 2010 I had a son born in America while I was living in Australia. In 2011 he came to Australia. On May 11th, 2011 the day he arrived (but before I saw him) I smoked my last cigarette. Having a reason is a great motivator but it is how you execute after is the important part.
I learned this from the 2 previous attempts, everything you associated with having a cigarette must be deleted from your life like a file in the trash bin. For example, I use to make a coffee light up a ciggy and go about my work on the PC. So I stopped coffee on May 11th aswell. You build habits around the smoking which work together like a dark team,lol. Break the habit then you will break the urge for a cigarette. Keep busy Try not to sit down for long periods of time like you use to when you would lite up. Find something physical to do, for me, i trained in the gym anyway even when I did smoke, so all I did was increase the amount of training.
The important thing is to attack the core events associated with your smoking this is key to success. All food drink aids are the secondary help factors but will also help with sobriety.
The hardest part I had to deal with was sitting working on my PC. I would light a cigarette accompanied with a coffee every 30-60 minutes, to be honest I don't know how my body survived it. My combat technique for the sitting down at the PC, was to build a stand-up desk that is electric. Every time I had a craving I would raise the desk and stand for a while. The cravings do get less over time, but it takes a few years before you actually finally get over it.
Anway that is what worked for me hopefully it may help someone just a bit:)...Great post!!
Thank you for sharing your story! Makes me even more grateful I quit!