this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2025
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~19 months into quitting. Best decision of my 40+ years.
If you're out there thinking it's too hard to quit: You're wrong, you can do this and it's worth it.
Same, I'm also almost 19 months in, after so many tries.
How did you do it?
Turns out what I needed wasn't an iron will but to understand why I smoked. I tracked every cigarette for two weeks, writing down the time and the reason - boredom, a context switch ("I just arrived at the office, now I need to get ready"), anxiety, needed a break...
Once I had that, I could start identifying the reasons for my cravings more easily, which in turn made it easier to switch to a healthier alternative, knowing the craving would pass.
Another two weeks later, I had already cut down my consumption from like 20 to 5 cigarettes a day, which felt wildly empowering. At that point, quitting entirely felt doable, so I did. That feeling made me excited to quit.
I mean, it was still not a walk in the park, but motivation was so much higher than before. I still used nicotine spray for a while to help with the worst cravings.
My dad quit smoking and what was the kicker for him was the oral fixation aspect. He bought a big box of plastic straws and just chewed the shit out of them whenever he felt the urge. Worked pretty well too