I Haven’t Smoked in 365 Days

One particular night made me quit forever.

I wasn’t a smoker. I really wasn’t. I didn’t finish a pack a day or have recurrent urges. I smoked only when I drank, and every now and then. This is hardly any quantity, and no harm is done to me.

This is how I made myself feel better about my new-found habit.

I didn’t want to acknowledge that I smoked. None of you will die sooner commentaries mattered. The pack of cigarettes was £11 in England (where it all started) and £4 in my home country. I was a broke college student who’s father worked overtime for a year to support my education abroad.

But I bought one pack and another. And a chunk of my money went to smoking.

Every time I smoked with my morning coffee, I felt great. The chilly morning air, hot coffee, and a cigarette — this was my perfect start to the day.

Here’s how my terrible life choice took over my life. The transition to going downhill was incredibly smooth, you’ll see.

It started as fun and games.

I made a new friend, my first friend at university. We hung out often. He smoked, and I tried.

I had been surrounded by friends who smoked earlier too but remained unaffected.

Here, I was trying to find my place. I wanted to have fun, I wanted to blend. Smoking just made me feel nice.

But hey, I wasn’t a smoker. It was just once in a while, you know.

I sheltered myself with an illusion.

I’d be a hypocrite if I told you that your environment shapes your habit. Because I had been in an environment where my friends smoked, and I didn’t.

Even though Britain had 7.2 million smokers, that’s still only 14% of the population. When you’re doing something wrong knowing its wrong, you tend to find comfort seeing that more people are doing it.

Looking at plenty of smokers, I felt I’m doing something absolutely normal. This was an illusion created to not feel guilty.

Even though the cover of the pack told me I could die.

It’s easier to make friends.

Imagine being all alone in a new country. It’s always cold and dark. The environment is rather gloomy.

But the friends you make over a smoke? Well, you mingle and mingle so well. Smoking a cigarette is a 7-minute long activity with an ample amount of deep breaths. So you’re constantly feeling good.

When two people are in a good state and indulging in a similar activity, conversations take place. This felt like a ray of warmth in the otherwise gloomy picture.

You don’t even know that you’ve gotten addicted.

I am not a smoker. Just a person who casually enjoys smoking and is definitely not addicted. I said every day.

It took me 6 months to just accept the fact that I’m addicted. I crave a cigarette. It’s not a fun activity anymore.

I returned home after my year abroad and started sneaking to my terrace to hide and smoke. I smoked with my colleagues during their regular smoking breaks.

If this isn’t an addiction, what is? Not smoking made me feel terribly restless.

An event made me quit forever.

Okay, it wasn’t a major event, it was just a fun dinner with friends.

A dinner where I was drinking and having a good time. My friends had been smoking for 5+ years and I was only a year old. So a rather newbie smoker.

I finished 10 cigarettes in 2 hours.

I didn’t need somebody else to tell me what just happened, I realised it as I reached out to my half-empty pack.

I was 23, lively, a recent grad working at a great company. I do have a future ahead of me. I’ve travelled the whole of Europe all alone, and I had big plans to travel to other parts of the world with this newfound passion.

What was I doing to myself? And why?

The Quitting Process

That night hit me, I knew I had to change before I leave my health to ruin.

The plan I followed

1. For the next 3 weeks, I smoked a maximum of 2 cigarettes a day. It is hard, the cravings take over you. You become moody, your fingers search for something to hold. I didn’t meditate back then but my therapist suggested me to take ten deep breaths if I felt anxious. It helped.
2. National Healthcare Services (U.K.) suggests that keeping your hands and mouth busy helps. I have seen that some people tap their fingertips to deal with the fidgety sensation. I ate food, as eating a piece of chocolate or drinking some lemonade made me feel better.
3. Post that, I smoked once a day for about 2 weeks. I did feel more settled. The urges were there, but I wanted to quit. I had a big reason to, and that reason seemed to be more precious than the urges. I also stopped drinking alcohol for a while, as alcohol and smoking go hand in hand.
4. I stopped completely. In my head, I also criticised cigarettes enough so the smell which was once tempting became repulsive. This helped me the most to stay away.

How to stay motivated

I downloaded the Smoke-Free app which pinged me at frequent milestones.

Did you know that each day of your body being smoke-free brings about a significant impact in your body? Positive health impacts begin just 20 minutes after having your last cigarette. Other changes which take place after your last cigarette are as follows:

• 8 hours: carbon monoxide return to a normal level. Carbon Monoxide affects the amount of oxygen your tissues receive, so decreasing carbon monoxide means more oxygen for your body.
• 24 hours: decreased risk of a heart attack.
• 48 hours: previously damaged nerve endings begin to grow, so your sense of taste and smell improves.
• 72 hours: bronchial tubes in the lungs relax and open up, you breathe more easily than before.
• 1 week:

Smokers who successfully make it one week without smoking are nine times as likely to successfully quit. The chances of quitting smoking for good increase with every attempt. If you can make it to one week, you can make it for a lifetime.

• 2 weeks: Lung function increases by 30%, you breathe and walk more easily.
• 1 month: increased energy!
• 3 months: improved fertility (not the change you can feel, but when your app tells you this it’s inspiring to keep going)
• 6 months: coughing reduces massively. The cravings decrease by now to almost zero.

Adding to this, after 3 years your risk of heart attack decrease to that of a non-smoker. And after 5 years, your risk of lung cancer reduces by 50%.

What next?

It’s natural to lose track because the cravings can take over the better part of us. So, jump back in.

What helped me the most was staying clear on why I want to quit. Thinking about my family, future kids, my work, and life in general. These aspects were more important to me than a cigarette.

Find your reason to quit, and let that be your biggest motivation. What/who is precious to you and will be impacted long-term with your habit? Think of the unfortunate consequences if you go on smoking, and know that you have the power to change that picture.

I promise you’d be grateful to yourself for this. 365 days later, I can tell you from experience that I truly am grateful.