How to Quit Smoking Without Nicotine Replacement Therapy

Smoking is bad for you in many ways; all smokers know this but continue to smoke because it's a habit and addiction. Giving up isn't easy, especially if you are going it alone without the help of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). The point of NRT is to stop your body and mind craving a cigarette and nicotine by allowing your body small amounts of nicotine via different channels - straight into your bloodstream via a patch, into your lungs via an inhaler or by chewing gum. NRT is available over-the-counter in most chemists and grocery stores, or through your GP which can work out to be cheaper in the long run. The only problem that I found with NRT was that I soon became addicted to it. I wasn't smoking cigarettes any more but I couldn't function without my patch or chewing gum. To me, this defeated the purpose of stopping smoking as I still had nicotine in my system without the stress-relieving draw of a cigarette. Before long, I was smoking again.

What was required was a way to stop smoking without relying on anything other than my willpower. From previous experience I knew that that it would be harder to stop smoking this way, but I was determined to stop once and for all. The first step was to work out why I wanted to stop smoking, how I was going to prepare and when I was going to quit smoking.

Why do you want to quit smoking?

Everybody has their reasons for wanting to stop smoking. It was the health and money benefits that did it for me. Of course I wanted to cut my chances of developing lung and heart disease in later life, improve the condition of my skin and feel fitter! There was the money side too, I was spending 28p per cigarette. That's £1171.04 per year, but only if the price of cigarettes stays the same for the entire year, which let's face it, doesn't happen.

When are you going to quit smoking?

If you're a smoker I can guarantee that the words 'When this pack's done, I'm not buying any more' have came out of your mouth. And no doubt by the next day you'd purchased another pack. You need to plan when you're going to quit and keep to the set date. I decided that I was going to quit smoking the day before my next payday, because then I'd have an extra £98 to spend or save from my pay packet that month and that gave me the motivation to keep to my goal.

You could pick any date, you're birthday, child's birthday or simply just next Sunday. But pick a date and keep to it.

How are you going to prepare to quit smoking?

"Today's preparation determines tomorrow's achievement."

It is essential that you are prepared to quit smoking, if there are items around you that you relate to smoking then there's a chance that your willpower will fail and you will become a smoker again.

Throw out, or give away to friends, any smoking related paraphernalia the day before you've decided to stop smoking. Ashtrays, lighters, empty packets...everything.

Also be prepared to change your routine. If you always have a cigarette with your morning coffee sitting at the kitchen table, switch to drinking your coffee in the livingroom watching the news, or if you smoke on your lunch break then change when you take your lunch, if possible. If you are no longer doing your 'smoking' activites then it will be easier to overcome the urge to light a cigarette.

This is how I managed to quit smoking and I really hope that these tips work for you. Just one more thing - Good Luck!!