14/3/2008

News

Diary of a quitter 3

TODAY marks two weeks without a cigarette and it’s getting easier and easier – another week and I’ve decided I can officially declare myself a non-smoker.

I’ve been to the pub, into London, around mates who smoke and still stayed strong. I feel fit and healthy, my sense of smell is improving by the day and I’m saving money which I couldn’t really stand to waste in the first place.

Wednesday saw the 25th national No Smoking Day – normally a day for digging your heels in and desperately going without – but it came and went and I barely noticed.

There have been no patches or other nicotine replacement products involved, it just dawned on me that I had finally grown bored with being a smoker.

I talked to a friend about the issue a few months ago. He gave up overnight after his wife gave birth to their daughter and he insisted the process hadn’t been the long and painful slog he expected.

"I just got sick of it," he said. "I’d tried to stop before but didn’t really want to in my heart of hearts. This time I wanted to stop, so I stopped."

I don’t have any children (hopefully), but the frame of mind is the same – that’s what has made the whole thing surprisingly simple.

If you’re seriously thinking about following my lead and giving up, try reading Allen Carr’s EasyWay to Stop Smoking. It tells you nothing you don’t already know but everything you may have forgotten about the habit.

I’m off for a swim.

Talk again soon,

Stubby.

First printed in: News & Mail Series

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