The Philippine Online Chronicles

“I’m going to quit smoking, for good. No buts, no ifs, no exceptions.”

I was a notch short of having this tattooed across my forehead as I made the statement last year.  It became my personal commitment one great morning in 2009. And now I can triumphantly say that quitting smoking is my greatest feat last year.

After too many attempts that never quite lasted for more than a couple of months spread over the course of a decade, I was literally and figuratively sick.

Short of breath, intermittent localized chest pains, pallid complexion, low wattage smiles, chronic smoker’s cough, and palpitations are just a few of the surface symptoms I lived with for the last 10 years of my life. I ignored them for as long as I possibly could, for many superficial reasons I never really understood. Until one day, I woke up and smelled the coffee. It smelled like stale coffee grounds ice-blended with wet ash. Disgusting is the most polite way of describing my unnerving moment of epiphany.

Just asking “How do I quit smoking?” constricts veins and short-circuits neuronal synapses of an average smoker.  Allow me to share how I managed to quit and stayed sober.

KNOW YOUR REASONS FOR SMOKING

After finding your resolve to quit smoking, the first critical must is to figure out what makes you smoke. Even our country’s President-apparent, Noynoy Aquino, has his own reasons for smoking—mainly to deal with stress—even though he’s not quitting anytime soon despite the pressure. The root of the smoking habit is the most important thing that must be identified and absolutely understood before a smoking cessation plan is drafted and executed.

That great and eventful morning—before I even had the chance to wash my face—I grabbed my trusty fat notebook, listed my “why I smoke” reasons—now, in hindsight, excuses—and deliberately scribbled the following:

• In the name of the god of socialization
• Soothes me when I’m stressed
• Keeps me company when I’m bored
• It keeps me up when I’m sleepy
• Helps me stay up and running while drinking with friends
• Curbs junk food cravings

As people smoke and nicotine is absorbed into the bloodstream, chemical reactions trigger the body to immediately release sugar and this process only takes three minutes. The effects of smoking are thoroughly researched, studied and documented. Smoking is the number one cause of lifestyle diseases which are the leading causes of death these days. The risks of developing heart disease, diabetes and lung cancer are greatly increased with smoking. My family’s medical history is front-lined by hypertension, heart disease and diabetes. This reason alone became the core foundation of my quit program.

An addiction is defined as the condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or involved in something. Addictions highjack one’s health, sensibilities, independence, time and money. Needless to say, addiction to smoking is one formidable foe requiring superabundant commitment and support from loved ones and those in the immediate environment.

For each reason I listed, I put a substitute right beside it. Countering my triggers before I reach for that stick mattered as much as the air I breathe. My substitutes became my little warriors. The list turned to this table:

I read my assessment list over and over to strengthen my resolve. I prayed hard to blow out the little demons saying I’m being a fool and called my biggest fan in the world, my fiancé. There is nothing more important to me that day but to get a thumbs-up from the ones who matter the most. And if you want to quit, you should do the same.

UNDERSTAND IT WILL BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO QUIT

While I waited for my greatest fan, I made myself busy by writing another list. Making the second list is just about as hard as making the first one. It pointed out my reasons why quitting is going to be exceptionally challenging.

My addiction to smoking has been like the Robin to my Batman, the sugar to my cup of java and the smear of butter to my hot pandesal for ten long years. It comforted me in most of the less-than-stellar moments of my life. It became my best friend.

No matter how you cut it, nicotine dependence—as in any dependence on other drugs or substances—is hard to give up. Cutting a psychological lifeline deeply lodged in the brain’s pleasure centers feels like chopping off a limb, perhaps even two.

I knew it was hard to quit and anticipated that I will likely cry as my body is ravaged by nicotine withdrawal symptoms. I knew I was going to miss that lighted stick in between my two fingers. Yet it did not deter me, but instead even willed me to stick to my goal -indefinitely.

An honest and complete understanding that this journey will be one of the most difficult you will embark on in your entire life is critical. Any task, no matter how difficult, is always made easier with the right expectations.

MAKE THE ANNOUNCEMENT AND GET THE SUPPORT

As my greatest fan arrived, I handed him my lists and, though terrified, I exuberantly, decidedly said, “I am quitting smoking today and I’m never smoking again.” He asked, “Are you absolutely sure?” I said, “Yes.”

So that fateful day, together we threw away all my cigarettes, flushing them down the toilet, and sold my ashtrays to a junk shop. That day was a day to exorcise tobacco.

The following morning, I announced to all my work yosi (cigarette) buddies I am not going with them to smoke anymore and I am sorry that I will be missing out on a few laughs. I asked for their understanding if not their full support. The former I received but not the latter.

Making a commitment to detach is helped by ritualizing the experience. In my case, I set aside time with a witness to clean out my drawers and bags, and everything that made it very convenient to smoke. Treating the beginning of the journey to a smoke-free life akin to a commitment ceremony serves to buttress one’s resolve, especially in bad days.

PREPARE FOR RELAPSE

Plans are just plans. No matter how solid, sensible or easy to follow through, plans are never 100% the same in translation and execution. It definitely pays to have a plan B if plan A does not work.

Yes, I experienced one minor relapse on this journey. I smoked two sticks of cigarettes when my team and I headed to a bar for an impromptu team building as a quick solution to my blatant droopiness. Having worked a 12-hour shift, lack of sleep from the night before plus alcohol is not a great combination. It was one rare gathering of the minds that may take months before it can happen again, I thought. Although it temporarily felt good, I felt miserable as soon as I got back home. I felt like breaking a vow, only it is with no other person but me.

I gathered my support and brought out my in-case-of-relapse vision board littered with all the reasons why I made the decision to quit smoking. Instantly, I felt better and stronger than before. The following work day, I designated a guardian in my team who committed to stop me whenever I felt the need to smoke.

There is no one way to quit smoking. In my case, there are only two things I needed:  a complete understanding of why and a must of doing it cold turkey. These fabulously worked because I am the kind of person who needs to understand how things work and I love to keep things simple—black and white, no gray areas.

My experience will be different from everyone else who are quitting smoking and it is important to find what appeals to and what works with the quitter. Some may need to do it slowly. Some may even need nicotine gums and patches, while some, professional help.

Quitting smoking is the best decision I made in 2009. I hope smokers can learn from my own experience and make that decision to quit.  Proud to say, I am now sober for one year and definitely looking ahead to the rest of my years, smoke-free.

Photos: “Lighter 1” by Tobias Usewicz, c/o stock.xchng. Some Rights Reserved; “Don't smoke! 7”and “ Don't smoke! 3” by Carlos Paes, c/o stock.xchng. Some Rights Reserved; “City of ash” by Aldon Scott Mc Leod, c/o stock.xchng. Some Rights Reserved.

-----

Fristine de Guia is an operations and human resource development manager by trade, and an evolving advocate of sustainable, holistic and organic lifestyle, detoxification and fair trade. She describes herself as a slave to gustatory delights, a scientist in the kitchen whose main goal is to protect pig rights by substituting everything else for pork and a writer whom the universe recently kicked out of the closet. She beats stress by Plurking, running 5Ks, spoiling her two felines and traveling.