Quitting
your smoking habit is one of the most difficult things you can undertake – can
I have an “Amen!” from my fellow smokers? – and most of us will try 5, 10, 15
times before we actually succeed. That is if
we succeed at all. I certainly didn’t the first 10 odd times I tried (and
that’s only the attempts I care to remember; there have been countless other
halfhearted attempts that failed after half a day, and those I would rather
repress).
I was
basically your average smoker, with a habit that would range anywhere from 10
to 15 cigarettes during the course of a normal day. While I loved my
cigarettes, I certainly didn’t love the coughing, lack of energy, yellow
fingernails, yellowing teeth and social stigma that came with them. My attempts
to quit were always – well, the serious once were always – accompanied by a
plethora of aids to help me in the process. You name it, I’ve tried it: I have
a rather sizable box of failures full of
nicotine plasters, nicotine chewing gums, quit smoking books and
audiotapes, receipts from therapists (who, I am pretty sure, got their
qualifications by mail order), even new age style rings and necklaces that were
supposed to help (worth a shot, right?) – needless to say, none of it worked.
Ever.
Some of
them worked better for me than others. Both plasters and gums worked for a
short while, but at the end of the day it’s not just the nicotine that you miss
when you quit smoking. To me both the social (chatting away with fellow smokers)
and physical (having something in your hands; the feeling of the smoke as you
inhale) elements to smoking were important. None of my quit smoking-aids could
fulfill those roles, which is a big part of the reason why they didn’t work.
So as a
seasoned smoker of ten odd years I wasn’t, in all honesty, particularly
convinces that this new electronic cigarette “fad” would help me either. Having tried
virtually everything else, though, I figured I’d give them a shot – imagine my
surprise when they actually worked!
Not only do you get the taste, but you still get the smoke feel and physical
feeling of holding something in your hand as well. As for the social aspect,
that’s still there too, but better – I’m no longer limited to chatting with
fellow smokers outside, but can stroll into the break room at work and chat to
whoever is there, whenever I fancy it (boss allowing!) An added bonus is that I
no longer have to go outside, which is ruddy nice in the winter, let me tell
you. That’s not even going in to the financial side of things, and the fact
that I’m actually saving well over a grand on my smoking habit every year! You can read more about benefits of vaping electronic cigarette here.