The hardest part of giving up tobacco – making the commitment

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Frank Casciotta
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  For me, giving up cigarettes wasn't the hard part about quitting -- it was deciding to make the commitment to quit after smoking for five years that was the real challenge.

When I first decided to quit it was just a seed of an idea, and like any seed it had to be coaxed into growing.

For me, the seed was planted when I called the Health and Wellness Center and signed up for their smoking cessation class.

My purpose there was to prove to myself I wasn't just blowing smoke about quitting. Not too surprisingly, it ended up having more valuable content than I initially gave it credit for.

I felt nervous during the first meeting, mainly because I was afraid I might fail and being there made making a change in my life more real.

I felt at ease once I sat down and could sense I wasn't the only one feeling nervous. Feelings of unease were stamped out by the teacher, Joel Urdang, the health promotion program coordinator for the HAWC.

The meeting felt vaguely like I imagine an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting might be. We introduced ourselves and talked about our preferred method of poisoning ourselves with tobacco.

After introductions, we received a packet with information on quitting. What really grabbed my attention was a behavioral roadmap, which showed the paths people who are trying to quit find themselves on. This information was the water and fertilizer for my plan to quit and it began to sprout.

We reviewed that nicotine is as addictive as cocaine, making quitting cold turkey very difficult. That was an important detail for me. I had it in my head that using things like patches or gum was for people not strong enough to quit on their own.

Pride can get in the way of accomplishing goals if you let it.

Nicotine tricks the brain into believing that without the drug it won't function. The brain will prioritize nicotine consumption on the same level it does food.

This bit of information added a layer of depth to my understanding. I knew addiction means being chemically dependent on something. But that is like knowing a tomato is a fruit but not knowing it shouldn't go in a fruit basket.

I understood what it was, but had no reference for how to get a handle on what was actually going on.

Joel explained quitting as a process, not an event. For me, this was an important note because that's the only thing I've tried in the past. I would wake up one day and say "OK, no more." Obviously, that hadn't worked for me.

The last instruction Joel gave the class was to think about a quit date, start thinking like a non-smoker and look for what our smoking triggers are.

I started paying closer attention to when I would light up. After a week of paying attention and reminding myself that it wasn't what I wanted to be doing, I started to resent the smoking habit.

I always felt uncomfortable around people after I would smoke a cigarette because I knew they could smell it on me. Their faces always scrunch up, even if they are polite enough not to say, "You stink of cigarettes." I felt uncomfortable knowing the smell was offensive to them.

After about three weeks of observing myself, I got some nicotine patches. They did their job of turning off my brain's "need" for nicotine.

That was two months ago. I haven't lit up since.

Now I have to stay committed to living smoke free.