I was a heavy smoker of roll-ups for more than 20 years and quit nearly a year ago. ‘Each half is roughly the size and weight of a cigarette.’ Photograph: Getty Images/EyeEm Anonymous, London ‘Holding a clothes peg was surprisingly satisfying’ So, I bought 40 king-size cigarettes right away and chain-smoked them till midday, as an attempt at aversion therapy. I felt really disgusted by how much it mattered to me and how dependent I was on smoking. In any case, I discovered that I had no cigarettes – so I was dying for a smoke by the end of the journey. I was going to work one morning in 1981, when tube trains had smoking compartments, but I couldn’t get into one. Anonymous, Surrey ‘I chain-smoked 40 king-size’ For the first two weeks, I wrote the number of days since my last cigarette on my smoking hand, which was a really useful visual reminder of my progress. If you chuck your cigarettes in the bin, still in their packet, you’ll be fishing them out again in no time. Throw your cigarettes or tobacco away properly: I soaked mine in water and soap. Lynne, retired engineer, Folkestone ‘I soaked my cigarettes in water and soap’ Find something you want more than cigarettes – I have never smoked again. The next few years, we ate once a year in a three-star Michelin restaurant with the money I would have spent on cigarettes. My husband said that if I smoked now, he’d drink it in front of me – and then run away! At the year’s end, we drank it – and it was fabulous.
At the time, it cost about the same as what I would spend on cigarettes in a year. After six months, I found a bottle at Charles de Gaulle airport. If I felt I was weakening, the words Romanée-Conti would spur me on. In 1991, my husband said he would buy me a bottle if I gave up smoking for a year. I had long wanted to taste the rare and legendary Romanée-Conti burgundy. Andrew, graphic designer, Peak District ‘My husband promised me a bottle of Romanée-Conti if I quit for a year’ I managed to stop smoking on my first try, aged 46. (One of my biggest triggers was opening the car window, as I used to open it to flick the ash out.) 2) If you are really gagging for a cigarette, take a shower – there will be no trigger there, as it’s impossible to smoke in the shower. 1) Recognise the triggers that make you want to smoke and know they will pass within two minutes. I had a 40-a-day habit that I started aged 15. When I forgot when I’d had my last cigarette, I knew I’d given up. I allowed myself to stick at that point for a while. I smoked 40 a day but, over six weeks, I got down to one a day and then one every other day. I’d pick the times to smoke them that I knew I’d enjoy them the least. I would ration myself – one less cigarette each day. ‘I would ration myself – one less cigarette each day’