What Happens When You Quit Smoking? A Complete Recovery Timeline

Discover the ultimate guide to quitting smoking. Learn the minute-by-minute timeline of how your body heals, effective strategies like “Cold Turkey” vs. “Delay,” and 4 actionable steps to kick the habit for good. From managing withdrawal symptoms to using no-nicotine medications, find the support you need to reclaim your health and longevity.

Why You Should Stop (As If You Did Not Know)

There is no gentle way of saying this (nor should there be): Half of the people who smoke die from smoking-related diseases. They die, on average, 10 to 12 years earlier than their nonsmoking peers. In fact, smoking cigarettes is responsible for one of every five premature deaths in the United States, including:

• Twenty per cent of all deaths from cardiovascular disease
• Twenty-nine per cent of all cancer deaths
• Eighty-seven per cent of all lung cancer deaths

But if preventing your early death is not enough of a reason to give up smoking, finally, considering these additional incentives might do the trick:

• You will have fewer wrinkles as you age.
• You will have more energy.
• Your hair, clothes, house, and car will smell better. So will your breath.
• Your teeth and nails will lose that yellowish nicotine stain.
• Your favourite foods will smell and taste better.
• Men only: You will lower your risk of becoming impotent.
• If you are a woman, you will lower your risk of developing osteoporosis (a condition in which bones gradually weaken and thin) or experiencing an early menopause.
• If you are pregnant, you will increase your chances of having a healthy baby.
• The people (and pets!) you live with will be healthier.

Natural ways to reduce smoking cravings

If you smoke, you have already tried to quit. Most people make several serious attempts at giving up smoking before they finally succeed. After all, nicotine is an addictive drug—for some people, as addictive as heroin or cocaine.

So, it is no surprise that quitting is hard. Extremely hard. But each year, more than three million smokers do what many of them thought was impossible and give up cigarettes for good. You can do it, too! All it takes is the right attitude, knowledge, and planning.

Calling It Quits

There are many ways to quit smoking. Below are some of the most popular. For the greatest success, consider combining one of these methods with nicotine-replacement treatment and stop-smoking counselling.

• Cold turkey. With this method, you simply stop, suddenly and totally. For most people, this is the most successful way of kicking the nicotine habit.
• Cutting down. Gradually reduce the amount of nicotine in your body by cutting down on the number of cigarettes you smoke each day—that is the essence of this approach. People usually eliminate 5 to 10 cigarettes a day until they can go “cold turkey” and quit altogether. Although some people succeed with this method, studies show that most people lose their determination before reaching the day they quit.
• Delay. This approach encourages you to delay your first cigarette of the day by one or two hours. Then each day you delay that first cigarette a little longer until you are not smoking any cigarettes. Delaying works for some people, but experts recommend you take no more than two weeks to be smoke-free.

Benefits of quitting smoking timeline

Step 1: Get ready.

Start by picking a specific quit date. Make sure it is neither so far away that you soon forget about it, nor so close that you will not have time to properly prepare. Some people choose a day when they are on vacation and away from their regular routine (easier to break old smoking habits). Others prefer to quit on a typical and more structured day (easier to keep busy and distracted from smoking). Whichever type of day you choose, be sure it is stress-free. Circle it on your calendar.

Replay your strategy. Next, review your past attempts at quitting. What worked and what did not? Think about the situations that make you want a cigarette. You always light up after a meal or as soon as you get in your car. Start preparing for what you will do instead of smoking in those situations. You could plan to go for a short walk after meals, for example, or to chew gum (from packets conveniently stashed in your car's glove compartment) when driving.

Work also on visualising what it will be like to stop smoking. Imagine how much better you will feel (more energised) and look (healthier and more attractive). Combining this visualization exercise with meditation or deep breathing (see page 162) can be especially effective in helping you quit.

Step 2: Rally support

Inform everyone you know—your family, your friends, your co-workers—that you have chosen a date to stop smoking. Tell them you would like their support. Ask those who smoke not to do so when you are around. You may even find that one of those smokers will quit with you. Enlisting a quitting “buddy” can be an amazingly effective motivator.

Make an appointment with your doctor to discuss different strategies for quitting, including nicotine and non-nicotine aids. You should also check with your health insurance plan to see which stop-smoking strategies it supports and covers.

Pressure Point: Research has shown that the more counselling you get, the better your chances of quitting.

Step 3: Create new routines.

Help you make the psychological break from smoking, and change as many of your daily routines as possible when you first quit. Take a different route to work, for example, or drink tea instead of coffee at your midmorning break. Getting out of your daily rut will help curb the urge to automatically light up a cigarette at certain times.

Start exercising. Studies have shown that people who exercise regularly are more successful at quitting smoking. Increasing physical activity will also help you counter any weight gain you might experience because of quitting tobacco. It will also improve your mood and help take off the edge of such withdrawal symptoms as irritability and headaches.

Reduce stress. If you were like most smokers, you used cigarettes to combat stress. Now you need to find other ways of relieving tension. Exercise will help a lot, but you may also want to try meditation, deep breathing, or progressive muscle relaxation.

Practice positive self-talk. Congratulate yourself for making the effort to quit smoking. And try to stay focused on the positive, or what you are gaining from not smoking (check that list you made!), rather than on the negative, or the struggle you are having with nicotine withdrawal.

Hug yourself. Be kind to yourself. Plan something enjoyable to do every day. And do not forget to reward yourself at regular intervals for your spectacular effort at quitting. Treat yourself to a professional therapeutic massage, for example, or a new exercise outfit, or a low-fat yogurt “smoothie” at your favourite juice bar. You will be able to afford such little extravagances now that you are saving money from not smoking!

Step 4: Hang in there!

Quitting is a one-day-at-a-time kind of effort. Be prepared for a relapse, especially during the first week when withdrawal symptoms tend to be strongest. If you do stumble and have a relapse, do not get discouraged. Take these steps instead:

• Do not be too hard on yourself. Having a slip-up and smoking one cigarette does not make you a smoker again.
• Get back on track immediately. Remind yourself why you quit, and reflect on the effort you have already invested in quitting. Then reaffirm your commitment to giving up tobacco for good.
• Identify what caused you to break your resolve not to smoke again. Decide now what you will do when the situation comes up again. For ideas and support, you may want to talk over your setback with a friend or professional.

Pressure Point: When you are trying to quit, stay away from people who smoke. Three-quarters of quitters who relapse do so in the presence of smokers—usually after asking one of the smokers for a cigarette.

Bupropion and Zyban for quitting smoking

The prescription drug bupropion hydrochloride, sold under such brand names as Zyban and Wellbutrin, has been successfully used either alone or in combination with nicotine-replacement products to help people quit smoking. The medication increases the blood levels of dopamine, a natural chemical that not only improves mood but also helps battle nicotine cravings.

In one study, 49 per cent of people who used Zyban were able to kick their smoking habit within one month compared to 36 per cent of those who used the nicotine patch. But when people used both Zyban and the patch, 58 per cent remained smoke-free for at least a month.

Weathering Withdrawal