How we stopped smoking – from joining the gym to telling pals not to offer cigarettes

DID YOU know that you’re three times more likely to quit smoking for good with support?

Or that there’s a wealth of help out there, from patches to stop-smoking sessions and a super easy-to-use NHS app that you can download to your phone to help you break the habit?

If you’ve been thinking of giving up, now is the time to start with summer just around the corner.

Within a matter of days of puffing your last cigarette, you’ll be breathing better, you’ll feel fitter and healthier, your clothes will smell better – and your bank balance will thank you too.

If you’re worrying about giving in to temptation or how you’ll manage the cravings, then don’t.

Instead, just read on to find out how these two happy quitters finally broke free.

Gemma Durham is at the start of her quitting journey. Giresh, after two smoking-free years, knows it really is possible to give up and never look back.

I’ve so much more energy

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Gemma Durham, 29, a care worker from Manchester, gave up with support from friends and family

“MY MUM Jayne was my inspiration for giving up smoking. I remember as a child nagging her to quit all the time.

She did, a decade ago – around the time I started smoking. I was at university and everybody was lighting up. I didn’t expect to get hooked.

I can be a social smoker, I thought.

But within a few weeks I was smoking every day.

Mum was disappointed. She used to say to me: ‘I never thought you’d become a smoker,’ as I was still puffing away into my mid-20s.

I live at home, so she couldn’t miss me popping outside for a quick ciggie.

I felt bad, as I’d given her such a hard time. Not only that, but as time went on, I noticed I was feeling more and more lethargic.

I joined a gym, but one day in a spin class my chest felt tight.

I let my membership lapse, but underneath it all, I knew smoking wasn’t helping my health.

I tried to quit a few times, using vaping, nicotine replacement therapy and willpower.

But now I’ve finally stopped for good – and it’s been so worth it. Within a few days I was feeling more energetic and could breathe easier.

I’m about to turn 30 and part of my inspiration came from not wanting to enter a new decade as a smoker!

It definitely helps having a goal like that – it helps you keep going.

Mum has been a great support, and I’d also advise anyone quitting to try to have someone in your corner. After dinner is my biggest danger period.

‘Hang on in there, the cravings will pass in a minute,’ Mum would tell me – and she was right.

On nights out I avoid the smokers’ area – I keep busy talking to people and I’m not stuck outside

Distraction also works. Now, after I’ve eaten, I might take myself for a walk, get extra busy with work or go to the gym early – whatever takes my mind off it.

On nights out, I avoid the smokers’ area – I keep busy talking to people and remind myself how much I appreciate not getting stuck outside.

It’s good to stay away from temptation.

Friends have helped. On a recent holiday to Thailand, we agreed to focus on daytime activities and sightseeing rather than partying, which was great.

Rejoining the gym and realising how much more energy I have spurs me on. I go three or four times a week and I’m proud of how far I’ve come.”

Just keep going

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Giresh Das, 37, a grounds worker from Cornwall, found quitting opened up new opportunities

“WHEN I was growing up in Malaysia, nearly everyone I knew smoked.

I started around 14. So young! By my early 20s, I smoked a lot – nearly two packs of 20 a day. I only cut back to one pack a day as they got more expensive.

Then in December 2019, I moved to the UK with my wife Rosie and baby Max.

We met when Rosie was working as a teacher in Malaysia, but as we started a family, she wanted to be close to her parents in England.

I was only smoking five or six roll-ups a day at this stage – I’d cut down when Rosie was pregnant.

But my new job as a gardener was tough as lots of my colleagues smoked. I ended up having my first cigarette on the way into work and my last on the journey home.

I used phone apps to record my progress and how many days I’d quit for

I wanted to quit. I tried vaping but I didn’t like the taste. I was getting frustrated with myself.

I hated arriving home from work and having to change straight away.

I needed to get rid of the smell of smoke before I could hold Max and his little sister Daisy, who was born three years after we moved to the UK.

Then, in February 2023, a friend suggested that I might use my phone and apps to help me.

I started keeping a record of my progress as a non-smoker, and how many days it had been since I’d quit.

Once I’d started, I said to my colleagues: ‘Even if I beg, don’t give me a cigarette.’

Something about the psychology of counting the days worked for me.

I’d look at my numbers and think: ‘I’ve managed 20 days – let’s see if I can make it to 30.’

I went on holiday and was worried – it was a trip back to Malaysia three months after quitting.

It was going to mean lots of nights out with friends. Would I be able to withstand temptation?

In fact, it was easy. I had crossed an invisible line and become a non-smoker – I felt triumphant!

Now, occasionally, I catch a whiff of cigarette smoke and think: ‘That smells good.’ But it’s a fleeting thought.

What’s really strange is that sometimes I’m smoking in my dreams.

I wake up feeling guilty, especially now we have baby Mylo, wondering how I could do that to the kids.

Then I realise it was just a dream – or a nightmare, more like.

My advice is not to overthink it, just keep going. And if you have the odd slip, don’t worry, just get back on it.

Quitting opens up so many opportunities – I’ve taken up running – and you’ll soon find there’s a whole new smoke-free world out there!”

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