In the last issue when I’d finished writing I was still in the process of reading Alan Carr’s book and was ‘going to try again in the New Year’.

Now the New Year came and went and I still hadn’t finished the book. Not that it was hard to read or mad long, I just hadn’t been bothered and the longer that it went since I last read the book the more my willingness to quit waned. I was also in the process of moving and in my knowledgeable medical opinion deemed it too stressful to even try!

Well, when I returned to work I was reminded of my promised second part to the article and grudgingly I obliged by attempting to finish the book.

To be honest with you I couldn’t see myself being able to quit after having failed a few times already but, one night I came home early and had only three smokes left. Now, me being lazy by nature (easy going, I like to call it!) and given the choice between finishing the book or walking ten minutes in the lashings of rain to the nearest shop, I chose the book!

I extinguished my last (that I bought!) cigarette later that night with a half-hearted hope I could quit. The next week the nicotine withdrawals made me feel like I was having an out-of-body experience and I wasn’t the most pleasant of chaps to be around!

I cracked a couple of times and had two cigarettes. Then, I had a moment of clarity! It was either keep torturing myself by having a cigarette here and there and longing for one in between, go back on them altogether or just don’t smoke. It’s that easy!

When I made that decision it was relatively plain sailing, the withdrawal pangs passed and I only had to battle with my head telling me I needed a cigarette. Lies! As with anything, time and practice are some of the most important things. You can’t unlearn the habits of a lifetime in a few weeks.

Now, I hardly ever miss them. The odd time when I’m around smokers or after meals I think it’d be nice to have one but I know if I had the one I’d be back on them in no time. I can feel the benefits already, having been off them a few weeks, I can run for longer, food tastes better, I can breathe easier and I’m loaded! I’m going to Spain in the summer with the money I’ve saved from not smoking!

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to quit but needs that extra little push or help.

It is far from a miracle cure but it does put a lot in perspective about how smokers prolong their misery through misconceptions and warped thinking.

Try it now, what’ve you got to lose?