Eight weeks in: How Colette has quit smoking with Boots Stop for Good

You might remember us shouting about the new Boots #StopForGood nationwide programme to help people kick smoking for good in 2018. We put a call-out to the public to help someone stop smoking with a free 12-week bespoke #StopForGood programme with Boots. We got so many applicants, but we chose someone we felt really needed encouragement and support on her journey.

Colette Cotterell has been a full-time health-care receptionist and smoker for the past 40 years and has tried, without success, to give up. Over a 12-week period, she’ll have one-to-one sessions with a Boots #StopForGood advisor to keep her on track with progress, while rewarding her for meeting her goals with products, money-off vouchers and even an in-store makeover or skincare consultation. Colette has been writing a diary about her progress on the Boots programme with the aim of inspiring others, like her, to stop smoking for good. Here, she tells us how she’s been getting on, eight weeks in.

Dear Diary,

So here we are, eight weeks into my twelve-week Stop for Good Journey with Boots Ireland. I can’t believe I’m over halfway through my programme already with only four weeks left to go. The last eight weeks have not been without some challenging moments, however, the highlights have really outweighed the tough times. Let me share with you some of my trials and tribulations to date.

Thinking back to week one of my Stop for Good journey, I had little faith in my ability to quit smoking altogether. I can proudly say that my pessimistic mindset has done a complete 180 in the last eight weeks. If you are a dedicated smoker like me, who can find every excuse under the sun not to quit smoking, this programme will give you the motivation and encouragement needed to stop for good. I can officially say that since starting this programme, I haven’t had a cigarette, something that I never thought I would be able to say.

I would not have been able to kick the habit on my own, my Boots Stop for Good Advisor Rob has been a really great help throughout my journey. Rob gave me some great tips that I really owe a lot of my success to. Tips such as how to curb cravings, how to aid the initial insomnia and how to stay focussed on end goals are essential to get you through your journey. It’s important to recognise the various challenges you may be faced with at different steps of your quitting journey, which is why having a specially trained adviser such as Rob to turn to during the tough times is so beneficial.

It’s crucial to have a good support system when you’re trying to stop smoking. When attempting to give up in the past, I did not have this kind of support and I think this is why I failed so many times. Rob was able to pre-warn me on the challenges I may face along the way, arming me with the tips and advice I needed to overcome such challenges. So far, I have had three consultations with Rob, and all three have been hugely informative and beneficial. I really look forward to my consultations. It’s so motivational to see how far I’ve come since day one (not to mention the great rewards I’ve received), giving me the extra push I need to continue on this journey. I am actually excited about my Carbon Monoxide test next week to see the results and I’m hoping for a big improvement.

I only have four weeks left on this programme, and I will really miss these consultations when the twelve weeks is up. I never even realised how much I wanted to quit smoking before starting the Stop For Good programme and now that I’m on week eight of my new smoke-free life, I will never look back. So far, my experience of this programme has been overwhelmingly positive and I cannot wait to stick with it for the remaining four weeks. I would highly recommend this programme to anyone trying to quit smoking, no matter how many times you’ve failed in the past.

That’s all of my updates for now. I am really looking forward to updating you on week twelve of my journey when I will have successfully completed the Boots Stop for Good Programme.

Colette