I smoked for over 30 years. Was never a two pack a day guy, never anything more than "lights". I did go through a pack a day most days though. I tried soooo many ways to quit. Pills, gum, patches, cold turkey. Nothing seemed to work. (In my opinion, Chantix should be banned BTW) The key element was missing for me, simply, the real desire to stop smoking. I never noticed a real problem other than friends and family urging me to quit. Honestly their concern annoyed me, and only served to make me smoke more. When I got back into cycling a couple of years ago it gave me the desire to quit, really quit, maybe for the first time. Huffing up a minor grade forced me to see the error of my ways. I knew the past attempts had failed and doubted they would have much effect even with a new mindset....so how to go about getting my wind back?
Naysayers can protest all they want but Vaping worked for me. I got a small starter kit, and in three days, over the space of a weekend, I went from a pack of 20+ cigarettes a day down to 3. By the following week, the desire was gone to light up. YMMV. I didn't believe most of the stories they tell you about quitting. I could see the money thing of course, every smoker has done the dollar math at some time or another. But the hype is for real too... food Will taste better, your clothes and living areas won't smell, you Will notice stale smoke on others, and you'll have money on you for some reason. To me the greatest thing is the new found peace of mind. "where are my smokes" "did i leave one burning somewhere" "do i have enough on hand or do i need to make a run to a store" on and on and on dwelling on not being without them. Vaping will allow you to ween off of nicotine if you want. When your tastebuds come back, you may find yourself liking flavors of sweets or others that are nicotine free. My nicotine content is still going down and Im enjoying tastes I never dreamed of in a "smoke". I've been quit for almost three years now.
I breathe better, (it will take some time), I no longer wake with a five minute long smokers cough. The wife responds to me more. My car interior is fresher and ash free. And best of all, I've got spare cash to buy bike stuff. I've refurbished two older bikes, and finishing up a third right now. All due to moving away from what was not really any real help at all.
Regardless of how you proceed, know that you are over half way to being there. Recognizing and wanting to quit, for yourself, not at others request, is the first step of success. Stay after it, the benefits you will see will make you wonder why you ever started, and why it took so long to not quit sooner.