I quit a little over a year ago.
If there is any advice I can give, it's to go "cold turkey" and work your way through it no matter how difficult it is for you. It's all about will-power and if you don't have any, then maybe this process will help you develop some.
If you nurse it along and kid yourself into thinking you can "taper off" until you don't need them anymore, you probably will end up eventually smoking again instead of quitting like you wanted.
The physical addiction takes a while to go away. I have heard that it only takes a few days for that to wear off.....I don't believe it. For weeks afterwards, I could actually feel my lungs aching for smoke when I was in the presence of someone else who was smoking. Weird, to say the least.
The psychological addiction goes on for much longer. It's the hardest to deal with when many of your favorite activities were things you did with a lit-cigarette in your mouth. Suck on hard candy, chew on a rice cake or eat something else that takes your mind off your cravings and won't kill you with fat or high calories. Whatever you decide to use as a "replacement", make sure you have it with you at all times. Long trips in the car are the hardest and it's very easy to pick up a pack of smokes when you stop for gas...
Oh, and you WILL gain weight. Nicotine is a poison that acts as a stimulant. It kept your activity up and your appetite down. You won't have this working on you any more and whatever edibles you ingest to combat the habit won't help this any. After a while, you will get your wind back and excercise won't be as difficult. If you feel like you need to smoke, go jog a mile. That should take care of it

I now find the smell of cigarette smoke pretty much disgusting. When I'm around a smoker, I no longer have a craving to smoke as well, rather I find it pretty annoying. But I put up with it when I have to, because I was there once.
Until you get to this stage, you aren't out of the woods. But it's a good cause so hang in there. If there's anything that is known for certain, it's that eventually everyone dies. If you place any value on your own life, you won't continue to do things that accelerate the process. And smoking is definitely one of those things.
Good luck.
RandyT