Nowadays, everyone knows that smoking generates a lot of deleterious and negative effects; for few seconds of relaxation given by nicotine, you are destroying gradually your well-being, exposing yourself primarily and your entourage to cancer risk and shrinking your economic ease to the detriment of cigarettes that you buy each day, each month and each year.
So, when you take the decision
that you are now prepared and convinced to quit smoking, congratulations! You are
on the right path, but it is only half the fight. Recognizing where to start on
your path for becoming smoke-free person can guide you to take the big jump.
Remember that tobacco usage and
exposure to second-hand smoke are responsible for more than half million deaths
each year in the United States only, according to the American Lung
Association, and more than 7 million people around the world according to WHO,
with More than 6 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco consumption
while around 890 000 are non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.
Taking that in consideration,
several smokers pass a major part of each and every day blaming themselves for
the fact that they smoke. On the other side, they enjoy lighting up with a cup
of coffee or after the work. This mental dilemma creates a state of nervousness
for many smokers.
Does your mind bounce back and
forth on the subject of smoking stop? Or do you quit only finding yourself
smoking again and again within days, or at best, a few weeks?
You can, nevertheless,
quit smoking effectively. And the good news is that thousands of people around
the world do just the same each year. They have found the way out and enjoy a relaxed
life, free of thoughts of smoking. Most of these ex-smokers believed at
one time -just as you probably do- that they could never quit smoking.
When the willingness and the
determination are your weapons, you can reach whatever objective you plan for
yourself, but remember always that the first days without cigarettes can be extremely
difficult. Here are some steps you may consider to handle the quit and be convinced
about being able to stay quit:
Prepare for the big day: the quit day
Once you have taken the decision to stop smoking, you are mentally ready
to set a quit date. Choose a day that is not too distant in the future so that
you don’t change your mind, but in the same time gives you enough time to
prepare.
There are numerous ways to stop smoking, but in the end, you need
to decide –by yourself- whether you are going to quit rapidly, which means prolong
smoking right up until your quit date and then stop, you make also consider to quit
gradually; reduce your cigarette intake little by little until your quit date
and then stop
Researches that compared abrupt quitting with reducing smoking found
that neither made superior quit rates over the other, so it’s up to you for
choosing the way that best suits you.
Change your lifestyle, free your mind
We all know some people who quit smoking years ago and still grieve that
they really miss cigarettes, which is not a good example for you to
follow, this is a frightening situation for any smoker trying to quit, but you don’t
have to worry at all. The main key for breaking the ties with smoking -in
a lasting way- lies in reconsidering the relationship with smoking, which is a crucial procedure that people do not do unfortunately.
Over the line of several years of smoking, we turned to cigarettes to
seek comfort, stress relief, companionship and so on, Understanding to relate
all of the stressful events in our lives to smoking. Which makes smoking a
solution rather than a problem, and we unconsciously adopted damaging beliefs
as basic facts of life, instead of considering smoking for what it actually was:
a necessity to feed an undesired addiction.
Sorting out all of these false associations and replacing them with the
correct ways of dealing with our modern lives will start changing the affiliation
you have with smoking.
Utilize NRTs
Quitting smoking without using the help of NRT, medication, or therapy,
is a common way to give up smoking. Yet, only around six percent of these quit efforts
are successful. It is so easy to misjudge how powerful nicotine dependence in fact is.
NRT can decrease the cravings and withdrawal signs you experience that
may obstruct your ongoing attempt to give up smoking. NRTs are intended to wean
your body off cigarettes and provide you with a controlled and pure dose of
nicotine while sparing you from the harmful exposure to other chemicals found
in cigarettes.
If you have decided to use NRTs, talk about the dose with a healthcare
professional before you quit smoking. Keep in mind that it is significantly
more probable to quit smoking using a NRT, the major goal is to finish your
addiction to nicotine altogether, not just only tobacco.
Stay busy
Keeping busy is one of the most
important ways to stay smoke-free on your quit day. Being busy will help you maintain
your mind off smoking and divert you from cravings. Think about doing: Exercise,
go for a walk, keep your hands busy with a pen or toothpick, chew gum or hard
candy, drink lots of water, spend your time with non-smoking friends and family.
Avoid all smoking triggers
Triggers are all things, people, places, and situations that trigger
your urge to smoke cigarettes. During your quit day, try to avoid all these
triggers. Here are some useful tips to outsmart some ordinary smoking triggers:
Throw away your cigarettes, lighters, and ash trays if you haven’t done it
already, avoid caffeine, which can make you feel nervous and replace it with drinking
water or juice instead, spend your day with non-smokers friends, avoid places
full of smokers and go to spaces where smoking isn’t allowed.
Check up your health risks
Another element in changing your mind about smoking engages removing the
false appeasements we put up as smokers and seeking out the correct information
on the
damage tobacco causes. We all know about
the health risks and problems caused by tobacco, but we avoid reading about
them whenever it is possible. Taking a close look at research and statistics will help you make that move away from being a happy smoker to someone
who can't stand to be clear of cigarettes for it benefit.
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