Today renew your pledge to quit smoking...If you have tried to quit smoking and failed before, take comfort in the fact that most smokers fail several times before quitting successfully.Your past failures are not a lesson that you are unable to quit. Instead, view them as part of the normal journey toward becoming a nonsmoker.
Here are 12 techniques that will help you quit the habit.
Remember - you can do it!
1. Deep Breathing Perhaps The Single Most Powerful And Important Technique: Every time you want a cigarette, do the following. Do it three times.
Inhale the deepest lung-full of air you can, and then, very slowly, exhale. Purse your lips so that the air must come out slowly. As you exhale, close your eyes, and let your chin gradually sink over onto your chest. Visualize all the tension leaving your body, slowly draining out of your fingers and toes, just flowing on out.
This is a variation of a yoga technique and is very relaxing. If you practice this, you'll be able to use it for any future stressful situation you find yourself in. And it will be your greatest weapon during the strong cravings sure to assault you over the first few days.
2. Taking In Fluids:
The first few days, drink LOTS of water and fluids to help flush out the nicotine and other poisons from your body.
Remember that the urge to smoke only lasts a few minutes, and will then pass. The urges gradually become farther and farther apart as the days go by.
3. Stay Away From Alcohol, Sugar And Coffee
Do your very best to stay away from alcohol, sugar and coffee the first week or longer, as these tend to stimulate the desire for a cigarette. Avoid fatty foods, as your metabolism will slow down a bit without the nicotine, and you may gain weight even if you eat the same amount as before quitting. So discipline about diet is extra important now. No one ever said acquiring new habits would be easy!
Nibble on low calorie foods like celery, apples and carrots. Chew gum or suck on cinnamon sticks.
Stretch out your meals; eat slowly and wait a bit between bites.
After dinner, instead of a cigarette, treat yourself to a cup of mint tea or a peppermint candy.
4.Taking An Oral Substitute
In one study, about 25% of quitters found that an oral substitute was invaluable. Another 25% didn't like the idea at all - they wanted a clean break with cigarettes. The rest weren't certain.
One can use cinnamon sticks, chewing gum or artificial cigarettes as a substitute. You will mostly find that after the first week of being a non smoker, you wouldn’t even need these.
5. Get Exercising
Go to a gym, sit in the steam, exercise. Change your normal routine – take time to walk or even jog around the block or in the local park.
6.Pamper Yourself
Go ahead and join a yoga class or maybe reiki – they're great! Get a one hour massage, take a long bath - pamper yourself. Get yourself involved in a hobby.
7. Ask For Support
Ask for support from co-workers, friends and family members. Ask for their tolerance. Let them know you're quitting, and that you might be edgy or grumpy for a few days. If you don't ask for support, you certainly won't get any. If you do, you'll be surprised how much it can help. Take a chance - try it and see!
Ask friends and family members not to smoke in your presence. Don't be afraid to ask. This is more important than you may realize.
8. Destroy All Your Cigarettes
On your quit day, hide all ashtrays and destroy all your cigarettes, preferably with water, so no part of them is smokeable.
9. Write It Down
Write down ten good things about being a nonsmoker - and then write out ten bad things about smoking. Do it. It really helps.
10. Don’t Pretend
Don't pretend smoking wasn't enjoyable – it was. This is like losing a good friend – and it's okay to grieve the loss. Feel that grief, don't worry, it's okay. Feel, and you heal. Stay with it - you can do it!
11. Affirm Yourself
Several times a day, quietly repeat to yourself the affirmation, "I am a nonsmoker." Many quitters see themselves as smokers who are just not smoking for the moment. They have a self-image as smokers who still want a cigarette.
Silently repeating the affirmation "I am a nonsmoker" will help you change your view of yourself, and, even if it may seem silly to you, this is actually useful. Use it!
12. Holding Out
Here is perhaps the most valuable information among these points. In Phase 2, the period which begins a few weeks after quitting, the urges to smoke will subside considerably.
However, it's vital to understand that from time to time, you will still be suddenly overwhelmed with a desire for "just one cigarette." This will happen unexpectedly, during moments of stress, whether negative stress or positive (at a party, or on vacation). If you are unprepared to resist, succumbing to that "one cigarette" will lead you directly back to smoking.
Remember the following secret: in these surprise attacks during Phase 2 - and they will definitely come - do your deep breathing, and hold on for five minutes, and the urge will pass.
In conclusion
Remember that if you quit you will live longer and feel better. Quitting will lower your chances of having a heart attack, stroke, or cancer. The people you live with, especially children, will be healthier. If you are pregnant, you will improve your chances of having a healthy baby. And you will have extra money to spend on things other than cigarettes.
So get the information and support you need to make the stopping process a little easier. Seek the help of family and friends, and most important decide you want to do it and visualize yourself as a non-smoker.
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