These 15 Tips Will Help You Stop Smoking:
Advice from a New Jersey Expert.
1. First, go through this list of tips from one of New Jersey's leading experts on how to stop smoking. Then get paper and pencil, and make your own list. You know best what will work for your personality and lifestyle, so you're the best one to outline your plan.
2. Write down a definite statement about why you want to stop smoking, and the good things you want to gain by stopping: longer life, better health, family benefits, money saved, etc. You already know what the benefits are. Write it down, re-read it every day.
3. Get the support of family and friends with your smoking cessation program. You want them not to judge you but to understand what stopping will mean: warn them that you'll likely be having withdrawal symptoms like irritability, maybe even irrationality at times.
4. Discuss your plan to stop smoking with your doctor. Studies show that your physician's help and advice will increase your chances of permanent success.
5. Set a date for stopping smoking forever. Mark it large on all your calendars, plan to make it a special day, the first day of the rest of your life.. A small ritual to set apart the moment when you smoke your Last Cigarette, maybe on the morning of your Quit Date -- is an excellent idea.
6. Commit to a good exercise program. Exercise and smoking are like oil and water: they don't mix. Exercise is a great stress reducer and an excellent way to start repairing your body now that you're no longer harming it with tobacco.
There are many excellent parks, running and bike trails, and other free exercise venues in New Jersey. If you want, start slow by taking a short walk once or twice daily, and increase your time gradually to 30-40 minutes of more vigorous exercise, 3 or 4 times weekly. As with any new exercise program, you should check first with your doctor.
7. Deep breathing exercises daily for 3-5 minutes are extremely beneficial for those who stop smoking. Inhale very slowly through the nose, hold for several seconds, then release the breath slowly through the mouth. Do this with closed eyes, and then go on to Step 8.
8. Practice visualizing yourself as a non-smoker. As you perform your minutes of deep breathing, close your eyes and imagine how it will be: how enjoyable exercise will become, how good you'll feel when you can easily say no thanks when someone offers you a smoke.
Get creative see yourself throwing away all your cigarettes, and getting a gold medal like an Olympic champ! Make a movie in your head out of the drama of stopping smoking: creative visualization really works.
9. You may succeed best if you quit gradually, if you take this route, make sure you've got a firm Quit Date set to progress toward. There are lots of gradual strategies: plan exactly how many smokes you'll permit yourself each day between now and the Quit Date, the number diminishing daily.
Buy only one pack of cigarettes at a time. Get a different brand each time instead of your preferred kind, so you don't get as much pleasure from smoking. Hand your cigarettes over to another person, so that you'll have to ask for a smoke every time.
10. Or, stop the cold turkey way. This is, for many is the only sure way to stop smoking for good. Try one way, and if it doesn't work for you, do it the other way.
11. Partner with another person who wants to stop smoking, and support each other when the going gets tough. There are internet groups that New Jersey residents can use to find a quit buddy.
12. When you're tobacco-free, mark the milestones with special celebrations. You're two weeks clean, go to a movie. A month have dinner out at a good restaurant (non-smoking section, needless to say). Three months along, take a long weekend and visit a vacation spot you like. After six months, get yourself a gift, something purely for fun and pleasure. When you've stopped smoking for a whole year, make it a real personal holiday with a party, and invite your nearest and dearest to celebrate your triumph and the healthier life you've embarked on.
13. Form the habit of drinking water, lots of it. Most people, both smokers and non-smokers, don't drink enough. When you're in the process of stopping smoking and while your body is recovering, water helps flush the nicotine and other toxins out of your system. Also, the act of drinking can help satisfy the oral cravings that are a part of the smoking habit for many.
14. Every smoker habitually responds to certain triggers that make him or her want to smoke. Listen to yourself, observe yourself, and learn what triggers smoking: stress, arriving at work, finishing a meal, social tension, etc. And stay conscious of them, and avoid them if you can; if you can't, figure out other ways to respond to them.
15. When you're stopping smoking, the moments will come when the craving strikes. Don't let it win. Instead, write down what your feelings and thoughts are at that moment, in a stop smoking journal that you can keep with you wherever you are.
If you're looking to kick your habit click on the stop smoking link to read more about my services.
Robert Galarowicz ND
AIM Center
1 Sears Dr.
Paramus, NJ 07652
201.618.3534 |
