Contents
February is a good month to take a stock of your New Year health resolutions. We start it with gusto but it fizzles out like the last embers of your burning cigarette.
Gym pants gather dust, while we pick up a pack of cigarettes while doing our weekly grocery!
How many of you resolved to quit smoking this January? Battling the urge is like constantly crippling? Isn’t it?
Did you know?
Cigarette smoking kills 480,000 every year in the United States alone, over 40,000 of them from second-hand smoke.
The facts are so shocking that it shakes us up from lighting the next stick! But gradually the alarm erodes. Again we reach out and the devil smiles.
What are the top reasons for not being able to quit smoking?
1. Withdrawal: The craving shoots crazily up. Exposure to cigarettes means piling up on nicotine and when blood is denied its regular share, the body protests.
2. Lifestyle Entanglement: We have intricately woven smoking with our daily activities. While talking with a smoker friend. To get over boredom while we surf the internet on our phones. That we need to smoke to clear our bowels and create good pressure inside in the morning. Or intensify your break by having a drag with your cuppa joe. These are daily occurrences and to distance the self from these are very tricky!
3. Triggers: We have associated certain ideas with smoking – like it reduces stress and relaxes and helps you to think clearly. Well, if that would have been the case, all smokers would have been doing just great in this world. But you know better.
Why do we smoke?
To be able to quit, we need to ask ourselves a pertinent question and find out where it all starts from.
All kind of addiction has a common breeding ground – inadequacy. We feel incomplete and look for a way to complete the experience.
We are told that we have to belong to a certain image – carefree, cool, and wealthy – to live a good and rewarding life! In the 70s and 80s, there were newspaper and television ads, but now, the noose becomes tighter with the internet.
Given below are some common occurrences which we try to accomplish with addiction –
- Bond socially with like-minded people and become part of a hep crowd
- To get over loneliness and pass time when we are bored
- Pair it up with coffee, alcohol or meals to ‘feel’ satisfied because our pop culture trained our psyche that way
- To plug in your breaks and network with bosses
- Confidence booster
Now that we understand the psychological aspect of smoking as an addiction and why it is difficult to ditch, let’s find out effective everyday exercises which can help us to get rid of this annoying habit.
The best way to begin is to identify the ritual and alter it.
If you initially took breaks with smoker colleagues, then switch to a healthy walk with a non-smoker colleague. It will have a two-way effect:
- Keep you away from smoking
- Socially bond with a new person
If you coupled your caffeine shot with nicotine, then incorporate a healthy alternative like a ginger lemon green tea. After having something healthy, your mind will automatically refuse the intake of an unhealthy habit.
Don’t sit idle and let boredom overtake you. Plan your day and give it interesting twists like a capsule yoga break or a coffee at a café where smoking is not allowed.
Reward yourself for every day you fulfill your zero smoking goal! Keep the prize healthy (not like a slice of cheesecake….grrr…). Maybe an extra kiss from your baby (which will definitely help you bond better) or a hug from your boyfriend – smoke-free treats.
Practice kindness to feel good about yourself. You won’t need any smoking after that!
But still, you find it is difficult to quit?
I would recommend one from any of these products below which will help you to quit smoking seriously.
1. The Complete Lung Detoxification Guide
The Complete Lung Detoxification Guide is for smokers who have quit but have managed to expose their lung to the harms of smoking all through their year of practicing the bad habit. Breathing difficulty can wreak havoc on your daily doings like your work or a simple walk.
This program not only teaches you to step by step how to cleanse your lungs but also has tips on how to quit smoking effectively and keep it that way.
2. Smoke Free In One Hour
Break the vicious cycle of quitting-not quitting-unable to quit-back to square one of smoking addiction with this valuable online program. Download it from their site and follow the easy step and fulfill your secret desire to stop it. Smoke Free In One Hour has proven successful in cases of even hardcore addiction.
3. Quit Smoking Magic
If you are deep into smoking and finding it absolutely impossible to give up, then pick this Quit Smoking Magic up. This is a foolproof method, has a 98% success rate, and is all the more authentic because the creator was also in the same shoe as you i.e. smoking and addicted. Now he is breathing free for two decades and more!
So, give a big salute to your health and happiness of your near and dear ones. And, quit!
If you’ve tried quitting abruptly a few times and it hasn’t worked for you, you might want to start the quit-smoking process by gradually cutting back on your smoking.