Quit Smoking Techniques

Going to quit smoking? Great. This is the single biggest change that you can make to improve your health. Period.

While there are many methods to stop smoking, here’s how to do it, regardless of which technique you use:

First step: motivate yourself

1. First, realize the mortality rates involved and how quitting affects them. A very large and thorough 50 year study involving over ten thousand smokers revealed that it’s never too late to quit. The study demonstrated that people who smoke until they die typically lived about 15 to 20 years less than their non-smoking counterparts. Quitting by age 50 cuts that time in half! And quitting by age 40 knocks it down about 75 percent. Quitting before age 30 showed the same mortality rates as non-smokers. Those are very encouraging statistics! Even if you are a senior citizen, quitting smoking will add several years to your life. Quitting at a younger age adds even more longevity and benefits.

2. Next, realize the immediate physical benefits of quitting: food will start tasting better almost immediately as your taste buds grow back. Your oxygen levels will skyrocket and you’ll have significantly more energy throughout the day. Your circulation will improve and your smokers cough will disappear….no more hacking. Almost all of these benefits start happening immediately upon quitting, and your body will continue to repair itself further during your first few months of non-smoking.

3. Visualize the freedom you’ll gain by quitting smoking. The key word here is freedom. Realize that a pack a day smoker spends over a full month out of each year puffing on cigarettes. A full month of smoking each year! So not only are you killing yourself slowly, you’re also wasting a great deal of time….time that could be spent doing other things, like enjoying your life. Don’t fall into the trap here of thinking that you actually enjoy smoking–you don’t. What you “enjoy” is the relief you get when you light another cigarette in order to avoid the onset of nicotine withdrawal. It’s all just one nicotine feeding after another so that you don’t feel the discomfort of withdrawal. Stop living like a zombie, go through the withdrawal once and for all, and start living a life of freedom. Not only will you have more energy and live longer as a result, but you’ll also have about an extra month out of each year that you used to spend sucking down cancer sticks.

Next, learn to deal with psychological triggers and cravings

Even after you get through the first week of physical withdrawal, there are going to be triggers and urges for the first couple of weeks. Luckily, you will no longer be going through a massive physical withdrawal, but these psychological triggers can be very compelling. You need a specific strategy to deal with them. What is an example of a psychological trigger? Walking out of a movie at the movie theater for the first time after you have quit smoking. What did you used to do in this situation? You lit a cigarette. And your subconscious mind is going to be prompting you to take action. That is a trigger. Now here is the key: if you continue going to the movies, that psychological trigger will lose some of its power each time you make it through without smoking.

But it is amazing to notice how many triggers there are in the midst of quitting smoking; everything you did throughout your day seemed to be somehow linked to smoking. Take any random activity–such as eating a meal or riding in a car–and chances are good that you either smoked before, during, or after that activity….every single time. Smoking wasn’t just a generalized habit; it was a specific set of rituals ingrained into your daily routine.The psychological triggers when you quit smoking are going to be linked to these activities. You have to make it through each activity a couple of times–like riding in the car, for example–before you can finally start making it through without craving a cigarette. Use this information to your advantage, and took note of when get a massive urge to smoke. Pay attention to these psychological triggers as they happen and they will start losing power over you.

In the first few weeks of quitting, there is a fine line between obsessing over the fact that you are not smoking, and consciously raising your awareness of triggers so that you can lessen their impact. The key is all in your attitude towards it–you are going to have triggers….lots of them. Let them come, take note of them, and see that they have no power over you. Conquer your triggers and feel positive when you make it through your urges without smoking. Say to yourself, “See, I just made it through another meal without smoking afterwards. It’s getting easier each time.” Remind yourself: each activity you make it through without smoking is another victory. Give yourself credit. It takes time to reprogram your mind. Remember not to get angry and emotional when you get an urge to smoke. At first, everything seems to be a trigger. Breathe deep and make it through to the next one. Very soon the urges will get less and less frequent, and you will realize that it is in fact getting better. Remember that the urges are necessary to go through, and that they are temporary. Freedom is just around the corner. Breathe deep and let the urge wash over you.

Here is another excellent tip for conquering your triggers: Get a stopwatch and put it in your pocket. When you get an urge, take the stopwatch out and start the timer. Let the stopwatch run and try to go back to what you were doing. At some point you will notice that the urge to smoke has temporarily ceased. Look at the stopwatch. You will absolutely be amazed at how short your urges are by doing this. Time distortion is a real symptom of nicotine withdrawal, and it makes it seem like our urges go on forever and ever. The stopwatch trick can help put this into perspective. Try it!

Finally, wise up to the myth that smoking is actually enjoyable

As soon as you finish smoking a cigarette, the clock starts ticking. Your body is quickly going into nicotine withdrawal, usually within about half an hour. The only way to avoid the withdrawal is to light another cigarette….

For starters, you need to correct the idea that you actually enjoy smoking. Many people will stop here and say “but wait! I actually do enjoy smoking!” This is half true at best. Contrary to popular belief, there actually are some benefits to smoking. There is a social element, for example, amongst smokers–that can be viewed as a benefit to smoking. Some people genuinely like the taste of the smoke in there mouths–again, this could be viewed as a “benefit” of smoking, and thus give some enjoyment.

But when people say that they enjoy smoking, they are referring to the physical reaction that their body gets from the nicotine. They are referring to that quick rush to the head followed by a wash down through their body as they take that first big drag in the morning. This is what people are referring to when they say that they “enjoy smoking.”

Of course, this is not really true–smokers have fooled themselves into thinking that relief from withdrawal symptoms is enjoyable. It’s not. Anyone who is addicted to cigarettes is only avoiding the onset of withdrawal with each new cigarette that they light. The only real “rush of pleasure” that they might get from smoking totals less than five minutes each week, usually just the first hit on the first cigarette of the day. All of the smoking that follows that is just to maintain a comfortable level of nicotine. Keep in mind that a pack-a-day smoker spends over a month out of each year puffing on cigarettes. They aren’t enjoying all of this smoking–they are forced to do it to avoid feeling miserable. There is a distinct difference there, and when you engage in mental self-talk about your smoking, you need to be aware of it. Recognize that your repeat “feedings” on nicotine throughout the day are not for your “enjoyment,” but rather to simply avoid an unpleasant withdrawal. Admit it: there have been times when you’ve smoked too much, too quickly, and you look down at the cigarette in your hand and think “why am I doing this? This is disgusting!” Don’t allow yourself to believe the lie that smoking is enjoyable. Instead, see the addiction for what it really is: a series of zombie-like nicotine feedings throughout the day just to make you feel “normal.”

Another eye-opener: Boredom

Increase your awareness of what happens when you get bored. Most smokers usually smoke a cigarette every hour or so. Notice how your level of smoking increases if you become bored or suddenly have too much idle time. Your body is not craving the next nicotine fix just yet, but because you are bored, your mind is anticipating the withdrawal symptoms. When you get bored, notice how your mind gently reminds you that “yep, you’re going to have to smoke again in a little while here in order to feel normal….might just as well do it now.” Be honest with yourself about what you are truly doing: not enjoying even more cigarettes because you have extra time, instead you are simply keeping your body well fed with nicotine so that you don’t go into withdrawal at all.

Anticipating smoke-free zones

Here is another big clue about the physical nature of your nicotine addiction: anticipating the withdrawal when you know you are going into a smoke-free situation. Let’s say that you are going into a smoke free restaurant for a fairly long evening dinner. First, take note of the fact that you resent the situation itself, because you know it prevents you from smoking and you already know that your body is going to be uncomfortable and craving nicotine later on. Take note of this resentment and realize that this feeling of resentment is one of the things that you will be free of when you quit smoking. Second, take note of the way that you attempt to “top off” your nicotine level right before entering the restaurant. This type of behavior comes as second nature to a smoker, this attempt to avoid the inevitable withdrawal for as long as possible. Increase your awareness of these types of behaviors and see them for what they really are: the smoker trying to jump through all sorts of hoops in order to simply feel normal by avoiding nicotine withdrawal.

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