The New Year has already started and therefore, your list of purposes has official validity. It’s time to quit smoke easily. The New Year’s Eve party has been left behind, also the hangover of January 1 and of course (thank goodness) the first Monday of 2017 … What are you waiting for to give up tobacco once and for all? Yes, we know that it is not easy, and we also know that it requires an extra dose of willpower or self-control, but if others have succeeded, why cannot you?
It’s easy to quit if you know how, says the title of Allen Car’s bestseller, that book that smokers from 45 different countries have devoured with the hope of giving up the habit. But the truth is that, if we take into account the experiences of the many ex-smokers that we surely know, there is neither concrete guide nor an infallible method to stop smoking. Every person is a world. Despite this, we have for you a series of tips that will be very useful in your attempt. We do not say it only we, doctors, psychologists, ex-smokers say … With these tips and a little positive thinking, you will surely achieve your goal! And next December you will no longer have to write ‘quit smoking’ on your list of purposes…
How to quit smoke easily
The first step, you have to be motivated to succeed in quitting tobacco. If you do not want to quit smoking, you will not be able to quit. And of course, you need reasons for that. We do not want to overwhelm you with them, but it is worth remembering the harm of tobacco not only in your health but also in your personal and professional life.
Cancer: tobacco is responsible for approximately 30% of cancers, a figure that increases to 90% when we talk about lung cancer. But not only that, but it is also related to more than 25 different diseases of cancer, many respiratory and cardiovascular.
Less life expectancy: the effect that smoking causes on health shortens life expectancy by 10 years. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the world.
The pocket: the average price of a pack of tobacco is 6 dollars. So a person who smokes 20 cigarettes a day will spend, on average, 1,460 dollars a year. Have you thought about everything you could buy with 1,460 dollars?
Aesthetics: Smoking for a decade accelerates the aging of the skin up to 2 and a half years. Not to mention that while you smoke your skin is drier and has a dull color. On the other hand, your teeth have a yellowish color and your breath, your hair and your clothes smell bad (maybe you do not detect it, but those who do not smoke do).
Freedom: smoking means dependence on nicotine, and when a person is dependent, he lacks freedom, although he thinks that it is not. Because freedom is also being able to go out without having to carry a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, or be able to enjoy a long trip by plane, or be able to go out for tapas with friends without worrying about if it rains.
Plan, control and replace
Enumerating the reasons why we want to stop smoking is the first trick that many experts recommend to get past smoking. And being aware of that list increases our motivation and as we said above, without motivation you cannot quit smoke easily.
The second most recommended advice is to choose a designated date to quit smoking, such as the first day of the year, a birthday, an anniversary, a move … In this way, we will associate stopping smoking to a life change, there will be a before and a clearly defined afterward.
Keep a record of the days without smoking, the cigarettes that we have not smoked, the money we have saved and the minutes of life we have won (yes, there are applications that tell them) will give us plenty of reasons to stay motivated, even if we have a monkey! Kwit and Quit smoking are two very useful apps to say goodbye to tobacco.
Ex-smoking books, lectures or a talk with your doctor can also help. In fact, several studies maintain that a conversation between 2 and 5 minutes with the doctor will increase your chances of success! As if that were not enough, in the pharmacy you will find medicines (with a prescription) that alleviate nicotine dependence.
The biggest obstacle encountered by ex-smokers is the activities associated with tobacco, which from one day to the next become dangerous temptations. The trick here is to look for substitutes. For example, if you smoked with coffee, try drinking tea. If you smoked after meals, replace the cigarette with a piece of fruit. And if you smoked when leaving work, try to count how many steps you take (10,000 is the magic number to be in shape) and that way you will distract your mind.
Finally, four basic routines to get quit smoking: exercise regularly, maintain a balanced diet rich in vitamins to avoid anxiety, drink plenty of water (nicotine eliminates) and sleep enough hours.
And one more thing: if you fail, do not give up. Learn from mistakes and try again. A life free of smoke is just around the corner and you can quit smoke easily.
