Is Your New Years Resolution To Quit Smoking?
Seattle – There are many people who are planning on making their New Years resolution of quitting smoking stick this year. If this is your resolution, according the the American Lung Association, it would be best if you find a smoking cessation class, stick with it, and be ready to do whatever you have to do to kick this habit.
The side effects of quitting smoking vary from person to person. Some people may feel tired or excitable. Others are irritable, may feel lightheaded or nervous. While some experience headaches and extreme cravings for tobacco, sweets, or other items. Side effects are normal to have and usually last several weeks, but they do pass.
There are many things one can do to help ease this hard process. It is suggested to find a support system in family or friends or even a group that meets regularly. Exercise is important during this time as it helps to not only fight the weight gain that may come from quitting but to also lift your spirits and help you to feel better. Getting a balanced diet, plenty of sleep, and lots of water are other things you can do to help during this process.
Half of all adult smokers die of lung cancer. Even so, it is never, ever too late to quit and will be one of the most difficult things that someone will do in their lifetime.
It has been shown through research that smokers who decide to take the “cold turkey” approach are most likely to fail. There are many ways that someone can go about quitting as discussed above, but adding to that list some have even gone so far as to try hypnotism and prescription drugs to make the process a little bit easier.
There are also many reasons to quit smoking that you may not be aware of. It has been shown through research that smoking at middle age is related to memory loss. Smoking may cause diabetes in some. Those who smoke are also more susceptible to a bacteria that can cause pneumonia and other infections. Not only is smoking bad for your health but it can be bad for you sex life too. According to even more research it was shown that male smokers were more likely to have erectile dysfunction. Smoking also causes wrinkles, something everyone would like to avoid for as long as possible.
Everyone needs their own plan to quit smoking that is tailored to their own needs. Just remember it can be done and do not give up. You will only help to improve your quality of life.
The most effective way to quit is also the easiest. Many people report that after learning the Transcendental Meditation technique, they lose the desire to smoke after a few months of regular practice. (20 minutes twice a day) It worked for me! See TM.org
I found that setting and focusing on goals, having “mentors” or any form of schedule or pressure backfired. I found myself obsessing (“It has been one day, twelve hours, and fourteen minutes…fifteen minutes…sixteen…”)
You don’t get something out of your life by setting goals that demand that you spend a lot of time thinking about the thing you wish to be rid of. Keeping your stopwatch handy and having a support group is a sure-fire way to guarantee that cigarettes are at the very center of your life – all you’ll be thinking about!
This is what worked for me (when nothing else did):
Step 1: analyze. When you do smoke, focus on how it feels. Become more aware. It’s ok to admit that it feels good, admit that you’re terrified of stopping, etc. Become aware of those feelings. Don’t try to rush or force anything; after you’ve become completely aware of those feelings, you’ll realize you have other, buried feelings, which will start to emerge – like fear of emphysema, resentment because you can’t breathe, etc. But don’t worry about that now. Also don’t feel guilty because someone you love thinks you should have quit already. Ignore that. It takes time to change any habit, let alone an addictive one, and guilt, shame, and nagging only make things much worse.
Forget timetables. Know that when you are ready to go to the next step, you will.
Step 2: prepare. Have faith in yourself, in the processes of your mind. Know that when you are ready, you will replace thoughts of cigarettes with a brief reminder that you don’t need to smoke, and you’ll believe it (conversely, you won’t quit successfully if you try to quit before you really do believe it). Spend some time thinking about what thoughts you can say to yourself that are helpful in banishing the urge to smoke. For me it was “you know, they’ve proven that the urge to smoke disappears just as quickly whether you actually have a cigarette or not”. And by the way, it’s true. The urge to quit does pass, especially if you practice being a nonsmoker and find other things to focus your attention on, other things to do when you’re stressed. This all happens during the process of becoming self-aware (“you know, chewing gum/squeezing a ball/beating the crap out of my younger sibling really does work just as well as a cigarette….)
Practice banishing thoughts of smoking before you actually quit. And if you really want to quit, then at some point AFTER you relax and AFTER you process the negative feelings like anxiety, there will come a day when you’re ready to let go – and you will, and it might be sooner than you think. But don’t focus on how long it’s been since your last cigarette. Instead, practice being a nonsmoker. When you find yourself thinking like a smoker, just remind yourself that you like being a nonsmoker better, and then switch your thoughts to something better. Because the truth is, cigarettes feel good, but they also feel very bad, and they’re nasty and full of black tar death, and the urge to smoke does go away and it does feel very, very good.
And I’m not going to list a step three, because quitting just happens when it happens. It really does. You just become aware that you’re almost ready – then you realize that it’s time, maybe, and you let go – maybe you smoke one or two or maybe you’re not ready, but that’s ok; you’re almost there. No bad feelings. You’ve come close to quitting and it’s ridiculous to try to make that a failure, when in fact it’s progress – HUGE progress. You’re letting go. It takes time.
I can’t even tell you how long it’s been since I stopped smoking, because keeping track isn’t important. But it’s kind of nice and kind of funny the first time you realize it’s been over a year and you realize you thought you’d still be having urges after only a year, but you don’t, because this method is way better than the “my wife keeps nagging me so I bought some nicotine gum just to shut her up” method.
Good luck!
Lord have mercy, it is 4:28 in the morning and I am searching the web to find some help with these withdrawal symptoms. Yes, I made a New Year’s resolution and am sticking with it but it is sooooo hard to do. Cold turkey is my route. I am not sure it was a good idea, I’ve made it so far but rushed to the store today and bought a chocolate cake, four 3-pack ultimate butter pop corn, two cheese balls and crackers, huge pack of life savers, stopped at the dairy queen on the way home for a banana split. Lord have mercy, this is so hard.
I feel light headed, everytime I get still I fall asleep, my pulse is so slow I go to sleep trying to monitor it for a full minute and I am so irritable. Please don’t be critical of my spelling if I make a mistake. Just don’t be critical of me right now about anything.
This is so hard. But, I have have 76 hours under my belt…..Lord, please tell me tomorrow will be easier. Good luck to everyone out there who is trying to quit this horrible habit. Good news, in 76 hours, I have saved at least $35.00 or at least had the extra monely to go to the store!!