If you have attempted to quit smoking before, you will understand how tough it can be to kick the habit for good. Most smokers who want to quit are always looking for easier ways on how to quit smoking cigarettes.
Quitting smoking is tough due to the highly addictive substance in cigarettes – nicotine. Some have mentioned that nicotine is one of the most addictive substances in the world and even more addictive than heroin.
Despite so, it is very possible to throw away the habit for good as thousands successfully quit smoking each year. Here are steps on how to quit smoking cigarettes forever.
Step 1: Assess The Health Risks
You need to do research on smoking as it can affect your health. One of the reasons that people continue to smoke is because they don’t know or are ignorant about how smoking can be extremely detrimental to their health.
If you ask people who contracted cancer due to smoking, they will always tell you that they have no idea about how smoking can lead to that stage.
There are a few main ailments that smoking can bring.
- Lung cancer – Millions of people have died due to this type of cancer and a majority of them are because of smoking.
- Laryngeal cancer – The voice box is removed due to the person’s larynx being removed because of cancer and a mechanical larynx is replaced.
- Oral cancer – Contracting oral cancer is often disgusting as the mouth looks mutilated and or resulting in the lips being removed.
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) – This is also known as bronchitis and emphysema. This causes inflammation in the bronchi that result in irritation, coughing, pain and excess mucus. Emphysema on the other hand, is the progressive loss of lung tissue, which leads to great difficulty in breathing.
Above are the top main health risks that you are exposed to if you’re smoking. There are other diseases and ailments that smoking will cause. Do an in-depth research on how smoking will slowly kill you in the long run.
Step 2: Clear Your House
Go through your house or room and clear everything that is related to smoking, such as cigarettes, ashtrays, lighters, pipes even posters and objects that may suggest smoking. You wouldn’t want any temptation during this period of quitting.
Step 3: Prepare Yourself Mentally
The next step is to prepare yourself mentally. Know that quitting smoking is not an overnight accomplishment. It is a journey over a period of time, thus you need to fully embrace the fact that this is a tough challenge and obstacle that you will be facing.
Quitting smoking cannot be a spontaneous decision. It is recommended you start preparing yourself mentally by setting your quit date. In this way, you will have some buffer time before you fully commit to this endeavour.
Next, write down the purposes on why you want to quit smoking. Studies have shown that goals are achieved when purposes are very clear. Thus, write down every single reason you can think of on why you want to quit smoking. It could be from simple as saving money, being healthy or because of your love ones.
As simple as it sounds, this one simple exercise will make a huge difference.
Step 4: Get Aids
Quitting smoking is both a psychological as well as a physical challenge. After you have prepared yourself mentally at Step 3, you will also need to deal with the physical challenges of quitting. These include withdrawal symptoms, agitation, having short temper and immense cravings during the first few weeks of not smoking.
If the struggle is too tough, you may want to consider getting aids such as nicotine replacement therapies including patches, gums, inhaler as well as other non-nicotine based aids such as Zyban or Chantix.
Rather than going back to the habit, these aids can help ease your suffering and cravings and gradually leave the habit for good.
However, if you feel there is no need for aids, you can skip this step and opt for alternative methods to deal with the urges better.
Step 5: Exercise & Relaxation
Exercising is crucial in your journey of quitting smoking. This is because exercising will help flush out toxins from your system.
Also during this time of quitting, your body will be undergoing stress more than usual. Thus you will also need to intentionally find ways and activities to relax yourself. This also includes exercising, or treating yourself to a spa treatment.
Step 6: Draft Out A Plan
At the end, you will want to put everything together in a plan that you can follow. Such as your quit date, when to clear your house, when to use the aids, days to exercise and so on.