Approximately 40% of current smokers attempt to quit each year, and out of these less than 6% are successful, this clearly shows that it is extremely difficult and daunting to quit smoking. Most people simply choose to stop smoking. Simply deciding to quit out of the blue does not work, in order to maximize your chances to successfully quit smoking, you must prepare yourself in advance before the day you quit so that when the day finally arrives, you will be ready.
Once you have decided to quit smoking, you should pick a date that is not too far in the future, but it also shouldn’t be too close, such as deciding to quit on the spur of the moment. This attitude of rushing into it and deciding to quit immediately is the reason why most people fail to quit. You must always prepare yourself mentally before you start. After you have come up with a quit date, you should inform your family and friends or even co-workers so that they are aware of it and might be able to help you.
You should start throwing away ashtrays and lighters. There are two ways to quit smoking, going cold-turkey and completely cutting it out or nice nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). The decision depends completely on you and your reliance on nicotine. If you are an avid long-time smoker and you smoke almost a pack a day, then you should definitely go for nicotine therapy to ease the transition.
Stop-smoking support groups are also beneficial and you should definitely sign up so that you will not be alone during your journey and there will be plenty of people to help you. You will also be able to meet new people who are going through exactly the same situation as you are, and you can motivate each other. Another way to prepare is to start stocking up with oral substitues such as chewing gum, hard candy etc. even toothpicks can help when you feel like smoking as chewing on it will distract you from wanting to light one up. In case you have tried to quit before, you should go through what worked and what didnt so that you will not repeat the same mistake. Finally, leading up to quit day, you should try to change your daily schedule so that you can break the association between triggers and smoking. For example, if you are used to drinking coffee with a cigarette after breakfast, just try to skip it and leave the house as soon as you finish eating up your breakfast so that the associations will start to break.
Finally when the day comes, try to keep yourself busy, maybe even do a few chores around the house or go grocery shopping so that you will not have time to even think about smoking. If you have decided to use NRT, then you should start the treatment as soon as possible. Drinking more water also helps keep you feeling bloated and might put you off smoking as well. It is also important to try to avoid people who smoke for the first few days, as you might feel obliged to go smoke one with them. Try to be as stress-free as possible because that's when you feel like smoking the most. On your quit day, you will feel the urge to smoke many times, and when you do, you should take a deep breath, maybe drink some water or evem better, go for a walk or exercise. Exercising is a good way to distract yourself from smoking, the dopamine released into your system will make you feel better and help relieve stress without the need to smoke a cigarette.
Preparing for quit day will help you mentally prepare yourself and also the opportunity to reduce cigarettes before you quit so that you will be able to increase your chances of finally quitting smoking. If you need help during your journey to quit smoking or feel the need to consult a professional who will be able to give you plenty of tips and advice then please contact Dr Narindr from one of the links below so that you can prepare yourself mentally.
