Keys To Quit Smoking

Think about how much you will save if you quit this addiction. You can even allocate a piggy bank to save the money that you are not spending and make yourself a gift

No matter how long or how often you have smoked, quitting will not be an easy task. But if you know the options to quit smoking, you will have more tools to achieve it. To end this dangerous addiction it is important that you create a plan of attack that allows you to eliminate it from your life.

Why is it so difficult to quit smoking?

The cigarette contains chemicals that make it a physical addiction, but it also becomes a psychological habit. Nicotine, the main ingredient in cigarettes, is indicated by the Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health as its most addictive element. In fact, it would cause an increase in energy that our body will want more and more.

Another factor that makes smoking so addictive is that this habit is used as a way to fight anxiety, stress, depression and even boredom. All this facilitates the entry of the cigarette as a habit of our daily life.

Define the type of smoker you are

Those who have already tried to quit smoking know that this is not easy and that there are a wide variety of factors that can cause us to relapse. Therefore, the first step to quitting this habit is to identify the type of smoker you are. To achieve this, you can ask yourself the following questions:

• When do you smoke (When you wake up, after lunch, when you suffer from anxiety, etc.).
• Are you a social smoker? Do you only smoke when you are with other people who smoke or do you always?
• How bad is your addiction? Do you smoke several cigarettes a day or could a nicotine patch give you the effect you are looking for?
• Do you associate smoking with a specific place or activity? (drinking alcohol, gambling, a specific person or place)

• Are you willing to seek help from a therapist or counselor?

Create a plan to quit smoking

When you know the type of smoker you are, it will be time to take the next step and do some real planning that allows you to eliminate smoking from your daily life.

• Define the day you will quit smoking. If you intend to quit this addiction for a long time, you will know that taking the first step is always difficult. It is likely that you have been putting it off for a long time, so setting an exact date will be very helpful. Make sure that this date does not go beyond the next two weeks and the sooner the better.
• Tell everyone you know that you plan to quit smoking. Peer pressure is a key element in anyone’s life and when you tell everyone that you plan to do something, there is less chance of failing. The more people know that you plan to quit smoking, the better as you will find a lot of support. It may even be that other indecisive smokers decide to take the step with you.

• Challenge yourself not to smoke. We are all competitive people and we like to show ourselves that we can constantly improve ourselves. You can use this feature to your advantage and set yourself little challenges to help you overcome addiction. For example, if your quit date is Friday, you can challenge yourself not to smoke all weekend. By achieving this you can increase it to a week and so on.
• Keep away any product that contains tobacco. Even if you have the firm decision not to smoke again, the truth is that if you stay close to these products you can easily relapse. To avoid this, try to eliminate any product that contains tobacco from your home, office, car and other spaces where you spend time or where you used to smoke.

Remember!

Seek specialized help. If your addiction is too strong, you can seek help from your doctor or psychologist, who will be able to determine the best possible treatment for your addiction. Your doctor can prescribe some medications that will combat your addiction to tobacco. In turn, the psychologist can give you the tools to fight this addiction in a more natural way, such as mindfulness or cognitive behavior therapy.

Quitting smoking is not easy, but it is possible. Once you have made up your mind, stand firm and remember the reasons that led to this decision. Remember not to push yourself and go one step at a time.