Smoking is the most difficult addiction to overcome. You know smoking brings you closer to death but still, you kept smoking. Why? Smoking activates reward areas of your brain that releases dopamine like nucleus accumbens. Dopamine makes you feel good. So you smoke again & again to replicate the pleasurable effects of dopamine. The motive of smoking is to feel good. Smoking gives you an immediate emotional reward. Thought if you can feel the same pleasure without smoking, quitting will be easy. But how can you stimulate this mental high in non-destructive ways? Concluding that you are presently prepared to stop smoking is just a large portion of the fight. Realizing where to begin your way to becoming smoke-free can assist you with taking the jump. I have assembled some successful ways for you to quit smoking that I applied before on myself.
Set Your Q Day
Set your timeline to stop and continue smoking as regular right up to that time – do not commit to fell earlier, that simply causes cigarettes to seem to be additional valuable rather than less thus. Don’t postpone the Q-day and this in turn adds to how our subconscious mind perceives a cigarette as precious.
Have a Final Smoke Before Q Day
You're going to quit any pretense of smoking effectively so make a grave promise. As a matter of fact, there's nothing to surrender – you're disposing of something. Light your last cigarette and make a grave pledge that paying little mind to what highs or lows may come upon you in future, you will never puff on another cigarette or take nicotine in any condition again.
The Hardest Part: Be Patient About Withdrawal Symptoms
The symptoms of nicotine withdrawal may begin within 30 minutes of your last use of tobacco and will rely upon your degree of enslavement. It makes you feel dizzy, may even makes you puke if you were a big smoker. You have this desire to go after a cigarette like clockwork. It just doesn't stop, like a broken record. Gets most noticeably terrible on the off chance that you drink liquor or espresso. You feel like shit and a little voice keeps trying to encourage you to grab a cigarette. Perhaps one motivation behind why various smokers refrain from smoking is that they're on edge about the withdrawal side effects. The psychological symptoms of nicotine withdrawal include:
- A strong desire or craving for nicotine
- Horrible Headache
- Anxiety
- Irritability or frustration
- Low mood or mood swings
- Difficulty concentrating
If your withdrawal is triggering cravings that are overwhelming and you feel you need extra help, speak to your doctor about your options.
Avoid Stop Smoking Aids
To get rid from the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal don’t use Nicotine Replacement Therapy like patches, gum, nasal sprays and inhalators. Don’t forget smoking pills like Zyban or Chantix. These might stop you from smoking for a short term. But in the long run these products don't remove the reasons why you smoke. Your desire for a cigarette is still there. These stop smoking aids just keep the addiction to nicotine alive &intensify your desire. Instead of taking any nicotine substitutes, you can replace a cigarette with chewing gum or hard candy.
Just One Cigarette is Not an Option
After quitting smoking if you have the desire to only light up again, it can be frustrating. If you impulsively picked up just one after weeks or months of not smoking, you’ll find yourself back in the trap in no time at all. Never think in terms of one cigarette, don’t have even a puff. One puff will make you consider cigarettes like a tragically deceased companion, which will prompt mooching one from time to time. It will eventually then lead to buying a pack and you are on the merry-go-round again and telling yourself that you just can't quit because it is too too hard and you are just too weak.
The Myth: Try not to think About Smoking
It doesn’t work at all. If I say: “Don’t think about a lion, what are you thinking about?” Just make sure that whenever you are thinking about it, you’re not thinking: “I want a cigarette but I can’t have one” but instead: “Isn’t it marvellous, I don’t need to smoke any longer.”
Distract Yourself
You will have a strong desire to smoke during your Q day, however it will pass. Do you discover you need a cigarette more when you're searching for something to do or exhausted? Following the 4D’s when making your quit attempt:
- Delay until the craving passes. Smoking urges often come and go within 3 to 5 minutes.
- Deep breathe. Breathe in slowly through your nose for a count of three and exhale through your mouth for a count of three. Visualize your lungs filling with fresh air.
- Drink water to beat cravings.
- Do something else to distract yourself. Perhaps go for a walk.
Ditch Your Cigarettes
Do not carry cigarettes with you or anywhere after quitting smoking. If you do, it means you’re still doubting your decision. Non-smokers do not need cigarettes. Truth be told one of the many delights of being free isn't stressing over having cigarettes and a light on you, of ending that slavery.
Restarted Smoking After Quitting
Almost every smoker tried many times to stop smoking. Most ex-smokers report trying to stop multiple times before they quit for good. The more frequently you try to quit, the more likely you are to finally quit for good. If you have started to smoke again regularly, it can help to think through what the ‘trigger’ was that made you restart.
Research shows that most ex-smokers tried to give up anywhere between 6 and 30+ times before they stopped for good. They didn’t give up on quitting and neither should you.
Final Thoughts
Write down all the reasons on a notebook why you need to quit and refer to them each time you feel like taking a puff. Treat it like a battle you just cannot lose. Remember, it is all about the mindset. Take baby steps and take it one day at a time in the beginning. Quitting is indeed the easy part. What's insurmountable is to stay quit. Keep in mind, a single cigarette is how we became addicts in the first place. No matter what happens, take a solemn vow never to fall back into the same trap again. Quitting smoking was perhaps one of the most difficult accomplishments of your life and you are proud to be smoke-free for the rest of your life.