Stop Smoking
Is there much point in freezing your bits off, just for the sake of satisfying a habit? There’s a New Year ahead so why not make it your resolution to quit?
Female First look at the best ways to stop smoking and give you some top tips to help you win in the fight against the cancer stick.
Smoking is ugly. Ugly to watch, ugly to smell and it also makes you look ugly in the long run. Smoking causes a lot of problems in health and your appearance. It is to blame for lung problems, cancers and breathing problems and it’s responsible for a lot of premature and painful deaths in the UK. Smoking gives you wrinkles, yellow teeth, yellow fingers, smelly breath, smelly fingers, it makes your clothes smell, makes you unfit – but we continue to light up.
There are lots of things you can do to help you quit puffing your life away here are some do’s and don’ts:
Do :
- Set yourself a start date, around 2 weeks in advance for when you’ll stop smoking all together, in the mean time, prepare yourself – start to cut down and only smoke half of a cigarette every time you have one.
- Get rid of any cigarettes, lighters or matches that are lying around so the temptation is not there.
- Find other ways to relax in times of stress or crisis.
- Write down all your personal reasons to stop smoking on a list and keep it handy e.g. in your purse or pocket.
- Quit with a friend, it’s much easier than giving up by yourself.
- Don’t keep quiet and alone about giving up, get the help that’s out there.
Don’t:
- Buy cigarettes just in case something happens and you decide to give in.
- Punish yourself – it can get become easy to be too hard on yourself but this can make it harder to stop an addiction.
- Have a cigarette because a family member/ friend offers you one or because they don’t have any confidence in you about giving up.
There is a lot of help out there when it comes to quitting smoking. Here’s a list of some of the things; doctors, NHS, chemists and shops have to offer:
- Patches – you can get patches in different strengths to suit your needs, you place them on your arm and throughout the day, they slowly release nicotine into your body to help combat cravings. Don’t smoke wile wearing a patch though and only wear one at a time.
- Nicorette gum – these are for when you get the urge to smoke, put one piece in your mouth and chew gently, then keep it at the side of your mouth until the funny flavour has gone then repeat. The gum will release Nicorette slowly but it will be getting into your body the way you’re used to – orally.
- Doctors – depending on your circumstances most doctors will get you free help i.e. free prescriptions and counseling. The doctor can give you leaflets, useful websites, success stories anything to help you quit. They will check up on you as well, so you will find yourself becoming a bit of a regular at the surgery for the first period.
- Hypnotherapy – Your doing other things to help, so why not try hypnotherapy. This method can be expensive but worth it and also it’s very relaxing.
- Inhalers – A plastic mouth piece that you puff on instead of a cigarette. This is good for if you crave the ‘something to do with your hands’ part of smoking. When you inhale through the mouth piece, nicotine I s released just like a cigarette, without the chemicals and tar. The good thing is one cartridge for your inhaler contains enough nicotine for 20 minutes of none stop inhaling. Only use it for the time it would take you to have a cigarette though.
As you can see there are lots of tips and methods to hep you stop smoking – just be positive and set yourself a realistic goal, e.g. I won’t be smoking by my daughter’s birthday or by my holiday etc. Don’t forget you’re not alone and giving up those cancer sticks is not impossible.