There’s no doubt that smoking is bad for you. It can cause a wide range of diseases, including heart disease, lung cancer, and vision loss amongst others, which is why quitting smoking should be on the top of your 2020 to-do list.
Of course, smoking is an addiction. It is rarely as simple as throwing out your cigarettes and never taking another drag again. Stopping smoking takes persistence, determination, and a little help.
If you’re serious about quitting smoking, here are some tips to help you conquer your addiction once and for all:
Make a List Your Reasons
Making a list of all the reasons why you want to quit can be an excellent motivator. Whether you want to quit smoking so you can be around for your kids in the future, you want to save money, or you would like to quit because smoking is having a toll on your appearance, write it down and look back at it every time you feel like smoking. Hopefully, it will help to keep the temptation at bay. For instance, you will be able to get rid of your yellowed teeth; especially if you head over to https://www.
Practice Positive Thinking
Whether you’ve tried and failed to quit smoking before or it’s your first attempt and you aren’t sure you can manage it, it pays to think positively and not let past experiences put you off. Having a positive mindset can help you to get through those tough times when the cigarettes are calling you and you’re really feeling the symptoms of withdrawal, whereas if you already have a negative mindset and you think you’re going to fail, chances are you will give in and take a drag.
Use Medication
These days there are a plethora of medications available that can help take the edge off nicotine withdrawal and significantly increase your chances of success. For example, a popular and effective choice is Zyban tablets. Typically this treatment lasts for around 9 weeks and works by blocking the effects of nicotine on the brain. Most reputable pharmacies can offer this treatment and online pharmacies make buying Zyban 150mg super easy after passing a short consultation. Using a stop smoking aid is a popular choice for many, although it is possible to give up smoking with willpower alone, but why make it tougher for yourself than you have to? Providing you pass the consultation for stop smoking medicine, it is perfectly safe and can be a huge help.
Making a Plan
Quitting smoking on a whim rarely works and it rarely works because you do not have a plan in place to keep you on track. It is a far better idea to choose a day that you plan to quit smoking ahead of time and then come up with a strategy to follow. This could include planning to remove yourself from situations that would usually cause you to smoke, putting in place healthier habits to replace smoking or even visiting a counsellor on a regular basis to keep you on track. Create a plan you think will work for you and stick to it.
Change Your Diet
There is some evidence to suggest that certain foods can make smoking more pleasurable, while others can make cigarettes taste terrible. If you want to stick to your plan of quitting, it could be a good idea to use this to your advantage by removing the foods that improve smoking and adding more of the foods that make it less pleasurable.
The main food that can cause smoking to feel more pleasant is meat, whereas cheese, fruit and vegetables make it less pleasurable, so perhaps eating less meat and more vegetarian meals could be useful at least in the early days.
5-Minute Distractions
Did you know that the average cigarette craving lasts just five minutes? If you can make it past the five-minute mark without taking a drag, you should be able to resist the urge. So, it makes sense to come up with some five-minute distractions that you can put into action whenever you feel like smoking. This could include things like sucking on a sugar-free sweet or eating some carrot sticks, removing yourself from the bar for a few minutes, meditating or going for a walk, for example. Choose something that you enjoy which will take your mind off the act of smoking for a short while, and you should see success.
Don’t Be Afraid to Seek Support
It can be really tough to overcome the smoking addiction alone, which is why we would suggest that you get some help. Whether you see a smoking cessation counsellor, join a peer support group or call the NHS Smokefree helpline, the more support you get as you try to give up the cigarettes, the more likely you are to be successful.
Quitting smoking can transform your health and your life, so make 2020 the year you quit for good!