Quit Smoking Painlessly Now!

I’m honest so I’m going to say it loud and clear here that quitting smoking can be really tough. The first step is deciding that you want to stop, and you chose to stop smoking at your own will. This means you got to stop making excuses and stories to continue smoking.

Common excuses - and the reasons you should ignore them - include:

Smoking makes me fat!
Nicotine makes you burn calories faster, but as long as you remember that you need less food energy, you won’t over consume. Change your diet to include low fat options and add in lots of greens and fruit. You can check out my earlier post on How to Stop Smoking Without Weight Gain

Smoking calms me down
Nicotine cravings between cigarettes make you feel stressed and anxious so when you have one you feel calm. So when you stop feeding yourself with nicotine, your body is unused to the lack of it. Naturally, it asks you for more. Don’t listen to your physical being. Listen to your mental being - you want to quit smoking. Wait for ten minutes or so, you will find the craving lessening. During those agonizing moments, do some deep breaths, take a walk, talk on the phone, etc. Just do something to distract yourself.

The damage is already done so no point stopping .
Quite contrary, medical evidence proves that the longer you smoke, the more at risk you become. So the sooner you quit, the healthier you’ll be. As soon as you quit, your body will start to repair itself. You’ll notice improvements to your breathing and senses of taste and smell just a few days after stopping smoking. Read my Benefits to Stop Smoking, I have mentioned that just 20 minutes after your last cigarette, all these things happened
- Blood pressure reduces
- Pulse rate drops
- Body temperature of hands and feet increases

It’s not the right time to quit
OK, you don’t have to choose during a stressful period. It’s good to pick a particular date, such as No Smoking Day, World No Tobacco Day, the beginning of a holiday, or just the beginning of a working week.

My friends smoke and I don’t want to be left out
Those who scorn you for stopping aren’t really friends at all. Maybe you can get another smoker to quit smoking together. You never know that he/she wants to do it but dare not do it all alone.

I’m too addicted, I failed before
To quit successfully, you’ll need to tackle both your chemical addiction to nicotine, and the fact that smoking is a part of your life. The sudden withdrawal of chemicals like nicotine and tars cause physical symptoms such as tiredness, irritability, and difficulty concentrating. Your GP can prescribe medications to replace the nicotine. While counselling and support groups can give you encourage and motivate you to press on. You should also try to change your routines like replacing smoking with an alternative (a non-alcoholic drink of water or chewing gum, or doing something completely different such as cleaning, exercising, reading or taking up a new hobby.)