How to stop smoking

IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER 

1.

DO NOT QUIT SMOKING because of your family or any other reason. Remember, you quit smoking for yourselves (be very selfish in this). You quit for your good health and other benefits. DO NOT have even the slightest inkling that you are quitting for the sake of your wife or your children or your parents or any other reason. Because, if you quit for their sake, you may go back to lighting up the moment you have a fight / argument / misunderstanding with them.

2.

BY QUITTING SMOKING YOU ARENT SACRIFICING ANYTHING. And no one will give you an award or anything like that. Your wife / family and life will be the same and you may have to face the regular day to day situations. Nobody will keep you in a pedestal and pray to you. If you think you are doing a great sacrifice, then you will surely get back to smoking within a few days (whenever there is a misunderstanding between you and others).

Remember - The world may be the same, only you have to change.

There are billions in this world who do not smoke and there is no monument for them. So even for a single second, don’t entertain the idea that you are doing a great sacrifice and the world must appreciate it.

3.

Be Honest with yourselves. At the onset I would urge you to be honest with yourselves. If you do not want to quit then it would not work. You have to quit at your own volition and not because of another person’s coaxing because if you do so It will not work and you would light up again. One can take the horse to the water but cannot make it drink the water.

4.

It is an ADDICTION. If you really want to quit smoking and are unable to do so, then it no longer is a habit but has become an ADDICTION. So don’t fool yourselves by stating that it is just a habit which you can control or stop anytime.

5.

Action does it. Accept that you have a smoking problem / addiction and it would make things easier for you to take the action required to quit. You have to take active action to quit and just wishful thinking won’t do.

6.

Only you can help yourselves. If you have a health problem, only you have to take proper medication and not your friend or relative. Only you have to eat for satiating your hunger. Similarly, you have to take steps to solve your tobacco addiction.

7.

Talk to People who have quit. Only another person who has quit smoking can understand you and give proper suggestions for you in times of crisis. So find out if there are others who have quit smoking and talk to them. Search the net for “Nicotine Anonymous” in your city and get in touch with its members.

8.

Don’t worry if you didn’t succeed the first time. Most people do not succeed the first time they quit smoking. In fact, I stopped for about 2.5 years in an earlier attempt before I restarted again. Some people fail after a few weeks or months. It may happen many times. Don’t lose heart if it happens because studies show that successful 'smoking quitters' are those who have faced similar problems and still have kept trying to quit smoking again and again. You will succeed in any one attempt.

It is also very likely that you may be very successful in the first attempt too.

Again Remember, you stop smoking only one day at a time and not for a full life time.

THE STEPS TO HELP YOU QUIT SMOKING 

1.

MOST IMPORTANT. Ask god frequently (each hour or each day) to help you to stop lighting up for that Hour / Day. Believe me, it works and the urge goes away. Pray whenever you get the urge to smoke.

2.

Arresting the act. You actually arrest the act of smoking and not stop it. Don’t think that you are going to stop smoking cigarettes for the rest of your life. The moment you think like that you would feel the enormity of this act and within no time you would go back to smoking. Psychologically if we think we have stopped for life it would be too much for our mind to accept and it starts rebelling at the idea. Hence do not think that you are going to stop for life. Just make up your mind that you are stopping for just for a day. This way it is simpler.

Hence, this Step - Just think that you are putting off the cigarette for “just for a day”.

3.

Postpone the Urge. When you feel like lighting up, just postpone it by an hour or even 10 or 20 minutes. Just think that you will light up after 20 minutes and not now. 20 minutes later the urge to light up might have reduced or even disappeared. If the urge to light up occurs again do repeat the same. Meanwhile, take lots of mint (Halls, etc.). The taste of mint in the mouth is repelling to most smokers and they would not light up during the time the taste of mint lingers in the mouth. Try and talk to others who have already quit.

Only the first 3 to 6 days it might be difficult but after that the nicotine level in the body diminishes and so does the urge. After 7 days, the urge to smoke is only mental and not physical since the nicotine level has diminished. 

4.

Never Substitute. Do not take up another habit like Pan Masala, Chewing Tobacco, etc., instead of smoking. It does not work. It only maintains the nicotine / toxin level in your body. After a while you would go back to smoking and at that point of time you would have two addictions to deal with. It Doesn’t Work at all and you would only be fooling yourselves.

5.

There is NO SUCH THING SUCH AS “REDUCING AND QUITTING”. You have to Give up smoking (or even drinking) at one shot. There is no reducing and then quitting. People who state that it is bad for the health if you quit an addiction (and I mean things like smoking, drinking, etc.) suddenly, and that one must reduce before quitting don’t know what they are talking about (I bet on anything in this world). You have to quit at one go since reducing and then quitting does not work. And don’t you worry about your health, it is going to be perfectly alright.

6.

No Beverages & Sweets. Abstain from taking tea or coffee or any other sweetened drinks. Also avoid sweets (it triggers the urge to smoke). The taste of sweet in the mouth, or tea / coffee, triggers the urge to smoke. Remember, stopping these are only for a short period, say 10 or 20 days. After that you can continue taking these beverages and sweets if you wish.

7.

Drink lots (I mean LOTS) of water. At least 3 liters more than your regular intake. Stopping smoking de-hydrates a person and he/she feels very thirsty and also very tired. Hence, drink lots of water. It removes the nicotine from the body quickly. Also remember, water is the best detoxification and cleansing agent (Even for heavy alcoholics, abstaining from liquor and taking lots of water (lime water, glucose water, etc.) for 4 to 5 days helps in natural detoxification process. It also saves unnecessary hospitalization expenses for the already suffering family).

Remember, it may take anywhere between 3 to 5 days for the nicotine (or alcohol) content in your body to diminish by this natural method. After the nicotine content is removed, the urge to smoke is only mental / psychological and not physical.

8.

Sleep a lot. At least for the first week, since you are likely to feel very tired. If possible take 3 days leave from work and sleep it out. Avoid any strenuous activity for the first week.

9.

Keep stomach filled without stuffing yourselves. Eat little food but many times during the day. i.e. avoid stuffing yourselves with a heavy lunch but keep your stomach filled by taking little quantities in regular intervals. Most smokers get an irresistible urge to smoke after a heavy meal. Hence avoid heavy meal. Again, this is only for a period of 10 or 20 days. After that period you can go back to your regular pattern of activity.

10.

Avoid Smoking friends. Avoid (don't make it obvious that you are avoiding them) smoking friends at least for about a month or two. If called for a smoke, please excuse yourself by saying that you are feeling ill or something like that. You don't have to tell them that you have quit smoking and also give your "Gyan" about quitting smoking, etc. First learn "Staying stopped" before you give "Gyan" to others.

Very important message. If you tell your friends that you have quit smoking, they immediately would want to see your strength of “Will Power” and would try anything in the world, and I mean any trick, to break your “Will Power” or resolution of not smoking. Remember, for them it is just for fun for a few minutes, for you it is your health and good life at stake. After you succumb to their tricks, they would squarely put the blame back onto you by stating things like –

- If you had the will power you should not have listened to us

- I was just joking, what happened to your will power

- This is to show that you cannot quit smoking, so why try at all

- Etc., etc.

Hence AVOID smoking friends. Remember that this is only for a few months. After you have learnt the methods of staying stopped you can go out with them.

Remember this – “Any fool can stop smoking, but only the wise stay stopped”.

11.

List out the Benefits and the Damages

1. Direct Financial Gains – I used to smoke around 40-50 cigarettes a day at Rs. 2.75 per cigarettes. This works out to about Rs. 50,000 a year. Though in the initial periods I used to smoke lesser number of cigarettes and also the cost was low, if one takes into account the interest (or the financial opportunity lost, etc.) the amount for a period of over 25 years may work out to above Rs. 10 lakhs. If I had bought a plot of land in the suburbs (in installment) I would have been a corerpati today.
2. Health – Cost incurred in matters related to health to self and family (passive smokers). Some health issues are long term and in some cases it doesn’t go away for a lifetime. Other health issues like lack of stamina, bad breath, sleep related issues, bad skin and teeth, etc., can also be avoided.
3. Family – Kids of smokers are much likely to take up to smoking than kids of non smokers. Also, they tend to take up smoking at an early age compared to kids of non smokers.

And the list can go on and on ….

12.

Start Exercise. Very much likely that a person who quits smoking puts on weight. Initially, this is because of increase in water content in the body. Then, the person’s taste buds and smelling capacity also improve, and he would start taking more food. This increases weight and hence it is better to start exercising after a week or so of stopping smoking. Walking, jogging, etc., are good forms of exercise.

I put on about 14 kilos after I quit because I dint know about this.