What To Do When You’re Sick Of Smoking, Chewing Or Dipping
IF YOU’RE SICK OF:
Cigarettes screwing up your life…YOU’RE READY TO QUIT! Continue reading
First, make a contract with yourself to identify six to 12 strategies to use whenever you get a tobacco craving. Try to identify “Pleasure Principle” strategies that are a better substitute for the pleasure of the drug because they provide pleasure or stress reduction. Continue reading
Monday, May 31, is the World Health Organization’s (WHO) World No-Tobacco Day. The theme for the event is “Leave the Pack Behind.” The WHO is taking the global initiative to reduce the epidemic of tobacco-related illnesses and deaths. One of the most effective ways to do this is to encourage current cigarette smokers and smokeless tobacco users to quit using tobacco products. If we do not reduce the number of tobacco users now, 500 million people who are alive today will eventually be killed by their tobacco habit. Continue reading
If you have decided to cut back on your cigarette smoking by using “light” brands, you should be commended for your efforts to protect your health. If you are like most people who have made this switch, you did so because you believed that these “lighter” cigarettes must be safer. Unfortunately, you, and many others, have been mislead by advertising. Continue reading
The good thing about bad habits is that you can break them using the idea behind Ivan Pavlov’s research. Forming a connection between a certain situation and smoking created your habit. Now, you just need to reverse this process. The main way to break the connection is by practicing not smoking in the very situations in which you used to smoke.
For example, try not to smoke right away after you finish dinner. Delay it for 10 minutes for the first few days. Over time, extend the delay to 20 or 30 minutes. You will probably find that as you take longer and longer to smoke an after-dinner cigarette, the urge to have one will eventually go away. The main goal is to separate the activity from the cigarette and break the connection.
Quit Smoking Activity
Keep track of every cigarette you smoke for three days. Try to determine which of those cigarettes are smoked out of habit and which are smoked for other reasons, such as anxiety and stress. Once you have identified the cigarettes smoked out of habit, start delaying those cigarettes for 10 minutes. Over time, extend that time until the connection is broken.
Another useful trick for breaking habits is to smoke your cigarettes differently. This simple trick makes the act of smoking feel different, and that helps break the connection. Here are some ideas:
There are many ways to break the smoking habit. One of the best is to listen to other people’s stories of how they did it. Join our chat on Wednesday night and share your methods.
Good luck! We know you can do it!