Top 10 Tips To Psyche Yourself Out Of A Smoking Addiction

Want to quit smoking, but just don’t know where to begin? You are not alone! Sometimes, people deliberately delay quitting smoking, because they fear they will gain weight, or find it hard to deal with the withdrawal symptoms. Zahal Levy, President of MediHelp International says that even though quitting smoking has health benefits, ex-smokers also need to understand the side effects. And accepting the immediate discomforts of quitting is the first step towards changing one’s life for the better. rnLuckily, these days, there is so much awareness on how to quit smoking that a simple research can give a person multiple options to choose from. Here are ten of the simplest tips for you to begin the process: 1. E-Cigarettes – There is no guarantee that these work for everyone. However, most people say that they were able to successfully quit smoking when they started using E-Cigs. The advantage of E-cigs over conventional ones is that they are carbon monoxide free and are therefore less harmful. In addition to that they do not force people around smokers into passive smoking. 2. Work Out – As part of most of the studies that have been conducted to understand the weight gain pattern in ex-smokers, it has been shown that those who incorporate regular work out in their daily life, feel a different ‘high’ altogether. Hence, they gradually stop feeling the need to smoke to relax their body and mind. 3. Chewing Gums – Most people use this as a substitute to smoking. Whenever they feel the urge to smoke, they opt for a chewing gum instead. It keeps their mouth busy and keeps them distracted from their cravings. 4. Avoiding Triggers – If smoking happens to be an activity, which is associated with another activity, such as drinking, then one must keep the associated or the trigger activity under control. That eventually keeps the smoking habit under control. These kinds of triggers, also known as Pavlovian triggers, have found their name from the Russian psychologist, Ivan Petrovich Pavlov. 5. Find an alternative that helps you kill time – If smoking comes to you naturally when there is nothing else to do, such as when waiting for someone or something, then get into the habit of keeping an engaging or fun activity handy at all times. In the age of smartphones and cool mobile apps and games, this shouldn’t be too difficult! 6. Realize consequences – When you force yourself to, or willingly watch videos that tell you how bad smoking is for you and your lungs, you are bound to remember that the next time you pick up a cigarette. Repeatedly training your mind to remember and understand the consequences will eventually help you build the willingness to quit smoking. 7. Be aware of your habit – Sometimes, people just smoke without a thought, and have no real good reason for pulling out a cigarette from the pack. It’s important to be aware of this habit consciously, and ask yourself, ‘Do I really need to smoke right now?’ Most of the times, you will be able to keep it back with logical reasoning. The British Doctors Study, which ran from 1951 to 2001, showed that 50% of the smokers died of a disease, which was related to their habit. Hence, the ‘habit’ itself needs to be controlled. 8. NLP – Neuro-Linguistic Programming will help one to consciously adopt methods and techniques that will keep the addiction at bay. This a process, which brings about changes in one’s behavior patterns and actions gradually. 9. Avoid the smoker’s company – Sometimes, you just feel either obliged to smoke, or experience a trigger to smoke, when you are around a smoker friend or colleague. Try avoiding this company, especially when it means exclusively for ‘smoke breaks’. 10. Find alternatives to every situation – To every situation that gives you the urge to smoke, find an alternative. If feeling sad makes you feel like smoking, play a peppy number instead or talk to someone. If long drives push towards smoking, chat up the people you are traveling with or sing along to some music on the way, if you are alone. Basically, try and find alternatives to smoking in every situation, and keep postponing the urge. Eventually, you wouldn’t feel like picking up a cigarette. Finally, remember that smoking is a hard habit to quit, so be persistent, patient and keep yourself focused on your goal of living a smoke-free and healthy life.