We are keenly aware that smoking has a huge mental dependency factor as well as the physical aspect of quitting, and have pulled forward the best information from proven strategies that is available to help you be successful.
- GET EXCITED about finally being smoke/vape/addiction free! Be confident. You now have the tools you need to be successful…you got this!
- Pick a date.
- Throw away all your cigarettes before you start. Remember, there is never "just 1 cigarette".
- List your smoking triggers and how to avoid them, including being around friends or family that smoke. Avoid alcohol. Remember that the physical craving only lasts 3 to 10 minutes, so distract yourself!
- Choose a quit smoking aid. Try out Beast Relief!
Smoking is what we have conditioned our body to do and our mind to expect. Since we were not born addicted to smoking, it is totally our creation. To make it even crazier, we have built it around behavioral rituals like a cup of coffee in the morning, and definitely a cigarette after a meal or glass of wine.
Let’s recondition our thinking and surroundings for a fresh start. Switch things up a bit.
- Change the environment where you usually smoke or vape.
- Change the patterns you have formed around your addiction. When you think about smoking, think of the smell of an ash tray and how negative it is, not that you are missing something wonderful because you are not. Go for a short walk. You will be amazed at how much this will help you.
- Make a list of all of the reasons quitting smoking is important in your life. It could be health, money, freedom from addiction, having better energy, or simply feeling good about yourself.
- Now make a list to confront your fears, Those could be withdrawal, weight gain, handling boredom. For me it was the idea of simply not having cigarettes in my life. I had connected them to everything I did.
- Let’s talk about the oral fixation, hand to mouth, fidget aspect of smoking that cannot be ignored. Chew on a cinnamon toothpick with your morning Jo. Chew nicotine free gum. There are amazing flavors like mint that leaves you with fresh breath, watermelon or orange.
- Drink lots of water, exercise and follow a detox diet to speed up nicotine removal from your body. Your body is nicotine free in about three days. Now you are simply dealing with reprogramming your mind.
- Resort to bribery! This is one of my favorites. Celebrate your success with something that you really want. Maybe it is a trip you have wanted to take, an new outfit…..If you need to justify it past the fact that you deserve it, think of all of the money you will be saving!