How to Quit Smoking Naturally Part IV: Quit Smoking Strategies

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The most important thing to remember in your journey to become smoke free is that all you need to do to succeed is to make it through each craving without smoking. Use whatever strategies work for you, and use as many as possible. Do not worry if a strategy that worked previously does not work a second time, just try another one. Outlined in this article are several possible strategies that you can use.

Straws as a cigarette replacement

Straws can completely replace your cigarettes. Buy a box of thin hard short straws and keep some with you at all times. Explain to your family, friends and coworkers that you will be using straws in place of cigarettes and so would they please excuse you for constantly chewing on the straws. Most people will be understanding and supportive. Some of my friends even jokingly offered me a straw whenever I looked stressed. It seems a bit simple, but sometimes the simplest solutions are the strongest. Chewing on a straw gives your mouth something to do and your hands as well - to replace the physical act of placing the cigarette to your lips and blowing. It is often challenging to recondition the body’s physical habits, and this helps enormously in the transition period.

Water

I mentioned in the previous article the important role that water plays in flushing the nicotine from your system. Now I will discuss drinking water as a strategy for overcoming a craving. Many people who are quit smoking replace the cigarette with food or snacks and as a consequence put on 20 or 30 lbs. While it is natural to expect to put on a few pounds you don’t really want to be faced with the challenge of having to lose weight once you have successfully entered a smoke-free lifestyle.

Thus I wholeheartedly advocate the use of water as a replacement for cigarettes. I personally favor the bottles with the ’sucking’ caps so that you can actually suck on the bottle. Smokers generally need something to do with their hands and their mouth (stop that snickering ) and the act of sucking on a water bottle is very soothing to the mind coping with the perceived deprivation of the cigarette.

And of course, water is great for you - it helps relieve depression, its helps your skin, it is purported even to help your mind gain clarity. And during the first few days of your smoke-free life, you may feel a little bit of brain-fog so the water is excellent for counteracting this too.

Quit Smoking Support Group

Joining a Smokers Anonymous group is an invaluable support. Even psychologists are not sure how these groups work but they do acknowledge that these groups work. The very fact of being able to commiserate with someone else who is going through the same challenges as you and so can fully empathise with you helps you to persevere.

Online quit smoking forum

Whenever I was working on the computer (which was often given my job), and I felt a craving I would log on to the quit smoking forum and announce that I was having a bad craving. Almost anytime of day or night, there would be at least three responses from other forum members determined to be smoke free. They would suggest I try different things, or simply talk me through the craving. And if you recall, the strategy to successfully quit smoking is to make it through each craving without smoking.

You share not only your challenges but also your victories with the other forum members and they will be able to truly celebrate with you. A non-smoker will find it hard to understand why not wanting to smoke as soon as you open your eyes in the morning is a victory but your forum buddies would completely understand the magnitude of that event. Similarly, a non-smoker may not understand why you find it such a challenge to go to a bar where others are smoking but those sharing your quit smoking journey will completely empathize.

Additionally, online forum members often post great tips. As the secret to quitting smoking is to get through each craving successfully, the more ideas you have for achieving that the better. Further, the inspiration you get from knowing that others have successfully done what you are trying to do is invaluable motivation. When I was in my first week I took inspiration from those who had just made it to their second week, and when I was in my second week, I paid close attention to those in their third week and so on.

One factor in support forums which is often underestimated is the ability to help others and to know that people are looking towards you to succeed. This often helps to provide yet another bit of much needed motivation. And every little bit of motivation counts towards winning the battle to successfully quit smoking.

The online quit smoking forums are a valuable resource that you should make use of. The online quit smoking forum I used was (http://www.quitsmoking.com/). You can also use several different forums at the same time to ensure that you can always find support.

Delaying tactics

One strategy which is very useful in beating cravings is delaying. When the craving to smoke hits, check the time and tell yourself that you will smoke in ten minutes. Cravings are often shorter than they feel and in ten minutes you may no longer feel the urge to smoke. But if you do, try delaying for another ten minutes, or until you finish this project, or until lunch, or until…You get the picture? The idea is to keep delaying and I assure you the craving will pass or you may become distracted from it by some more pressing need, such as the need to feed your screaming child…or your screaming boss….depending.

Smoke-free meter

I thrive on positive reinforcement, and so I really loved knowing how long I had been smoke free. In less than a minute you can download a small software program called a quit meter. You input to this software the date and time of the last cigarette you smoked and it keeps track of several important statistics including the amount of time you have been smoke-free, the amount of money you have saved by being smoke-free, the amount cigarettes you have not smoked and the most motivating, the amount of life saved.

My quit meter stats now inform me that I have been smoke free for 4years, 8 months, 5 days, 15 hours, 4 minutes and 37 seconds. I have saved $1,703.63; not smoked 3407 cigarettes and added 1 week, 4 days, 19 hours and 55 precious minutes to my life.

When you are in that first week of being smoke free, every second counts as a victory. There were times when I would sit and just watch the seconds accumulate as my primary motivation to make it through a craving. I celebrated at 1 hour, 1 morning, 1 day, 1 week and at each milestone.

To help in your quit smoking effort you can download a free quit meter at http://www.silkquit.org/

Exercise

As mentioned in a previous article, exercise helps flush the nicotine from your system in the first few days of your new smoke-free life. Exercise also helps your body to recover faster from the ravages of your smoking lifestyle. And the faster you recover, the sooner you will enjoy the benefits of being smoke free, such as the ability to take a full breath, to really smell fragrances and to enjoy the many tastes of food that nicotine had stolen from you. Further, most people who quit smoking tend to put on a few pounds. They may eat more to replace the cigarettes so exercise can help compensate for this. It is a very positive habit which can replace a very negative one.

Even if you are not keen on exercise, mild exercise helps to calm you and help you to feel focused during this time when you might be feeling a little bit out of control and at odds with yourself. Taking a short walk during lunch, going for a bike ride or a swim or just playing a game of tag with the kids, can all help to make this transition smoother. A simple rule to remember: Avoid inertia, seek out physical activity. In other words, keep moving.

Self-Praise

Do not underestimate the power of praising yourself and appreciating all your milestones, no matter how small they may be. Each bit of praise creates in you the desire for more and your subconscious will do everything in its power to bring that about. When you praise yourself for your efforts you are classically conditioning your body to love being smoke-free. So really relish your victories. At the end of each smoke free hour, and day, acknowledge how proud you are of your accomplishment.

This is a time to view yourself as small child in need of encouragement. Be lavish and genuine with your self-praise. Focus always on your progress rather than on the challenges of quitting smoking. Focusing on your success will bring more success.

Be gentle with yourself

This is a time to be very loving and caring of yourself. Apart from being proud of your accomplishment, be forgiving of yourself if you find that you are not accomplishing as much in other areas of your life. Most of your focus and energy right now is going towards making an enormously positive lifestyle change so little is left over for other things.

Ask family and friends beforehand to be understanding if you are irritable or cranky. Explain to them that it is a result of overcoming your addiction and that you will soon be back to normal. Express clearly how much you appreciate their support.

Pick a Quit Date

Try to schedule your quit date for a time of least stress in your life. It is not a good idea to quit right in the middle of exams or right before a major presentation to the CEO. That said, don’t use external events as excuses. There is never going to be an easy time to quit and you cannot wait on external events to make this life-saving change.

Try to pick the least stressful time, but if you find yourself scheduling your quit date for several months from now, you are definitely making excuses and need to reevaluate and remind yourself that this is probably one of the most positive changes you can make in your life right now.

Look out for the next article in this How to Quit Smoking Series: Part V - Time to Quit Smoking.

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Related Articles:

• How to Quit Smoking Part I
• How to Quit Smoking Part II: Preparation
• How to Quit Smoking Part III: Identify & Prepare for Your Triggers
• How to Quit Smoking Part V: The Time to Quit is Now!
• How to Fight Depression Naturally
• How to become an Optimist - Part I
• Coping with Stress - Part I

Posted in A New Start, Choices, Goals, Self Discipline |

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 6th, 2006 at 3:32 pm and is filed under A New Start, Choices, Goals, Self Discipline . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.