Quit Tips #1
Quit Tips #1
Remember, some people have a tendency to launch widely ambitious self- improvement programs all at once. This is usually self-defeating. Concentrate on one goal and one goal alone: quitting smoking. (Of course, an exercise program _is_ a particularly good complementary activity to take up during a stop-smoking project. But stopping smoking is your primary goal. Nothing can be more important if you are to succeed.)
Note: Some of these tips will be helpful, others useless. Read a few at a time--say just this one for the next day or so. Take what seems good for you; use what you can. Then see what you can use in the next portion. Keep the bites short and digestible.
These tips ideally would be used as a part of an organized stop smoking program, such as the inexpensive ones offered by your local American Cancer Society, or with regular visits to your doctor or counselor for pep talks, commiserations and congratulations, and discussion. Some of us don't really have these resources available, or would simply prefer to go it alone. It is for them I am posting these tips.
What to do when the Craving Comes #1
Meet the moment with determination. Reaffirm your commitment not to give in, and immediately turn your attention to something else. Remember, the acute episode of craving lasts but a few minutes--5-10 at most. Above all, DON'T START FEELING SORRY FOR YOURSELF.
A few techniques to minimize those moments in your life:
Temporarily avoid those situations where you are inclined to smoke heavily.
Hide the ashtrays and cigarettes. Out of sight, out of mind. A simple yet helpful maneuver.
Keep cigarettes someplace where you will have to make some effort to get them: your locker, coat pocket or filing cabinet at work, or a little-used room in your house.. Every time you want a cigarette you will have to get up and get one. Don't make them handy. Do everything you can to avoid the "unconscious" cigarette and you will cut down significantly with little effort at all.
Pop something non-caloric in your mouth--gum, hard candy, dietetic candy, pencils, fingers, toes, etc.
A cigarette is frequently used as a pace breaker--a reward after an extended period of work or concentration or as a device to relieve a spell of boredom. Search for another pace breaker--get up and walk around; take a drink of water; practice relaxing; try isometric exercises, stretching, yawning, deep knee bends, touching your toes, shrugging your shoulders.
Deep breathing: this can be done either standing or sitting. It has a marvelous therapeutic effect. Give it a try. First, let yourself relax--go limp, then inhale slowly and deeply. When you've taken as much air into your lungs as you can comfortably hold--stop--pause for a minute and then breathe out--slowly--until all the air is expelled. At the very end of the breathing out cycle give an extra little push to remove the last bit of air. Repeat the cycle 5 or 6 times. This should not be hard, rapid breathing. Rather it should be slow, deep relaxed breathing.
Another breathing exercise that is very helpful is to mimic a cigarette. Breathe in and out as if you actually had a lighted cigarette in your mouth. You will find that what you are actually doing is sighing.
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