New Year New you
12/31/2017
A new Year means new resolutions. Many people at this time decide to quit smoking but Nicotine is highly addictive if it is in the form of cigarettes or vaping.
We at Hest Bank Dental Centre want to offer you as much support as possible but quitting is hard and few of us have been addicted so when I came accross this article I thought it could be very helpful to some people. We do have people trained in smoking cessation suport at the practice and would love to offer the support that you need in this tricky journey. Please arrange an appointment with Jacqui one of our hygienists.
Vignette: Quit Smoking
by Terry Martin
There are a few resolutions that require more tailored advice (in particular: quitting smoking, saving more money, getting organized, and eating healthier), and in those cases I’ve invited an expert on those topics to provide a few quick tips to help you achieve your goals.
“Quitting smoking is easy; I’ve done it hundreds of time. It’s staying quit that’s tough.”
So it goes with nicotine addiction, a wily opponent that hammers away at our determination to quit for the long term almost as soon as we stub out the last cigarette that signals the start of smoking cessation.
If you’d like to make this quit attempt the one that sticks for good, use the tips below to build a strong foundation for the smoke-free life you’re dreaming of.
1. Read, Read, Read. From what to expect physically and emotionally when you stop smoking, to ways to deal with the challenges that come with recovery from nicotine addiction, education is vital and empowering.
2. Seek out Online Support. When it comes to quitting tobacco, there is no better medicine than hearing from those who have walked the path before you and alongside of you. Online support connects you with hundreds of ex-smokers at all stages of quitting, and that support is available 24/7. If you’re struggling at 1am, you can log on and usually get immediate feedback because people from every time zone are involved.
3. Start a Quit Journal…and use it every day. Start your journal with a list of reasons for quitting and leave space to add more as time goes by. A few sentences describing how the day went, good or bad doesn’t require much time, but it will pay off days or weeks down the road when you’re having a bad day. A quick look back through your journal will help you see just how far you’ve come.
4. When cravings hit, shift gears mentally by changing your activity on the spot. If the urge to smoke grabs hold, get up and take a quick walk around the house, office or block. Drink a glass of water. Eat a healthy snack. Read through your quit journal. Close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing for 3 minutes. The idea is to jolt yourself out of the unhealthy thought pattern that is responsible for the craving, thereby disabling it. It only takes seconds to break a negative thought cycle and pull yourself out of a downward spiral.
5. Relax and let cravings wash over you. Rather than bracing for a fight when a strong smoking urge hits, relax and lean into it. Think of each one as a sign of healing because that is exactly what it is. Successfully overcome, you are teaching yourself how to manage life without a cigarette in your hand, one urge at a time.
6. Smoking cessation is a process, not an event. Most of us spent years developing associations between the activities in our lives and smoking, and we can’t expect them all to dissolve overnight. Give yourself the benefit of the time it takes to heal without any preconceived notions on how long that should be.
7. Remember your reasons and be proactive. Once we get a little distance from smoking, it’s normal to lose sight of just how bad smoking made us feel, or how much we hated it. From there, most of us start to think of smoking as an old love we let slip away. This is junkie thinking, and while it comes with the territory early on in cessation, it can derail a quit program quickly if left unchecked. Pay attention to your thoughts and when you find yourself wandering into dangerous territory, use the tips in item #4 to head it off.
8. Did I mention online support? I cannot emphasize enough the importance of this valuable quit tool, even if posting is not your style. Simply reading how others are managing will fortify your resolve more than you know.
Smoking cessation is hard work at times, especially early on, but dig your heels in and go the distance. It won’t be difficult forever, and the benefits you can look forward to far outweigh the work it takes to achieve.
Terry Martin smoked for 26 years before she quit. She is the author of the About.com Quit Smoking page, and a regular on the About.com Quit Smoking forum.
