Top Secrets to Quit Smoking
Everyone has heard about NRTs or nicotine replacement treatments, and many also know about alternative therapies to help someone give up smoking as well. While these are essential components to a smoking cessation program, the real results come from a few secret tips.
For one thing, few people can succeed in their first efforts to stop smoking if they are ill-prepared for the challenge. This means that knowledge and research are essential. If you don’t know what you are about to experience you might be too overcome by the cravings, urges or feelings to continue. If, however, you know the approximate time frame that the worst of these feelings will last, then you have a clear cut goal or finish line.
This is the first big secret – learning and planning. Before you even contact your doctor to discuss the right NRT for your needs, begin reading about nicotine addiction, withdrawal symptoms, and alternative approaches to giving up the habit. This is the only way to understand the many challenges ahead and to get yourself ready for the battle.
For example, if you learn that many people prefer the inhaler varieties of NRTs because it gives them the old “hand to mouth” pattern, you might realize that it is something you will want for yourself too. Alternately, you might realize that you have a very specific smoking pattern and that you must find alternative activities to do during such moments. If you are just in the advanced planning stage you will have the time to find a support group, or some sort of physical activity that will make it utterly impossible to light up.
Prior to beginning the smoking cessation program you might also want to find a special “buddy” or mentor who is going to quit with you or who has already overcome the challenges you will face. While friends and family can be great at encouraging you and cheering you on, any research is going to tell you that you need an objective person to really nudge you on in your battle to eliminate nicotine from your life.
Here we come to the next secret, and that is understanding that you are overcoming an addiction just as much as you are ending an old habit. Nicotine is one of the most toxic and addictive substances in the world, and it takes over seventy-two hours of hard-core detoxing to eliminate it from the body. Few people can endure this, and if you understand how powerful it is you will be able to recognize your “enemy” each time it rears its ugly head.
