“Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I’ve done it thousands of times.” — Mark Twain
Do Avoid All Or Nothing Thinking
Relapses happen, but the key is to see them as setbacks and not as failures. Just as a couple days away from the gym shouldn’t lead you to cancel your membership, a drunken slip up or a cigarette in a crisis need not spell the end of your journey to a smoke-free life. Observe what went wrong, note the trigger, and get back to your programme.
Do Stay Away From Alcohol, At Least At First
Alcohol and cigarettes go hand in hand. Each enhances the other, and unfortunately, alcohol’s ability to lower inhibitions makes a relapse all the more likely. Fear not, you do not need to become teetotal to kick cigarettes, but for the first few weeks it might help. If you were going on a diet, I doubt you would sit in McDonalds. Likewise, remove temptation when you are most vulnerable to relapse.
Do Keep Busy
Keeping busy is essential, especially in the first 2 weeks when cravings will be strongest. Choose activities that will tire you out and exercise daily, as this will stave off the desire to smoke. Exercise will not only lessen cravings, but will also limit the weight gain associated with quitting. Continuing to socialise is also extremely important; it’s easy to think that you must sit at home whilst your friends are at the pub, but this can lead you to associate not smoking with boredom and missing out.
Instead, organise activities that do not centre around alcohol to remind yourself that socialising does not have to involve cigarettes. Many of the things I thought I would miss about smoking were actually possible independent of it — cigarettes had just latched onto these activities and took credit for the joy they bring. You can still sit in a beer garden, or grab fresh air out of the office, without needing to light up.
Do Think Ahead
Often, when we make the pledge to quit smoking we forget that we will be dealing with a very different version of ourselves in a week’s time. With this in mind, you need to plan ahead to outmanoeuvre your future self. If you go to the pub, make sure you’ve briefed people not to give you a cigarette. Furthermore, take chewing gum and have a plan in place for when cravings strike. Do not walk into risky situations blind and wait to tackle cravings in the moment. Too many times I have willed myself to believed that I am a committed non-smoker, only to cave on Friday night because I had forgotten how intense cravings are on a weekend after a few drinks. Fail to plan, plan to fail is very apt when it comes to quitting smoking.
Don’t Worry About Weight Gain
Lastly, weight gain is to be expected when you kick smoking, so don’t fret if you see pounds climbing on the scales. On average people gain around 5kg in the year they quit, though a little over this is perfectly healthy too. In short, don’t double your efforts by taking up Spartan diets whilst quitting to counteract this weight gain.
Instead, worry about shedding the extra weight once you feel secure in your journey towards being smoke-free. Accept a small fluctuation in weight in the short term as inevitable and natural. Despite this, do make sure you are performing plenty of exercise to lessen cravings, and try not to switch from one addiction to another, like junk food or coffee.
Don’t Obsess Over The Damage Done
This is a pointless endeavour. You sit for hours, trying to calculate exactly how many cigarettes you have consumed and what this means for your health right now. Google searches rack up: “Can you be healthy and smoke x amount of cigarettes?”, “how many years has z amount taken off my life?” Instead, look forward to what smoking cessation will do, and stop dwelling on what smoking did. In short, it’s hard to quantify exactly the damage that has been done and what it means, but one thing is undeniably clear: quitting smoking is the number one way you can improve your health right now.
Furthermore, whatever damage is done has happened, but with time, your lungs can self-clean and heal. According to the NHS website: “After 2–12 weeks, your circulation improves. In just 3–9 months, coughs, wheezing and breathing problems improve as lung function increases by up to 10%.” And that’s just the start. After 10 years your risk of lung disease is the same as someone who never smoked, and after 15 years so is your risk of heart disease.
In short, stop worrying about a smoke filled past, and start looking forward to a smoke-free future. From 20 minutes after your last cigarette to 15 years, you’ll be healing daily and feeling noticeable improvements which far outweigh the joy of lighting up.
Don’t Go It Alone
Make sure you tell your friends what you are doing. Beg them not to offer you cigarettes when at the pub, and to choose activities that can accommodate your non-smoking lifestyle more often. Join forums with other smokers and reach out to your support network to help you along the way.
If you’re struggling and really want to quit smoking, then reach out to our coordinators at WellBe. They can provide you with life coaches that encourage and help you create long lasting Healthy Habits.
Written by Ross Carver-Carter
WellBe is spearheading the way to a brighter future for corporate wellness. Our innovative portal is scientifically designed and tailored to each individual employee to improve their wellbeing. We specialise in a range of services from coaching and therapists, to meditation and reading materials. Our aim is to reduce workplace stress that costs UK businesses £42 billion per year. Get in touch with us by visiting our site wellbe.global for more information.
