Make a list of answers to the question “why?”
Think about why you are going to quit smoking and what it will give you. Divide a blank sheet into two parts, in one write down what you will get from quitting cigarettes, in the other – what smoking gives you now. Take this matter seriously, because you need to convince your brain that you are doing good for it. You can hang the sheet in a prominent place so that every time you want to take a cigarette, all the advantages of life without a bad habit are evident to you.
Calculate the costs
Also calculate how much money you spend on cigarettes per month. Let’s say a pack of cigarettes costs 100 rubles, and you smoke one a day. That’s 3000 a month, 36000 a year, 180000 in five years. Not so little, right? Try to save a day for 100 rubles that you spent on cigarettes, and in a year you will have a considerable amount that you can spend usefully.
Keep fruit handy
Many, especially girls, are afraid of weight gain. After you stop taking a cigarette in your mouth, you will want to fill it with something else. This action replaces the old habit, and, in fact, you have a new addiction – in food. Sometimes people gain 5, 10 or even 15 kilograms because they cannot control themselves. To avoid such consequences, keep on hand fruits or vegetables, such as chopped apples, carrots, celery, cucumber. It will be a good alternative to chips, cookies, and other unhealthy snacks, because fruits and vegetables contain vitamins and fiber, which will help detoxify the body.
Try gum
This is another addition to the previous point. Chewing gum (without sugar), of course, is harmful, but at first it can satisfy the chewing reflex. Especially in this case, mint helps. If you don’t feel like chewing, you can also try hard candies, and choose the ones that take a long time to dissolve. But when you realize that you no longer want to take a cigarette, it is better to give up chewing gum and sweets.
Give up coffee
This is a real ritual – to smoke a cigarette, or even two, with a cup of coffee. Our associative memory is triggered, the taste of coffee immediately evokes the memory of a cigarette. If you really love this invigorating drink, give it up at least for a while until the “withdrawal” passes. Replace it with healthy chicory, herbal tea, ginger drink and freshly squeezed juice. In general, it is good to drink plenty of pure water and vegetable juices to remove nicotine from the body.
Do sports
Playing sports will help you breathe and keep your head busy with something else. But the point is to put maximum efforts during training. The advantage of this is that, in addition to quitting smoking, you will also tighten your figure and feel better. It is also good to do yoga, which will help you feel better in your body and calm your mind.
Create New Habits
When you break a bad habit, it’s good practice to create a new one. Think about what you have long wanted to do, what to learn? Have you always wanted to write in a diary or write with your left hand? Or maybe do exercises on the technique of speech? It’s time to start putting the time you used to spend on a smoke break to good use.
Surround yourself with pleasant scents
When someone smokes at home, and this happens often, the room is saturated with the smell of cigarette smoke. Surround yourself with pleasant, light or bright scents. Get an aroma lamp, put incense, spray the room with a spray bottle with water and essential oil. You can even buy fresh fragrant flowers.
Meditate
In almost every article we advise you to meditate. And it’s not just like that! When you go inward and focus on yourself at least once a day, over time it becomes easier for you to cut off from yourself that which is not part of your true self. Just sit in silence, listen to the sounds of the street, attend to your breathing. This will help you get through the withdrawal more calmly, and you will easily enter a clean life without cigarettes.
Ekaterina Romanova