How many times have you thought about discontinuing smoking?
It is high time that you create a plan or see a lungs specialist in Vadodara who can help you plan out a routine to quit smoking.
It would be best if you were determined about following through with this plan.
We have curated tips that will ease your journey of getting over this addiction and leading a better life.
Let’s dive right in.
1. Determine a Reason
While every person around you may have insisted that you quit smoking, it doesn’t really work unless you decide for yourself that you want to quit. Your family and friends also get affected by the secondhand smoke you release. You might also want to reduce your chances of getting a stroke, lung disease, or any other condition.
Did you know smoking can make you age faster? Would you want to combat that?
2. Understand Prescriptions
A lung specialist may suggest that you opt for some prescription pills. They work to reduce the satisfaction you get from smoking a cigarette if you do decide to have one. Some of the other tablets in the market work to reduce the symptoms that come with withdrawal, including lack of concentration and depression.
3. Take a Break
Relaxation is one of the primary reasons that people lean towards and eventually become addicted to nicotine. It becomes tougher to unwind without a cigarette in your hand, but there are several other alternatives that you could explore to blow off this steam. Exercising, reconnecting with friends, spending time with your family, or turning you a lost hobby are some options that tend to work for most quitters.
4. Get to Cleaning
Experts at a trusted smoking cessation clinic will tell you that you should cleanse your home of any residual signs of cigarettes. It would help if you washed all of your clothes that have been smelling like smoke, draw out the same smell from your carpet and even upholstery. Let go of your collection of lighters and ashtrays, or have someone lock them up. Basically, nothing in your surroundings should smell like cigarette smoke.
5. Increase the Intake of Vegetables and Fruits
Dieting and quitting cigarettes do not go together, so don’t even try doing that. You’re setting yourself up for failure if you do so. You’ll be deprived of proper nutrition and nicotine, which you are now addicted to. In this case, you must increase your intake of vegetables, fruits, whole grain, and lean protein. With an overall boost in energy, you might not feel the urge to smoke as much.
If you are looking for help and are determined to quit this bad habit of smoking, then talk to our experts at Pranayam Lung & Heart Institute. We assure you that you’ll be taken care of in the best way possible.
6. Nicotine Replacement Therapy
You’re going to suffer from frequent headaches, mood swings, and feel demotivated through the day, say various lung specialists. You might always have a craving to smoke just one drag, but even that should be a no, no. There have been studies that prove the effectiveness of nicotine replacement therapy. Nicotine gums and patches are of great help.
7. Ask for Support
Who do you turn to in time of need? Loved ones, of course. We’re sure your friends and family members will be keen on helping you quit smoking, and they’ll rescue you most of the times when your urge to smoke becomes uncontrollable. You may also take suggestions for counsellors who can help you create a plan best suitable to your schedule and needs.
8. Stay Away from Alcohol
Drinking is known to numb your senses, and in that numb state, you may smoke a drag or even an entire cigarette. Experts from a reliable smoking cessation clinic suggest that if you have a habit of smoking right after you drink coffee or tea, then switch the beverage for another one for a couple of weeks. Same goes for your habit of smoking after a meal. Do something productive right after that distracts you from the urge to smoke.
9. Create a Yoga Routine
Pranayam (breathing exercises) is a great way to reduce the stress that comes with nicotine withdrawal. It induces the feeling of calmness and meditating along with it also helps you rewire your brain. As you meditate, focus on your breathing and think positivity. With patience and a sound mind, you shall be able to see results soon.
10. Keep Trying
Smoking is a habit that does not leave easy. It would be best if you were not discouraged by a couple of failures along the way. Remember the reasons for your relapse and try to avoid doing the same things in your next trials. It’s alright to try and fail rather than not trying at all. Set agendas and if you need, then keep consulting with a lung specialist.
11. Reward Yourself
While there will be obvious benefits of letting go of cigarettes, you should also create a list of things that you’ll reward yourself with. Say you cross a 30-day threshold, then reward yourself with some food that you like, or take a break from work. See what you would want in return for your no smoking policy.
If you have a loved one who is addicted to smoking and would like to help them out, then read below the five significant steps that will lead to a successful intervention.
There are 5As in this method:
Ask them about their daily intake of nicotine and keep track of the same for a couple of days.
Advise them in a very personal yet effective manner that they need to quit smoking.
Assess as to whether your loved one wants to quit this time, for sure, or are they still reluctant.
Assist your loved one in their journey to become an ex-user of cigarettes.
Arrange meetings with doctors and counsellors for them, and if they want, then you could visit the smoking cessation clinic with them as well.
People who are going to quit need support.
It is tough to carry out such a journey alone as the body goes through a lot of stress during the first couple of months of withdrawal.
If you are planning to quit, your family and friends are going to stick around, but you are the one who has to be the most determined throughout the journey.
There is no doubt that the first couple of days are going to be extremely tough and you will want to go back to your comfortable life, but we’re going to hope you push through it.
Pranayam Lung & Heart Institute is a multi-speciality hospital in Vadodara, Gujarat, that has been on a journey to create a healthy society for the last four decades. We’re an ideal module that aims at curing patients of various respiratory and cardiac diseases with the help of experts and high-end technology. Our doctors will go the extra mile to make sure that you are given the care you need. Talk to us today for more information.