Quite possibly the hardest thing for anyone to do.
Nov 18 '00
____Human beings by their very nature are creatures of habit. We get set in our ways and it's very hard to change habits. I think its because we take some measure of security in our habits. If we do things the same way all the time then we know, at least to some degree, how things are going to work.
____One of the most difficult habits to break is smoking. And it isn't the physical addiction to nicotine either that makes it so hard. It takes your body only 72 hours to fully overcome the physical addiction to nicotine. After that it's all a mental game you have to play against yourself.
____The most important thing is for you to have a good strong reason to want to quit smoking. For me it was that I didn't want to end up like my father. He had been a smoker for 40 years and he ended up dying of emphysema. But it wasn't the fact that smoking killed him. Everyone dies, it's just a question of when. When I was a junior in high school he had a massive stroke that completely disabled him. My father was in the military for almost 30 years. He had a hard time letting anyone do anything for him. And after he had the stroke he couldn't drive anymore, he wasn't able to walk down the street by himself, and he wasn't able to use his left hand at all (which is really bad considering he was left-handed). So it wasn't that I knew smoking could kill me, it was that I didn't want the quality of the life I had to be diminished like his was.
____I spoke earlier of how we as human beings are creatures of habit. And what is a habit but pattern of behavior. What you need to do is change that pattern. Look at all the times when you usually smoke. If it's in the morning when you have coffee, then try not to drink coffee. Maybe an herbal tea or something. If you like a smoke after a big meal then eat lighter meals. Drink lots of water too. This will help flush out your system and feeling better. If you have a group of friends that smoke, you should let them know you're trying to kick the habit and to take that into consideration when they're around you. If they're real friends it won't be a big deal. The reason people gain weight when they quit smoking is that they eat more to fullfill the oral fixation they have with putting a cigarette in their mouths. Again the mental game I told you about earlier. Try taking up a hobby, or chewing gum.
____Another good thing to do is to try and replace nicotine with endorphins. Endorphins are a naturally occurring hormone in the brain that are released when you feel physical exertion. That's right, get some exercise. You don't have to run a marathon to get a cardiovascular workout. In order to gain some type of improvement you need to exercise for more than 20 minutes. So walk around the block for 21-25 minutes or more, and then start to gradually increase the time after a week. Then in a few weeks you can go from walking to running if you want to step up the improvement. All this also helps another combat the weight gain problem.
____Well I hope what I've told you helps you on along the road to being smoke-free. Good Luck!
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raymondo
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