How to Stop Smoking

By: Stoy Proctor, MDiv., MPH

Adapted by: Armand Ardanas Regional Coordinator FCAP

1. Get Ready to Break Free

Plan to make the break sometime soon, preferably in about a week or two. You have probably procrastinated long enough. The difference between a goal and a dream is ACTION.

Decide you want to be free from smoking. Choose to be tobacco-free.

2. Prepare Physically
Like an athlete in training, you will find your decision easier if you: 1. Get eight hours of sleep each night. 2. Drink eight glasses of water daily. 3. Eat a balanced breakfast every morning. 4. Take a brisk walk twice daily. 5. Make an appointment with your dentist and have your teeth cleaned.


6. Ask your doctor for a clearance to begin exercising. 7. Plan to start an exercise program.

Exercise helps repair the physiological trauma caused by years of tar and nicotine consumption. Fitness also combats the two primary enemies of a person struggling with tobacco addiction uncontrolled stress and undesirable weight gain.

Success is improved if you eliminate the use of alcohol and caffeine. Even one drink of alcohol impairs judgment, which will increase the risk for relapse.

Caffeine acts as a trigger that conditions the smoker to return to the familiar coffee and cigarettes routine. Replace coffee with water and fruit juice.

Begin to eat more fruits and vegetablesfive to nine half-cup servings daily. Not only will fruits and vegetables reduce the symptoms of withdrawal from nicotine, but they will compensate for the damage caused by years of smoking. A variety of these foods will reduce the risk of several types of cancers including lung cancer.

Increase your consumption of whole-grain breads, cereals and legumes from six to 11 half-cup servings daily. Grains, fruits and vegetables should be the foundation of your new menu.

3. Prepare Mentally


Just as an astronaut must practice in a simulator before going into space, you need to mentally rehearse how you will act when you become a nonsmoker.

Imagine yourself enjoying all the benefits of living tobacco-free. Verbalize the joy by repeating frequently, I love being free from smoking.

Believe you are becoming free of tobacco. Begin thinking like and imitating nonsmokers. Observe how they react to situations that would have prompted you to smoke. Note how they handle stress and occupy their hands.

Usually our actions follow our beliefs or desires, but in this case act like a non-smoker and in time your thinking and believing will follow your actions.

4. Prepare Socially


During the cessation process make plans to politely avoid smoking and drinking friends, smoking family members, office parties, or any occasion where old friends may pressure you to smoke.

Think through your response to an offer to smoke or an urge to smoke responses such as No, thank you, Im now smokefree, or I prefer to be free from tobacco.

Find some support. Ask other family members, friends and co-workers to encourage you. Find a buddy you can call if the craving to smoke again seems overwhelming.

5. Prepare Spiritually


Not everyone attends church or spends an hour in private devotion, but everyone is a spiritual being.

We all have beliefs about the universe. We all have moral values of right and wrong. A question most appropriate is Does smoking support my values as a responsible mother/father/son/daughter, knowing the damage caused by tobacco? Would I desire others to follow my example?

6. Keep a Record


During the next 24 to 48 hours, record every cigarette you smoke or urge you have to smoke. This record will prove invaluable as you study your tobacco addiction.

Keep all you cigarette butts in a sealable bag. They will usually remind you of the pollution your lungs have tried to process every 24 hours of your smoking career.

7. Set the Break-free Date

You are now ready to set a break-free date. It could be at this very moment or in the next few days.

If you find it quite difficult, switch brands of cigarettes. Try smoking less of each cigarette. Test your resolve by refusing to smoke when you have weaker urge.

On the break-free date, celebrate by throwing away all the cigarette butts, lighters, ashtrays and anything else you have associated with smoking. Fill in the following blanks:
I will break free on ________________________(day/month/year) at _______________(time). ______________________________ Signature

You may now declare yourself to be a nonsmoker. Share the news with everyone. Tell your friends. Wear a button saying, I love being free from smoking.

8. Prepare for a Slip or a Relapse

Many smokers make several false starts before they finally break from smoking. If you find yourself puffing away on a cigarette before you realize it, dont give up. Throw the cigarette away. Realize you have not failed. This is only a detour. Failure results only if you fail to try again.

  

Review all the benefits of a smoke-free lifestyle: better health, money saved, more social activities, improved appearance of skin, teeth and fingers, fresher-smelling clothes, more self-confidence, and more influence with others. Choose again to be smoke-free. Be ready to resist your urge to smoke. If necessary try all of these 10 weapons to kill an urge. No urge will last long.

Affirm
  

I prefer to be smoke-free. I choose to be tobacco-free. I love being free from smoking.

Brush
  

Your teeth with mint toothpaste Your hair Your body with a soft towel

Chew
  

Vegetable sticks (celery, carrots) Sunflower seeds Sugarless gums

Drink
  

Water every hour Fruit and vegetable juices A glass of milk

Exercise with
  

A walk light calisthenics Relaxation exercises

Freshen up with
  

Five deep breaths A warm shower Personal grooming

Go for
  

A five-minute break 100counts backwards Help from a friend

Hold
  

Out for five minutes Onto a friend Something in your hand

Imagine
  

Your life free of cigarettes Refusing a cigarette Stopping a nic attack

Join
  

A support group A service club An anti-smoking movement

    

1. Affirm decision 2. Brush teeth 3. Chew on 4. Drink water 5. Exercise

6. Freshen-up 7. Go for break 8. Hold 5 minutes 9. Imagine your freedom 10. Join a group-friend

9. Plan for the Big Victory

After a few weeks free of tobacco you will feel good about yourself. Your self-respect and self-awareness should be affirmed, but remember danger and disaster is only one cigarette away. You will never be able to smoke another cigarette, and for the most part you will not want to.

 

 

The smoke-free life is too good to trade. The big victory celebration should come one year after breaking free. Plan a substantial reward for yourself. Calculate all the money you have saved and now spend it on something really meaningful to you.

10. Ensure Long-Term Success

When you help someone else, you help yourself. Now that you are an expert on how to stop smoking, share your knowledge with others. Helping someone else stop smoking reinforces your own desire. Support your friends who are struggling with tobacco addiction. Encourage others never to start.

Next Session Stop Smoking

You are now free at last and in control of your life.

Congratulations!

Thank You!
For questions, comments and other concerns: [email protected]