How to stop smoking? During the last twenty-five years, more than 30 million smokers in the United States have successfully given up tobacco use, and 2 million continue to do so every year. One of the most successful ways is “cold turkey” – deciding to quit and doing it. Continue reading for tips on how to stop smoking cold turkey.
However, there are many programs designed to help smokers overcome their habit. Such programs are available through the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, many local hospitals, and several commercial organizations.
The oldest of these programs, The Five Day Plan to Stop Smoking, was organized some thirty-five years ago and is promoted worldwide. Millions have attended these sessions and succeeded in quitting. The program has been revised and helps people with the question of how to stop smoking cigarettes, and now it goes under the name “Breathe Free.”
To find out when and where the next program will take place, call the Seventh-day Adventist church in your area. Some smokers like to plan for the special day and time they will quit. If you wish to do this, then set a day and time. Get rid of your tobacco products ahead of time and cut down as much as possible.
Make appointments with your dentist (or dental hygienist) to have your teeth cleaned. Also, get a physical to get clearance for an exercise program. One cause of failure is procrastination—planning to quit “someday” but never doing it. Here are some of the many steps that you can take on how to stop smoking naturally:
How to Stop Smoking
- No more smoking or chewing. Make your decision to quit final. Then reinforce it by throwing away everything that pertains to your habit: tobacco, cigarettes, lighters, pipes, and pouches. Leave nothing around to tempt you.
- Select a buddy or partner. This person should be willing for you to call him any time you feel the craving for a cigarette or the desire to chew tobacco. If your partner is an ex-smoker, so much the better.
- Remember the benefits of stopping. Create a list of the advantages nonsmokers have and review them periodically.
- Eat and drink wisely. Drink lots of water. Many people find that it helps to avoid solid foods and drink only sugar-free fruit juices during the first twenty-four hours. This technique helps flush out many of tobacco’s impurities. The second day, eat light meals of soups and fruit but no rich or highly spiced-foods—and no alcoholic or caffeinated beverages. Many find a vegetarian diet, at least for the first week, is a further help. Your food will taste better. Also, don’t eat when you feel restless and nervous.
- Put something else in your mouth. Smokers develop a bad habit of putting something in their mouth. Often, learning how to stop smoking is easier if this habit can be continued with something safe. Because of its high sugar content, candy is not the best substitute. Many people choose sugarless chewing gum, carrots or celery sticks, or toothpicks.
- Increase your exercise. Exercise will reduce weight gain. It will also relax you when you feel tense and help you sleep better.
- Breathe deeply. For the first several days, take five deep breaths by an open window or outside every hour or two. This technique will clear your lungs and may relieve a headache.
- Shower or bathe frequently. Bathing or showering at least twice daily, morning and evening, ending with a cold dash or sponge, will invigorate you and wash away impurities on your skin.
- Seek spiritual help. God has promised to help you in times of need, so take advantage of the offer. When things look tough, and you feel like giving up, call your buddy and call on God.
- Dental and doctor appointments. Have your teeth cleaned and your heart checked. Give your mouth that fresh feeling and your heart the exercise it needs.
- Don’t give up. When things were going against the Allies during World War II, Winston Churchill, the prime minister of Great Britain, asked about the possibility of surrender. His reply: “Never give up, never give up, never, never, never, never.”
Victory can be yours. When Winston Churchill was asked what his aim was for the war, he replied, “I can describe it in one word: ‘Victory’—victory however long and hard the road may be. Without victory, there is no survival.
REFERENCES
Hardinge, Mervyn G and Harold Shryock. “Family Medical Guide.” Hardinge, Mervyn G and Harold Shryock. Family Medical Guide. Ed. Marvin Moore and Bonnie Tyson-Flynn. Vol. one. Oshawa; Washington, D.C.; Hagerstown: Pacific Press Publishing Association; Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1999. Three vols. 381-383. Print.
