One of the reasons why it is so hard to kick the butt is lifestyle. It is like staying behind with your old life while you are trying to change your habit, a simple yet a difficult situation to ignore. Hanging out with your old friends, visiting the old places, being surrounded by your old life, when such memories haunt you; you feel nostalgic and remember all the good times you had spent. At this point to say no to a cigarette is just out of question.
Being with your friends who don't have any plans of quitting would not help you much if you are planning to quit. Visiting the old places you use to go like pubs and discos will not be a great help either. When you are in this kind of place though there are many people who do not smoke or drink the majority who comes there indulges in drinking or smoking. And so, seeing others do what they do at pubs greatly motivates you to smoke. When you drink beer or whisky it enhances the taste of cigarette moreover, since you are used to smoking while drinking, you cannot stop yourself from lighting up.
Therefore, to quit smoking one need to change his or her lifestyle completely, avoiding all the things which enhance the urge to smoke like hanging out with old friends, drinking, oily food, places etc. Atleast for the time being in the initial stages when your quit program begins it is a must to avoid your old life. You need to follow a new lifestyle and adopt a new hobby to distract your mind away from smoking. If you had never tried an outdoor activity you can try going for a long walk in the neighborhood or at park, that way you will be in touch with the nature and your mind will be fresh and healthy. Meditation sessions are also a great help as they help by increasing a person's self control.
Visiting your relatives who stay far away is a good way of spending the weekend instead of going to party's and pubs. Of course you cannot forget your old friends but no one is asking you to be out of touch. You can talk to them on the phone and if you want to see them meet them at home but tell them before hand that it is now a no smoking zone. You should be bold enough to tell them and also request them not to smoke in front of you; if they are your true friends they will respect your word.
Further, it is important to stay focused without losing hope. Frustrations will come where in you will feel like just giving up, you will be disorganized, restless, tired, insomniac, will feel dizzy etc. This is a very vulnerable state that is the reason why you need to change your lifestyle. If you meet your friends and visit the old places you will not be able to fight the temptation. When you are strong enough and have a strong will power, you can always visit the places you want to.
Besides changing lifestyle, there are medicines and aids available to make nicotine withdrawal syndrome bearable.
Pfizer chantix is an oral drug is one of those. It is approved by FDA in 2006, as a treatment for smoking cessation in adults. It works in the brain like nicotine, activating the nicotine receptor and gives the same pleasure which is given by cigarettes. However, Chantix with as its main component is not addictive like nicotine and also suppress the withdrawal syndrome. It also diminishes the taste of cigarette and after sometime cigarette does not taste as good as it used to.
To see whether chantix is the right choice or not you may consult a doctor. It is sold with prescription in some countries and as an over the counter drug in some other, you can easily online via internet.
Old Habits Die Hard
And all of us are susceptible to our old habits.
Including me, last Thursday. I'm being honest here because it was an experience I'm not proud of but we can all learn from it - so I hope you'll benefit from my situation!
Last Thursday evening I found myself eating everything in sight. Loads of food got hoovered up. I would have gone for junk food except we never have much of it in the house. Actually what I did eat was mercifully obliterated by a food'induced brain haze, though I do remember bowls of cereal (hey, I was desperate) taking part in the eating frenzy.
Actually, as overeating goes it wasn't that bad - I don't have the stomach capacity for it anymore. But there came a point in the evening where I realised I was eating not because of physical hunger but just because I wanted to eat.
As I thought about this, while munching, I analysed what emotion was driving me to it. I thought it was anger, but then felt this didn't accurately describe my emotions - it was more of a severe disgruntlement.
At that point it felt a bit silly to keep on eating but I did anyway - the part of my brain that behaves like a spoilt three year old, I call her the Little Imp, was egging me on. We had a conversation that went something like this '
Me: This is ridiculous, you don't need this food, you're not hungry.
Little Imp (arms folded, feet about to stomp): I know. And I don't care, I'm going to have the food anyway.
Me: But you don't need it.
Little Imp: But I WANT it. I've had a hard week.
Me: Well go on then, have it, if you really want it.
Little Imp (tasting a little bit of food): I shall.
Little Imp ate a bit more and then stopped. Even she could see that the food was totally unnecessary. And as her hard week had been acknowledged, she felt soothed and decided to go away.
It was a hard week, a series of things to sort out including the building work on our home. And the final straw was on Thursday morning, when taking my son to school someone ran into the back of my car. We weren't hurt, just startled. But the car needs a new bumper and that's how I ended up in a Major Disgruntled mood.
But it also enabled me to examine in detail the process by which I got my Little Imp under control. So for anyone who finds themselves in this situation this is the process that helped me '
1. Become aware. The first step to stop overeating is to realise you're doing it. Just quietly say "Yes, this isn't physical hunger."
2. Acknowledge the feelings that are leading to this. Are you angry, lonely, frustrated, hurt? See if you can access and acknowledge the emotion.
3. Accept your Little Imp's need to look after your emotions.
4. Take action to do something different.
My action was to leave Thursday night alone and start afresh the next day - going out to lunch I had salad and had a home-made salad in the evening. Both delicious and nutritious.
So the next time you get that Overwhelming Urge to Eat Everything in Sight... remember aware, acknowledge, accept and action.
And happy, nutritious, healthy, joyful eating to you.
Both Dany Wickham & Liz Copeland are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Dany Wickham has sinced written about articles on various topics from Medicine, Quit Smoking. Dany Wickham is an expert on smoking cessation and also offers suggestions on smoking cessation treatments such as . His articles help to rea. Dany Wickham's top article generates over 40500 views. to your Favourites.
Liz Copeland has sinced written about articles on various topics from Fitness, Facts about Barack Obama and Weight Loss Pills. As a Nutrition Coach Liz Copeland shows people who find healthy eating difficult how to change their beliefs and behaviours around food so they can eat well, look good and feel great. Receive her 5-lesson mini ecourse "Conquer Emotional Eating Forever" an. Liz Copeland's top article generates over 40500 views. to your Favourites.
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