In the spirit of looking after myself better, I must bid adieu to one of my biggest cruxes – it’s time to quit smoking.
My smoking history
I grew up in a household where both parents smoked, one casually and the other like a literal chimney. While my middle and youngest sisters found the habit disgusting and never saw the appeal. Me, the rebel took to it very young.
My friends and I would buy packs of 10 or 12 with our pocket money – smoking was much cheaper then. And while my approach to smoking was more on the relaxed side, I’m still smoking 20 years later.
But why? I can go days or weeks without a cigarette, I don’t smoke day to day. But when I do smoke, often when I’m having a drink, or stressed I can’t stop. Then I wake up the next day and I instantly regret it.
Recently, while having a drink and lighting another cigarette, I took a drag and wondered if I really wanted this one, but it was already lit and I carried on.
Wean yourself – for most people, it’s a process
We’re going to start off by talk about vaping (click the link for help choosing a vape pen).
We all know it’s not easy to quit smoking, and some choose to swap cigarettes for a vape of some sort.
Chopping it out of your life means imbalanced mood, imbalanced focus, disturbed appetite, erratic sleep patterns… you name it. It’s a wild ride. That’s why a vape with nicotine is the better option to avoid going cold turkey.
Other techniques to help stop smoking
As I’m not a regular smoker, I think switching the death sticks for a vape would see me using a vape more regularly than I smoke now. So I would like to take a different approach.
The majority of my friends don’t smoke, so when I’m with them I’m not tempted, which shows, to some degree, that it’s more of a psychological thing for me. I associate certain actions or feelings with smoking.
I just need to retrain my brain to forget that – so if I don’t buy cigarettes, I can’t smoke them, and if I’m with my non smoking friends, I won’t want to.
Also, over the last two years I’ve been exploring other ways of easing stress and anxiety – the best one, and believe me I never thought this would come out of my mouth is exercise.
Specifically for me – running. See the other problem here? My new outlet is limited by my old habit and now I’m choosing to treat myself and my body better.
Hang in there … for 3 months
Eventually, weaning yourself off nicotine will work. There’ll be a spike in withdrawal symptoms around the 2-3 day point, and a steady fall back to earth over 2-3 months. The science is there. You really can plan the timeline and achieve your goal.
Love Lilla xx