Living Well and Healthy, Part 5

After knowing certain facts on how to be tobacco-free, let us now go into the details of how to quit smoking.

Difficult as it is, no one can tell you when to quit smoking or chewing tobacco.  Only you know why you use tobacco and what will be most difficult as you try to stop.  The important thing is that you try.  Believe that you will succeed, if not the first time, then the second time or twenty-second time.

Preparation in quitting smoking.

• List your reasons for quitting: for your own health and your family’s health, to save money, to prevent wrinkles, or whatever.  Read through your list daily for one month, and your chances of success will increase.
• Figure out why you smoke.  Do you use tobacco to pep yourself up? To relax? Do you like the ritual of smoking or chewing? Do you use tobacco out of habit, often without knowing why you are doing it? If specific situations trigger your desire to smoke or chew tobacco, changing your routine may help you stop.
• Decide how and when you’ll quit.  About half of ex-tobacco users quit “cold turkey.”  The other half cut down more slowly.
• Find a healthful alternative that can replace what smoking or chewing does for you.  For example, if you like to have something to do with your hands, pick up something else: a coin, pen, or pencil.  If you like to have something in your mouth, substitute sugarless gum or minted toothpicks.
• Plan a healthful reward for yourself when you have stopped using tobacco.  Take the money you save by not buying tobacco and spend it on yourself.
• Plan things to do when you get the urge to smoke or chew.  Urges don’t last that long: take a walk, brush your teeth, have a mint, drink a glass of water, or chew a gum.
• Choose a reliable tobacco cessation program.  Good programs have at least 20 percent success rate after on year.  Great programs have a 50 percent success rate.  A higher success rate may be too good to be true.

(Taking action on quitting smoking will be next Monday’s topic. – J.P.)