24Ways to Stop Smoking Cigarettes
For all the
intense efforts to reduce smoking in America over the past two decades, the progress has not been stellar。 Today one in four men and one in five women still smoke.
For those who never smoked, this is a befuddling fact.Don't smokers understand that cigarettes are the number one killer in America,that they dramatically increase risk for heart disease, stroke, cancer, high blood pressure, and almost every other health concern, small or large?How could any habit be worth thisTruth is,, most smokers do understand. They also understand the huge financial toll of smoking, with a pack of 20 cigarettes costing $7 in some areas 。
Then why do millions still smoke?In good part, because the nicotine in cigarettes is highly addictive. In good part, because smoking provides
psychological comfort to some people. Perhaps most of all, because quitting is so hard.
Researchers and businesses have responded strongly to the last point。 Never have there been so many tools, systems, and programs available for quitting smoking. And with every month that passes, there is more research showing the benefits of quitting, and the drawbacks of not quitting.
So if you smoke, consider again whether it is time, finally, to quit. If yes, you'll need to think through the best approach, perhaps working with your doctor or an expert. But the following 25 tips will help you succeed.
1.Make an honest list of all the things you like about smoking. Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper and write them on one side; on the other side make a list of all the things you dislike, such as how it can interfere with your health, work, family。If you are brave enough, get feedback from family and friends about things they don't like about your use of cigarettes. When the
negative side outweighs the
positive side, you are ready to quit.
2. Then make another list of why quitting won't be easy. Be
thorough, even if the list gets long and discouraging. Here's the important part: Next to each entry, list one or more options for overcoming that challenge. For instance, one item might be: "Nicotine is an addictive drug." Your option might be: "Try a nicotine replacement alternative." Another reason might be: "Smoking helps me deal with stress." Your option might be: "Take five-minute walks instead." The more you
anticipate the challenges to quitting, and their solutions, the better your chance of success.
3. Set a quit date and write a "quit date contract" that includes your
signature and that of a supportive witness.
4.Write all your reasons for quitting on an index card and keep it near you at all times. Here are some to get you started: "My daughter, my granddaughter, my husband, my wife..." You get the idea.
5. As you're getting ready to quit, stop buying cartons of cigarettes. Instead, only buy a pack at a time, and only carry two or three with you at a time (try putting them in an Altoids tin). Eventually you'll find that when you want a smoke, you won't have any immediately available. That will slowly wean you down to fewer cigarettes.
6.Prepare a list of things to do when a
craving hits. Suggestions include: take a walk, drink a glass of water, kiss your partner or child, throw the ball for the dog, wash the car, clean out a
cupboard or closet, have sex, chew a piece of gum, wash your face, brush your teeth, take a nap, get a cup of coffee or tea, practice your deep breathing, light a candle. Make copies of the list and keep one with you at all times so when the
craving hits, you can whip out the list and quickly do something from it.
7.When your quit date arrives, throw out anything that reminds you of smoking. That includes all smoking paraphernalia -- leftover cigarettes, matches, lighters, ashtrays, cigarette holders, even the lighter in your car.
8.Instead of a cigarette break at work, play a game of solitaire on your computer. It takes about the same time and is much more fun (although, like cigarettes, it can get addictive). If your company prohibits games like that, find another five-minute
diversion: a phone call, a
stroll, or eating a piece of fruit outdoors (but not where smokers congregate).
9.Switch to a cup of herbal tea whenever you usually have a cigarette. That might be at breakfast, midmorning, or after meals. The act of brewing the tea and slowly sipping it as it cools will provide the same stress relief as a hit of nicotine.
10. Switch your cigarette habit for a nut habit -- four nuts in their shell for every cigarette you want to smoke. This way, you're using your hands and your mouth, getting the same physical and oral sensations you get from smoking.
11. Carry some cinnamon-flavored toothpicks with you. Suck on one whenever a cig
craving hits.
12. Make an appointment with an acupuncturist. There's some evidence that auricular acupuncture (i.e., needles in the ears) curbs cigarette
cravings quite
successfully, says Ather Ali, N.D., a naturopathic physician completing a National Institutes of Health-sponsored postdoctoral research
fellowship at the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center in Derby, Connecticut.
13. Swing by the health food store for some Avena sativa (oat)
extract. One study found that, taken at 1 milliliters four times daily, it helped
habitual tobacco smokers significantly decrease the number of cigarettes they smoked.
14. Think of difficult things you have done in the past. Ask people who know you well to remind you of challenges you have
successfully overcome, says Dr. Lieberman. This will give you the necessary self-confidence to stick with your pledge not to smoke.
15. To
minimizecravings, change your
routine. Sit in a different chair at breakfast or take a different route to work. If you usually have a drink and cigarette after work, change that to a walk. If you're used to a smoke with your morning coffee,
switch to tea, or stop at Starbucks for a cup of java -- the chain is smoke-free.
16. Tell your friends, coworkers, boss, partner, kids, etc., how you feel about situations instead of bottling up your emotions. If something makes you angry, express it instead of smothering it with cigarette smoke. If you're bored, admit to yourself that you're bored and find something
energetic to do instead of
lighting up.
17. If you relapse, just start again. You haven't failed. Some people have to quit as many as eight times before they are successful.
18. Put all the money you're saving on cigarettes in a large glass jar. You want to
physically see how much you've been spending. Earmark that money for something you've always dreamed of doing, but never thought you could afford, be it a
cruise to Alaska or a
first-class ticket to visit an old college friend.
19. Switch to decaf until you've been cigarette-free for two months. Too much caffeine while quitting can cause the jitters.
20. Create a smoke-free zone. Don't allow anyone to use tobacco in your home, car, or even while sitting next to you in a restaurant. Make actual "No Smoking" signs and hang them around your house and in your car.
21. Find a healthy snack food you can keep with you and use in place of cigarettes to
quench that urge for oral
gratification. For instance, try pistachio nuts, sunflower seeds, sugarless lollipops or gum, carrot or
celery sticks. The last ones are best if you are
concerned about weight gain.
22. Picture yourself playing
tennis. Or go play
tennis. British researchers found volunteers
trying to quit smoking were better able to
ignore their urges to smoke when they were told to visualize a
tennis match.
23. Quit when you're in a good mood. Studies find that you're less likely to be a successful quitter if you quit when you're
depressed or under a great deal of stress.
24. Post this list in a visible
location in your house. Whenever you're tempted to light up, take a look at all the ways smoking can damage your health:
Increases risk of lung, bladder, pancreatic, mouth, esophageal, and other cancers, including leukemia
Reduces
fertilityContributes to thin bones
Affects mental capacity and memory
Contributes to thin bones
Affects mental capacity and memory
Reduces levels of folate, low levels of which can increase the risk of heart disease, depression, and Alzheimer's disease
Increases
likelihood of impotence
Affects ability to smell and taste
Results in low-birth-weight, premature babies
Increases risk of depression in adolescents
Increases risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure
Increases risk of diabetes
Increases your child's risk of obesity and diabetes later in life if you smoked while
pregnant在过去二十年中,美国努力采取措施控制吸烟,但是成效并不显著。如今,仍然有四分之一的男人和五分之一的女人在吸烟。
对于那些从来不吸烟的人来说,这是一个困惑的事实。在美国,不吸烟者明白,香烟是健康头号杀手,大大增加了心脏病,中风,癌症,高血压的发病率和其他所有健康问题(无论大小)的风险。到底什么样的习惯值得付出这么大的代价那?大多数的吸烟者都明白吸烟会花费大量金钱,在一些地区一包20支的香烟要花费7美元。
那么为什么数以百万的人仍然去吸烟?一方面是因为香烟中尼古丁可以让人上瘾,另一个好处就是吸烟可以给人心灵以慰藉,最重要的也许是戒烟太困难啊。
科研人员和商家们对最后一点反映最强烈。从来没有一种能够用来戒烟的工具,系统或者工程。随着岁月的推移,研究表明戒烟只有好处而没有坏处。
因此,如果你吸烟,你应该考虑一下是否是时候改戒烟了。如果是的话,请你考虑戒烟最佳方式,或许咨询医生或专家。但是以下的24种方法,将助你成功。
1.诚实地列出你喜欢吸烟的那些方面。在纸的中间画一条线,在一边写下这些好处,另一边列出吸烟的缺点,例如,它会如何地影响到你的健康,工作,家庭等。如果你有勇气,去听一下来自于你的家庭及朋友对于不喜欢你吸烟的反馈。当消极的一面远远大于积极的一面,你就真的要戒了。
2.然后列出另一单说明为什么戒烟并不容易。即使单子里又长有烦躁,你也要认真点。这是一个很重要的环节,接下来进入每个条目,列出一个或者多个选项,克服这一挑战。例如,一个项目可能是: "烟草是一种上瘾的药物。 "那你可以: "尝试尼古丁替代品。 "另一个原因可能是: "吸烟可以帮助我缓解压力。 "那你可以: "以五分钟的散步代替。"你越是预计到戒烟的挑战以及可以解决的一些方法,你就越有机会成功戒烟。
3 .设置戒烟日期,并撰写一份"戒烟日期合同" ,其中包括您和一个支持你的的证人的签名。
4.写下所有你要戒烟的原因。并随时放在你的身边。那么你可以这样开始手: "我的女儿,我的孙女,我的丈夫,我的妻子... "
5.当你准备戒烟的时候,请停止大量买烟。你可以一次只买一包烟,并且只随身携带两三支。最终你会发现,当你想抽烟的时候,你将不能触手可及。这将减少你抽烟的依赖。
6.当你犯烟瘾的时候准备一些事情去做。我们建议你:散散步,喝点水,亲亲你的伴侣或子女,扔球给狗,冲洗汽车,清洁柜子或壁橱,做爱,嚼口香糖,洗脸,刷牙,打一个吨儿,喝咖啡或茶,做深呼吸,点燃一只蜡烛。你可以多复制几份单子随时带在身边,当犯烟瘾的时候做这些事情。
7.当您的戒烟日来临之际,避免任何提醒你吸烟的事情。包括所有的吸烟用具,剩下的香烟,火柴,打火机,烟灰缸,有烟的人,甚至在你车上的打火机。
8.工作之余用电脑的纸牌游戏来代替抽烟。它会花费相同时间并且更加有趣(甚至同等于香烟或者更上瘾)。如果你的公司禁止这样的游戏,寻找别的事情来度过五分钟,打个电话,散步,或者出去吃点水果。(但是不能去吸烟区)
9.请把你通常的吸烟时间换成品尝凉茶的时间。这可能在早餐,早上或饭后。慢慢地品尝,当它冷却的时候一点点地喝,这样会有和尼古丁一样的缓解压力的效果。
10.吃坚果来代替你抽烟的习惯。每当你想抽烟的时候就吃坚果。这样使用你手,嘴,得到相同的物理反映和口感,就像抽烟一样。
11.携带一些肉贵味牙签。当烟瘾来是请吸吮一根。
12.预约一名针灸师。格菲尔特阿里说:"有一些证据表明,耳部针灸(即针头在耳)限制抽烟的渴望十分成功。"他完成了美国国立卫生研究院博士后研究项目。
13.去保健食品店买燕麦制品。一项研究表明每天摄取四次一毫克的燕麦片,会帮助那些吸烟者明显减少吸烟数量。
14.想想你过去做过的困难的事情。利伯曼博士说,去询问那些过去深知面对挑战成功的人。这会给你必要的自信心,坚持你的希望不要吸烟。
15.为了尽量减少你的烟瘾,改变你的常规生活。坐在不同的椅子上吃早饭或者采取不同的方法去工作。如果你经常有工作后喝酒或者抽烟的习惯,请换成茶或者干脆停留在星吧客享受下无烟的美妙。
16.告诉您的朋友,同事,上司,合作伙伴,孩子等等你的感觉而不要大发雷霆。如果你觉得某些事情真的让你生气了,就把它当做是阻止你抽烟的事情吧。如果你很烦躁,承认自己很烦躁并找点别的事情做,而不要去点燃香烟。
17.如果您重新开始吸烟了,只需重新开始戒烟。你还没有失败,有些人戒烟多达8次才成功。。
18.把你所有买烟的钱省下来攒在一个大玻璃罐里。你直接可以看出你到底花了多少钱在香烟上。抽出这笔钱去做你一直梦想而没能力支付的事情。无论是阿拉斯加的油轮还是一直想买的访问校友的头等车票。
19.直到你两个月不吸烟了再去碰咖啡因。戒烟过程中摄取过多的咖啡因时会让你产生恐慌。
20.创建无烟区。不允许任何一个人在你的家里,汽车里,甚至在餐厅里坐在你旁边抽烟。制作一个"禁止吸烟"的标牌挂在你的家中或者车中。
21.找一种健康的零食来随身携带,来代替香烟解馋。
22.想象一下你自己打网球的场面。或者去打网球。英国研究人员发现当自愿戒烟的人想网象球比赛时,他们更容易忽视吸烟的渴望。
23.当你心情好时戒烟。研究发现当你心情沮丧时或者压力大时,你就不怎么想成功的戒烟。
24.在你房间显眼的地方张贴这些列表。当你想点燃香烟的时候,请想想香烟会伤害你的地方:
□肺癌,膀胱癌,胰腺癌,口腔,食道以及其他癌症,包括白血病的危险增加。
□降低生育率
□促使消瘦
□影响智力和记忆力
□叶酸水平降低,可以增加患心脏病,抑郁,与阿尔茨海默病的风险。
□阳痿的可能性增加。
□影响味觉和嗅觉的能力。
□导致婴儿体重过低或者早产儿。
□增加青少年抑郁症的风险。
□增加患心脏病,中风,高血压的风险。
□增加患糖尿病的风险
□如果你在怀孕期间吸烟会增加您的孩子以后患肥胖症和糖尿病的风险。
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