We have all been there. “I know I should quit but maybe I’ll cut down first” or “I know it is terrible for me but I don’t think I am ready”. These are phrases that smokers who have thought about quitting repeat to themselves over and over again. However, unfortunately, these phrases almost never seem to make us actually quit. Like many have said before the first thing you need to realize is that you want to give up the habit and remain smoke free.
This short series of blogs will give you three tips to remain smoke free and quit the habit for good. Tip number three is to remain smoke free is to surround yourself with non smokers at first. Yes, this may seem kind of rude but by hanging out with friends and family who are still smoking while you are just starting to kick the habit can prove to be quite difficult. There were many times where I tried to quit and would be doing pretty well for a few days or even a couple of weeks then hang out with friends who smoked and wanted one right away. Ultimately I would have one or two and then probably want to buy a pack the next day.
One day there finally came a point where I was tired of it and I thought one of the best ways to stop smoking was to limit my contact with my smoking friends. Now of course I didn’t just blow them off for a whole month, but what I did do was avoid them when they were actually smoking. For example, if we were at the pub and they went for a smoke outside I would simply just stay in and wait for them to return. It was really that simple. Sometimes I still wanted to join them for the social aspect but I kept telling myself that I don’t need to smoke with them to remain social; the conversation can always wait a few minutes. It can be tough at times but you just have to stick with it for this tip to work.
I continued this practice for about a month and eventually since I had avoided all contact with smoking, my urge for a smoke went away. Of course the first few days and up to a week are the hardest but once the nicotine leaves your system it becomes less of a physical challenge and more of a mental test, and trying to avoid smoking situations is a good tip to remain smoke free once and for all.