Quit Smoking Now: Top 5 Tricks to Make it Stick!
Quitting and recover from smoking can drastically improve your health from your brain down to your DNA. To highlight a few facts, quitting smoking can affect the brain by breaking the pattern of addiction. After a month of being cigarette-free, the nicotine receptors in your brain will return to normal levels kicking addiction down. Among other physical health benefits dropping your cigarette habit can improve your night vision, and clear your skin. Immediate effects of smoking include dehydrated skin and overtime smoking is a key cause of premature aging when your quit you will notice more hydrated and clear skin within a few weeks and you will no longer have to worry about your bad habit speeding up the aging process. Even more importantly when you quit smoking you can lower your cholesterol, reduce your risks for heart disease, heart attack, and cancer all of which can be life-threatening. For those of you who claim that smoking is an appetite suppressant consider that when you quit smoking you will reduce your belly fat and lower your risk of diabetes. The most obvious benefit of quitting is related to your lung health. “Scarring of the lungs is not reversible. That is why it is important to quit smoking before you do permanent damage to your lungs. Within two weeks of quitting, you might notice it’s easier to walk up the stairs because you may be less short of breath.” – Smokefree. In addition to reducing cancer risks, when you quit smoking you reduce your risk of developing Emphysema and other forms of COPD. While there may not be an easy way to quit there are several tricks to help you stick with your commitment to stop smoking.
Find Your Motivation & Recover From Smoking
Find a reason that is strong enough, and powerful enough to help you beat the urge to puff on another cigarette. For some that may be protecting your kids from second-hand smoke and setting a good example. Even if you hide it, they know. Perhaps you’re motivated by looking younger, or more importantly breathing easier and living a longer healthier life.
Research and Preparation
There are many techniques people use to quit smoking and the internet is your oyster. You can discuss with your physician, look for an online or in-person support group, or even meditate. Research the different methods, check out reviews and decide what the most effective method will be for YOU.
Replace
Replace smoking with something even better than smoking! If smoking helps you relax perhaps treat yourself to a massage after a cigarette-free week. Or every time you get an urge to light up drink a glass of water and take a few minutes of mindful meditation. Also, try working out more. The endorphins will leave you feeling great and replacing smoking with something healthy will make you less likely to counter with a cigarette.
Avoid your triggers
At least until you get over that one month mark where your nicotine receptors go back to normal try avoiding anything that triggers your urge to smoke. For many people it’s alcohol. For others, it might be a coffee break. Whatever it is for you try avoiding it at least temporarily.
Don’t give up! Don’t feel defeated! Recover from smoking!
For many people, it can take a few failed attempts before they kick the habit for good. Don’t let this make you feel like you’ve failed or like you just don’t have the willpower. You do! Like everything else in life quitting smoking may not work on the first try. With every attempt, you’ll learn what works for you what doesn’t work for you. What motivates you, and what adds to your frustration. The first step is to want to quit.
Once you have your final cigarette the health benefits are immediate, but there are also several things you can do to reverse the damage you’ve already caused. While your lung function cannot be reversed, you can certainly improve your lung capacity and this will help you breathe easier and regain the endurance you may have lost from years of smoking. Using a breathing resistance exerciser like Expand-A-Lung can be a tremendous help. Expand-A-Lung uses inspiratory and expiratory resistance to strengthen your diaphragm and your intercostal muscles (respiratory muscles). Stronger respiratory muscles allow you to intake a greater volume of oxygen and has a positive impact on your stamina and endurance. It’s also a tremendous help if you’ve developed COPD or Emphysema because of your smoking using Expand-A-Lung can help to reduce the severity of your symptoms.
