10 Highly Effective Unconventional Methods To Quit Smoking
Image: Istock
You may have heard of the age-old saying, ‘once a smoker, always a smoker.’ Okay, we admit that doesn’t exist, and we just made it up to tell you that this adage does not need to be true. Yes, quitting smoking is quite hard due to the withdrawal symptoms you experience, both physically and psychologically. But it can be done. Just like those books say it. However, the best way to quit smoking is not to go down the beaten track but tread the offbeat road. Here are 10 unconventional ways to help you quit.
1. Eat When You Want To Smoke
Got the sudden urge to take a drag? Just eat. The nicotine in a cigarette pumps sugar into your blood, which can throw your eating habits off-track and cause health complications. So, if you are serious about quitting, eat something healthy the next time you feel like smoking. Foods like sprouts, salads, etc. can draw your attention away from smoking and help increase your appetite so that you can go back to your normal eating habits.
2. Don’t Depend On Substitutes
In the effort to quit smoking, you may be tempted to try out substitutes such as nicotine patches or e-cigarettes. If you do, it’s best to restrict their use to a minimum. These products will not help you quit as they will maintain your nicotine dose. Instead of trying substitutes, keep your motivation levels high and stick to your plan of quitting.
3. Set Doable Deadlines
Quitting smoking is not something that can be done overnight. Fooling your mind and body into thinking they do not need to depend on nicotine anymore will take a lot more time than that. The best way to quit is to set short deadlines so that you can gradually get your body accustomed to the absence of nicotine. Start by not smoking for two weeks, and if you pull through, progress slowly.
4. Cut Down On Caffeine
Smoking has various effects on your bodily functions, and one of them is that it can reduce your liver’s capacity to expend caffeine. Hence, when you are smoking as well as when you are trying to quit, you must reduce your intake of caffeine by 50% so that your body can process it better. Any energy drinks that contain caffeine should also be avoided, and you should have no more than one cup of coffee a day.
5. Read Up On Smoking’s Bad Effects
Nothing is as effective in convincing your brain to quit smoking as scaring it. By reading up information available online concerning the harmful effects of smoking, you brainwash yourself into believing that you are quitting something that can put your life in danger. You could even watch anti-smoking commercials as well as they are quite scary. You could also hang up anti-smoking posters in your room to stay motivated.
6. Accept The Withdrawal Symptoms
Acknowledging that you will go through withdrawal symptoms will help you deal with them in a better way. You can experience a host of emotions ranging from sudden anger outbursts to restlessness and irritability when you try to quit nicotine. Instead of giving in to these emotions, try your level best to control them. Formulate plans if that’s what you need to keep them in control.
7. Get A Hobby
The best way to ignore the urge of smoking, as you already know, is to distract your mind. Taking up a new hobby is an effective way to keep your mind off smoking. However, convincing your mind that it should focus on the hobby instead of pulling out a cigarette is going to be helluva of a difficult task. Your willpower will need to be at its highest level. Therefore, you should pick up a hobby that you are really interested in so that your mind can focus.
8. Take Support From Friends And Family
If you feel too weak to quit on your own, ask your friends and family members to help you out. They can provide you with support and encouragement whenever you need, and even cooperate with you when you go through withdrawal symptoms.
9. Maintain Oral Hygiene
Nicotine can leave unsightly marks on your teeth. Once you are done quitting, schedule an appointment with your dentist and have your teeth cleaned. Your new pearly whites can motivate you to stay off smoking.
10. Breathe Deeply
Smoking can damage your lungs, which means you’ll need to do some damage control when you finally quit. Deep breathing exercises, such as the ones you do during yoga, can help. Such exercises will clean your lungs of toxins, improving your overall health in the process.
The ways mentioned here are completely safe and totally harmless, so don’t hesitate to try them out. You can try all of them together too as long as you consult with your doctor first. If you know of any other unconventional ways to give up smoking, please share them with us in the comments box below.
