Giving up cigarettes is difficult, but not impossible. Here’s how.

Sixty-per-cent of smokers have thought about quitting the habit at some time of their lives, particularly after the age of 50, according to data from the National Committee for the Prevention of Addiction to Tobacco. Giving up this habit has great health benefits: a lower risk of lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, and stroke, as well as benefits that former smokers notice immediately when they recover their sense of smell and taste and feel less congested and fatigued.

However, although these benefits are many, it is very common for smokers who try to give up to relapse. To mark World No Tobacco Day (31 May), we would like to encourage you to quit this toxic habit forever, to live without nicotine and start a new, healthier stage of life. Now is the time to make a firm decision and start improving your health and quality of life.

Recommendations for stopping smoking (and not starting again)

Experts say that it only takes a few days to overcome physical dependence to smoking, and that the psychological component is the main cause of relapse.

1. Pick a date (mark it on your calendar), choose someone to help you and replace the cigarettes with fruit, sugar-free sweets or an anti-stress ball.
2. Break the link between the habit and the cigarette

There is a tendency to associate smoking with certain moments and sensations that you need to break. These include having a drink in an outdoor café surrounded by smokers, when you feel nervous, have a coffee… Relax, distract yourself and, if necessary, change the habit.

3. Don’t feel guilty

Many ex-smokers feel guilty or ashamed if they relapse. Don’t entertain these negative feelings. Look to the future. The fact you have failed once doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Learn from the experience, and this will bring you closer to your goal.

4. Fight temptation

It is a good idea to identify situations which cause a strong urge to smoke and plan how to deal with them in advance.

– Self motivation: remind yourself why you have given up smoking often, the benefits you are reaping, and congratulate yourself every day for not smoking. Set yourself a daily challenge, “Today I won’t smoke”.

– Distract yourself: when you start thinking about smoking, try to distract yourself with something that will occupy your mind, call someone, write a message, make a shopping list or a to-do list, cook, keep your hands occupied, do a sudoku puzzle, etc.

– Choose a healthy life: get regular exercise, drink plenty of water and eat between three and five pieces of fruit a day. That will help to stop you from putting on weight (another reason for relapse).

– Relax: the simplest and most effective way of calming down is to do abdominal or diaphragmatic breathing exercises, in other words, inhale until you feel your belly expand and then exhale slowly through your mouth.

– Never take puffs: if you are surrounded by smokers and don’t think you will be able to resist temptation, move away a little.

5. Find support

Ask your family, friend and colleagues to help by not offering you cigarettes or smoking when you are there, and to encourage you when things get tough and praise your efforts.

Remember, life is full of situations that will not change because you smoke. Smoking doesn’t solve problems and it doesn’t make you feel better, quite the contrary.

If you are a smoker and want to quit the habit, see your primary care doctor who will help you to achieve it.

This post is also available in: Spanish