You Can Quit Smoking. We can help.
As a former smoker, I’ve had about a thousand last cigarettes. There were times I felt run down, times where a little physical activity left me wheezing like a wuss, or times when I just felt gross after having one too many smokes. And more often than I’d care to admit, I smoked my last one. Ever. Hasta luego. I’m out…after one more.
But that one last smoke left me feeling more anxious than hopeful. One time I kicked it for about six months, but one night out with some smoker friends was all it took to reel me back in.
That’s the thing no one tells you about quitting smoking: the craving doesn’t go away for a long, long time. In some cases, it can take a year or two before you stop thinking about another puff.
In my case, days 3-10 were the worst. I quit smoking cold turkey, which really sucks, let me tell you. I bargained with myself, argued with that annoying inner voice in my head, and grabbed my keys to go get just one more pack before reason and control stopped me.
That’s the thing, there’s never just one more pack. I needed help. With good advice from my doctor and a little education about my body, I was able to finally kick the sticks for good.
Movies and television didn’t help either, every time a character lit up in a scene I felt that old Craving rise up and grab me by the taste buds.
See, I liked smoking. I like my coffee so strong it’ll slap you into next week, and keep your ice out of my whiskey, thank you very much. The taste and the burn were part of the experience for me. I tried e-cigs (or vaping, if you must) and the gum, but nothing had the feel of a drag off a real cigarette.
But enough about my baggage, let’s talk about yours. You probably clicked on this post because of the word “Secret” in the title, so let’s get down to business.
Secret #1: Don’t Beat Yourself Up
The real secret to finally quit smoking, for real, is to cut yourself some slack. The tar and nicotine in cigarettes that your body craves have insanely addictive properties.
Studies have shown that cigarettes are more addictive than cocaine. Positivity throughout this process is key, and depression is a side effect of quitting. If you turn on yourself, it will only intensify your craving for another puff.
Encourage yourself by celebrating your healthy choices, don’t wallow in self-blame because that will only discourage you.
I’ll be brutally honest here, that scared me. But, come on, we all know smoking is bad for us, it’s just that we don’t care. I only get my fix a few times a day, it helps with stress, I’ll get fat if I quit now, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry, etcetera, etcetera.
You’re human, just like me; we feel stuff, and sometimes those feelings turn us into a raging tantrum-throwing toddler. So cut yourself some slack and understand that you’re not all-powerful, because that’s how you relapse.
Secret #2: Educate Yourself
Knowledge is King, and gaining important information about your body can only make your life better. Here are some quick stats for you, courtesy of Medicinal News Today:
After 1 Hour:
In as little as 20 minutes after the last cigarette is smoked, the heart rate drops and returns to normal. Blood pressure begins to drop, and circulation may start to improve.
After 12 Hours:
Cigarettes contain a lot of known toxins including carbon monoxide, a gas present in cigarette smoke. This gas can be harmful or fatal in high doses and prevents oxygen from entering the lungs and blood. When inhaled in large doses in a short time, suffocation can occur from lack of oxygen.
After 1 Day:
Just one day after you quit smoking, your risk of heart attack begins to decrease.
Smoking raises the risk of developing coronary heart disease by lowering good cholesterol, which makes heart-healthy exercise harder to do. Smoking also raises your blood pressure and increases blood clots, increasing the risk of stroke.
In as little as one day after you quit smoking, your blood pressure will begin to drop, decreasing your risk of heart disease from smoking-induced high blood pressure. In this short time, your oxygen levels will have risen, making physical activity and exercise easier to do, promoting heart-healthy habits.
After 2 Days:
Smoking damages the nerve endings responsible for your senses of smell and taste. In as little as two days after quitting, your may notice a heightened sense of smell and more vivid tastes as these nerves heal.
After 3 Days:
Three days after you quit smoking, the nicotine levels in your body are depleted. While it is healthier to have no nicotine in your body, this initial depletion can cause nicotine withdrawal. Around three days after quitting, most people will experience moodiness and irritability, severe headaches, and cravings as the body readjusts.
After 1 Month:
In as little as one month, your lung function begins to improve. As your lungs heal and lung capacity improves, you may notice less coughing and shortness of breath. Athletic endurance increases, and you may notice a renewed ability for cardiovascular activities, such as running and jumping.
After 9 Months:
Nine months after you quit smoking, your lungs have significantly healed themselves. The delicate, hair-like structures inside your lungs known as cilia have recovered from the toll cigarette smoke took on them. These structures help push mucus out of your lungs and help you fight infections.
Around this time, you may notice a decrease in the frequency of lung infections because your healed cilia can do their job more easily.
After 1 Year:
One year after you quit smoking, your risk for coronary heart disease decreases by half. This risk will continue to drop past the one-year mark.
After 5 Years:
Cigarettes contain many known toxins that cause your arteries and blood vessels to narrow. These same toxins also increase your likelihood of developing blood clots.
After 5 years without smoking, your body has healed itself enough for the arteries and blood vessels to begin to widen again. This widening means your blood is less likely to clot, lowering your risk of stroke.
Your risk of stroke will continue to reduce over the next 10 years as your body heals more and more.
After 10 Years:
After ten years, your chances of developing lung cancer and dying from it are roughly cut in half compared with someone who continues to smoke. The likelihood of developing mouth, throat, or pancreatic cancer has significantly reduced.
After 15 Years:
Fifteen years after you quit smoking, the likelihood of developing coronary heart disease is the equivalent of a non-smoker. Similarly, your risk of developing pancreatic cancer has reduced to the same level as a non-smoker.
After 20 Years:
After twenty years, your risk of death from smoking-related causes, including both lung disease and cancer, drops to the level of a person who has never smoked in their life. Also, your risk of developing pancreatic cancer has reduced to that of someone who has never smoked.
Secret #3: Find Your Reason
This is the most important step. Without a solid reason driving your decision to quit, you are more susceptible to relapsing and buying another pack. Are you experiencing health problems? Are you or your spouse pregnant? Do you want to be around to play with your grandchildren?
Pick your reason and hold onto it with all your might. Every single time you think you can’t go one more minute without a puff, stop and think about your reason to quit smoking.
This will be your driving force, the engine that will carry you through anything and everything. Pray about your struggles, consult with doctors, do whatever you have to do to keep your mind and spirit strong and focused on your goal. You are strong. You can see this through.
Extra tip: Don’t be too proud to receive help. Our pride can keep us from admitting that we don’t have the willpower to do it by ourselves, and that little feeling can make the difference between being healthy and getting lung cancer.
Seriously, everybody needs help with something, suck it up and ask your doctor to help you quit smoking. If you’re a guy, don’t try to “man up.” Be a real a man and ask for help, there’s no shame in wanting to better yourself.
Don’t have health insurance or steady income? Well, there are plenty of resources out there ready to help you, because they’ve been there too. Click on these links to get your health back today:
http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/i-want-to-quit/how-to-quit-smoking.html
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/quit_smoking/how_to_quit/index.htm
1- 800-QUIT-NOW (800-784-8669)
You smoke because it satisfies an immediate need. You instantly feel better, maybe only subconsciously, but you scratch that itch and stop the craving.
Except, there’s going to be another itch in an hour. You don’t smoke to run faster, and you don’t eat cheeseburgers to get six-pack abs. Cravings are temporary, but quitting could give you another 10-20 years and save you from suffering a very painful disease.
If quitting smoking has weighed heavy on your heart recently, give it another shot. But throw out all your pride and your baggage this time, because the journey is hard enough without that on your back.
You clicked on this post for a reason. You’re thinking about it. If you want to talk with us, get in touch with a Chicago Devotion representative today. We’re here for you. That’s the beautiful thing about humanity, you are never alone. But you do have to take the first step. We can help. Visit our Help Page today.
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