Haven’t you often thought about quitting smoking and just didn’t know how? Maybe you have even tried, but have not been successful? It has been proven that smoking leads to addiction just like some “hard drugs“. We’ve put together a few easy exercises to help you on your way to becoming a non-smoker.
Exercise 1: Become aware of your reasons for wanting to quit.
Once you’ve clearly thought through why you want to quit, you’ll be much more motivated yourself. Make a list for yourself, noting your most important personal reasons for quitting smoking.
Exercise 2: Approach your doctor and ask for his or her support.
The World Health Organization suspects that a maximum of 5 out of 100 smokers manage to quit by sheer willpower. Even a brief consultation with your doctor can have a positive impact on your chances of being successful in quitting smoking. Therefore, it is very important that they talk to your doctor if you have decided to quit smoking.
Exercise 3: Preparation phase
Before the day you quit, you should remove from your home and workplace everything related to smoking. This is an important task, take your time to do it! If you make your home a non-smoking place, you will feel better prepared when you put out that last cigarette.
- Throw away all cigarettes, empty packets and lighters.
- Check your clothes for forgotten packets.
- Clean and remove all ashtrays.
- Wash all clothing, towels and anything else that smells like cigarettes.
- Clean your home and car thoroughly.
- Open all windows and ventilate your home through.
Exercise 4: The “stair test”
It’s incredible how quickly your body begins to recover when you finally smoke your last cigarette. For example, blood pressure and pulse return to normal after just 20 minutes, and after 24 hours the carbon monoxide is completely gone from your body. You can use the stair test to see how quickly your body recovers. Find a staircase that you use frequently. When you reach the top, rate on a scale of one to six (1=very hard, 6=very hard) how strenuous you found it and note how long it took you. If you repeat the test each week, you will see and feel your health improve week by week! Before you do this exercise, make sure it is appropriate for you. If the doctor has advised you not to exercise for health reasons, ask him if you can do this exercise. If you do not feel well or have problems during the exercise, stop and contact your doctor.
Exercise 5: Test your senses
Think about your favorite food – perhaps a delicious chocolate cake? Or a roast with red cabbage and dumplings? Imagine the smell and taste. Just as if you were tasting a piece, enjoy the taste. Every cigarette you smoke destroys the ability of the sensory cells in your mouth and nose to smell and taste. Once you stop smoking, these cells regenerate. Within a few weeks, your sense of smell and taste improves noticeably. Take the smell and taste challenge! Pick out something to eat right after you quit smoking. Smell it and taste it. Then rate how strong the smell and taste seem to you on a scale of one to six. Do the test again with the same food in a few weeks. You’ll be surprised at how much your perception has improved.
Exercise 6: You will save, do the math!
Without a doubt, spending money on cigarettes is one reason why quitting smoking is worth it! Have you ever calculated how much money you spend on smoking daily, weekly, monthly and annually? If not, catch up – it’s a great way to stay motivated. Maybe you can spontaneously think of something you could do with the money instead – maybe a new dress, a new suit, or a nice trip? Set up a standing order in a savings account and transfer the money you would have spent on cigarettes.Here’s how to watch your savings grow.
