Does Cutting Down Work?
Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock.
That's the sound of the clock on the smoking ban in England. Only weeks to go now.
And many smokers will be thinking of cutting down, so that on that day or in the days around it they will be smoke and addiction free.
But for those of you who don't already know, let me show you how and why cutting down doesn't work.
Firstly, you are still smoking. So you are not removing the nicotine from your system - this is normally acheived in 72 hrs when you go cold turkey. When you cut down you just prolong the time it takes you to remove nicotine from your system - it is another form of NRT - giving yourself less nicotine over a longe period of time.
As a result of this you are going to be suffering more withdrawal symptoms and much more intensely. The reason being is that withdrawal symptoms are caused by your last cigarette - the way they play with your insulin levels affects the sugar in your blood and causes you to feel off and badly want food.
When you stop smoking completely these symptoms dissapear after a few days, and if you know how can be minimised and prevented. But by still smoking you are playing with your blood sugar levels and making yourself feel worse all the time.
And the main reason that cutting down doesn't work is that you are making every single cigarette you smoke very precious and special. You lust for your next cigarette, you think 'God I wish I could have one, but I've got to wait ... amount of hours. That cigarette is going to be so damn good I can almost taste it.'
The only thing you will acheive by thinking this is that you will mkae cigarette even more important to you - you will want them even more that ever. Why? Because you are forcing yourself to do without them, and then rewarding yourself for doing that - it's pointless and self-demoralising.
If you want to stop quickly and with the least amount of physical and mental hassle, quit cold turkey.
That's the sound of the clock on the smoking ban in England. Only weeks to go now.
And many smokers will be thinking of cutting down, so that on that day or in the days around it they will be smoke and addiction free.
But for those of you who don't already know, let me show you how and why cutting down doesn't work.
Firstly, you are still smoking. So you are not removing the nicotine from your system - this is normally acheived in 72 hrs when you go cold turkey. When you cut down you just prolong the time it takes you to remove nicotine from your system - it is another form of NRT - giving yourself less nicotine over a longe period of time.
As a result of this you are going to be suffering more withdrawal symptoms and much more intensely. The reason being is that withdrawal symptoms are caused by your last cigarette - the way they play with your insulin levels affects the sugar in your blood and causes you to feel off and badly want food.
When you stop smoking completely these symptoms dissapear after a few days, and if you know how can be minimised and prevented. But by still smoking you are playing with your blood sugar levels and making yourself feel worse all the time.
And the main reason that cutting down doesn't work is that you are making every single cigarette you smoke very precious and special. You lust for your next cigarette, you think 'God I wish I could have one, but I've got to wait ... amount of hours. That cigarette is going to be so damn good I can almost taste it.'
The only thing you will acheive by thinking this is that you will mkae cigarette even more important to you - you will want them even more that ever. Why? Because you are forcing yourself to do without them, and then rewarding yourself for doing that - it's pointless and self-demoralising.
If you want to stop quickly and with the least amount of physical and mental hassle, quit cold turkey.
posted by Daniel Fargher at
9:53 PM
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