What To Expect When You Quit Smoking
The smoking ban is just over a week away so many of you will be wondering what to expect when you quit smoking. Here are a few things smokers experience in the days after you quit.
Expect to want to eat a lot - your body will want food because:
* Eating releases endorphins (one of the body's natural pleasure drugs) and makes us feel good - we eat when we have split up from a partner, when we are feeling down, when we lose our job etc.
* When nicotine leaves your system, your body realises it's blood sugar levels are extrememly low - so you will want to eat a lot
* Constant snacking easily replaces the smoking routine - doing something with your hands every half an hour or so
You will probably have a heavy cough, such as the one you normally have in the mornings. During the night your body extracts the several thousand chemicals from cigarettes - you've spent 6-8 hrs without smoking. When you quit you'll experience this cough a lot more. And as there are several cupfuls of tar deposits in your lungs, you will feel a strong taste in your mouth and nose - because they are cleaner and because the chemicals have to pass through them to leave your body
A lot of people experiece a 'Smoker's dream' - s it has been a while since you have smoked you can often day dream about smoking or the thoughts you have of smoking throughout the day combine to make you dream at night about smoking.
You can often interpret this as if you have just smoked, and it can seem even more realistic if you have recently coughed - the tar and smoke taste in your mouth and nostrils will make you really think that you have smoked. If you do experience this realise that it's just a dream, so brush your teeth or carry some mouth wash to heal keep the taste away
You may find that you are constantly thinking of smoking - don't let yourself fall into this trap - 9 times out of 10 it will lead to a relapse.
Fidgeting - you spend about an hr or more smoking every day - keep your hands busy with something other than food & cigarettes.
Routines - you have a lot of routines that revolve around, start with or end with a cigarette. You need to find ways to re-establish new routines that are completely unrelated to smoking.
You'll be able to taste food much better - just be sure that you don't eat more but that you enjoy it more. This will help you prevent weight gain.
Problems and stress - don't let yourself fall into the trap of thinking that a cigartte will solve the problem, make it easier to deal with or go away - cigarettes do not releaive stress and they do not help you beat problems. If start smoking again all that will happen is that you will create another problem - your return to smoking.
There are a lot of things that will happen to you when you quit smoking. So it is important to expect the unexpected and be prepared. Be prepared for the pitfalls and plan on how you are going to beat them.
Expect to want to eat a lot - your body will want food because:
* Eating releases endorphins (one of the body's natural pleasure drugs) and makes us feel good - we eat when we have split up from a partner, when we are feeling down, when we lose our job etc.
* When nicotine leaves your system, your body realises it's blood sugar levels are extrememly low - so you will want to eat a lot
* Constant snacking easily replaces the smoking routine - doing something with your hands every half an hour or so
You will probably have a heavy cough, such as the one you normally have in the mornings. During the night your body extracts the several thousand chemicals from cigarettes - you've spent 6-8 hrs without smoking. When you quit you'll experience this cough a lot more. And as there are several cupfuls of tar deposits in your lungs, you will feel a strong taste in your mouth and nose - because they are cleaner and because the chemicals have to pass through them to leave your body
A lot of people experiece a 'Smoker's dream' - s it has been a while since you have smoked you can often day dream about smoking or the thoughts you have of smoking throughout the day combine to make you dream at night about smoking.
You can often interpret this as if you have just smoked, and it can seem even more realistic if you have recently coughed - the tar and smoke taste in your mouth and nostrils will make you really think that you have smoked. If you do experience this realise that it's just a dream, so brush your teeth or carry some mouth wash to heal keep the taste away
You may find that you are constantly thinking of smoking - don't let yourself fall into this trap - 9 times out of 10 it will lead to a relapse.
Fidgeting - you spend about an hr or more smoking every day - keep your hands busy with something other than food & cigarettes.
Routines - you have a lot of routines that revolve around, start with or end with a cigarette. You need to find ways to re-establish new routines that are completely unrelated to smoking.
You'll be able to taste food much better - just be sure that you don't eat more but that you enjoy it more. This will help you prevent weight gain.
Problems and stress - don't let yourself fall into the trap of thinking that a cigartte will solve the problem, make it easier to deal with or go away - cigarettes do not releaive stress and they do not help you beat problems. If start smoking again all that will happen is that you will create another problem - your return to smoking.
There are a lot of things that will happen to you when you quit smoking. So it is important to expect the unexpected and be prepared. Be prepared for the pitfalls and plan on how you are going to beat them.
posted by Daniel Fargher at
8:42 AM
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