Quitting smoking is one of the best decisions you can make for your health. Kicking the habit brings countless benefits, not just for you but for those around you. Imagine breathing easier, feeling fresher, and having more energy for daily life.
Sounds good, right? Let’s explore some simple, effective ways to break free from smoking.
Use personal ashtrays that extinguish cigarettes until you find a bin (preventing litter and forest fires – leaving a cigarette on dry grass is like putting a match to paper). Charcoal purifying bags can remove odours from homes and cars.
Just like cigarettes, vets recommend to keep vaping equipment (e-cigarettes and refill containers) away from pets. Nicotine ingestion is a medical emergency.
Understanding Smoking Addiction
Cigarettes are more than just a habit. The grip of smoking is a mix of physiological and psychological addiction. Understanding these aspects can help you tackle the beast.
Nicotine, the culprit behind smoking addiction, has an uncanny ability to latch onto brain receptors. It’s like a key fitting perfectly into a lock, leading to the release of dopamine.
This ‘feel-good’ chemical makes you happy, which keeps you coming back for more. But the surge of pleasure is short-lived, and soon enough, you need another cigarette to maintain that feeling.
Have you ever noticed how certain situations make you reach for a cigarette? Stress, boredom, or even joy can trigger the urge. Often, smoking becomes a crutch, a way to cope with emotions or fill a void. Recognising these triggers is crucial in breaking the cycle.
Practical Strategies to Quit Smoking
Think of setting a quit date as planting a flag in the ground. It’s a clear, tangible commitment to yourself. Pick a day, mark it on your calendar, and stick to it. Visualise that day as the start of your smoke-free life.
Preparation is key. Start cutting down as the day approaches and let your friends know. Their support can be invaluable.
Professional counselling or therapy can be a game-changer. A therapist can help you reframe how you think about smoking, while support groups offer a sense of community. Sharing your experiences with others who understand can provide motivation and accountability.
Smoking often masks stress. Learning to manage stress through mindfulness can reduce the urge to smoke. Techniques like meditation and deep breathing exercises calm the mind and lessen anxiety. These tools can anchor you, offering peace without a cigarette.
Why is Allen Carr’s Method Not on NHS?
Allen Carr’s Easyway is the most successful way to stop smoking, if you wish to follow a program. Founded by an ex chain-smoker who used to smoke 60 cigarettes a day, this is a method based on changing habits (so you return to the time when you didn’t need cigarettes to deal with stressful situations, even if that was back in childhood).
Many people have big problems, but don’t turn to cigarettes, so smoking is more of a habit than a necessity .
Allen has since died, but his organisation want the method available on the NHS (which instead recommend nicotine patches – tested on animals like ‘giving a sip of whisky to an alcoholic’). Nicotine is highly addictive, which is why nicotine replacements have poor success rates (not much more than willpower).
Ayurvedic doctor Deepak Chopra once wrote that a big issue is that society makes people think that it’s difficult to give up smoking. It’s not really. You just create new habits, you don’t need ‘outside help’ most of the time (unlike say, someone addicted to heroin). You can attend in-person clinics, learn online (free for people who insure with Vitality) or buy one of the books.
AllenCarr also offers a method for people addicted to vaping. Either program can be used for people addicted to pipes, cigarettes, tobacco or nicotine gum (most contains pet-toxic xylitol so keep it well away).
People who have successfully used this program to quit smoking include Richard Branson and comedians Lee Mack and Matt Lucas (who used to smoke 20 cigarettes a day and has never touched them since).
One of the world’s best (Spanish) psychologists praised Allen as being more skilled at analysing humans than him, and the method is even recommended by World Health Organisation. So why won’t the NHS fund it?
Lifestyle Changes to Support Smoking Cessation
Fuel your body with a balanced diet and get moving. Exercise releases endorphins, which lift your mood without nicotine. Physical activity also helps manage weight, a concern for many who quit smoking. Plus, as your fitness improves, you’ll notice how smoking drags you down.
Identifying and avoiding your smoking triggers can make all the difference. If you associate smoking with certain places or activities, try changing your routine. Stay away from smoke-filled environments and find activities that don’t tempt you. Preparation is half the battle won.
Leo’s Simple Steps to Quit Smoking
One of the world’s most successful simple living bloggers Leo Babauta used to smoke, and says making changes is simply by taking up new habits, then letting go of the old ones (he’s now a vegan runner). He writes that the physical act of quitting is the easy part – it’s not to fall back when you have your next problem.
You may quit smoking tomorrow, then if something upsets you or happens, you’re back to where you were. The key is to find out why (hence why Allen Carr’s method works better than nicotine patches). Read his 10 tips for quitting smoking.
The average price of a packet of 20 cigarettes is now around £16. For someone who smokes 20 cigarettes a day, that’s over £100 a week. That’s £5000 a year – make a list of the things you could do with that money – a deposit (and furnishings) for a nice new home? What other ideas can you think of?
Maintaining a Smoke-free Life
Surrounding yourself with supportive, non-smoking friends can reinforce your resolve. Share your journey and achievements. Their encouragement can keep you on track during tough times.
Filling your time with new hobbies can fill the void left by smoking. Whether it’s painting, hiking, or learning an instrument, the goal is to keep your hands busy and your mind engaged. Explore activities that bring you joy and satisfaction.
Who Grows Tobacco for Cigarettes?
The tobacco industry’s profits run to around £600 billion a year, and most brands test on animals (something that does not even bear thinking about). Although most smokers live in developing countries, smoking is way less popular than it was, with around 20% of adults smoking (compared to 30% 20 years ago).
Many countries now have stringent measures in place. In Costa Rica, you can only really smoke in your own home, and The Netherlands has brought in strict measures to stop advertising of tobacco (smokers in offices have to visit designated rooms, rather than go outside to smoke).
Despite huge food insecurity worldwide, many companies pay farmers to grow tobacco instead. Grown as a cash crop in over 120 countries, the top growers are in China, India and Brazil.
25% of farmers absorb tobacco through the leaves into their skin and get nicotine poisoning (the typical farmer ‘smokes’ the equivalent of 50 cigarettes a day. Tobacco growing also creates around 5% of worldwide deforestation.
Unlike us, the farmer has no choice. So campaigners want to support such farmers to grow food on the same land, for the same or more income (the same idea is happening in the drug industry, encouraging farmers to switch from growing opium for heroin, to roses for the flower and aromatherapy industries).
Tobacco growing also creates around 5% of worldwide deforestation. World Health Organisation wants farmers in debt (due to loans to supply seeds and agro-chemicals) to receive micro-financing to transition over. This is already happening in Kenya, where hundreds of farmers have been given help to switch to planting high-iron-protein beans as alternative crops.
If you can’t quit smoking right now (or wish to cut down), Smokey Treats use filters made from unbleached wood pulp, unbleached paper and with compostable outer wrap. Presently sold in Germany and South Africa, but soon elsewhere. Greenbutts make biodegradable cigarette filters.
How to Reduce Cigarette Litter
Cigarette butts fall down storm drains sand leach arsenic into the sea, and birds feed them to chicks thinking they are food.
If you smoke, use a personal ashtray that immediately extinguishes cigarettes, to keep safe until you reach a bin. This also stops forest fires (dropping a butt on dry land, is like a match to paper). The main brands are TakeTray and Butt Boxes (Keep Britain Tidy, though they are not presently on sale – why not?)
Other solutions for public place are Ballot Bin (a fun box that encourages smokers to ‘vote’ answers to a fun question by putting their butts in the preferred slot. The bins are then emptied, and questions updated. A bit silly, but apparently reduces cigarette litter by 73%.
No Butts offers smoking shelters that are designed for butts not to fly away in the wind. Made in Dorset, they provide all-year weather protection, discouraging smoking at building entrances (which can minimise risk of fire, from discarded butts).
