Last week we spoke about the preparation for quitting smoking. (By the way, the principles involved in quitting smoking apply equally effectively for any addiction – food, alcohol, drugs, pornography, prescription medications – whatever. Obviously some of the details of interventions differ).
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Today, we will chat about the process on that first day – the quit day. Remember you have chosen this day ahead of time to set a goal.
The 5 Cs of quitting:
Celebrate by saying “I’m free!” An attitude of positivity is always helpful. Believe that you have made your decision and that this decision is going to give you the will to quit. Thus you can celebrate victory already.
Crush cigarettes, and destroy lighters. Take out your anger at this silly little cigarette that has been dominating your life for so long. Why should you be a slave any longer?
Clean out all ashtrays – those stinky receptacles of sickening odour that affect your whole house. It may be a good time to wash the curtains and spring clean the carpets as well. The smell of smoke penetrates all your carpets and drapes.
Call someone and tell them you have quit. Request their support and encouragement. Warn them you may be a bit grumpy and sensitive over the next few days.
Keep in regular contact. It may be someone who is also going through quitting, or your partner or a good friend.
Confirm your choice. Don’t promise that you will never ever smoke again, just say to yourself: “I choose to be a non-smoker!” Otherwise if you do have a drag, you will beat yourself up, and punish yourself by “throwing in the towel”.
Here are some tips on how to cope with the cravings:
Declare – repeat over and over to yourself – “I choose to be a non-smoker!”
Delay – wait for 10 minutes. Most cravings will last for 3-5 minutes. It does help if you have no ready access to cigarettes.
Deep breathing – taking deep breaths for a while will clear the mind and expand the lungs. This will also help to relax you.
Drink water – slowly sip a glass or two. If you don’t like water, add lemon juice, or a slice of orange or a few mint leaves to the water.
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Do something else – walk (not to the local cafe!), play sports or go to the gym, chew sugar-free gum, shower, do a hobby, dig in the garden. Keep your body active. Playing with a pencil in your fingers, or sucking on a prune pip or a small round stone can help with the normal oral stimulation of smoking.
Depend on a Higher Power – Alcoholics Anonymous has this as one of their 12 steps in overcoming addiction to alcohol. For those who believe in God it is only natural to turn to Him for empowerment. Meditate, pray, claim promises of victory.
It is also helpful to adapt your diet, especially for this first day. It will give you more energy and vitality, and reduce the withdrawal effects.
In the first 24 hours:
- Drink plenty of fluids. This helps your kidneys eliminate nicotine and its metabolites.
- Eat plenty of fruit, and diluted fruit juice (normal pure fruit juice has too much concentrated fruit sugars.
- If you get hungry, salads and toast or stews are helpful.
- Avoid tea, coffee and cola drinks containing caffeine as caffeine and nicotine have a similar effect on the nervous system.
- Avoid animal products on this first few days as there are many inflammatory substances in meat. You are trying to bring healing to damaged lungs and blood vessels now that you have stopped smoking. It is also good to cut down on things like pepper, mustard and other condiments that irritate your gastro-intestinal tract.
- Avoid alcohol as this inhibits your will-power brain centre, and is usually consumed anyway together with smoking.
All this week:
- Continue drinking lots of fluids – water, fruit juices, herbal teas.
- Eat mostly fruit and vegetables. Eat prunes and suck on the pip.
- Eat smaller frequent meals – avoid fatty foods and sugary processed fast foods, and very salty foods.
- Eat a wholesome breakfast with whole grains (oats or mielie meal porridge) or some relatively unprocessed breakfast cereals. Add berries and/or fruit to your bowl of breakfast cereal.
- Keep a log of your cravings, and try to identify what were the circumstances that brought on a craving, so that you can learn what to avoid.
- Keep regular contact with your support team, particularly if you are having a strong craving.
- Avoid smokers, and smoking situations like the plague for the next few days.
- Repeat your mantra often – “I choose to be a non-smoker”.
- I hope you will find this information practical. Remember it has been used by millions of people over a period of 60 years all over the world, so is not rocket-science. It is tried and tested.
Just a short story. Twenty six years ago while I was specialising, I was working at Mowbray Maternity Hospital in Cape Town.
In those bad old days, smoking was allowed in the staff tea room in the ward, and most of the nurses, and some of the doctors smoked. Over the years the stale smoke had accumulated on the walls and windows in a thick dirty film.
So one day I got out the bucket and water and soap and cleaned some of the windows so people could see the contrast.
The walls were a bit more difficult, because the smoke had penetrated into the paint, but the point was made. If the smoke could even attach to the walls and windows, how much more to the delicate linings of our lungs. So spring cleaning when you start the process of quitting is not only hygienic, and something to keep your mind busy, but also instructive when you see how the smoke has affected your home environment.
To clean air, inside and out.
Dave Glass
Dr David Glass graduated from UCT in 1975. He spent the next 12 years working at a mission hospital in Lesotho, where much of his work involved health education and interventions to improve health, aside from the normal busy clinical work of an under-resourced mission hospital.
He returned to UCT in 1990 to specialise in obstetrics/gynaecology and then moved to the South Coast where he had the privilege of, amongst other things, ushering 7000 babies into the world. He no longer delivers babies but is still very clinically active in gynaecology.
An old passion, preventive health care, has now replaced the obstetrics side of his work. He is eager to share insights he has gathered over the years on how to prevent and reverse so many of the modern scourges of lifestyle – obesity, diabetes, ischaemic heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, common cancers, etc.
He is a family man, with a supportive wife, and two grown children, and four beautiful grandchildren. His hobbies include walking, cycling, vegetable gardening, bird-watching, travelling and writing. He is active in community health outreach and deeply involved in church activities. He enjoys teaching and sharing information.
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