Quitting smoking is not easy for many people. A smoking cessation calendar can help you end health -damaging habits.
The stop calendar lets you know about all the upcoming changes in the body and get ready for it.
Is that a stop calendar
The smoking cessation calendar by month and day is a strong support in the way to get rid of nicotine addiction. It allows you to understand how the body will react to nicotine production at different time periods, and psychologically, as well as physically prepare for possible difficulties.
Note!In addition to keeping track of changes in your body and soul on a calendar, it is recommended to keep a diary, as it helps to better understand the reasons for your dependence on tobacco.
Often the desire to smoke another cigarette is not associated with the body’s physiological need for the next dose of nicotine, but with a specific psychological trigger. For example, a cup of coffee in the morning or a break at work is strongly associated with smoking. Realizing the urge to smoke at such moments, you should switch to other, more useful routines. For example, you can make another entry in your diary or contact your loved ones.
What to expect from the body
The daily calendar of a smoker who quits smoking contains all the possible sensations and experiences that accompany the process of quitting smoking. Often, people who quit smoking experience the following symptoms:
- Nicotine accident. This is a rather painful condition, especially annoying a person in the first days of quitting smoking.
- Psychological damage. The main reason why people continue to smoke is not physiology, but psychology. Smoking a cigarette is considered by a smoker as a specific ritual, with the help of which he responds, responding to various situations in his life. With the rejection of ordinary ritual actions, many empty spaces appear, which the soul often has nothing to fill. Thus, the anxious and anxious feelings that often arise in a person who has recently stopped smoking, when suddenly there is nothing to fill his hands and mouth in a normal state.
- Severity of chronic disease, often hidden. It is the annual calendar of a hardcore smoker who quits smoking abruptly that makes it possible to realize that unpleasant physiological symptoms in the first week and even the month of quitting smoking are a sign of cleansing the body and restoring normal function of its systems and organs.
Additional information.The intensity and duration of withdrawal symptoms is different for each person. However, in most cases, after a few weeks, the body restores the ability to produce nicotinic acid independently in the right amount, and the physiological desire to smoke disappears. Far more difficult is liberation from psychological dependence.
Emotions and thoughts
Someone who has quit smoking can experience completely different emotions about this: from self -pity to pride in the will shown. To achieve this, it is necessary to discard the idea that giving up tobacco is a restriction, a severe asceticism that requires great effort and the worst self -control.
Quitting smoking can be easy and fun. You just have to agree with your subconscious, convincing your "inner child" that life without cigarettes is more exciting, more enjoyable and "cooler", that quitting smoking can bring real pleasure.
For example, smokers lose their senses of smell and taste. However, this process can be reversed. You just have to stop smoking, and regular dishes will sparkle with new colors. Why not a reason, the most hedonistic, to quit smoking?
It helps to follow the right wave of revisions for global life goals. It is necessary to understand why all these changes in the normal way of life. For example, a rare woman does not dream of becoming a mother one day. When there is an awareness that the pleasure of a cigarette is nothing when compared to the health and well-being of the unborn baby, it is easier to give up bad habits.
Early preparation
Quitting smoking without serious preparation is not recommended. After all, this means exposing your body and soul to strong shocks. It is better to give yourself a week, two, a month to prepare mentally for the upcoming event.
You should analyze in writing all the "pluses" and "minuses" of smoking and quitting, and personally for yourself. If a loved one needs to quit smoking, you shouldn’t put a sign in front of a "health" item. Here we are already talking about the value of relationships and the comfort of a couple. Just finding real and positive motives will facilitate the process of changing your lifestyle.
Next, you need to observe yourself and notice the situations and emotions that make you want to pull out a cigarette and smoke. Then you have to create a compensatory activity. For example, many people smoke to stay calm. For the same purpose, you can use a variety of breathing exercises, visualization techniques, drinking herbal tea. Any of these activities can be your hobby, a new "healthy" addiction.
Throwing away all lighters, ashtrays and other things reminiscent of old habits is not necessary at all. Sometimes a pack of concealed cigarettes "for a rainy day" helps to more calmly resist the weaning process of nicotine. The absence of any emotion when looking at a previous favorite smoking device is the last sign of release from nicotine addiction.
Quit smoking calendar by month
Having learned detailed information about the upcoming changes in the body for the next year, quitting smoking will not be surprised by any of his reactions and will not lose his confidence in the accuracy of the decision made.
The first month without smoking
This is the most difficult period, characterized by unstable physical and psycho-emotional conditions. Therefore, it is desirable that the first day and week without smoking coincide with a weekend or holiday. With a reduction in the number of physical exertions, stressful situations and an increase in the number of new positive perceptions, it is easier to survive withdrawal syndrome.
To minimize the unpleasant consequences of nicotine starvation, it is recommended to include more green vegetables and fruits rich in pectin (apples, oranges, apricots, plums) into the diet. Buckwheat, beans, peas will help fill the lack of nicotinic acid. To reduce anxiety and improve sleep, you can use a decoction of motherwort.
Restoration of taste sensation leads to an increase in appetite, which can negatively affect weight. Therefore, do not abuse sweets and high-calorie foods.
The second and third months
In the lungs, the active recovery stage begins. Periodically, dry mouth, coughing, and phlegm production may occur, especially with increased physical activity. But this is a good sign - it means the body has resources for cleansing.
The cardiovascular system is also undergoing changes. By the end of the third month, vascular tone returned to normal, and ex -smokers stopped experiencing dizziness and migraines.
Important!The end of the three -month cessation period is a critical period when many return to smoking. Therefore, at this time it is necessary to stay away from temptation. Any attempt to smoke, "remember" the taste of a cigarette can return a person to the level of a smoker.
Fourth to sixth months
The work of the gastrointestinal tract is restored, stool is normalized. The ability to fully absorb all the necessary nutrients back into the intestines, which improves the condition of the skin. Peeling, itching, which can bother a person in the early stages of quitting smoking, no longer bothers him.
Many ex-smokers realize that by the fifth or sixth month it becomes easier to breathe, as if their lungs have expanded. This is a sign of recovery of the bronco-pulmonary system. From now on it is recommended to start playing sports.
Cycling, swimming are the best options for physical activity for the still weak body.
the seventh to the ninth month
Coughing and phlegm production at this stage is practically no longer a concern. It is allowed to introduce running and strength training into your training program.
By now, many have forgotten the difficulties of the first week of quitting, but the strength of the habit is still great. It is important not to allow cigarettes to be lit "on the machine", mechanically.
tenth to twelfth months
Physiological dependence on nicotine can be completely overcome. Nevertheless, the risk of returning to old habits is still high, as many who continue to experience psychological discomfort as a result of changes in normal daily routines, lose some elements of communication. Until one learns to fill this psychological "void, " the desire to smoke cigarettes, to preoccupy oneself with "business", can continue to torment him from time to time.
Advice for people who quit smoking
Ex -smokers should not be criticized for any relapse. It is better to unite each of his successes even the most insignificant with positive emotions: praise, sincere admiration for the wishes shown, gifts. Moreover, another important event that can be overcome in the way of getting rid of bad habits can be celebrated by spending free time together completely according to the wishes of the person quitting. Only positive emotions, manifestations of love from loved ones will give cigarette addicts the mental strength needed for change.
Does a diary help?
As practice has shown, a diary turns out to be a very effective tool for many people in the fight against nicotine addiction. Here you can get rid of all your negative emotions and celebrate success at each stage of the throw. Studying other people’s public diaries and positive quitting experiences is inspiring like no other.