New Year’s Resolutions Blog

Raising the Bar

Wednesday, January 10th, 2007

At 10 days into this, I’m still doing pretty good on the cut down method. I even played cards this week and had a couple of drinks, something that would normally have me out on the deck about every 15 minutes…but I was able to still stay within the seven or eight cigarette limit. I’m thinking that maybe I should raise the bar now and try to cut back further before the numbers start to go the other way. I really don’t want that to happen and have to start all over again.

The Center for Disease Control says “Really wanting to quit smoking is really important to how much success you will have in quitting.

Know that it will take effort to quit smoking. Nicotine is habit forming. Half of the battle in quitting is knowing you need to quit. This knowledge will help you be more able to deal with the symptoms of withdrawal that can occur, such as bad moods and really wanting to smoke. There are many ways smokers quit, including using nicotine replacement products (gum and patches), but there is no easy way. Nearly all smokers have some feelings of nicotine withdrawal when they try to quit. Give yourself a month to get over these feelings. Take quitting one day at a time, even one minute at a time—whatever you need to succeed.

I have to say I found this to be true. When I successfully quit before, I had less mood swings than I thought I might have. I think it was because mentally, I knew I was making a choice to do this.

Half of all adult smokers have quit, so you can— too. That’s the good news.There are millions of people alive today who have learned to face life without a cigarette. For staying healthy, quitting smoking is the best step you can take.

This gave me so much encouragement. Half! Those are pretty good odds I think, considering the addiction involved. I wonder about the motivation of the half who did not succeed.

Get help if you need it. Many groups offer written materials, programs, and advice to help smokers quit for good. Your doctor or dentist is also a good source of help and support. You may be interested in looking into these National Groups or Other Websites that have information and resources on how to quit.