Top Ten Tips
ASDA supporting No Smoking Day Charity
You can help your chances of stopping smoking with a little bit of planning and support.
We appreciate how difficult quitting can be, so here are some top tips which can help to make that fresh start a little bit easier.
- Set a date to stop and stick to it
- Try to pick a day you think will be relatively stress-free. Or why not join over a million other smokers all round the UK trying to stop on No Smoking Day, Wednesday 14th March 2007?
- Write down all your reasons to stop
- There are lots of benefits of quitting smoking. Yours may include saving money, being healthier, or for the sake of your family. Keep your list somewhere handy to use as a reminder if you are tempted to have a cigarette.
- Keep a diary for a day or two
- Before you try to stop, note down all the times and places you smoke, with a note of how much you needed each cigarette. This will help you plan for tricky moments.
- Get help
- Let friends and family know you're quitting and tell them what they can do to help. Your GP or pharmacist can give you advice on stopping and put you in touch with local specialist services.
- Quit together
- Find others who would like to give up smoking and agree to support each other. Keep in daily contact and make a pact not to let each other down.
- Prepare to stop smoking
- Get rid of lighters, ashtrays and matches and make sure you don't have any cigarettes around. Remove any stale smoke smells by spring-cleaning your house and clothes.
- Ease the withdrawal symptoms
- Nicotine is addictive and you may experience withdrawal symptoms - irritability, lack of concentration, sleeping problems. These temporary effects can be greatly eased with treatments like NRT, Zyban or Varenicline.
- Take it one day at a time
- Concentrate on getting through each day without a cigarette. Know what you are going to say if someone offers you a cigarette - enjoy saying "No thanks - I don't smoke".
- Break the links that create the habit
- Most smokers will have times and places when they always have a cigarette, like with a drink in the pub. Try to avoid these situations at first if you think you will be tempted to smoke, or do something different.
- Learn to relax!
- Try this simple breathing exercise:
- If possible, sit down with feet flat on the floor, hands resting on knees. Breathe slowly in and out through the nose a couple of times, concentrating on the sensation of air moving in and out of the body.
- Start to breathe more deeply, still through the nose, consciously letting the air fill the abdomen, then the lower and upper chest in sequence. Breathe out the same way, expelling the air from the abdomen, lower and upper chest in turn.
- Repeat this breath 3 or 4 times, and then return to normal breathing.
Once you've stopped, always remember:
Reward yourself!
Save the money that you would have spent on cigarettes for a treat such as a new outfit, going out for a meal or taking a holiday.
Remember - once stopped, stay stopped.
Remember that 'just one cigarette' can lead to another. Keep reminding yourself of your health and other benefits of stopping smoking.
No smoking day Wednesday 14th March 2007
- To find out even more information about the benefits of stopping smoking and how you can get help and advice visit the No Smoking Day website.
- find out more
- Visit the No Smoking Day website to find out more about how the UK is becoming smokefree.
- find out more
- From improving your health to saving you money - find out more about the benefits of stopping smoking
- find out more
- Case Studies
- Two serial quitters seek help and advce to help them give up smoking.
- find out more
ASDA.com Copyright 2007.
