THE WINNING WAY TO QUIT SMOKING: QUITTING SMOKING IS A CHANGE IN HABITS, AND A CHANGE IN LIFESTYLE!

"After years in the same old routine we can almost run on autopilot. We do the same things as yesterday, the day before, and most days before that. Habits and routines are good for us because they reduce stress - accomplishing tasks from memory rather than active though. Habits, good or bad, healthy or unhealthy, make up most of our day. If you know how to control your habits, then even a small effort can create big changes in your daily life and health. The same is true for changing your smoking habit" [1].

"Multiply over ten drags on a cigarette from a pack a day, and you get roughly 250 hand to mouth motions. Smoking is a ritualized behavior that must be replaced by something productive and healthy. The trick is using your triggers. A trigger is an event that causes you to perform some action. Usually for smokers it is something like morning coffee, traffic, or lunch break that causes them to reach for a pack of cigarettes and light up. If you want to stop smoking, that means every time you feel the urge for a cigarette, you have to do something else besides smoke, until you create a new habit" [1].

"When smokers generally try to quit - and then fail, it is because they try to give up cigarettes without making changes to their lifestyle and routines. You can’t just pull out old habits without finding another way to replace the needs that those habits fulfill. Smoking fulfills needs such as having a few moments alone when you take a smoke break. But that smoke break can be taken without cigarettes. You don't need a cigarette to stop what you are doing and sit quietly for a few moments and reflect. You could just as easily make a cup of herbal tea, and sip on that quietly away from your place of work" [1].

"This method of habit replacement is often called the Substitution Strategy for Quitting Smoking. First you have to become aware of when you smoke. Then you will be able to find something different to do in that time. It is best to pick something healthy like breathing exercises, stretching, eating raw vegetables, drinking herbal tea - like QUIT TEA, or playing brain games. There are endless possibilities that are healthier than smoking! If you can stick with doing that for a few weeks or months, you will have created a new habit, and instead of being triggered to smoke, you will be triggered to do something healthy and beneficial. This Substitution Strategy for Quitting Smoking definitely works to recondition the automatic response - and after a period of time, your new response to the same old triggers will feel natural. Stick with it - it works!" [1].

Matt Bucklin, the author of this article, is the creator of "Quit Tea," which forms part of the protocol in"The Winning Way to Quit Smoking".

Ref: [1]. Bucklin. Matt (2013). The Quit Company.

https://www.amazon.com/quittea