Welcome to SilkQuit

Chances are that you've come to SilkQuit.Org today because you've decided that this is the year you will quit smoking and change your life. Let me just assure you that you CAN do it and if you keep on trying you WILL do it!

Quitting smoking is a process, not an action. It is something that will be tough at times and remarkably simple at others. The secret to success when quitting smoking is simple: recognise that you have an addiction, vow to yourself that you will beat that addiction, and keep on trying until you do.

There's no such thing as failure as long as you keep on trying. So here's some quick tips to help you get through the coming weeks:

1. Take responsibility for your health. Consult your doctor before taking any quit smoking medication and before you follow advice from friends, books or Internet websites. Be aware of your individual circumstances and adapt your approach accordingly.

2. Increase your water intake; carry a bottle of cool, fresh water with you where ever you go and sip it frequently. The water will refresh you, give you something to do with your hands and help your body as it slowly cleans itself of the poisons that it is now so used to.

3. Listen to your body, not your brain; your brain is going to be hell bent on making you fail. Your body will love you for quitting. But don't worry, your brain will come round eventually. During the early phases of your quit you should make an effort to focus on the messages from your body and re-enforce those messages through healthy eating and moderate exercise.

4. Walk for 30 minutes a day more than you do now; or, more generally, increase your physical exercise either by replacing a regular short car journey with a walk. This might mean picking up the milk by foot rather than by car, or it might mean parking the car farther away from your place of work or, when shopping, choosing a parking space that will require a bit of a walk to get to the shops. Either way, every day make sure that you're giving your body a good reason to notice the positive effects of quitting.

5. Know your demons. When you quit your brain is going to be starved of a drug that it has gotten used to receiving. It won't like you for it. In fact, you'll start to hear a new voice in your head. Your addiction is going to talk to you. It will tell you that you can have just one, it'll tell you that the craving you're having can be cured by smoking. It'll tell you to smoke every time things don't go right. It'll even tell you that not smoking is messing with your social life. Well, it's time to tell your brain to butt out and leave you alone. Here's some facts:

6. Cravings are short lived. A craving will be over within 5 minutes whether you smoke or not. So be kind to your body and do something else. Keep your hands and mind off the craving by undertaking a simple activity. There are an infinite number of options but here's a few examples; do the washing up, fold the clothing, take a short brisk walk, read a magazine while sipping water.

7. Be aware of your mind. You might find that your temper shortens after you've quit. That's OK, but just remember it's all part of your brain trying to get you back on the smokes so that it can get some nicotine. Don't let it win. To help yourself through the inner dialogues, take a look at CognitiveQuitting.com.

8. Be aware of your weaknesses. For example, alcohol and coffee are common causes of cravings so try to avoid them for the first few weeks and re-introduce them into your lifestyle after a month quit. But when you do bring them back into your life make sure to bring them back gradually and in a different social context.

9. Find like minded people to help you. There's no excuse not to get yourself a quit group. Ask your doctor if there's a local support group in your area. Visit the Internet's most friendly and popular quit smoking forum; alt.support.stop-smoking. There are a thousand different ways to quit smoking and this forum is a great place to go to find out about them. All you have to do is find the one thing that works for you. What worked for me was this; my quit is not about giving up smoking for the rest of my life. My quit is about giving up smoking one cigarette. As long as I don't smoke the next one I'll be fine. For me this works because it reduced a lifetime commitment down to a single moment in time; now. I don't smoke now and as long as I don't smoke now I'll be OK. For me this meant that giving up was a 5 minute task every time I had a craving and as long as I survived that one craving I was OK. You'll need to find that one thing that will work for you and the best way to do this is to talk to other people who are quitting smoking.

10. You only fail when you stop trying. This is a difficult one to talk about. As a quitter you should be committed to not smoking a single cigarette. As a quit smoking website we shouldn't be saying "It's OK to smoke" because clearly it isn't. You won't be quit if you smoke. But let's face some facts; lots of people don't get it right the first time and they cave to temptation. There, we said it. If you do fall off the wagon, get right back on it. Don't allow your addicted mind to convince you that you can quit again when you finish the packet you just bought, or when work gets easier, or when the kids are back at school, or when your child is through his or her exams. Life doesn't stop just because you want to quit smoking and life will always be there to throw you a curved ball. Don't allow your mind to use life as an excuse for failure. Above all, be true to yourself because your quit is all about you!

I will talk some more about the challenges you'll be facing and how you can better cope with them in a later post so don't forget to subscribe to our RSS feed or pop back to the site in the next week.

Congratulations on your decision to quit smoking. You CAN make it happen. You WILL make it happen. All you have to do is keep on keeping on. And remember these great mantras from alt.support.stop-smoking:

The cravings will pass whether you smoke or not.

You're a smoke away from a pack a day.

Good luck, and if you have any questions please email us.

Monday, January 01, 2007