The best way to give up smoking is never to start! But if you're already an established smoker, you'll agree that this advice isn't much use to you.

You'll all have heard of hypnotism and acupuncture and similar aids to will power. Some people certainly find these very useful, and if you think that you'll need more than plain will power, then please try these. You should be able to find practitioners in your local phone book, or your GP should be able to help you.

Why is it so difficult to give up smoking?

The American Food and Drug Advisory Service recently made a landmark announcement: nicotine is addictive.

In addition to the purely chemical effects of nicotine, there is the social pressure on you to continue smoking. If you are a smoker, the chances are that a lot of your friends and family smoke. It's difficult to give up in a smoking environment. What are you going to do with your hands once you have stopped? Smoking and drinking tend to go together, so those Sunday afternoon braais and evenings in the pub will be particularly difficult.

Guidelines

  • Do you really want to give up? If yes, then decide when, set a target day, and throw away your cigarettes. Cutting down gradually does not work.

  • Why do you smoke? Is it because of stresses in your life, at home or at work? Smoking may make you feel a bit better, but the problems still remain. Why not try and tackle the problems rather than using smoking as a way of relieving stress?

  • Identify the times at which you reached for a cigarette without thinking about it. Was it after a meal, with a drink, when father-in-law came to stay? At these times, make a conscious effort to do something else. Go and make a cup of tea. Pick up a book. Go out into the garden. Take the dog for a walk. Smoking is a habit. Try and break it like any other bad habit.

  • Try and avoid smoky places. Keep out of the pub for a while. Always ask for a non-smoking seat at a restaurant. Cultivate your non-smoking friends.

  • Start an exercise programme. You'll feel a lot less like smoking when you're tired after a workout. If you set yourself fitness goals, you'll find them more difficult to meet if you are still smoking.

  • Accept that to begin with, your cough may actually get worse. This is because all the cilia, little hairs in your lungs, are now working better and will be able to move all the accumulated rubbish in your lungs. This will make you cough to get rid of it all.

  • Accept that you will put on a bit of weight. Smoking definitely decreases appetite. So you will probably put on two or three kilos. Quite frankly, if you have the will power to give up smoking, you can probably take off those kilos again once the worst trauma is over. Anyway, the medical effects of smoking are a lot worse than any effects of slight weight gain!

  • What about nicotine chewing gum and the patches? Some people swear by these drugs, but they must be used according to the package inserts and you really should see your GP first to check that they are safe for you to use.

    Good luck!

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