Nicotine
transforms our system in all its parts. When we stop smoking
for seven or eight hours, having gone to sleep, the body tends
to return to its natural or normal state, requiring a
considerable effort to do so. Thus, when we wake up in the
morning we feel bad --- the throat, the head, the whole body.
We urgently need a cup of coffee and a cigarette, whatever the
cost. We smoke the first cigarette and all our maladies
disappear. Now we feel marvelous. That's precisely the problem -
-- nicotine is used to hide our true state of health, creating
a false sense of well-being that induces us to continue
smoking. It's a dangerous enemy! And this is without even
considering cancer or emphysema.
It's true that
one tends to gain weight when one quits smoking, but this
happens WHATEVER METHOD is used. There are, however, ways to
control the weight gain, which involve eating less and
exercising more. The gland that controls the metabolism is
accustomed to nicotine and it takes time (between one and four
years) to learn how to function properly without stimulants.
This is what I
did to liberate myself from the problem.
(The bad thing is that it turned out to be so easy that I fell
off the wagon soon thereafter, succumbing to the temptation of
a first puff, then a cigarette. I felt sure that I wouldn't
stumble again. Well, the next day I had no problem and felt no
desire to smoke, but at night, at the hour when I smoked that
cigarette yesterday, the craving returned and I couldn't
resist. Shortly I was on my second and then third cigarette,
and soon I was smoking a pack, later two and before long more
than I had before. To quit smoking and to start again is worse.
In a way it would have been better not to quit. But worst of
all would have been never to have tried to quit, and it was
worth my effort to try again and succeed after having failed.)
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STEP ONE
Set a date to
definitively quit. "V-Day" (for victory) must be set
two or three weeks in advance. It must be an easy date to
remember. It's indispensable that it be on a weekend, better
yet if it's a long one.
STEP TWO
Make sure that
on V-Day there won't be smokers around you. It's better if you
plan a trip. That's ideal. When making reservations, ask for a
NO SMOKING seat.
STEP THREE
From now until
V-Day, constantly think of the cigarette as an enemy soon to be
defeated. Think about how good you're going to feel once your
body has been cleansed of the crud that nicotine leaves behind.
About the cleaner your clothes you'll have. About the
malodorous house that will stop being so. About how you won't
have the smelly breath that every smoker has. About how your
teeth will no longer be yellowed and darkened. In short, how
you will enjoy life more. The idea is to remove the desire to
smoke from the mind. The body is ready to begin cleaning
everything and return to its natural state, but the mind goes
back to tobacco if we don't eliminate the MENTAL desire to
smoke.
STEP FOUR
Tell all of
your family and colleagues of your intention to quit smoking.
It's important that your lover is involved. Tell them that on V-
Day you will be in an insufferable mood and they'll have to be
patient.
STEP FIVE
On the eve of V-
Day, smoke all-out --- constantly, until it repels you. Then
throw away all the cigarettes in your house, in your suits or
bag, anywhere they are. DON'T LEAVE A SINGLE BUTT! And then
sleep, knowing that tomorrow will be the big day.
STEP SIX
When V-Day has
arrived, proceed to do everything you'd do on a weekend EXCEPT
smoking. Note that you really don't want to smoke. Don't go
where you might think "how good it would be to have a
cigarette now...." Instead of this think of how the cough
that comes (as part of the body's cleaning process) will pass
and won't come back. Drink a cup of coffee and see how in a
certain way it SUBSTITUTES for a cigarette. Suck on a mint
candy. Every time you have a craving to smoke, do the following
exercise:
A) Inhale
deeply through the nose, to the bottom of the lungs;
B) Retain the
air in the lungs for about three or four seconds;
C) Exhale the
air slowly through the mouth;
D) Repeat A, B
and C at least three times in a row.
The craving to
smoke has disappeared! (You can try this exercise, even
now....)
STEP SEVEN
The hardest day
will be when you return to work. You sit in front of a computer
and the first thing you want is a cigarette. DON'T DO IT! Go
back to what I told you in Step Six, about inhaling, etc. Try
to control yourself so as not to consign all your colleagues to
Hell. Immerse yourself in your work, and when you feel more in
control, drink coffee. After lunch will be the second test.
Don't give in. You only need to triumph once, twice at most.
The next time you return to your computer or finish eating, you
won't want to smoke anymore.
If possible,
ask all your colleagues to please not smoke in your presence or
near you so as not to expose you to that which could ruin your
war against tobacco. Now you will see how soon you will be
disgusted by the odor of tobacco that remains after someone
else has smoked in the room.
FINAL NOTE
Today I'd give
an arm and a leg to have known this when I was in my 20s or
30s! In those days we were hypnotized by the advertising, the
movie stars were smoking and our parents too --- who was going
to resist?
Also in this
section:
Jackson, Martín's election to lose
Girvan, Missed deadlines
in trade talks
Handal, How I quit
smoking
Snow, Address to Brazil's
AMCHAM
Peltier, How to win the
real war on terror
