07 May Health & Wellbeing Newsletter – May 2021
Nine things you’ll gain from quitting
- Improve your health: The health benefits of quitting smoking begin just six hours after your last cigarette! And the longer you stay quit, the healthier you’ll be.
- Save money: Want an extra $9000 a year? If you smoke a 20-pack a day, that’s how much you’d save if you quit.
- Regain control: At times you might feel like smoking controls you. Quitting can give you a sense of freedom, lift your mood and boost your confidence about smoking, as well as other areas of your life.
- Positive role model: Quitting sets a great example for the children, family, friends and others around you. It can even reduce the chances of them taking up smoking themselves.
- Family time: Quitting can give you more energy to play with your kids and more money to spend on them too.
- Protect others: Second-hand smoke can harm others. Quitting is the only way to protect your family and friends.
- Less hassle: Disapproving looks or comments from non-smokers can make you feel embarrassed or judged. You might even try to keep your smoking a secret. It’s also a hassle having to make sure you have enough cigarettes with you or enough money to buy them when you run out.
- Healthier appearance: Smoking ages your skin. It also makes your clothes, hair, house and car smell terrible. When you quit, your teeth become whiter, nicotine stains on your fingers fade and the skin of your face will show less signs of aging. Your house and your car will no longer smell like an ashtray.
- Better surgery outcomes: If you’re having surgery, quitting can lower your risk of complications and help with recovery and healing. Your surgeon is obliged to talk to you about the risks of not quitting.
Tips to help you quit for good
- Set a quit date: Pick a date to quit smoking in the next two weeks. Mark it in your calendar or set a reminder on your phone. Try to stick to it. The night before quitting, do a cigarette detox. Chuck your cigarettes in the bin. Round up all your ashtrays (don’t forget to empty the ones in your car).
- Plan for cravings: Expect to have cravings in the first few weeks of quitting. Being prepared does make it easier. And the good news is: cravings only last a few minutes. Think of them as a five-minute window to distract yourself. Take the pooch for a walk, sing at the top of your lungs or prepare some healthy snacks. Don’t forget the 4Ds: delay acting on a craving, deep breathe, drink water, do something else.
- Speak to your doctor: Speak to your doctor and let them know you want to quit. You can access cheaper quitting medication and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) (like nicotine patches, gum and lozenges). This means even more money in your pocket from quitting smoking! Plus, research has shown that using either quitting medication or an NRT product, together with Quitline, is the most effective way to quit. If you choose NRT, a combination of the patch with a faster-acting NRT product like mouth spray, gum or lozenge is the most effective.
- Get your mates on board: Tell your mates you have decided to quit. You could even enlist one of your smoking friends to quit with you! When you quit with someone else, your chances of successfully quitting are greater.
- Call Quitline on 137848: Like the idea of a personal trainer to help you quit? Quit Counsellors are a great go-to for advice no matter what stage of quitting you are at. Give them a call or request a call-back for ongoing help.
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