Smoking

People smoke cigarettes because they hunger for them, just like they hunger for food.

Once someone is addicted to cigarettes, their bodies need the nicotine, just as their bodies need food. Smoking a cigarette feeds the body nicotine. After a while, the nicotine level drops, and the body hungers for another cigarette. That person feels the urge to smoke again, which only increases in severity, until that person smokes. Just as a hungry person feels better after a meal, the smoker feels better after a cigarette. The smoker mistakes this feeling as liking to smoke. Really, it has more to do with getting rid of that hunger for nicotine.

So, quitting smoking is a little like going on a fast. I have heard that it takes about two weeks for the body to get over the nicotine craving. That would suggest that quitting smoking is a little not eating food for two weeks. Although not eating food for two weeks would be bad for our bodies, most of us wouldn’t die. So, how many of us could successfully fast for even one week? I think very few. For most of us, we could last a day. After that, we would be so hungry that we would rationalize that this fasting was dumb, and we would give it up. It is for the same reason that smokers have such a difficult time quitting.

Unless you can really fast for one week, the best plan is not to begin smoking cigarettes. It is an extremely addictive habit that is extremely bad for your health. If you take up smoking, you will realize all of this, yet most will be unable to quit. Sure, some people can quit, but some people can fast for a whole week. The question is, could you?

The best way of quitting smoking cigarettes is probably like preparing oneself for a fast:

1. You would change your diet to clear out toxins from your body. That would be like reducing the nicotine in your body by smoking low nicotine cigarettes and/or smoking less. Delaying the first cigarette of the day is one of the easiest. You would maintain this for many months.
2. You would exercise regularly, to help make yourself stronger and healthier, to be better able to maintain your will power.
3. You would go on several short fasts, to get use to them. That would be like not smoking for a day or two. You would do this several times, possibly reducing the number of cigarettes following the fast.
4. You would seek the help of others, since you will need support during the fast. Know in advance what you will substitute for the craving (celery, sunflower seeds, water, reading, etc.)
5. You would plan out a time for it, and REALLY want to complete it. If you are prepared, and something comes up (pregnancy, an operation, a severe illness, etc.) you can use that as assistance.

Quitting smoking is even tougher, because the first two weeks is getting over the physical addiction. You will still need to get over the mental addiction, from years of reaching for a cigarette anytime you feel anxious. In a smoker’s mind, smoking makes them feel better. But smokers need to remember that smoking only removes the anxious discomfort caused by the hunger for nicotine. Instead of grabbing a cigarette, you will just need to learn how to deal with tension, like the rest of the non-smoking world. 

Hopefully, understanding how addictive and unhealthy cigarettes are will be enough to keep you from starting up again.

In some ways, drinking alcohol is similar. One difference is that many people are satisfied with one drink a day, but I don’t think anyone limits themselves to one cigarette a day.

People smoke cigarettes because they hunger for them, just like they hunger for food. We need food to survive, but we could survive better without cigarettes.