Tips for quitting smoking please

[GoofyLuce]

Hi

So here goes...

I'm 5 ft 2 and weigh 13 st 6 lbs! Oh and I'm also a smoker!

I'm looking to start jogging but have absolutely no idea where to start. I am not healthy in the slightest (I get out of breath from running the length on my garden just once). In order for me to take up jogging, I need to sort myself out in terms of diet and smoking. I would love to quite smoking not only for my health but to save money, set a good example to my son and get rid of the horrible smell on my clothes. I find my smoking is just a habbit more than a need. I only every truly feel like i need a cigarette with my morning cup of tea and after a meal. Every other cigarette is just a habbit and part of routine.

Firstly has anyone got any tips for quitting smoking for good?

Secondly does anyone know how to build up their exercise so they don't give up after the first try?

Any tips would be really appreciated! Thank you

get the NHS stop smoking app (link) and it will help you make a plan. It might be worth trying to go cold turkey, since you said you only crave them at certain times during the day. try having a coffee or if its after a meal have some fruit. It may also be helpful having a chat on the stop smoking facebook group (linked), who are helpful since there is (nearly always) someone to talk to who is going through the same thing as you are.

In terms of exercise, try following the 12 week fitness plan on the NHS website link. there is a chat board at the bottom of people who are also just starting out. In your rest day, try and do something that stretches out your muscles (eg yoga, or just a stretching video on youtube).
The NHS also have a diet plan here that goes alongside the exercise plan. they have links to a website full of recipes on the week one page.

all the best x

I smiked for 28 years. At least 20 a day. I found going without impossibly hard. December 2018 I read Alan Carr's Easy Way To Stop Smoking.
Haven't had, or even wanted, a fag since. It was incredibly easy, no willpower required.
It's basically hypnosis but in the book form!

I’ve just finished couch to 5k (Free NHS app) and it was great for helping me slowly build fitness at a pace I could manage. I did it off the back of 3 years of chronic nerve pain as well so definitely started from nothing! On the quitting smoking I went cold turkey when I got pregnant.... however DH quit with a mixture of cold turkey, gum and not drinking for a couple of weeks as having a beer was a real trigger for him. Perhaps mix up your habits so you break the association with smoking? Having something to do with your hands is also helpful for some people. Good luck, wanting to make changes is the first step!!

I gave up cold turkey after getting pregnant. Did really well untill the baby was born and then started again. Not my proudest moment!

Thanks for the advice! I appreciate it x

I smoked for many years and last year I said Fuck It! I was fed up being breathless. I was fed up stinking of smoke. I was fed up always having to think about smoking, about having to get fags, to see where I could smoke the fags and just fags in general.

I wish I had never started, my lungs are bad, but, I do actually feel much better not smoking.

Oh sorry, you asked for tips. I did patches and no fags, not a single one. I got bored of the patches. YMMV
Just pick a day and start from there, but if you don't manage then try again.
My health is much better and I have loads more money in the bank. I really don't know why I smoked for so many years

Yes being breathless is another factor. I go through stages where I wake up in the morning and it feels like someone is sitting on my chest! If love to take up jogging as I'm currently not very active and would just love some 'me' time but with the way I'm smoking I'd probably have a heart attach after 10 minutes! Tomorrow is my day. Can't wait to come out the other end...Not stinking of fags and being able to breathe! Thanks for your post.

Another vote here for Allen Carr’s book. I stopped smoking back in 2001.

You don't need to start jogging straightaway. That's like saying oh I think I will run a marathon next year...oh but I could never do that so what's the point I will just watch TV instead.
Whats wrong with a brisk walk or even a slow walk for starters?
Get an audio book or download a podcast then you will look forward to the next instalment each day on your walk. You dont even notice the walk if you are listening to something interesting. Do 5 x 30 min walks each week.