Thinking about ditching the cigarettes once and for all?
You'll have the best chance of being successfully quitting if you formulate a plan and actively manage it, says Dr Lyndy Matthews from Quitline.
Photo: 123rf
She gives advice to people thinking about giving up smoking - and those who love them.
Before you try and quit, give Quitline a call, Dr Matthews says.
Only a very small minority of people manage to give up cold turkey, and you'll have the best chance of being successful if you have a strategy that you actively manage - something the Quitline team can help come up with.
Their service is for vapers, too, she says. In the last couple of months, the number of callers using vaping as a way to try and quit smoking has gone up from 21 to 26 percent.
When you're quitting an addictive habit like smoking, a support person is really helpful, Dr Matthews says, and even better is getting your whanau to approach going smoke-free as a group.
"Stopping smoking together and replacing it with something you all agree you'd really like to do or to have can be a really powerful way of keeping the motivation going and seeing the rewards."
It's really helpful to create new habits such as working out after work instead of coming home and automatically lighting up, Dr Matthews says.
"That tends to switch your body into a mode where it's not thinking about cigarettes - very helpful."
Any form of exercise is great when you're quitting smoking, she says.
Whatever your age or level of fitness, you'll notice 2 good things within days of stopping - an improvement in your sense of taste and smell "which can be quite delightful" and an increase in your exercise tolerance.
The Quitline website has some "really good damn" online tools to check out - like a savings calculator and motivational tips, Dr Matthews says.
Non-smoking family members and friends might like to have a look, too, and show their loved one who smokes.
But don't shame them about smoking - that often makes them want to smoke more, Dr Matthews says.
Watching a loved one smoke can provoke a lot of anxiety and make people critical and grumpy, but try and be really encouraging about them quitting instead.
"The most important any family or friend can do for the smoker they care about is to not be judgmental… try and avoid arguing with them or nagging them about their smoking."
In 2022, nearly 85 percent of New Zealanders are smoke-free. The New Zealand government hopes we'll be at least 95 percent smoke-free by 2025.
