Are you a secret social smoker? The Slimming Clinic give you the best 5 tips to stub it out now from Women’s Health.
Slip out of the party for a smoke or two on a night out? It still counts. Trust us.
As part of our online weight loss programmes, The Slimming Clinic work with you on all aspects of your health and weight loss. Helping you overcome any habits you want to leave behind as part of a new healthy lifestyle.
But if you’re feeling the urge to stop now, you need our tried and tested tips for dealing with the temptation – get ready to feel instantly healthier!
A survey led by The Co-operative Pharmacy polled 2,000 smokers and found that almost a quarter (24%) are in denial about their habit and would only class themselves as social smokers.
But in reality over a third of these people smoke between 6-20 cigarettes a day, all of which sounds like a lot – but is easily doable in one wine-laced night.
A big reason for social smoking is FOMO (that’s Fear Of Missing Out). 13% of us hate being left alone when our friends go out to smoke. But what kind of ‘friend’ would let your skin age prematurely, your breath taste foul and decrease your life expectancy. A bad friend, that’s who.
5 tips on how to quit social smoking from John Dicey, Worldwide Director of Allen Carr’s Easyway
1. The first crucial step to stopping social smoking is to be brutally honest with yourself.
You need to accept you either are a smoker, or not – it’s impossible to be a ‘little bit’ of a smoker! Try counting up the number of cigarettes you would get through on a Friday or Saturday evening.
2. The only way to control smoking is simply to stop.
If you truly are a ‘social smoker,’ you should be able to take it or leave it – so leave it.
3. Don’t lock yourself away – stopping smoking doesn’t mean trading in your social life!
Cutting yourself off from friends will only make you miserable and more likely to succumb to ‘just one’ cigarette.
4. Think hard about the situations in which you are most likely to light up.
The chances are that what you really enjoy about a night out at the weekend or a catch-up with friends is the occasion itself, not the opportunity it offers for you to smoke. Once you’ve realized this you won’t miss cigarettes.
5. Turn around the way you think about smoking and about quitting – don’t see it as stopping something you enjoy.
Instead think about how great it is to be free of something negative. If you view it this way, you won’t need substitutes for smoking.
To start your weight loss programme now and kick out bad habits like smoking, over-eating or sedentary behaviour, start with an Initial Video Consultation with an experienced weight loss doctor.