Dr. Oz’s Kick the Habit Plan
Giving up tobacco is the single most important thing you can do for your health and the health of those around you. Even if you do not smoke in their presence, you exhale fine particles of tobacco that cause inflammation.
By quitting smoking, you’ll make yourself at least 5 years younger: fewer wrinkles, better orgasms, less days in the hospital and rehab with heart attacks and strokes. You’ll feel more energetic and save a boatload of money along the way. It will save your life; it will change your life.
Overview
This action plan is here because the success rate of quitting jumps from 2-5% to 30-65% with professional help. On average, quitting plans will fail 6 times prior to succeeding, and we are here to help each time. Cigarette addiction is complicated, and quitting can be overwhelmingly difficult. Fortunately, you have the power to kick the habit, and we’re going to guide you through it on a day-by-day basis.
The first key to success is understanding how cigarettes keep you coming back for more. Once you’ve unlocked the science behind the addiction, you can make healthy substitutions that satisfy all of the same brain circuits.
First, smoking releases a tidal wave of dopamine from our brains, a natural substance that causes feelings of pleasure, energy and, most importantly, leaves you wanting more. One big step will be learning to get dopamine from a different source. Second, smoking is a learned behavior; you enjoy something in your hand or mouth, especially after meals or sex.
The Action Plan: Get Started!
Walk 30 minutes a day and enlist a buddy. This person should be a non-tobacco user or someone else who is trying to quit. Speak to or email this person each day to confirm you’ve done your walking. When the going gets rough, this person will cheer you on and offer moral support.
Establish a safe place. You must turn your environment into a safe and smoke-free zone as you’re trying to quit. If you spend a lot of time with someone who smokes, ask them to quit with you. It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give. If they’re not interested, don’t give up and do make your goals clear: Politely ask that they not smoke in the house or in your presence.
Sign a pledge, and have your spouse, child or friend co-sign it. This is your public commitment to stop smoking (heck, Twitter or blog your experience to make the quitting that much more public), and your desire not to let others down, will significantly boost your motivation.
Walk 30 minutes a day. That wasn’t just for day 1!
You don’t need to throw away the cigarettes yet, but must keep walking thirty minutes every day. There are no excuses! If it’s raining outside, walk around the dining table. If it’s freezing cold, bundle up. Walking every day will make you feel better, bring a sense of accomplishment, become an alternate source of dopamine, and offset the food intake that sometimes comes after quitting.
After each walk, call your buddy and tell him or her that you’ve done it.
Walk 30 minutes a day.
Check in with your buddy!
Smoke on a schedule. For most people, the desire to smoke is prompted by specific feelings or situations -- a restaurant meal, a social engagement, a irritating coworker boss. Break that connection so your daily experiences don’t leave smoking constantly on your mind; space your cigarettes at equal intervals throughout the day. If you smoke 6 cigarettes per day, and you’re awake for 18 hours, smoke 1 cigarette every 3 hours. If you miss your scheduled smoking time by more than five minutes, wait until the next one.
See your doctor. Soon, you’re going to use medicine to eliminate cravings and deliver the dopamine you’d normally get from smoking. Ask your doctor for a prescription for 100mg Wellbutrin pills, and get a prescription for nicotine patches if your health plan covers it; you can get patches over the counter if not covered. Fill your prescription so you’re ready to go. The usual dose is a 21 or 22mg patch for ½ to 1 pack-a-day smokers.
Walk 30 minutes a day.
Check in with your buddy!
Continue smoking on a schedule.
Start Wellbutrin on Day 28. Take a 100mg pill once per day, in the morning. Do the same though day 29. Just before you go to bed toss all cigarettes in the toilet. And, yes, flush. This it. Cigarettes are no longer a part of your life.
Walk 30 minutes a day.
Check in with your buddy!
QUIT! We know you flushed some last night, but this is where you get rid of ALL your cigarettes. The ones in the kitchen, the glove compartment – the emergency pack. Also purge anything that reminds you of smoking. That includes lighters, ashtrays, empty packages, pictures of your ex. If you have clothes that smell like cigarettes, wash them. If your furniture smells like cigarettes, douse them with anti-odor spray.
Increase your dose. Continue taking Wellbutrin in the morning, but add another 100mg dose at bedtime.
Stick it. Start wearing nicotine patches. The general rule is that a 21mg patch will deliver the same amount of nicotine as a pack of cigarettes. So if you smoke a pack a day, wear a 21mg patch through the day. If you smoke less than half a pack, use a 14 mg patch. Remember to take the old patch off when you put the new one on each morning and adhere to a different site.
Chew on this. You’ll miss the feeling of doing something with your hands, or of having something in your mouth. Try chewing sugarless gum or celery sticks to keep your mouth busy, and wear a rubber band around your wrist that you can use to keep your fingers occupied. (Or try the Dr. Oz Spice Up Your Sex Life Challenge!)
Distract yourself. When you get a bad craving, don’t just sit there and think about it. Get up right away and do something distracting. Clean your messy closet. Organize the books on your shelf. Go for that 30-minute walk. Go for a second 30-minute walk!
Walk 30 minutes a day.
Check in with your buddy every day!
Lean on your buddy. These days will be the hardest, so you’ll need someone available at all times of the day and night to provide support. Don’t forget to call them every single day to let them know you’ve completed your walk -- and haven’t lit up.
Continue Wellbutrin and nicotine patch.
Continue with gum, celery sticks, and rubber band.
Distract yourself during cravings.
Book a doctor’s appointment about day 45. Your doctor can reduce the dose of Wellbutrin to once a day and the nicotine patch to ½ or 2/3 of what you were using.
Walk 30 minutes a day.
Check in with your buddy every day!
Continue Wellbutrin and nicotine patch.
Continue with gum, celery sticks, and rubber band.
Distract yourself during cravings.
Congratulations! You’ve made it without cigarettes!
Taper off. Lower your Wellbutrin intake to a single dose in the morning, which you’ll eliminate in 6 more months. Also, lower the dose of your nicotine patch by 1/3 starting today, and then again every 2 months until it’s finished.
At 6 months you can discontinue the pills and patches that made those difficult weeks possible. In the meanwhile, increase your level of physical activity.
Pump iron. Get some weights, and every even day start lifting them for 10 minutes per day. Improving your fitness will help in the continuing struggle against cravings.
Keep walking every day. Pump iron on even days.
Check in with your buddy every day!
Think about being a buddy to someone who wants to breathe free like you.
Carry 1 Wellbutrin in a small container and your buddy’s phone number. Get a craving? Pop the Wellbutrin, call you buddy, and wait at least 30 minutes. Remember what you did to be successful. Reread your blog, your pledge or your Twitter feed.
Congratulations! You’ve broken an addiction, one of the most challenging tasks a human being can face.