Home > 7 Days Smoke-free Diary

The World Health Organization (WHO) designates 31 May of each year as the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD). This year, Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health (COSH) has launched a Smoke-free Publicity Programme with the theme of “Tobacco Endgame: Zero Hazard．Smoke-free Generation” to encourage public to support for the Smoke-free Sportswear Day on 31 May  by wearing sportswear and keep exercising to create a supportive social environment for smoking cessation and promote a healthy as well as smoke-free lifestyle in order to foster the society stepping towards Tobacco Endgame.

Smoking is harmful to health. It increases the risk of fatal diseases and produces secondhand smoke which harms others’ health as well. In view of this, COSH has prepared a seven-day smoke-free diary to encourage smokers to quit smoking as soon as possible, and motivate non-smokers to support them for smoking cessation in order to build the smoke-free Hong Kong.

Exercise helps relieving stress

When you exercise, your brain releases hormones, such as endorphins and dopamine which help improving your emotion. Dopamine evokes reward pathways in the brain that are similar to those induced by nicotine, thereby balancing off the unpleasant experience with pleasure, easing tension, improving blood circulation and quality of sleep.

Exercise can help with weight control

When you stop smoking, your senses of taste and smell will be resumed, appetite will be increased and metabolism will be reduced. It is not surprising that you may experience weight gain if you do not have a balanced diet. You can stay fit with a healthy diet and sufficient exercises to burn calories.

Exercise can reduce cravings to smoke

Exercise can help distract you from tobacco cravings and reduce their intensity1. When a craving hits, carry out 10 to 15 minute exercise with moderate intensity can help you overcome it more easily2. Running is a good way to train willpower. The training process can also improve cardiopulmonary efficiency and health. Study showed that running could help smoke cessation and reduce smoking. Exercise performance will also be improved after quitting smoking.

Practicing yoga can help achieving a balanced status both physically and mentally. By practicing different yoga postures and controlling the breath, fresh air goes into the lungs so as to relieve stress, erase negative emotions and may aid weight control. According to a randomized clinical trial, yoga increases the odds of successful smoking abstinence by 37% when compared to general wellness classes.



1 Keyworth, H., Georgiou, P., Zanos, P., Rueda, A. V., Chen, Y., Kitchen, I., Camarini, R., Cropley, M., and Bailey, A. (2018) Wheel running during chronic nicotine exposure is protective against mecamylamine‐precipitated withdrawal and up‐regulates hippocampal α7 nACh receptors in mice. British Journal of Pharmacology, 175: 1928– 1943. doi: 10.1111/bph.14068.
2 Priebe, Carly & Atkinson, John & Faulkner, Guy. (2017). Run to Quit: An evaluation of a scalable physical activity-based smoking cessation intervention. Mental Health and Physical Activity. 13. 10.1016/j.mhpa.2017.08.001.

Dry mouth often occurs during smoking cessation, so drinking plenty of water is the best choice. Drinking water before and during meals can increase the feeling of fullness and reduce the cravings to smoke. This nearly cost-free method is very helpful to smokers to quit smoking. It is usually recommended to drink at least 2,000ml or about 8 glasses of water per day. In fact, the amount of water you drink depends on your "personal weight" and "kidney condition". The reference calculation is “Weight (kg) x 30 = Amount of drinking water per day (cc)”.

Quitters can try to put two slices of lemon in water. Lemon water can help the body to eliminate toxins and nicotine which help reducing tobacco cravings effectively, and reduce dependence on tobacco products.

Always keep optimistic and positive attitude, which is conducive to physical and mental health. Smokers can also share the progress of smoking cessation with family and friends for support and encouragement.

Smokers should recognize their current smoking status to get themselves ready, set the date to quit smoking, and promise not to smoke in the future.

When you want to smoke, try to slow down your steps or movements, or count one to ten slowly, and think about your reasons to quit. If you take the cigarette out, please hold it in your hand and do not light it up, and then repeat the above steps. As long as you can pass those few minutes, your cravings can be retreated

Breathing is the essence of lives and people are born with the ability to breathe. Research3 revealed that deep breathing can help relieving stress. Appropriate breathing exercise brings along motivation, helps one to stay calm and relaxed. For smokers, deep breathing is one of the effective ways of smoking cessation. It helps distracting smokers from tobacco cravings, as well as reducing dependence on tobacco products.

Through focusing on inhaling and exhaling, the brain will react and respond. Practicing deep breathing repetitively until you find the best way to breathe. The inflated heart rate will slow down and maintain at a normal level after deep breathing, thus negative emotions such as tension and anxiety could be effectively eased, even though they may not be eliminated completely.

While smoking, nicotine makes the body to release dopamine which gives a pleasurable sensation that makes smokers feel "happy" and "relaxed", and cause tobacco addiction and dependence. Therefore, when smokers are trying to quit, they may feel depressed and tense due to the sudden drop of nicotine level and dopamine secretion.

Studies4 found that the cravings and the withdrawal symptoms of smoking cessation are significantly curbed through deep breathing exercises, especially among heavy smokers. As a result, deep breathing becomes one of the simplest and most common smoking cessation method, which is also highly recommended by smoking cessation counselors to reduce withdrawal symptoms.


3 Christophe, André (2019), Proper Breathing Brings Better Health. Scientific American. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/proper-breathing-brings-better-health/.
4 F. Joseph McClernona, Eric C. Westmanb, Jed E. Rosea(2004). The effects of controlled deep breathing on smoking withdrawal symptoms in dependent smokers

Music can fulfil people's need for pleasure and positive sensation-seeking, and alleviate negative emotions such as sadness and anger at the same time. It may also aid smoking cessation by changing the reward pathways of human's brain and providing an alternative source of dopamine5 other than nicotine and reduce smokers’ dependence on tobacco products.

A study by the Section of Infectious Diseases of the School of Public Health of West Virginia University in the United States pointed out that listening to music can make people happy, promote physical and mental health, and improve stress-related indicators. Different types of music have various effects. For example, listening to slower-paced music can help stabilize heartbeat, blood pressure and breathing, and reduce anxiety. On the contrary, listening to music with strong beats and chaotic styles will have the opposite effect.

Relaxing music can effectively release "dopamine" from the brain, replace the nicotine to bring pleasure and help you overcoming the addiction to cigarettes.

Quit-smoking songs by COSH (Chinese only):

《戒煙 · 世界返晒嚟》: https://youtu.be/xF4lckdrK3A
《無煙生活》: https://youtu.be/E3zi3BXevHE

There are also some music lists for smokers who want to quit smoking:

Background music/sounds: from pond5 - www.pond5.com in accordance with Copyright Law.
Royalty free video from: www.pond5.com
Everything else by Thomas Hall - © Copyright 2017

5 Menon, V., & Levitin, D. J. (2005). The rewards of music listening: Response and physiological connectivity of the mesolimbic system. NeuroImage, 28(1), 175-184.

It is difficult to get rid of the cravings. Since you are used to the gesture of holding cigarettes, it is inevitable that you feel like nothing to do with your hands when you quit smoking. It is recommended to bring a stress ball or ball pen with you, which can distract your attention. For example, pinching a stress ball or health care ball, twisting a towel or turning a ball pen can release stress and tension.

One of the ways to quit smoking is cooking delicious food, so that smokers can forget their addiction to cigarettes. Lemon, which is cheap and common in daily life, contains rich vitamin C. It can enhance the response ability of the immune system and indirectly enhance immunity. It also helps with skin whitening. Citric acid can increase the rate of absorbing calcium and effectively prevent osteoporosis. Therefore, it is very suitable for smokers to include lemon in meals for smoking cessation.

Easy Lemon Recipes

Lemon water with sea salt

Lemon can stimulate our taste buds. Drinking lemon water with sea salt can alleviate addiction to cigarettes.
Difficulty:★☆☆☆☆

Ingredients: one liter of water, one lemon, two teaspoons of sea salt

Method: Boil one liter of water. After the water is boiled, add two to three teaspoons of sea salt. Stop boiling until the sea salt melts. Cut the lemon in half, squeeze the juice, and pour the lemon juice into the water with sea salt. Wait until cool before drinking.

Stewed Pear with Lemon and Rock Candy

From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, pear helps moisturize the lungs, get rid of phlegm and relieve cough.
Difficulty:★★☆☆☆

Ingredients: 1 lemon, 1 pear, about 30 grams of rock candy

Method: Peel and cut half pear into small pieces, then add an appropriate amount of water in the pot. You can add rock candy according to your preference. After about ten minutes, remove the suds on the surface, then stop heating and let it cool. Peel and dice the other half of the pear. Put them into the cooled pear water, add the lemon juice and it is ready to drink after stirring.

Sour and Spicy Lemon Shrimp

Difficulty: ★★★☆☆
Ingredients: 120 grams of shrimp, 1/4 onion, 1 lemon, 3 small limes

Seasoning:
1 small chili, 2 garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 2 teaspoons of soy sauce, an appropriate amount of mint leaves

Method:
1. Remove the intestines of the shrimp, and boil them. Then pick up and drain.
2. Dice the onion. Finely chop the chili and garlic. Slice half of the lemon, and cut the lime into half.
3. Sauce preparation: squeeze lemon juice and lime juice in a bowl, then add chili, garlic, soy sauce, sugar and salt and stir.
4. Spread lemon slices on a large bowl, add shrimp and onion. Drizzle with sauce and mix well, then put on mint leaves.

References:
Sunday More
美食天下
新城健康+

Day 1: Accompanying smokers to exercise

As a friend or a family member, you may encourage smokers to go hiking, breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the beautiful scenery of Hong Kong. If you are hectic on weekdays, you can also invite smokers to jog or run at the park nearby, which can help reduce their tobacco cravings, and provide an alternative source of dopamine to relax themselves during exercise.

Day 2: Being empathetic with the concerns of smokers

Some long-term smokers might only quit smoking successfully after many attempts. Nonetheless, they may experience physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms during quitting. They will feel anxious, depressed and uncomfortable. As a companion, you should demonstrate your empathy to smokers that you understand their feelings, struggles, and strong determination to take the first move.

Day 3: Sending smokers sugar-free or nicotine gum/ a stress ball

On the third day, many smokers will struggle or even give up owing to their inability to withstand the tobacco cravings. You may send smokers sugar-free or nicotine gum or a stress ball to help reducing the cravings.

Day 4: Encouraging and listening to smokers

Listening to smokers is a kind of support. They may feel unwell during quitting, which is normal, and is not harmful to the body. You can spur the quitters on or send them some encouraging words, such as: "I believe you can do it", "Always support you if you quit!", etc.

Day 5: Referring quitters to seek for assistance from smoking cessation organizations

There are many organizations in Hong Kong providing various free smoking cessation services, such as Chinese acupuncture and moxibustion, medical and non-medical treatment, professional counselling, etc. They can also answer common questions from quitters. If your friends/family members have long-term smoking habits but are unable to quit, you can refer them to seek for assistance from relevant service organizations.

Day 6: Recommending new hobbies for quitters

Companions may recommend some new hobbies to quitters to build up new interests, encompassing gardening, reading, playing chess, making ceramics or learning new languages, which can help them to distract and reduce their tobacco cravings gradually. They can also come up with more new topics with friends/family.

Day 7: Sharing food and cooking experiences with quitters

During the epidemic of COVID-19, people prefer dining at home. Companions can stay at home and cook a variety of dishes with quitters. Regardless of Chinese or Western cuisine, or dessert, you can study the recipes, enjoy the fun of cooking and share cooking experience with quitters. They can then forget the cravings and savor the delicious food at home.