Once You've Quit Smoking or Eating Sweets, How Do You STAY Quit?

Tweet

So, you've managed to dump a bad habit, like smoking or eating unhealthy food. Congrats to you! Also, good luck staying on the straight and narrow, because addictions are super hard not to fall back into. Why so? The problem is not just that they are habits, but that sugar and nicotine are DRUGS that stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain, setting up a reward feedback for the consumption. So that's the stumbling block if you try to go cold turkey, and that's what the slippery slope is greased with, if you make that first doughnut shop visit: endorphins, the "feel-good" hormones that not only make you feel pleasure, they actually put a damper on pain, which is why you really DO feel better after having such things. But we all know that stuff is really bad for you! So what's the trick to stay quit? Well, it's NOT to live a monastic lifestyle of denial, because humans just aren't built that way. Instead, find a substitute activity that makes you feel pleasure! Something healthy, of course. A lot of people are pleased to find out that they can get a real high from exercise, but I'm personally a fan of exercise-that-doesn't-feel-like-exercise, like dancing, sports, etc. Eating celery and putting in hours on the treadmill doesn't sound nearly as much fun as eating donuts and smoking, does it? But swimming and roller skating? I'll take that any day!