Sunday, July 15, 2012

How To Quit Smoking: Secrets For Success

Your family has begged you to give up cigarettes. Your doctor is probably pressuring you to quit as well. You will also find that your insurance provider will offer a discount for quitting. So, why haven't you done it yet? It is time to quit smoking for good, so use the following tips to help you give up the habit.

Cut back before you quit. This is a good way to ease into the idea of quitting altogether. Try a delay of one hour before you smoke your first morning cigarette. If it is difficult to reduce the number of times you smoke per day, so try cutting back on the amount of cigarette you smoke per time. Try smoking only half a cigarette instead of a full cigarette.

Choose to fill your time with a more positive habit. If you quit for someone else, you only give them power over you. If a person starts getting self-righteous and telling you they were right, start playing some noisy video games or loud music and tell them it's your new substitute for smoking! Getting involved in other activities will take your mind off of your difficult task, and the importance of the opinions of others will lessen.

Take several minutes to think of the primary reasons why you want to give up smoking. Keep a list with you, which highlight the reasons for quitting smoking. Whenever you are fighting a craving and want to light up, grab your paper instead, and remind yourself of your reasons to quit.

Great advice when quitting is to stop smoking altogether. Instead of setting a deadline that you can keep pushing back, quit today. By doing this, you are making a pact never to start smoking again. This method of quitting cigarettes is not the easiest one. However, dropping cigarettes altogether has been proven to work quite well.

The first seven days without cigarettes will be the most difficult part of quitting. Keep this in mind if you feel like you can't get through that first week. Your body will shed most of the nicotine you've been inhaling in the first two days. Once your body sheds the nicotine, the hard part will be mental addiction. Although psychological craving can be hard to manage, they are nowhere near as traumatic as physical craving.

Kicking the habit of smoking is a tremendous challenge to take on. Craving a cigarette is tough and it's easy to succumb to temptation. Try keeping a journal and writing down all of your cravings. Be specific by including the time, how it really felt, what activity you were participating in, and how you dealt with it. This can help you to become aware of your triggers, meaning that you will have a better chance of taking control of them.

One way to boost your success with quitting smoking, is building a list good and bad associations with quitting. When you put something in writing, it often has an affect on your entire mental outlook. This can help you to focus your quitting efforts more clearly, as well as to identify any weaknesses in your plan.

If you're thinking about quitting smoking, it's important that you talk to your doctor beforehand. Your doctor has access to quit-smoking resources that you don't. If the situation requires it, your doctor may prescribe you medication to quit smoking.

What are your triggers as a smoker? An example of triggers would be work, stress or maybe other people. Avoid each of these, which can help you to reduce the urges that you will have. If some triggers are unavoidable, plan mechanisms for dealing with the temptation before you are faced with them.

One way to help you stop smoking is to develop a rewards system. Buy yourself a new pair of shoes, treat yourself to some take-out, or give yourself a break from household chores to read a good book. This will help you forget about nasty old cigarettes, and focus instead on the positive outcome of quitting.

Now you have some good information to help you kick the habit, and get healthy. Stopping your cigarette habit will allow you to be happier, healthier, and you will live longer too. Use the money you are saving to spend on your family, showing them a big thank you for their support.

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