Smoking is not only unhealthy, but it endangers those around you. Smoking causes many health problems including cancer, heart disease, and emphaysema. Exposure to secondhand smoke can be as dangerous as smoking cigarettes yourself. This is among the better reasons for quitting. Continue reading to discover several ways to ease the process.
When you feel like you need to smoke, try the delay tactic. Force yourself to wait at least ten minutes before you give into the urge. Typically, you will become distracted with something else and will wait longer than the ten minutes. Repeat this step repeatedly if you need.
Look at stopping as a finite choice. Instead of setting a deadline that you can keep pushing back, quit today. Just try to stop completely and never pick up another cigarette. This method may appear somewhat harsh. Time has shown this method to be very effective, overall.
As soon as you quit, spend your smoking dollars on bottled water. This will force you to hold onto something during the day, so that you do not have cigarettes. The other benefit of drinking lots of water, is that it will flush the toxins from your system that came from being a smoker. Once you get past the cravings, switch your bottle water budget to your quitting reward.
Create a list of reasons and motivations to help you quit smoking. Include every reason that comes to your mind, whether it is big or small. Consult your list of reasons when you are about to smoke. This will allow you to focus on the positives and can highlight the advantages to quitting.
It's very hard to stop smoking and is quite an emotionally challenging feat. You may experience intense cravings and have difficulty resisting this 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.
Whenever you go a whole day without smoking, give yourself a positive reinforcement. Eat something tasty, take a bubble bath, or get a massage. This transfers your cravings onto something a bit healthier and positive.
Advise friends, family and co-workers that you are going to stop smoking. When others know, they can help hold you accountable. Of course, you will not want to disappoint them or have to eventually confess to the fact that you did not actually quit. This can help you stay away from smoking cigarettes when things end up getting hard.
Replace smoking with another (albeit healthier) vice, regardless of what the critics say. Others have no power over your decision and commitment - it's up to you to decide to quit. Do not let this person feel like they have been proved right by explaining your real motivations. Learn to avoid them, just as you have learned to avoid cigarettes, because nether is good for you.
What are your top reasons for wanting to quit? To motivate you, keep your most important reasons written on an index card or sheet of paper and make sure it's with you at all times. Anytime you are tempted to light up a cigarette, take the paper out of your pocket and read your reasons for wanting to quit instead.
Make a no smoking mantra. You can convince yourself that one cigarette won't hurt, but it may undo a lot of dedication and hard work. Put the danger of smoking a single cigarette into perspective before you actually have to deal with that situation.
Plan on quitting three times. On your first attempt, just stop cold turkey. Only five percent of smokers are able to stop cold turkey, but maybe you are one of them. For your second quit date, cut back gradually. If that doesn't work out, take it a step further. Consult with a health professional about the possibility of obtaining prescription smoking cessation products, and join a support group.
Enlist in the help of others. If you can find someone you trust to depend on, it will be much easier. On top of creating a support system, the two of you can find alternative activities to replace your smoking habits together. You can share different methods and strategies with each other that you discover.
Acupuncture is an alternative to nicotine patches or medication. If you don't want to use prescription aids to help you stop smoking, acupuncture may be for you. Through the use of needles, acupuncture can help to relieve craving-induced tension and can also help to clear toxins from your body by improving circulation. Some people may find the idea a bit strange, but many people say that it can be effective and not very painful.
Do not procrastinate your quitting date as this should happen immediately. Choose today as the day instead of putting it off to a future date. By quitting immediately, you lower your chances of succumbing to a possibly fatal disease. You will also help to ensure your family's safety by reducing the secondhand smoke that is found in your home. This makes it even more essential that you quit today.
In order to succeed at your goal for quitting smoking, it's essential that you have faith in yourself. You need to believe that you will be successful at quitting. Think back on all of the times in your past when you took on what seemed an insurmountable obstacle yet you won. Reflect on those things you have overcome in the past, and then put it all together. You do have what is needed to quit.
Smoking is not only unhealthy, but is dangerous as well. There are dangerous health risks tied to smoking with the major ones being lung cancer, emphysema and heart attacks. You are not the only person affected by your smoking habit; second-hand smoke puts those around you at risk for health hazards, as well. Hopefully the advice that was given to you in this article will help you reach your goal of quitting smoking
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