Quitting smoking is not easy. It is a habit that has likely been formed through years of pairing nicotine with other activities. These activities then eventually trigger the urge to smoke and it is the continuation of these activities while trying to quit smoking that causes the most issues in dropping the habit. These triggers are different for everyone but they are likely to be things like drinking alcohol, drinking coffee, or as simple as taking breaks at work. So how to quit smoking cigarettes?
The most important step in successfully quitting is to set a specific quit date. Choose a day in the near future, but not tomorrow. Make it a special day. The first of the month is a good choice. A birthday is another good one, or the first day you have something else starting up like a new job.
The most difficult part of quitting smoking is discovering and trying to eliminate as many triggers as you can. If one of your main triggers is something as simple as having a morning coffee, this is going to be very difficult since it involves a caffeine addiction as well. An easy way to deal with this is to stop drinking coffee and to replace it with something else that contains caffeine but that has a completely different flavor. Try and find as many similar substitutes to your triggers as you can.
Get some nicotine help. The downfall to many trying to go cold turkey comes with nicotine withdrawal. Avoid making this mistake by getting a good substitute like an over the counter gum or lozenge. These are not for everyone so it is a good idea to talk to your doctor for help in choosing. They may recommend a prescription drug or an inhaler.
Electronic cigarettes are also available in some specialty stores or over the internet. These contain the nicotine to help curb your craving without containing the harmful tar and carcinogens of a real cigarette. Preliminary results show that they are up to 75% effective in helping people quit which is better odds than many of the other products.
If you can get a fellow smoker to quit with you, do it. Social support is a key ingredient to giving up any bad habit. If you can convince yourself that someone will be disappointed in you if you fail, it will serve as a very strong and enduring motivation to stay smoke free.
Another easy thing to do is to keep yourself busy with activities where smoking is not allowed. Feeling embarrassed about leaving to go for a cigarette is a great deterrent to the activity.
Do not buy them. This is easier said than done. A good way to not ask at the counter for your brand is to stay out of the stores that sell cigarettes. If you keep you distance, it will be easier to stay away.
Much of your addiction also has to do with the motions that go along with smoking. Keep your mouth busy by chewing gum. Keep your hands busy doing something as well. Carrying a pen and paper to doodle on when you get the smokers urge will help, even if only a little.
Make sure you keep track of how well each method is working for you. You may have better success with one thing over another so if you keep a detailed journal of what you have tried and how well they worked for you, you will be more likely to find the method that works best for you.
The best advice is to keep in mind that you are a strong individual and you can be more stubborn than the nicotine. Much of quitting success comes from your mind. It is a very powerful thing, and so when you get a craving, it is important to keep reminding yourself that you can do it and it is only a matter of time before you will not be a slave to the cigarette anymore.
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