How to Quit Smoking.

Quitting smoking or stopping smoking or smoking cessation works best when you have abruptly and suddenly given up smoking. Gradually reducing cigarettes or buying less cigarettes or buying cigarettes of another brand are some suggested ways to quit smoking. The success rate of such methods is very low and not worth the mention.

In the previous post we discussed why to quit smoking. Here we shall discuss how to quit smoking.

How to Stop Smoking.

Get motivated to quit smoking and educate yourself on the dangerous effects of smoking on you and effects of secondhand smoking on your loved ones. Stop smoking suddenly and stay that way.

Having motivated yourself strongly to quit smoking by educating yourself on the effects of smoking and the quitting smoking benefits, you now have to put into practice certain quitting smoking tips which will carry you through the initial weeks after your last smoke.

You will face some smoking withdrawal symptoms, which is the main stumbling block to quitting smoking.  Smoking cessation becomes difficult because these withdrawal symptoms are more severe during the first week after withdrawal and gradually start to recede. It may take 8 to 12 weeks before you start feeling comfortable.

• Stopping smoking on you own. Quitting smoking can be done without any help. This is called the cold turkey method. Here a very strong will power is essential. Here smoking withdrawal symptoms are intense but the period is short. Smoking cessation with this method is difficult and the success rate is low.
• Stopping smoking with help and aids. You could quit smoking with the help of certain aids and help, which are described in the next post.

Tips to Quit Smoking on Your Own.

To start with, here are a few things you could do to see the nicotine withdrawal symptoms through.

• Take your family members and friends into confidence and ask for their help in assisting you to quit smoking. This is important because you will feel alone and lonely at times like these and they are best source of help during such times.

• In a boring situation, find something to keep yourself busy.
• Have a high fiber diet and drink plenty of fluids. This will, over time, take care of your stomach withdrawal symptoms. High fiber diet consists of fruits, vegetables, whole wheat cereals and bran.
• If tea and coffee or some such beverage increases your craving for a cigarette, avoid these drinks.
• Do breathing exercises everyday. Exercise daily. This will help your lungs adjust to the lack of nicotine. Take brisk walks.
• If hungry, do eat. But stick to low-fat foods.
• If you are gaining weight, learn how you could lose weight. And don’t worry about a little weight gain. It is better of the two evils. (ie. weight gain and smoking).
• Meditation will be a great help to quit smoking as it makes it easier to face the mental and emotional smoke withdrawal symptoms.
• When you get the craving to smoke, divert your attention and do something else from what you were doing. Take deep breaths or start counting backwards slowly. Take a fast paced walk or call up a friend or some such person who is helping you quit smoking. Do some such thing and the craving will fade away. When it reappears, repeat this procedure. Family members are a great source of inspiration at times like these.
• At times when the craving for a smoke arises, you could put  a clove in your mouth and keep sucking on it and swallowing the saliva. Alternately you could use a toothpick after a meal, or sunflower seeds or sugarless gum.
• You will experience headaches, dizziness and increase in appetite after quitting smoking. This is because there is no immediate release of sugar that comes with nicotine. At such times you could have fresh fruit juices to increase glucose in the body. This will have the desired effect and even curb the craving for a smoke. After a few days, the body starts adjusting and additional glucose will not be required.
• Most of us like to smoke with our drinks. It is therefore advisable to quit drinking alcohol. This is because effects of alcohol are also nothing to shout about. But if this is asking for too much, you could choose a bar which does not permit smoking and drink with friends who do not smoke.
• Once you have quit smoking, the damage caused by smoking start reversing gradually. Within 20 minutes of quitting smoking, your raised blood pressure and pulse rate begins to drop. Various effects of smoking and their reversal timeline is explained in quitting smoking timeline. This could be another motivating factor to stay committed to your stop smoking program.
• Avoid friends who smoke. Make new friends who do not smoke.
• Have pictures of smoking depicting the various diseases that smoking causes. You could put these anti smoking pictures up on your bedroom walls.
• You must jot down these benefits that you reap once you have quit smoking. These benefits start to accrue as early as 20 minutes after your last smoke and some benefits take years to accrue. You could read these in detail in quitting smoking timeline|benefits of quitting smoking. In brief benefits of smoking cessation are given below.

1. You will feel more healthy.
2. Your looks and skin will have a better appearance.
3. Your risk to heart attack, cancer, strokes are reduced. The constant but sub conscious fear of a major illness and early death no longer exists.
4. Your family and friends are no longer exposed to the dangers of your second hand smoke.
5. You will save a good amount of money which otherwise you were spending on smoking.
6. Having quit smoking, you will have a sense of achievement and a feeling of pride. Your esteem will rise amongst your family and friends.

Keep reminding yourself of these benefits and it will make your resolve to stop smoking even stronger. Smoking cessation or quitting smoking becomes  easy once you have built up a strong enough will power by motivating yourself.

 

Related posts:

1. Quitting Smoking|Why Stop Smoking.
2. Quitting Smoking Help|Help to Quit Smoking.
3. Quitting Smoking Benefits|Quitting Smoking Timeline.
4. Quitting Smoking With Hypnosis.
5. Smoking Withdrawals Symptoms|Nicotine Withdrawal Symptoms.
6. Smoking Cessation|Nicotine Patches|Nicotine Gums.
7. Smoking|Cigarette Smoking|Smoking Facts.
8. Smoking|Smoking Pictures.