Drop The Habit With These Simple Steps

Aug 23, 2012 by carter99

By applying these tips, you will be well on your way to stopping this bad habit and living a healthier life.

Looking at a picture of smoker’s lungs may be all you need to quit smoking. When a person smokes, their lungs turn black after a while and they could end up with lung cancer. As harsh as it may seem, viewing the picture may set off a signal in your brain to quit.

In order to quit smoking, find something else you can hold in your hand and put in your mouth. Many smokers find it hard to quit because they have an urge to have a cigarette in their hands and mouth. Rather than a cigarette, you can hold onto a straw.

When you smoke, you sometimes are just obsessed with the feeling of having something in your mouth. This can be replaced with a less dangerous habit such as chewing gum or eating candy. Anytime you feel like smoking, just have a piece of hard candy or chew a stick of gum.

Write down a journal of every time you have a cigarette and what your reasons were for having one. This journal will help you to find out what your smoking triggers are. For some it may be the first morning cigarette, or the need to smoke after a meal. For others, it may be stress. Determining your triggers will help you to figure out a way to fight them.

If you have friends or family that are also smokers, then have a sincere talk with them about your wanting to quit. Don’t patronize them or push them to quit, but explain how you need their cooperation and help to quit for good. Tell them specifically why you want to quit, and make fair but firm demands about how and when they smoke around you.

Drink lots of cranberry juice the first three days. Any consumption of acidic fruit juices will really take the edge off of the nicotine withdrawal as your internal chemistry slowly accepts the change. Just remember to quit after three days, as the physical nicotine withdrawal will end by then and the juices will just fatten you up after that.

Every time you feel like smoking when you’re trying to quit smoking, reward yourself for not doing it. If you feel like you’re about to go buy a pack of cigarettes, put that money to the side. After you do this for a while, buy yourself something nice that reminds you of your success.

Try to avoid places where people frequently smoke to avoid temptation. Stay away from smoking areas at bars, smoking rooms at work and other places where there are smokers, if you think the temptation may be too much. Also, when meeting friends or family that smoke, try to do so in a smoke-free atmosphere, such as, non-smoking restaurants and parks.

If you do not want to use nicotine replacement therapy to help you quit smoking, consider asking your doctor for a prescription. There are medications that can alter your brain chemistry and reduce your nicotine cravings. Taking one of these prescriptions may be just the aid you need to get you over the hump.

Try to avoid alcohol if you’re trying to quit smoking. Alcohol and cigarettes are naturally complimentary to each other. In addition, alcohol lowers your mental focus, meaning you are more likely to give in to temptation or peer pressure. If you avoid alcohol, you’re more likely to stay clear of mind. This might just mean that quitting becomes a bit easier.

To get off to the best possible start, talk to your doctor about your plan to quit smoking. Your doctor can be a valuable source of information and support and can also recommend the most effective way to quit, as well as, how to deal with the negative effects of nicotine withdrawal.

As stated before, many people are searching for ways to stop smoking. After reading the article above, you should have a better idea of the measures you should take to help you quit.

Apply these tips to get on the road to living a healthier life by eliminating smoking from your life.

Christopher Schmider focuses on vapor cigarettes