Smoking can affect your life’s quality. It affects how you look, stains your teeth and makes your clothes smell. It can also negatively affect your health. If you are able to stop, however, you can halt and even reverse these consequences. Don’t how how to start quitting? Check out the tips below.
Quitting can be easy if you know how to go about it correctly. Trying to quit by going cold turkey is never a good idea. Unfortunately, there is a 95% failure rate among those who attempt to quit without any help. Nicotine is so addictive that a method like therapy, the patch or medication is recommended. You’ll be better equipped to make it through withdrawal and quit smoking permanently.
Support Groups
Joining a good support group can help you quit smoking. It can be helpful to you to speak to people who know what you’re going through, who also can identify with the physical and emotional strain you may be experiencing. You will receive wonderful advice and support from these kinds of people as they have been in your shoes before. Support groups can be found at recreational centers, community colleges, or churches locally.
As soon as you decide to quit smoking, join a support group. Support groups can help you learn how to cope with the physical and emotional challenges you may experience while quitting. These people can offer tips, support, and guidance for quitting. Support groups can be found at recreational centers, community colleges, or churches locally.
Might hypnosis work for you? Each year, thousands of people utilize the services of licensed hypnotic therapists for help with their smoking addiction. The professional can entrance you and then give you positive affirmations. After the trance is broken, you may find that cigarettes hold little appeal, which puts you even closer to your goal of quitting.
If you have a desire to stop smoking, you should consider trying hypnosis. Many people have found it easier to stop smoking after visiting a hypnotist. After you are placed in a deep trance, the hypnotist will offer you positive affirmations that remain embedded in your memory. When you snap out of the deep trance, you may find that your love for cigarettes has diminished, making giving them up easier.
Quit smoking one step at a time. Giving up nicotine is a slow process. Do not think too far ahead in time. Just focus on today, as quitting now will help you in the future.
Proceed gently on a day-by-day basis as you work to stop smoking. Instead of thinking about stopping forever, think about taking it one day at a time. Reaching your goal one day at a time is easier to deal with mentally and physically. You can always have more goals that go well into the future as soon as you get comfortable with the commitment to quit.
Start exercising at home or join the local gym, to keep you occupied and prevent you from smoking. Exercising can help ease stress. If you do not currently exercise regularly, you can start slowly by walking regularly. Talk to your doctor before starting any exercise routine.
Delay Tactic
Utilize the delay tactic whenever you feel that you absolutely must have a smoke. 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.
When you have a smoking urge, try the delay tactic. With the delay tactic, you tell yourself that you will have a smoke in just ten minutes and go do something else. After those ten minutes are up, distract yourself with something else. Generally, a 10 minute delay will be all you need to get over the urge to smoke. If it hasn’t, then just keep repeating this process over and over as often as you need to.
Replace sweets with fresh produce to prevent gaining weight as you quit smoking. This can help avoid, or at least minimize, the weight gain often associated with smoking cessation. Feed your cravings with only the healthiest foods, like fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
There are wonderful supplements in the form of nicotine patches and even gum to help you stop smoking if you need some help. These over-the-counter medications supply your body with nicotine while you work to break the habit, which can help you stave off the worst of the physical withdrawal symptoms.
Nicotine replacement therapy is a great option. Nicotine withdrawal can make you feel depressed, restless, frustrated or irritable. Cravings can sometimes seem overwhelming. Nicotine replacement therapies may help you overcome these cravings while reducing the amount of nicotine in your body. Studies show that individuals who use nicotine gums, patches or lozenges double their chances of quitting successfully. Don’t use these products if you’re currently smoking.
If you want to stop smoking, visit your doctor. A physician has access to resources that you do not. Your doctor will also be able to write you a prescription for medication to help you quit smoking, if he or she feels that it is necessary.
Make a study of what triggers your smoking, and then find ways to avoid your triggers. If you always used to smoke while reading a book, you may have to temporarily put your book down until you have broken your smoking habit. Get another distraction then.
When you first quit, plan out various time-based milestones for which you will reward yourself. For instance, go to a movie after one week that you don’t smoke. On day 30 you can go out to dinner at a fancy restaurant. Continue on like this to gradually increase the rewards to the point you don’t think of smoking any more.
Refrain from smoking at all costs to maximize the chance to quit efficiently. Stopping is the only way to start the quitting process. Once you stop, don’t allow yourself to begin again. Commit to stopping, period. Over time, it’s the most effective method.
It is important to find ways to cope with nicotine withdrawals, in order to keep from giving in to your cravings and the stress they may cause. That could mean hitting the gym at the time of day when your cravings are worst, picking up a new hobby or getting a regular massage appointment. When you are experiencing down time, make sure you are distracted by fun things. Develop a hobby. Start engaging in an old one you haven’t done for a while. Grab lunch with a friend. Read a book. Anything that keeps you occupied is a good thing.
Come up with new plans for dealing with stress. Your smoking life was filled with reacting to stress by lighting a cigarette. Therefore, it is essential that you develop a strategy on what to do when stress occurs. Have a backup plan in case the first plan doesn’t work.
It is hard to stop smoking, but your benefits in terms of appearance, health and social status will make it worthwhile. Many, many people have successfully beaten this habit; you can, too. Why not try some of these tips today?
The first few days will be the hardest. In the first two days, your body will eliminate all the nicotine you have consumed. After that, your cravings will be mostly psychological. This means you will have no physical trauma from resisting those cravings.