How To Quit Smoking – 10 Top Tips

Giving up smoking can be one of the hardest things to accomplish for someone who has smoked cigarettes for a long time. The initial step to quitting the habit is to get in the right frame of mind. Getting yourself in that frame of mind and preparing to quit will give you a much better chance of success. Before you take the plunge and set yourself a quit date make sure you make a list of reasons why you need to give up the smoking habit.

Reasons to quit smoking may include you fearing getting sick or dying from a smoking related disease like cancer or emphysema, being tired of smelling like smoke all the time, not wanting to expose your children and family members to secondhand smoke, or it could be for financial reasons as well, you will save a lot of money by giving up. Once you have a list of reasons to quit smoking then set yourself a date on which you are going to give up (make it within a month).

After meditating on your list and getting to your set date that you are going to give up the cigarettes follow these 10 top tips to help you get through the first stages of quitting:

  1. Get rid of all cigarettes, ashtrays and lighters – Throw them away, wash your clothes and valet your car.
  2. Start an exercise program – Exercising relieves stress and will help your body recover quicker after years of nicotine abuse from the cigarettes. Even if you begin with walking, that’s fine, just exercise.
  3. Deep breathing – Every day for about 3-5 minutes breathe in deeply through your nose, hold the breath for a few seconds and exhale again slowly through your mouth. It helps to do this with your eyes closed.
  4. Clean your teeth - Or rather, have your teeth cleaned and if you can afford it, whitened by your dentist. Having clean, fresh feeling teeth will help inspire you and hold onto the thought that if you smoke you are going to turn your teeth yellow.
  5. Reward yourself – After you reach milestones such as one week without a cigarette or at the end of the first month of quitting etc, treat yourself and a loved one to a nice movie or something. After a big milestone like six months smoke free, treat yourself to a weekend away with the money you have saved from not having to buy cigarettes.
  6. Drink water – Many people find that drinking lots of water reduces cravings to smoke and the water will help to flush out toxins left in your body from the nicotine and other chemicals found in cigarettes.
  7. Know your triggers – If you have always enjoyed a cigarette with a cup of coffee then quit drinking coffee or cut down, if you have always enjoyed smoking with a drink at the pub or a party then stop drinking for a while. Easier said than done but you can have a drink again once you are past the nicotine cravings stage.
  8. Hold something – Part of a smokers addiction is the fact that they feel comfortable with a cigarette in their hands and almost feel undressed or uncomfortable without holding something. Use a nice shaped pen, pencil or even a drinking straw as a replacement for that need for now. Sounds a little odd but it will help some people.
  9. Photos – Keep a picture of your loved ones in your wallet or on your desk at work or anywhere else close to you during the day so that if you feel the urge to smoke you can look at the picture and remind yourself why you are giving up.
  10. Resistance – You will get cravings to deal with when you first give up smoking. You need to understand that these cravings will only last a few minutes and then go away again so resistance to this in the beginning is crucial. Know that these nicotine cravings will decrease as time goes by.

Try very hard when you decide to give up but should you not succeed the first time do not worry or get stressed about it. It is a fact that many smokers take a few (some a lot more) attempts before they actually crack it. Hopefully the 10 top tips on how to quit smoking above will help you give up cigarettes forever.