Saturday, July 28, 2007

Quit smoking tips: 10 of the best

It is difficult for people to quit smoking (or so we are told) and until you actually realise it can be easy you could benefit from some quit smoking tips. You will need help to keep you off the smokes as long as you have this negative attitude to quitting. The following is a list of widely accepted tricks to help you get through the process of quitting.

Quit smoking tip #1: Rid your entire life of cigarettes and all the paraphernalia of smoking such as lighters, matches, ashtrays etc. Never carry cigarettes with you.

Quit smoking tip #2: Accept that you are never going to have another cigarette as long as you live. Understand that the only reason you could possibly need any smoking paraphernalia is because you plan on smoking again.

Quit smoking tip #3: Don't kid yourself that you will let your friends smoke in your house. You must ban smoking from every aspect of your life. Your house, your car, your back yard.

Quit smoking tip #4: Never doubt your decision to quit smoking. It was the right decision.

Quit smoking tip #5: Every time you crave a cigarette, feel proud that you have gone this long without one and you can manage even longer.

Quit smoking tip #6: Drink plenty of water and drink plenty of citric fruit juices for the first couple of days. Stop drinking sugary drinks after day 3 or you will put on weight.

Quit smoking tip #7: If you are worried about getting fat, start using the stairs at work or whenever you can. If you have to go somewhere within a mile, walk instead of cycle or taking the car.

Quit smoking tip #8: Start eating healthy food. Stay off the pastries, sweets, potato chips and chocolates. Eat raw vegetables and plenty of fruit. Without smoking, these things start tasting even better than normal.

Quit smoking tip #9: Set aside a jar to put all your cigarette money in. You will be saving over $30 a week if you are a normal smoker. Use this money to spend on something extravagant for your self after the first week and then after the first month.

Quit smoking tip #10: Tell everyone you know that you are quitting smoking. Ask them for their encouragement - they will give it. Smokers and non-smokers and ex-smokers especially, will all be 100% behind you. No-one likes seeing friends or family killing themselves.

There are many support methods out there to help smokers quit. You can use nicotine replacement therapy (which I seriously don't recommend), zyban or chantix with 16% and 22% apparent success rates. There are also other methods that do not use drugs or pharmacological interventions such as hypnotherapy or cognitive behavioural therapy. These methods generally boast better long term results than drugs do.

My advice to anyone trying to quit smoking is to be prepared to try any and every method you can. Invest money (particularly if it comes with a money back guarantee) because it is money well spent. No-one can tell you which method will work best for you so you can only find out by trying all the methods.

As always, never stop trying to quit smoking.

Pete Howells has written the EasyQuit System that will help any smoker quit tobacco. He also blogs quit smoking advice at http://quit-smoking-motivator.blogspot.com Visit http://easyquitsystem.com/ to find out more about his incredible process for quitting smoking that boasts 96% customer satisfaction.