10 ways to quit smoking

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Agency: DNA Web Team, Michell Mathias: Quitting smoking is not that difficult if you are determined to stop. Here are different ways to quit smoking.

Keep in mind the benefits of quitting

Quitting has a number of positive effects. You just have to keep in mind those benefits each time you feel like smoking. Also remind yourself that quitting is not a difficult task. Find a replacement for your cigarette. Replace it with an apple or a chewing gum or something that you like more than a cigarette. Each time you feel like smoking, put that  favourite thing in your mouth.

Reduce smoking gradually

It's not necessary for you to stop suddenly in a day. Reduce smoking gradually. You can start by avoiding two, then three, then five and then an entire pack.

Exercise

Exercise helps people quit smoking. It helps in reducing the urge to smoke. Exercise can be in any form - 10 minutes of walking or cycling is sufficient enough for keeping yourself physically active and reducing the urge to smoke.

Read success stories

Everyday several people quit smoking and many people among them write their success stories. Read them. It will help in motivating yourself to quit smoking.

Tell people

Tell people around you that you're planning to quit. They'll surely encourage you. Spreading the word will also have a positive impact on others trying to quit. 

Keep a money box

You can save all the money you spend on cigarette packets, everyday. Keep the change in a box. Each time you remove money from your pocket to buy that one cigarette, don't buy it, instead put that money in a box. Save or donate to a charity of your choice. 

Throw your ashtray and lighter

Throw everything that reminds you of smoking - your ashtray, lighter and even cigarettes that you bought before quitting.

Reward yourself

Once you have successfully completed a week or a month of smoking - reward yourself. Not with a cigarette, but something else. For instance, reward yourself with a cheesecake, that one blueberry cheesecake that you were wanting to have since months but didn't get time for it. Purchase it with the money that you saved from quitting.

Try drugs that can help you quit

There are several prescribed drugs available at various pharmacies that can help you quit smoking. But don't forget to visit a doctor before you do.

Cut down on alcohol too

Alcohol is generally preferred with a smoke. So stay away from both.

Source: DNA

25 Ways to Stop Smoking Cigarettes

Get 25 ways to stop smoking cigarettes and ways to quit smoking for good to help you towards a healthier, smoke-free life.

For all the intense efforts to reduce smoking in America over the past two decades, the progress has not been stellar. Today one in four men and one in five women still smoke.

For those who never smoked, this is a befuddling fact. Don’t smokers understand that cigarettes are the number one killer in America, that they dramatically increase risk for heart disease, stroke, cancer, high blood pressure, and almost every other health concern, small or large? How could any habit be worth this?

Truth is, most smokers do understand. They also understand the huge financial toll of smoking, with a pack of 20 cigarettes costing $10 in some areas (imagine: $3,650 spent a year on cigarettes by pack-a-day smokers — often people of only modest resources).

Then why do millions still smoke? In good part, because the nicotine in cigarettes is highly addictive. In good part, because smoking provides psychological comfort to some people. Perhaps most of all, because quitting smoking is so hard.

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Researchers and businesses have responded strongly to the last point. Never have there been so many tools, systems, and programs available for quitting smoking. And with every month that passes, there is more research showing the benefits of quitting, and the drawbacks of not quitting.

So if you smoke, consider again whether it is time, finally, to quit. If yes, you’ll need to think through the best approach, perhaps working with your doctor or an expert. But the following 25 tips will help you succeed.

1. Make an honest list of all the things you like about smoking. Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper and write them on one side; on the other side make a list of all the things you dislike, such as how it can interfere with your health, work, family, etc., suggests Daniel Z. Lieberman, M.D., director of the Clinical Psychiatric Research Center at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Think about the list over time, and make changes. If you are brave enough, get feedback from family and friends about things they don’t like about your use of cigarettes. When the negative side outweighs the positive side, you are ready to quit.

2. Then make another list of why quitting won’t be easy. Be thorough, even if the list gets long and discouraging. Here’s the important part: Next to each entry, list one or more options for overcoming that challenge. For instance, one item might be: “Nicotine is an addictive drug.” Your option might be: “Try a nicotine replacement alternative.” Another reason might be: “Smoking helps me deal with stress.” Your option might be: “Take five-minute walks instead.” The more you anticipate the challenges to quitting, and their solutions, the better your chance of success.

3. Set a quit date and write a “quit date contract” that includes your signature and that of a supportive witness.

4. Write all your reasons for quitting on an index card and keep it near you at all times. Here are some to get you started: “My daughter, my granddaughter, my husband, my wife…”
You get the idea.

5. As you’re getting ready to quit, stop buying cartons of cigarettes. Instead, only buy a pack at a time, and only carry two or three with you at a time (try putting them in an Altoids tin). Eventually you’ll find that when you want a smoke, you won’t have any immediately available. That will slowly wean you down to fewer cigarettes.

Next: Readers Digest : More tips on how to stop smoking