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How to quit smoking :
Before you quit smoking, try wrapping your cigarettes with a sheet of paper like a Christmas present. Every time you want a cigarette, unwrap the pack and write down what you are doing, how you feel and how important this cigarette is to you. Do this for two weeks and you will cut down as well as develop new insights into your habit.
Many smokers feel that cigarettes give them energy. Such people should try gum, modest exercise, a brisk walk or a new hobby. But keep in mind, most smokers tend to put on weight, so watch your diet and do not start eating rich foods.
If you gain weight while giving up smoking, don?t start dieting immediately. Wait until you have succeeded in giving up smoking first.
If cigarettes help you to relax, try meditating, drinking a new beverage or some new social activity.
Try choosing an opportune time to quit, such as when you are ill with a cold or flu and have lost your taste for cigarettes.
On a 3"x5" card, make a list of what you like and dislike about smoking. Add to it and refer to it daily.
Make a short list of things you have always wanted to buy. Next to each, write its cost. Convert each cost into number of packs of cigarettes. If you save the money each day, you will now be able to buy these items. Use a special piggy bank for collecting this money.
Do not smoke after you get the craving until at least 3 minutes have passed. During that time, change your thinking or activity. Telephone somebody you can talk to until the craving subsides.
Plan a memorable day for stopping. Choose a vacation, New Year?s Day, your birthday, a holiday, your child?s birthday, your anniversary. But don?t make the date so distant that you change your mind.
If you smoke under stress at work, pick a date when you are away from work.
Decide whether you are going to stop suddenly or gradually. If it is to be gradual, work out a tapering system so that you have immediate goals on your way to an ?I Quit? day.
Don?t store up cigarettes. Never buy by the carton. Wait until one pack is finished before you buy another.
Never carry cigarettes around with you at home or at work. Keep them as far away as possible. Leave them with someone or lock them up.
Until you quit, make a smoking corner that is far away from anything interesting.
Never smoke while watching television.
If you like to smoke with others, try smoking alone. If you like smoking alone, try to find the company of people who do not smoke.
Never carry matches or lighters around with you.
Put away ashtrays or fill them with flowers or nuts. Walnuts will give you something to do with your hands.
Change your cigarette brand so that you progressively smoke cigarettes with lower and lower tar and nicotine content.
Always ask yourself, "Do I really need this cigarette or is it just a reflex?"
Try to help someone else stop smoking.
Each day try to postpone lighting your first cigarette of the day.
Decide that you will only smoke on even or odd numbered hours or as the habit recedes, on odd or even dates.
Keep your hands occupied. Try a musical instrument, knitting or puzzles.
Make a major change in your habits. Seek new activities or perform old ones in new ways. Think of different ways to solve problems. Do things differently.
Get out of the house if you tend to smoke more at home.
Keep to places where smoking is not allowed, libraries, theatres, department stores or just go to bed early during the first few days when you are trying to give up smoking.
Keep light reading materials, crossword puzzles or brochures to read during coffee breaks.
Take a shower or do something where you cannot smoke.
Brush your teeth frequently to get rid of the tobacco taste and stains.
Visit your dentist after you quit and have your teeth cleaned to remove tobacco stains and stale tobacco taste.
When you have a craving for a cigarette, take 10 deep breaths, hold the last breath while you light a match and blow it out with the exhaled breath. Put the match out in an ashtray, as you would have a cigarette. Pretend that it was a cigarette you put out. Then immediately start another activity.
Only smoke half a cigarette and throw the rest away.
After you quit, start using your lungs. Increase your activities and start moderate exercise, such as walks.
Place a bet with someone that you can quit. Put the cigarette money in a jar each morning and forfeit it if you smoke, keeping the money if you don?t smoke by the end of the week. Gradually extend this period until you stop altogether.
Purchase a money order equivalent to a year?s supply of cigarettes and give it to a friend for safe keeping. If you smoke in the next year, your friend keeps the money order. If you don?t, he gives it back to you at the end of the year.
If you are depressed or have physical symptoms that might be related to your smoking, discuss it with a doctor. It is easier to quit when you are aware of your health status.
After you quit, decide on someone who you can call when you crave a cigarette. Never face the situation of craving a cigarette alone.
Before you quit smoking, try wrapping your cigarettes with a sheet of paper like a Christmas present. Every time you want a cigarette, unwrap the pack and write down what you are doing, how you feel and how important this cigarette is to you. Do this for two weeks and you will cut down as well as develop new insights into your habit.
Many smokers feel that cigarettes give them energy. Such people should try gum, modest exercise, a brisk walk or a new hobby. But keep in mind, most smokers tend to put on weight, so watch your diet and do not start eating rich foods.
If you gain weight while giving up smoking, don?t start dieting immediately. Wait until you have succeeded in giving up smoking first.
If cigarettes help you to relax, try meditating, drinking a new beverage or some new social activity.
Try choosing an opportune time to quit, such as when you are ill with a cold or flu and have lost your taste for cigarettes.
On a 3"x5" card, make a list of what you like and dislike about smoking. Add to it and refer to it daily.
Make a short list of things you have always wanted to buy. Next to each, write its cost. Convert each cost into number of packs of cigarettes. If you save the money each day, you will now be able to buy these items. Use a special piggy bank for collecting this money.
Do not smoke after you get the craving until at least 3 minutes have passed. During that time, change your thinking or activity. Telephone somebody you can talk to until the craving subsides.
Plan a memorable day for stopping. Choose a vacation, New Year?s Day, your birthday, a holiday, your child?s birthday, your anniversary. But don?t make the date so distant that you change your mind.
If you smoke under stress at work, pick a date when you are away from work.
Decide whether you are going to stop suddenly or gradually. If it is to be gradual, work out a tapering system so that you have immediate goals on your way to an ?I Quit? day.
Don?t store up cigarettes. Never buy by the carton. Wait until one pack is finished before you buy another.
Never carry cigarettes around with you at home or at work. Keep them as far away as possible. Leave them with someone or lock them up.
Until you quit, make a smoking corner that is far away from anything interesting.
Never smoke while watching television.
If you like to smoke with others, try smoking alone. If you like smoking alone, try to find the company of people who do not smoke.
Never carry matches or lighters around with you.
Put away ashtrays or fill them with flowers or nuts. Walnuts will give you something to do with your hands.
Change your cigarette brand so that you progressively smoke cigarettes with lower and lower tar and nicotine content.
Always ask yourself, "Do I really need this cigarette or is it just a reflex?"
Try to help someone else stop smoking.
Each day try to postpone lighting your first cigarette of the day.
Decide that you will only smoke on even or odd numbered hours or as the habit recedes, on odd or even dates.
Keep your hands occupied. Try a musical instrument, knitting or puzzles.
Make a major change in your habits. Seek new activities or perform old ones in new ways. Think of different ways to solve problems. Do things differently.
Get out of the house if you tend to smoke more at home.
Keep to places where smoking is not allowed, libraries, theatres, department stores or just go to bed early during the first few days when you are trying to give up smoking.
Keep light reading materials, crossword puzzles or brochures to read during coffee breaks.
Take a shower or do something where you cannot smoke.
Brush your teeth frequently to get rid of the tobacco taste and stains.
Visit your dentist after you quit and have your teeth cleaned to remove tobacco stains and stale tobacco taste.
When you have a craving for a cigarette, take 10 deep breaths, hold the last breath while you light a match and blow it out with the exhaled breath. Put the match out in an ashtray, as you would have a cigarette. Pretend that it was a cigarette you put out. Then immediately start another activity.
Only smoke half a cigarette and throw the rest away.
After you quit, start using your lungs. Increase your activities and start moderate exercise, such as walks.
Place a bet with someone that you can quit. Put the cigarette money in a jar each morning and forfeit it if you smoke, keeping the money if you don?t smoke by the end of the week. Gradually extend this period until you stop altogether.
Purchase a money order equivalent to a year?s supply of cigarettes and give it to a friend for safe keeping. If you smoke in the next year, your friend keeps the money order. If you don?t, he gives it back to you at the end of the year.
If you are depressed or have physical symptoms that might be related to your smoking, discuss it with a doctor. It is easier to quit when you are aware of your health status.
After you quit, decide on someone who you can call when you crave a cigarette. Never face the situation of craving a cigarette alone.