How to Quit Smoking - A Proactive Perspective

There are many things you can do while planning and beginning a quit smoking program which will increase the probability of your endeavor being successful.

First of all you need to have a strong desire to quit. Develop or fortify that desire by reviewing information and facts about the hazards of smoking and contemplate the consequences of continued smoking on you as well as on your loved ones who stand to suffer not only because of your ill health and possible premature death, but also the because of the harmful effects of secondhand smoke on their health.

Create short notes of why you want to quit such as the desire to live longer, to feel better, to look better, to protect your family from the harmful effects of secondhand smoking and to save money effects of secondhand smoke on their health and to save money. keep handwritten notes or place them on a digital drive such as a computer hard drive and read them at least once a day.

Next, develop a quit plan and set a date you plan to quit smoking for good. Record your plan in writing or digitally, realizing you might have to make adjustments in the quit date depending on your progress and circumstances.

Notify your family and friends of your decision to quit smoking and seek their support. Explain to them that you may become irritable or even irrational at times as you experience some of the withdrawal associated with quitting smoking.

Recognize and document what your smoking triggers are and devise a strategy for dealing with them, such as removing all ashtrays and cigarettes from the house and washing or steam cleaning all fabrics such as clothing, linen and draperies which harbor the smell of tobacco. It might also be necessary to shampoo the carpeting to get rid of recently coined third-hand smoke, which experts in the health field feel is harmful to health, particularly of children and infants.

Consult your doctor about quitting, especially if you plan to use nonprescription or prescription smoking cessation aids or have known medical problems, so as to increase the safety of your smoking cessation attempt and to increase the changes of it being successful.

Research any smoking cessation aid(s) you plan to use, to determine both their effectiveness and safety. You might consider visiting the website of the Food and Drug Administration as well as seeking the opinion of your physician.

Following the approval of your doctor, begin exercising three of four times per week once or twice per day as a starting point. Engage in anaerobic exercise such as walking is the best type to begin with. It helps to relieve stress, eliminate toxins from the body produced by smoking and promotes healing of the damage caused by prolonged cigarette smoking.

Once you actually begin your endeavor to quit smoking cutback on your smoking daily according to a set goal including the rate at which you will decrease the number of cigarettes per day smoked, unless you consider cold turkey to be the best approach for you.

Drink plenty of water to help flush the nicotine and other harmful chemicals in tobacco that have accumulated in your body from chronic tobacco use.

Change brands of cigarettes periodically while cutting back on your smoking because the flavor and chemical differences between brands tend to make smoking less automatic and less enjoyable, thus, making you more aware of the fact that smoking is a habit.

Curtail your cravings for nicotine with chewing gum, mints, toothpicks, flower seeds nicotine replacement aids, prescription drugs prescribed by your doctor, or other things that seem to work. Remember however, nicotine replacement products are not intended for long-term use and that prolonged use of them essentially substitutes one nicotine habit with another.

Make a genuine effort to find another smoker who is also trying to quit smoking and support one another by discussing the positive strides you are making.

Write down or record via computer how your smoking cessation plan is going. Acknowledge your successes and failures and record encountered or anticipated.

Recognize and document the health rewards you experience from quitting smoking such as an improvement of shortness of breath and reduction of blood pressure. It is a good idea to monitor your blood pressure with a home monitor prior to, during and after quitting smoking. Oftentimes review the positive data, particularly if you are tempted to resume smoking or you are hampered in your efforts to taper your cigarette smoking.

Monitor the amount of nicotine in your body and the lowering of the level as you quit smoking with the use of a quantitative nicotine test kit, and correlate the declining levels with differences in the way you feel, such as improved exercise tolerance and decreased coughing.

Reward yourself during and after you have successfully quit smoking in a way that is most encouraging to you and most likely to to motivate you to not to resume smoking. The reward could be something as extravagant as going on a Caribbean cruise or something as low-key as buying yourself a new pair of house shoes. Recognizing anniversary dates of your liberation from the addiction of nicotine, and continuing to reward yourself at those times can also serve as significant motivation to not resume smoking.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purpose only and is not intended to be a substitute for medical consultation with a qualified professional. The author encourages users of the Internet to be careful when utilizing medical information obtained from the Internet and to consult a physician if you are unsure about your medical condition or have any concerns about your health.

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