If you are experiencing an episode of craving, try a deep breathing exercise. This redirects your attention and helps you focus on your goal of quitting smoking. It might also help bring more oxygen into your lungs, which may give you a refreshed feeling. Deep breathing strategies are rather simple, and you can do them at any time.
The benefits outweigh anything else when you decide to quit smoking. Keep these many benefits in mind, and always be on the lookout for new tips and techniques, such as those you will find here, to help you on your way. Call upon these guidelines whenever you feel overwhelmed, and you can begin to kick the habit once and for all.
The first week is always the hardest when you stop smoking. In fact, the first two days–approximately 48 hours–are the worst part of quitting, because you’re detoxifying from nicotine. After the first two days, expect to experience mostly psychological cravings. Understanding this can make resisting the cravings less traumatic.
If you suffer from an addiction to cigarettes and you’re a good writer, try writing yourself a song or a poem about what it means for you to stop smoking. Carry it with you and read it when you need motivation. It has been reported that this can be a quit smoking technique that does work.
When you are planning to stop smoking, it is crucial you think about the many difficulties you might encounter right after you quit. Most people who fail to quit smoking will do so within a few months of first quitting. You may be tempted to have a smoke if you are tired or feeling undue stress. Be aware of things that trigger you to smoke.
Many creative types have discovered that keeping a detailed journal can help in the battle to stop smoking. People often smoke in order to calm down and relax their nerves. Regularly writing in a journal offers another, more healthy means of working out stress, depression, and anxiety. Best of all a journal is essentially free.
Try to practice deep breathing exercises to help you during cravings. Count to ten while breathing in deeply through the nose. Hold your breath and exhale slowly through your mouth after counting to ten. Doing this type of breathing exercise causes you to focus completely on breathing as well as helping you reduce the stress that may be triggering you to want to light up. Furthermore, breathing deeply allows you to remain aware of the improvements in your respiratory system that will continue the longer you stay away from cigarettes.
If you’re not comfortable using the patch or other medication, try doing acupuncture. A skilled acupuncturist can help reduce or eliminate cravings by inserting fine needles into strategic places on your body. Acupuncture may seem agonizing, but the results are beneficial and the pain is minimal.
When you are trying to quit smoking, eat plenty of nuts, vegetables, and fruits. Eating low-calorie and healthy food help people quit for many reasons. If you have something to occupy your mouth and hands, you can substitute the behavior of smoking. Including these foods in your daily diet can also help to cut down on possible weight gain. These nutrients can also help to minimize withdrawal symptoms.
Think of strategies that provide frequent visual reminders to keep your mind motivated constantly. You can put up motivational messages in your office, or wear a piece of jewelry that represents your goals. These reminders will give you the drive you need to fight temptations.
If quitting smoking cold turkey is not an option, supplement your attempts with nicotine replacement products such as nicotine gum or patches. Such easily accessible tools can provide you with the nicotine your body craves as you work to kick the habit free from the difficult symptoms of withdrawal.
Once you have decided to quit smoking, start making a written list of all your motivations for quitting. Every time you feel that you are on the verge of giving up and lighting up, re-read the list as a motivational tool for you to continue on your path.
Talk to your physician to see if he can help you quit. Your physician could have additional resources or methods for stopping smoking that you did not know existed. If your doctor thinks that it is appropriate, they may prescribe you medication to assist with the quit.
To help with getting the determination to quit smoking, remember your loved ones and how your smoking impacts your health and theirs. Statistics prove that a high number of deaths in America can be attributed to smoking every year. You don’t want to be another statistic.
Set up an incentive plan for yourself. When you reach one of your goals, reward yourself. Keep a list of possible rewards you will give yourself when you make it a day without smoking, or a week, or a month, and so on. Put this list on the refrigerator and look at it every morning before work or school. When you are feeling weak, use it to keep you on track.
Quitting a smoking habit is hard enough, but dealing with your smoking triggers will help you out immensely. Consider alternate activities during the times you normally would have had a cigarette. Try to use other things to distract your thoughts, if you are thinking about smoking.
Hypnosis might be something you should try if you desire to quit smoking. If you decide to try hypnosis, make an appointment with a licensed hypnotist. When you visit a hypnotist’s clinic, you will be put into a trance state and positive affirmations about quitting will be embedded into your mind. When you wake up, you may find that cigarettes have somewhat lost their appeal, which is a positive step in the quitting process.
When you are quitting smoking, you may experience many different emotional changes along your journey. The cravings are real, and it can prove very easy to just give in to smoking again. By documenting these cravings in a journal, including times, strength, actions and feelings will help you pinpoint when the cravings happen and what caused the craving to appear.
Take a bit of time to reflect on why you are wanting to quit. Jot down a few of your top reasons for quitting, and carry the paper in your wallet or pocket. Whenever you feel the urge to smoke, look at the paper and review why quitting is so important to you.
It can be easier to stop smoking when you are aware of when and where you tend to smoke. Determine when you feel most tempted to have a cigarette, so you can tweak your quitting plan appropriately. If you know when cravings are most likely to strike, then you will be better prepared to stave them off.
When you quit smoking, you need to make an effort to only visit non-smoking establishments. Try a day at the movies or spend an afternoon or two at museums. If you drink coffee, have it inside instead of outside, where you can smoke. Keeping yourself out of the chance of smoking will help you lessen your cravings.
Replace your smoking habit with a fitness habit. Your body will return your efforts with greater stamina and more efficient workouts as you recover from the physical damage from tobacco abuse. You will be less likely to turn back the progress on all your hard work by smoking if you have a steady workout routine.
Find a friend to quit with. If one of your friends is also trying to quit smoking, you can support each other by teaming up. On top of creating a support system, the two of you can find alternative activities to replace your smoking habits together. In addition, you can share with each other the knowledge you’ve both learned so that you can both quit.
If you hope to stop smoking, try to avoid any situations that would trigger the need for a cigarette. If you are used to smoking while you drink coffee in the morning or during your office happy hour, think about altering your routine. Having your coffee in the car or avoiding the bar allows you to short circuit your cravings.
Try to make it as easy as possible on yourself to quit smoking. Don’t go the cold turkey route. Statistically, people who try cold turkey fail 95{2355ea2c7ad4da56595c30f119dc94d1a78a8e11691e94960036667b125b9b41} of the time. Try strategies such as medication, therapy, or a patch. This will help you to get through the early stages of withdrawal and will make it easier to quit smoking. Replace smoking with another (albeit healthier) vice, regardless of what the critics say. You’re not quitting for your critics – you’re quitting for yourself. If you quit smoking and find yourself frustrated by gloating comments, express these emotions in a gentle, yet assertive way. If you take pleasure in your new vice and keep that person in his or her place, you might find joy in quitting.
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