reward yourself Archives

Stop Smoking Forever With These Super Tips

If you really don’t want to smoke, do some deep breathing exercises. This allows you to step back and refresh your memory about your reasons for quitting to begin with. It will bring oxygen into your body, relaxing you and helping to clear your mind. These breathing techniques are easy to learn, and you can do them anywhere.

If you want to be successful when trying to stop smoking, you need to be motivated. If you are able to stop smoking, the benefits you receive are numerous. One of them will be adequate to motivate you when it gets tough. You can improve your health and look and feel better by quitting smoking. You also save money, lower your risk of smoking-related diseases. You protect your family as well. Because of this, you should put the following tips to use to realize those benefits.

Believing in your own strength and determination is key to quitting smoking. You must believe in your ability to actually be free of this habit. Surely, you have been able to achieve other tough things over the years. Remember what you have been able to beat in the past and use those same skills to quit smoking.

Reward Yourself

Find a good support group to help you quit smoking. Support groups can help you learn how to cope with the physical and emotional challenges you may experience while quitting. These people can offer tips, support, and guidance for quitting. You can find groups for support at local churches, recreational centers, or community colleges.

TIP! If you aren’t successful on your first attempt, don’t be discouraged. Most people do fail on their first attempt but use it as a learning experience for your next time.

Have a plan to reward yourself when you are trying to stop smoking. Quitting cigarettes will give you a bunch of extra money. Start collecting that money and using it to reward yourself when you meet goals. This benefit from not smoking can motivate you to continue living healthy.

Reward yourself for passing milestones on your journey. For instance, you might decide to see a movie as a treat to mark one week without a cigarette. After one tobacco-free month, reserve a spot at a restaurant that you rarely get to enjoy. This will help to increase motivation for your reward in an effort to eliminate smoking from your thoughts.

TIP! Tell everyone around you that you have made the decision to quit smoking. There is no better motivator for staying the course than that of getting continuous encouragement and support from those important to you.

Each time you hit a landmark in your regimen to stop smoking, reward yourself. Create a list of the rewards you will give yourself when you’ve made it past certain dates. Make sure you can see that list every single day. It might provide inspiration and motivation during difficult times.

Consider participating in a clinical trial. You will have the opportunity to try out new medications that can make it easier to quit while being compensated for your time. Ask your doctor about the risk of any study before you start one.

TIP! You may want to try nicotine replacement therapy. When you withdraw from nicotine, you may feel restless, depressed, irritable or frustrated.

Decorate a glass jar and use it for the cash you would have used for cigarettes. Once a year has passed, use the money to buy something nice for yourself. Smoking cigarettes is expensive, and once you quit you might even have enough saved for a nice little vacation!

If you are trying to stop smoking, getting adequate sleep is important. If your body feels like it is really tired, don’t battle it. A lot of people who smoke have found that getting sleep can help them stave off temptation. Sleep can also give your body the time it needs to heal from your addiction.

TIP! If you want to stay away from any weight gain that you will have that is involved with quitting smoking, try eating fruits and vegetables. This can help avoid, or at least minimize, the weight gain often associated with smoking cessation.

Get a quitting buddy when trying to stop smoking. If you have a friend who is also attempting to quit, then partner up with this person and provide support to each other. In addition to the direct support you give each other, you can start some new habits and joint activities to take the place of smoking in your lives. As you each try different things, you may also share among yourselves your new findings.

Once you have begun to quit, it is a good idea to buy a lot of bottled water. Not only will you stay hydrated as you quit your smoking habit, but you’ll also be able to satisfy the need to put something in your mouth. The higher hydration levels will also flush nasty things out of your body faster. Once you get over the cravings, take your bottled water money and save it for a reward.

TIP! Start exercising at home or join the local gym, to keep you occupied and prevent you from smoking. Exercise will help you in stress relief as well.

You can quit today. Do not procrastinate and identify a start date a few months down the road; today is the perfect time to begin. Quitting today will stop you from taking another step towards a possibly fatal illness. You also keep your family from falling victim to secondhand smoke, making it that much more important to quit.

If you have quit smoking recently, keep a big bag of lollipops close by. Have a sucker when you find yourself craving a cigarette. The stick from the sucker helps to occupy the hand that you usually use to hold a cigarette. The candy part can also keep your mouth occupied. By keeping your mouth and hand occupied, you’ll start to lose the craving for a cigarette.

Deep Breathing

To stop smoking, you have to understand what triggers your craving. These triggers can include work, stress, even arguing with your spouse! Avoid your triggers whenever possible. If you cannot avoid certain factors, learn how to cope with them.

TIP! Many people have discovered that counseling can help them to stop smoking. There are often emotional issues lurking behind the urge to smoke.

Deep breathing can help fight off cravings. Breathe deeply through your nose and count to ten. Hold the breath and then release it through your mouth while also counting to ten. This exercise effectively reduces craving-related stress and refocuses your attention. Not just that, but deep breathing can help you see how your respiratory is getting better each day you don’t smoke.

Smoking is often used as an aid to getting through stressful events. If this is the case, you will need to find another technique to use for relaxing when you are stressed out. Rather than lighting up, some people find immediate stress relief in learning yoga or taking the time to meditate.

TIP! Find new items to replace your habit of putting something in your mouth. As an example, you can take a toothpick and hold it in your mouth.

Boost your capacity to deal with nicotine withdrawal, by using healthy methods of coping with its side effect of stress. Adopt healthier habits and hobbies such as working out, taking long walks, or listening to music and dancing. If you know you will have some free time, fill it with fun distractions like a new book or game or coffee with a friend.

Consider writing about the reasons that you desire to quit smoking. Read it every day. Many people have found this to be a highly effective strategy for maintaining their motivation.

TIP! Exercise is a great distraction from the aggravating symptoms of withdrawal. Working out encourages your body’s production of craving-relieving endorphins and also helps your body to clear out any residual toxins faster.

Your success is contingent on maintaining your motivation. You can do this by putting messages on the wall to remind yourself of the goals that you set. Whatever method you use, the visual reminders might be helpful in combating the cravings at a later time.

Once you make the decision to stop smoking, it is critical that you resolve to persevere. Most ex-smokers had to struggle to overcome their addiction for months or even years before succeeding. If you get sucked into smoking again, try to understand what made you do it and continue with your decision to quit smoking. Do not let this relapse stop you from your ultimate goal of quitting.

TIP! Consider nicotine replacement therapy options to minimize the agony of nicotine withdrawal when giving up cigarettes. You can avoid withdrawal with things like nicotine patches and nicotine gum while also breaking your smoking habit.

Don’t allow anyone to smoke in your home while you are in the process of quitting. It is much easier to stop smoking if the convenience of it is taken out of the equation. If you have to go out in the cold or have a smoke away from the internet and the TV, you might kick the smoking habit sooner.

Decorate a glass jar and fill it with the dollars that would have gone towards your cigarettes. Once a year has passed, use the money to buy something nice for yourself. Seeing how much money you are saving by not buying cigarettes is a good incentive to quit.

You may experience cravings on and off throughout your life. Don’t let it throw you off if you suddenly feel the urge to smoke long after you’ve quit. The important thing is to resist these cravings when they occur. Reaffirm the effort you went through to reach the point you are at now. Is it worth the risk and trouble again?

Stop SmokingAcupuncture is an alternative to nicotine patches or medication. If you don’t want to use prescription aids to help you stop smoking, acupuncture may be for you. Through the use of needles, acupuncture can help to relieve craving-induced tension and can also help to clear toxins from your body by improving circulation. It may seem a little extreme, but the pain is minuscule.