After 30 plus years as a chain smoker I was starting to feel the damaging effects of my addition. I always wanted to quit mostly for health reasons and taking the decision to stop smoking is surely the best thing I could do.
I did not have the motivation or determination to kick the habit for good although I new I really had to quit. Let me share with you a few stop smoking tips and what really did it for me and what forced me into stopping.
Just before going back home to Canada on a visit for a few months I bought my allowed two cartons of Marlboro for a bit less than 4 USD each. I am currently living in the Philippines where cigarettes are real cheap at approximately 50 US cents per pack. I had not returned to Canada in a few years so I almost had a heart attack when two weeks after arriving and running out of my cheap Lucky Strike’s I discovered I now had to pay over $9.00 for a pack of 25. It felt as if I was heading straight for bankruptcy and ultimately going to be DEAD broke.
To make things even even worst, the great and friendly City Of Davao where I made my new home in the Philippines had implemented a few drastic changes. Our now famous Mayor Rodrigo Duterte had decided to make Davao one of the first smoke free city in Asia and was throwing people in jail for breaking the law. So if you were caught smoking in public you would get a fine plus one night in the city jail. Man… was I in trouble then?
I had to quit and fast. I personally took the cold turkey route but I would not recommend this option to anyone because chances of failure are extremely high so here are my stop smoking tips if you want to increase your chance for success they may help you get on the road to dropping the habit for good
1. Sketch up a list of why you want to quit smoking. A list of clear set of goals in mind will help you stay on track. This way all your good intentions will have a greater chance of succeeding
2. Decide on a specific date to quit and stick to it. This may be the single most difficult stop smoking tip to follow but it is an extremely imperative first step. Don’t be tempted in trying to slowly cut down on your consumption, several researches have shown that most people only tend to smoke more of each single cigarette, keeping their nicotine levels at the same level as if they have not reduced their consumption at all.
3. Just tell somebody of your decision.
4. Put in the trash all the things that reminds you of smoking such as lighter, matches, ashtrays and obviously your cigarettes.
5. With the high price per pack, others will soon be avoiding you like the plague if you keep on begging for cigarettes so do not buy your own cigarettes anymore. Soon, very soon, you’ll become a loner.
6. Never carry a pack of cigarettes with you. This means you can not depend on having a cigarette when you need one. This is an effective behavioral change. As a result, you should outgrow the dependence – your crutch, your addiction – over time.
7. Sweat it out. It has been said that smoking and exercise don’t get along, so which one would you rather do? A great stop smoking tip that is also beneficial to your health is to establish an exercise routine. Exercising regularly will lessen your dependency on nicotine and is guarantee to get you into a much better shape. Cardiovascular exercise is a better option than lifting weights, but doing both isn’t a bad idea at all.
8. For a few days weeks or even months you should avoid exposing yourself to places or situations that would tempt you to smoke. Alcohol is the definite worst, so it may be a good idea to stay away from drinking if you are a person that relates smoking with alcohol
Immediately after quitting I suffered some very nasty withdrawal symptoms. I had headaches, nausea, stress, irritability, always cravings for food as well as cigarettes, and a general feeling of dizziness. Don’t be surprised as you will most likely experience one or more of these symptoms and you will simply have to tough them out for a few days or a few weeks but it will eventually go away.
Smoking is one of the nastiest habits to break so don’t be too hard on yourself if you relapse a couple of times. Nobody is perfect but if you stay focused YOU CAN DO IT. Each day that you win the fight is a step to success. Use any step backs as an opportunity to re-examine the reasons for smoking again, and figure out a better way to overcome such situations better in the future.
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