I Want to Quit Smoking. What Do I Do?

I Want to Quit Smoking. What Do I Do?

Once you have quit smoking, you will feel better, save a ton of money and live a longer life. But before you can successfully quit, you need to get a strategy in mind for kicking the habit. Most people aren’t going to be able to quit just like that. They need a plan and some help to make it through the tough weeks ahead.

Get Some Help

This is not something you should do alone. You definitely want to have as much help as you can get as you try to quit. So tell your friends, family, coworkers and everyone you spend time with. Let them know you are trying to quit so they can offer encouragement, not smoke around you and make sure you are keeping up with your promise.

You don’t just have to gather support from those you know. You can join a quit smoking message board and find people who are able to help you with your unique experience. You can also call a quit smoking hotline or join a quit smoking group (like Alcoholics Anonymous, but for smokers).

Manage the Symptoms

You are also going to need some help dealing with the withdrawal symptoms. You can use Nicorette or some other nicotine quitting aid. Patches, gum, lozenges and more all offer smaller doses of nicotine than the average cigarette and help you ease out of you habit.

You are going to suffer some withdrawal symptoms, and it helps to know what they are and how to manage them. You can get rid of a lot of cravings by having sweet foods nearby. You are probably going to have a hunger for those kinds of foods anyway while you quit, so make sure you have them available.

 Keep Reminding Yourself Why You Are Quitting

One of the most common ways people fail at quitting their smoking habit is from losing their focus. They start getting a craving and it clouds their mind. This causes them to lose track of why they are quitting in the first place.

So make sure there are constant reminders around you. You can make a quit smoking page your homepage so you see it every time you turn on your computer. You can have a quit smoking site send you text or email each day to encourage you. You can also hang up motivational posters or a list of reasons why you are quitting in areas you frequent.

Basically, what you are trying to do is constantly remind yourself why you are quitting. Once those cravings hit, it can be easy to lose sight of why you are kicking the habit, but with constant reminders, it will be easier to stay on track.

Don’t Give Up

You are probably going to fail at quitting a little here and there. You might give in to temptation, but that doesn’t; necessarily put you back at square one. If you can keep on going and not let the setbacks get you down, you can overcome this toxic habit.