Quit smoking with these 5 tips

You have recently decided to give up smoking? Or maybe you have been trying to quit a couple of times, but your attempts turned out to be unsuccessful? Not to worry - with discipline and persistence, these 5 tips will help you finally stop with this bad habit.

1. Make preparations before the quit day

Pick a date in the near future that will give you just enough time to prepare. It's important you've already chosen the way to quit - abruptly or gradually. Both methods are more or less equally successful - it depends on the type of the person.

So, inform everybody about your decision and throw away all cigarettes and ashtrays. Prepare nicotine replacement therapy or any other you opted for (or maybe you want to go "cold turkey"). Get various oral substitutes, like sugarless gum, straws, hard candy or even carrot sticks. Ask people you know not to smoke in front of you and make sure you can contact somebody who has successfully quit smoking.

On your first day, don't smoke at all and do your best to stay busy all day. If you have applied to a stop-smoking group, attend a meeting. Avoid alcoholic beverages and drink more water and juice. If you already know which daily activities create the urge to smoke, avoid them on your first day, as well as people who are smokers.

2. Cope with cravings successfully

If the urge still appears (which definitely will at some point), delay lighting up the cigarette until the urge passes, probably between 3 and 5 minutes. Deep breathing and visualizing also help. Breathe in through your nose very slowly, and exhale through the mouth. At the same time, visualize your lungs filling with this fresh, clean air.

Another trick is to keep your hands busy rather than holding a cigarette. Squeezing balls or pencils is good tactile stimulation. Keep your mind busy, too by playing an online game, doing a crossword or a Sudoku puzzle or just about anything you enjoy doing.

Drinking water slowly can also help stop the urge but hydrating your body also eases the nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Brushing your teeth is another trick to stop the carving with its clean feeling in the mouth.

3. Go gradually with alternative therapies

Some people find it easier to gradually quit smoking through alternative approaches. Some of these approaches may prove to be highly effective for you while others could have no effect at all. The point is to get informed on them all and opt for a couple of them which you believe could help you when combined.

The first thing to mention is definitely e-cigarettes. They produce vapor that you inhale and exhale - a process called vaping. Vaping has had some promising results when the research was done to identify whether it can help with quitting smoking. The fact that is much less toxic to use e-cigarettes than to smoke tobacco. Regular tobacco cigarettes contain around astonishing 7,000 chemicals and the majority of them are toxic. On the other hand, e-cigarettes heat nicotine and you get to only inhale the vapor together with flavor added. Thanks to the popularity of e-cigarettes, many companies offer various types like premium e liquid that come with great flavors like coffee or gummy bear.

Of course, you can combine this approach with activities like yoga and meditation. They have proved to be very helpful when a person is trying to give up a bad habit. Some people find acupuncture, hypnosis and herbs helpful but again - they should be combined with other options to increase the chance of success.

4. Using the help of NRT

Some people find it easier to have some form of medical aid to quit smoking. NRTs can ease some of the symptoms associated with nicotine withdrawal and they can also ease the cravings. They provide you with a controlled dose of nicotine without any harmful chemicals usually present in tobacco. There are five types of NRTs that have proven to be most successful. Those include lozenges, chewing gums, skin patches and two types that can be used only with prescriptions: nasal spray and inhaler.

However, it is recommendable to consult your doctor before you opt for any of these. In case you experience nausea, dizziness, vomiting, irregular heartbeat or any other unpleasant state, consult your doctor as soon as possible.

5. Get behavioral support

Many people find it immensely helpful to share their struggles with others, especially with those who are professionally trained to assist you with your withdrawal. You can try self-help materials, turn to counsel or support services and see how your physical symptoms decrease over time as your emotional support gets stronger.

Behavioral support includes any type of written form, group therapy or individual counseling. It can be done face to face, over the phone or online. Even though self-help materials can provide support, individual counseling has proven to be most effective.

Final words

As with any other addictive bad habit, quitting smoking will probably turn out to be a struggle. But it's not by any means a struggle from which you can't come out victorious. A detailed plan and a lot of determination and discipline will help you become a healthier individual.