Tip #8 - Stay Positive

Tips To Quit Smoking

Quitting smoking will be a very difficult ordeal. Having a positive attitude will help you overcome cravings, urges and frustrating days. Positive attitudes will improve your mood, health, limit stress and heighten your focus.

Be aware of when you start to become negative or pessimistic. When you catch yourself having negative thoughts, stop and ask yourself if this is truly a negative moment or is this just my first reaction. Most situations are not nearly as bad as people think they are.

Once this positive way of thinking is adopted you will notice the little things not bothering you anymore, you will become much happier and coping with hardships will become easier. 

Optimists enrich the present, enhance the future, challenge the improbable and attain the impossible. William Arthur Ward

Next Installment Tip# 9

Tip #7 Make A Plan

Tips To Quit Smoking

As with any goal in life, a well thought out plan will increase your odds of success dramatically. Without a plan of action you may never reach your goal. Plans give you stability and direction. If you wanted to make $100,000 a year you would have to map out a daily, weekly and monthly tasks to finally achieve your ultimate goal of earning more money. Just wishing for it will not make it so. So start planning.

First part of the plan should involve creating a support system. Tell friends and family that you are quitting smoking. Make a doctors appointment. Join a support group. Enlist all the people you think you will need to get you through what will be a difficult process.

The next step should include a list of your "triggers" and places that have a high risk of enabling your cravings. Adjacent to this list should be alternatives to smoking. You should have done this already if you've read Tip #1.

Third, obtain everything you will need for enacting the alternative to smoking. If you want to go to the gym to curb your cravings, make sure you have a workout schedule and routines. If you want to ride your bike, ensure that it is in good working order. Don't go in blind.

Once everything is in place, then you can pick the day you will quit. It is imperative that you have all that is needed at your disposal. When those cravings come you will be happy that you did so.

The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score. Bill Copeland

Next Installment - Tip #8

Tip # 6 Join A Support Group

Tips To Quit Smoking

Join a an online or in person support group. Support groups are an important step in a successful long term quit smoking strategy. There are plenty of online quit smoking forums and most cities have local support groups that meet weekly or monthly.

Support groups offer many benefits to someone trying to quit smoking. Groups offer encouragement, understanding, strength, and a place to be exposed to new ideas. Support groups are a great way to meet people that are experiencing the same struggles as you. After belonging to a group for a time you may start to feel very connected to people in the group as you help each other. Many times good friends are made through these groups. You may feel a great sense of community or accomplishment as you assist others with their strife.

Online forums and groups can be especially helpful as you can log on anytime you feel weak or have a craving. You will also have access to people all over the world that are going through similar experiences.

Always remember, you are not alone.

Next installment - Tip #7

Tip #5 Meditation

Tips To Quit Smoking

Meditation is the ancient mental practice of going beyond reflective thinking and into a profound state of consciousness and relaxation. It is thousands of years old and has be practiced by many civilizations. Meditation can be used for not only spiritual but psychological reasons as well.

Stress is one of the typical reasons (besides spiritual) people choose to meditate. Stress is also one of the principle reasons people smoke. Because of this, meditation can be an invaluable tool to reducing and controlling your stress levels, thus controlling your cravings.

Meditation is easy and doesn't require much time. All that is needed is a quite and comfortable place to sit and only 10 minutes a day. Start with concentrating on your breathing. By doing this, your mind can let go of the daily clutter. As time passes let thoughts enter and emotions go. There are numerous websites and books on meditation for a better understanding.

Along with stress control, meditation has numerous other health benefits. A few include:

-increase blood flow
-stress reliever
-detachment, you will begin to let go of the "small things" in life
-increase concentration
-lowers blood pressure
-builds serotonin levels which can combat depression, insomnia and headaches
-can resolve physical ailments due to mental agitation
-sense of well being
-resolution of past emotional troubles

Meditation has the power to improve your life in immeasurable ways.

Next installment - Tip #6 Join A Support Group

Tip #4 See Your Doctor

Tips To Quit Smoking

When undertaking anything involving your health it is always a good idea to consult your doctor. He can be a wealth of information and has your complete medical history. He will have insight to anything that might affect you in an adverse way and will be up to date on any new treatments for quitting smoking.

Your doctor can suggest treatments you may not have considered such as: the patch, nicotine gum like Nicorette, going to a specially trained counselor, enrolling in local programs, quit smoking hot lines, prescribing medication such as Zyban, or other methods.

The more information you can gather the more successful you will be.

Next installment - Tip #5 Meditation

Tip #3 Reasons For Quitting Smoking

Tips To Quit Smoking

Why do you want to quit smoking? It's an important question. Is it for your kids, for your health, to save money, to reclaim stamina so you can beat your friend at squash? What ever the reasons are, they are important.

In the beginning of the process of quitting smoking all the reasons are clear. As time goes on and the cravings grow, it is easy to lose sight of those reasons. The key is to constantly remind yourself of why you choose to quit.

One of the best ways to achieve this is to put pictures or quotes up to remind yourself as to why you quit. It could be a picture of your child or a picture of a diseased lung. It may seem extreme, but seeing that image every morning can be a powerful motivator.

Obtain a small cork board and pin pictures or quotes to it. It is imperative that you place it in a area where you will see it everyday. Add to it. Your reasons my grow as to why you want to quit. Distribute these pictures where ever you think you will need them. Put a motivational picture in your wallet or purse so if you ever feel weak you can look at it anytime.

" Nothing worthwhile ever happens quickly and easily. You achieve only as you are determined to achieve... and as you keep at it until you have achieved."
Robert H. Lauer

Next installment - Tip #4 See Your Doctor

Tip #2 Exercise

Tips To Quit Smoking

It only takes two cigarettes per day to have a detrimental affect on your cardiovascular and heart function. A study conducted at at the Miriam Hospital in Providence, R.I ascertained that people who did not exercise where twice as likely to start smoking again.

Exercise could arguably be one of the greatest things you can do for your health. It is a powerful tool in obtaining a smoke free lifestyle. Exercise will give you more energy, improve brain function, reduce stress and allow you to sleep better and deeper. Sweating also rids the body of many toxins.

Exercise is a exceptional way to repress nicotine cravings. When you begin to have a craving, go for a run, ride your bike, play catch or do some push-ups and/or sit-ups. By the time you've finished, your craving should have subsided substantially and you have taken a step to a healthier lifestyle. Physical activity is also an excellent way to counteract any possible weight gain that may happen when quitting smoking.

When commencing a new exercise routine start slow. Start by running for 20 minutes a day, three times a week then increase the duration of the run by 5 minutes every week or two. If you are lifting weights, begin with light weights and gradually increase the weight week to week. If you are new to an exercise or routine, consult a trainer or physician. Do some research on technique. Remember quality over quantity.

Set goals! When you are running, set a time goal for distance and by what date you want to accomplish this goal by. Make goals reasonable. If you make them too ambitious, it will discourage you. Goals should motivate and empower you.

Here are some exercises.

-tennis
-squash
-biking
-running
-racquetball
-baseball
-weight training
-elliptical machine
-stationary bike
-sit-ups/push-ups
-climbing stairs of an apartment building
-going for a walk
-yoga (great for strength, flexibility, and oxygen intake)
-aerobics
-swimming
-basketball
-football
-soccer
-hockey
-rock climbing

There are many many more. Find an activity you will love to do.

Next installment - Tip #3 Reasons To Quit Smoking

Tip #1 - Identify Your Triggers

Tips To Quit Smoking

Triggers are a considerable part of smoking. They are the moments that make us reach for that cigarette time and time again. They can be physical or psychological. A physical trigger is when your body is going through withdrawal and needs additional nicotine. These moments can be difficult but pass in time. A psychological trigger is formed from years of habit, as in smoking while having a coffee. These can be more challenging to break. Some triggers are so ingrained in our psyche that you may not ever realize that you are lighting up.

Recognizing your triggers is one of the most crucial components of quitting smoking. Without being aware of what causes you to reach for that cigarette you may never break it's hold over you. Triggers can include; stress, coffee, driving, television, eating, reading, being around other smokers and many many others.

Start by writing down all your triggers. Think about all the times you smoke and what was happening at that moment. Was it while driving? Was it while having a coffee? Was it stress? Now over the next few days be conscious of when you smoke and add any triggers you may have missed.

Now that you have compiled a "Trigger List," write down alternatives to smoking. If coffee was one of your triggers, you could instead switch to tea for a week. If your trigger is talking on the phone, try doodling instead. If your trigger is a cigarette after a meal try going for a walk or have a list of household tasks handy and do one of those.

Here is a small list of possible trigger substitutions.

-go for a walk (around the block or around the office)
-organize your closet, computer files, emails, etc.
-meditate
-play with the kids
-plan a special day for your significant other
-doodle
-brush and floss your teeth
-buy a puzzle game to occupy your hands
-chew gum
-ride a bike, you need your hands to steer
-get a new hobby, one that is not already associated with smoking
-surf the net
-eat a piece of fruit or vegetable
-call someone

Welcome To 11 Tips To Quit Smoking

Tip To Quit Smoking

Deciding to quit smoking is one of the best decisions someone can make. It will also be one of the hardest. I hope that these 11 Tips to Quit Smoking with make renouncing smoking a little easier.

Smoking is not only a physical addiction but a mental one as well. Many smokers associate smoking with

coffee, alcohol, driving and stress, and find it difficult to separate one from the other. Because of this, smoking becomes deeply rooted in our lives making it all the more difficult to quit. Nicotine is highly addictive. It can act as a stimulant (a boost) or sedative (relaxing), depending on the user and the situation they are in.

These are but a few of the health risks associated with smoking:

Can reduces life expectancy by 7-14 years

The cause of 90% of lung cancer cases

Smokers take 25% more sick days than non-smokers

Smoking doubles a person’s risk of stroke

5 million deaths, world wide, are attributed to smoking

Quitting smoking will take time, patience, and work. I hope these 11 tips to quit smoking help you.

Next installment - Tip #1 Identify Your Triggers