I, like many others before was not able to quit cigarettes on my first try. In fact, it took me many attempts before I was finally able to quit for good. I haven’t smoked a single cigarette for over 3 years now. I can tell you from firsthand experience that just the attempt to quit really helps you give up smoking in the long run. There is a big difference between knowing what to expect and not knowing at all what you the challenges will be. For me, the failures served me well in the end and on my last try I was very relaxed about the whole process of quitting smoking.

The first time you stop smoking, the urge to smoke catches you by surprise, because it is much stronger than you ever expected it to be. I remember on the first day of my first attempt to stop smoking, I was so nervous about not being able to smoke that I could not relax not even for a minute. Needless to say, I failed miserably on my first attempt and I believe I lasted about 5 hours without a smoke. I tried again after couple of months, but I found it very surprising that I wasn’t as nervous as the first time. I thought I’d be even more stressed, but knowing what to expect really kept me composed and relaxed. I had failed again on my second try, but I lasted a little over 24 hours without a single cigarette.

I found myself more and more used to the idea of giving up smoking and at every attempt I lasted a little more than the previous without having to smoke. I can’t even remember after how many attempts, but at some point I just because extremely confident about my ability to go without smokes. I told myself that if I could go without smoking for 3 days, then I probably would have gone past the most difficult part of the whole quitting process. I was right. I was able to last for 36 hours without a cigarette and by then the urge to smoke was not as intense as the first and the second day. I knew I had succeeded to give up smoking and it had happened after multiple tries.

Do not concern yourself over having failed to quit smoking or to fail to quit smoking on your first try. Every attempt you make, you are one step closer to kicking the habit for good and it is not a failure by any measure. So go on and give your second and third try, you will quit smoking in time but you have to continue trying. If you feel that you need some additional help to quit smoking successfully, then click here to quit once and for all.

©2012 GIVING UP SMOKING. All Rights Reserved.

One of the most important aspects of quitting smoking is the fact that everyone does it a little differently. To give you an example, two people can quit smoking using the cold turkey method, but the two can go about it drastically different. Smoker number one will set a quit date and buy himself enough packs of cigarettes to last him until his set date. Smoker number two will smoke his cigarettes as usual and he will quit on the day, hour, and the minute on which he feels the most confident to quit. Both have quit cold turkey, but the way they approached it is very different.

That’s where you come in to the picture. You have to understand that no matter how other former smokers have quit cigarettes and regardless of what the authority in quitting smoking informs you of (CDC for example), in the end, you have to experiment on what’s right for you. Over 90 percent of smokers who try to quit fail on their first try and the statistic for the second time quitter are not that great either. But the ones that are persistent, the ones that continue to try quit smoking and to try to experiment with how they should go about it are eventually successful.

To give up smoking successfully, you have to create your own personal stop smoking plan. You cannot depend only on what others have done to quit smoking, because you are a unique individual under unique circumstances that requires a stop smoking plan that works best for you. The best person to come up with this plan is you and you can do this by experimenting with the process of quitting smoking. If you speak to hundreds of former smokers like I have, you learn that the little difference, the little details can become crucial in quitting successfully.

Some former smokers will swear by their experience that it is easier to quit smoking the first thing in the morning (start the day smoke free), but I have also seen plenty people who say they needed that last drag during the day before they kissed goodbye their addiction for good. Here are some more examples. Some former smokers say they couldn’t stop smoking successfully until they changed their cigarette from regular flavor to light flavor. Some also claimed that it was helpful to smoke more than usual on the day they decided to quit. Reasons varied from “I was pretty sick of smoking”, to “I needed one last big shot of nicotine before I quit”.

No matter how unscientific, the fact remains that these little quirks can mean the difference between successfully giving up smoking, and failing miserably time after time. So don’t worry about the past failures and do your best to try to learn from them. Try to remember what helped you the most with the craving, the time of the day the craving was the worse, and all other details that might help you on your next try. You can also try going smoke free on different hours of the day and for different length of time. This will give you a pretty good idea of what to expect the next time you quit smoking and it could be important because lots of smokers go into a mini panic attacks on their first day of quitting smoking.

Don’t just depend on the generic guides that are written by medical professionals and other qualified sources. Meet your personal need with your knowledge and create your own personal stop smoking plan and you will give yourself the best chance to successfully quit smoking for good.

©2012 GIVING UP SMOKING. All Rights Reserved.

The first thing you have to understand is that preparation is a must if you want to quit smoking successfully. The effects of smoking cessation may vary on the individual, but the word “easy” isn’t something that is commonly associated with quitting smoking. Do not be discouraged though, anyone can quit smoking with the right preparation.

Before you burn through that last cigarette, you are going to write down the reasons why you must quit smoking. In the coming days, your patience and your fortitude will be tested to their limit and you are going to need all the motivations that can help you pull through. Health seems like an obvious reason to quit smoking, family can be a wonderful motivator and especially if you have children, and your love life can be taxed heavily as well if your partner is not a smoker. Write down the reasons why you must quit smoking and remind yourself of them every time you are tempted to light one up.

There’s also the matter of getting rid of all your smoking accessories such as lighters, matches, ashtrays, and anything in particular that might make you want to smoke. Throw away all your emergency cigarettes, the ones you safe keep in case you are caught without cigarettes at late nights and don’t expect to fall on them when the going gets tough. You can’t possibly quit smoking successfully if you are also preparing for the failure. Get rid of everything and anything that has to do with smoking cigarettes, period.

The next step is optional, but it isn’t a bad idea to experience the effects of smoking cessation for few hours before you jump in to the real thing. Pick a day and try to go without smoking a single cigarette for few hours or maybe even a day if you are not a heavy smoker to begin with. The first time you force it upon you, it can be a bit of a shocker and often time people give up quitting on that initial shock. Knowing how it feels can actually prepare you for the real thing, but this is more in the line of shaping your mindset, so do this only if you think it may help you.

The final advice is for the actual act of stopping smoking for good. On the day you choose to quit smoking, make sure you start the day clean without a single puff of smoke. If you jump start the day with a fresh dose of nicotine in your system, you will find that it’s very difficult to initiate the actual quitting. Have your last cigarette the night before and you will give yourself a much better chance to quit smoking for good.

The few days after quitting smoking will truly test you, but as the days become weeks the cravings will fast become very tolerable. Soon after you’ll start to feel better, breathe easier, and smell much nicer too. In the end, it will be all worth it because the successful quitting of cigarettes will have positive effects in your life in more ways than you can imagine now. Quit smoking naturally today, it’s safe, it’s clean, it’s free, and most of all, anyone can do it with the right preparation and motivation.

If you feel that you need additional help, but you still want to quit smoking naturally, click here for a preview of a quit smoking system that can help you rid of nicotine addiction. The information you find on this site (givingup-smoking.com) are all free of course, but this course I am recommending is not. It’s a system that has been around for many years and the longevity of the system is what I like the most. Weak systems come and go fast, but the great ones stand the test of time. It’s got a 60 day money back guarantee, so you can always return it if it doesn’t work out for you.

©2012 GIVING UP SMOKING. All Rights Reserved.

We are seeing smoking ban everywhere and there’s no sign that the trend will slow down anytime soon. In developed nations across the globe, the activity of smoking is viewed negatively even in places allowed. People have tendency to become bolder or at times careless when a negative act is done within a large group. The cigarette smoker’s tendency to smoke in groups may borrow its popularity from such behavior.

Since the smoking-ban in bars has been enacted, it has become a common sight to see a group of people smoking outside the pubs. You will often find yourself go out for a single cigarette and end up smoking more. Out of the boredom of waiting to finish your cigarette you decide to strike a conversation with the smoker next to you. The conversation continues long after your first cigarette is burnt off and you simply light another one. This is perhaps why smokers should stay away from one another. Not only would a smoker smoke, but even when he or she does not, they’ll still be subjected to second hand smoking.

Ironically cigarettes bring people together. Correction, cigarettes bring smokers together. When smokers are in a large group, they tend to smoke a lot more than usual and that is exactly why smokers should stay away from other smokers.

If you want to quit smoking, then you should avoid places where large group of smoker congregate and you should stick to that plan for at least the first month of quitting. Giving up smoking is hard enough, be wise and don’t make it any harder than it should be. Making small changes such as avoiding other smokers will go a long way in giving you the best shot at giving up smoking.

©2012 GIVING UP SMOKING. All Rights Reserved.

Nicotine Anonymous
Find and visit a local nicotine anonymous meeting, it is a highly effective program to help smokers stop smoking. Nicotine anonymous is about receiving the support from other smokers who are trying to stop smoking just like you and you’ll also receive guidance from advisers who’ve quit smoking themselves. You can learn from other people’s mistakes as well as gain the much needed encouragement to successfully stop smoking.

Start Something New
Distraction and keeping yourself busy is the key to stop smoking. Start something new today, you should pick up a hobby for example. Maybe you always wanted to drive a nitrous RC Car but you never did or maybe gardening is more of your taste. It doesn’t matter what you do, what’s important is to do something you like and therefore will occupy your mind to reduce the urge to smoke. It’s about taking a break from constant craving for nicotine and you should take full advantage of it.

Substitute the Smoking
Find a physical substitute for cigarettes to help you break the habit gradually. Chewing a gum for example will help you dealing with the absence of cigarettes in your mouth, but limit the chewing of gums for few hours a day as excessive gum chewing can have adverse effect to your oral health. You can drink a lot of water or juice as many smokers had been helped by such. Start eating baby carrots, they are healthy snacks that will keep your mouth busy as well as keep you filled. Finally, exercise to shorten the withdrawal symptom to as little as two weeks.

Information is the key to any success and when you are trying to achieve something on a budget, it is imperative that you scrounge for every information available freely. To learn more, browse this site throughout on many other free stop smoking aids

©2012 GIVING UP SMOKING. All Rights Reserved.

*Try smoking fewer cigarettes than usual. For many smokers, holding out few hours without smoking can prove very difficult. Familiarize yourself with the sensation and understand how difficult it can be. I know what you are saying, “Why the practice run for the suffering”. Some smokers get very panicky when they first experience a serious withdrawal symptom. It’s much like dipping your toe in the pool before jumping in. You do not want to be discouraged to a point where you can’t even imagine yourself ever quitting smoking.

*Skip the entire morning smoking session. Experience what happens when you don’t jump start your day with your nicotine fix. This is different from just holding out few hours without smoking. You’ll try to spend an entire morning without smoking a single cigarette. With enough patience on your part, by noon when you are about to finally light one up, you will notice a few things. First it’s the ups and downs of the craving. The withdrawal symptom is not constant and there will be long periods, a whole chunk of minutes that go by when you don’t really feel much craving. This was true for many former smokers I’ve interviewed and it was true for me as well. You have to try this in the morning because otherwise it’s no different from the method above. I encourage you to try this because many former smokers will attest to the fact that on your quit day, you have to make sure you start the day clean without a smoke. By the way, when you give up smoking for good, you will inevitably experience these mornings.

*For some, postponing smoking half an hour to an hour every time craving hits works wonders. Again it’s a similar method to the two above but it’s very different in its approach. This method is used to strategically cut down on the number of cigarettes you smoke in a day but in a very gradual manner. Reducing the number of cigarettes smoked per day will undoubtedly be helpful in quitting smoking. The general rule of thumb is the less you smoke per day, the less severe withdrawal symptoms you will have. Remember, if you know you are not a particularly patient person. You do not want to try this method.

*Stop smoking aid products do work, you just have to work with them. There isn’t a stop smoking product that’s suitable for every smoker in the world. While a particular product may work better for Joe no.1, Joe no.2 might just do better with a different product. The recurring cost of using stop smoking products should be less than the cost of maintaining most smokers’ addiction. That’s not even counting the fact that once you quit smoking you no longer need to buy additional stop smoking products, but you will keep smoking as long as you are still an addict. You have to understand that stop smoking products are meant to aid you in combating nicotine addiction. They are not automatic fix it all products and they don’t claim to be it. It’s useless unless used as intended. So you might be wondering, “Since I do all the work, why would I even bother with these products”. The answer to that it’s simple. You can run miles without sneakers, but that doesn’t mean you do it. You can run faster and safer if you just put on a sneaker, so we choose to run with our sneakers on. Stop smoking aids can make smoking cessation experience anywhere from easy to tolerable for many smokers. As withdrawal symptoms can last days to even weeks, you can make the quality of your life substantially better than going cold turkey.

*Convince a buddy to quit smoking with you, anyone in your life who smoke can participate. Having a quit partner can trigger either camaraderie or competitiveness and either one can be beneficial in quitting smoking. If you don’t know anyone who smokes, make a wager with a friend on that you can quit. Tell everyone you know you are quitting, their support and the responsibility that comes with your announcement will help you keep your word and stay cigarette free.

*Don’t set a quit day, rather quit on the day that cigarette taste particularly nasty. Every smoker undoubtedly has these days when cigarette taste awful. Of course following this advice alone most likely won’t make you quit, but you could combine different strategies together. For example, you start by cutting down on the cigarettes you smoke. Tell everyone you know you are quitting and go grab a nicotine gum at your local pharmacy. Wait until “the day” comes, it should be easy enough. As former smoker I know smokers live through nasty cigarette tasting days at least a couple of times a month. Just use it as another arsenal to combat your nicotine dependency, it’s as simple as that.

*Stop buying cigarettes by the carton or keep extra packs at home. Force yourself to buy a new pack every time you run out of cigarettes making smoking very inconvenient for yourself. Smokers tend to smoke more than usual when they know they have stocked extra cigarettes through the roof.

*Ask your smoker friends to avoid smoking around you. If your friends object to the idea, try to stay away from them for about a month. It is imperative that you do not linger near cigarette smokes because for most people quitting smoking is hard enough as is.

*Avoid drinking at all cost. Many smokers can’t resist to light one up with a cold one. You do not need to quit drinking forever, but try to avoid alcoholic beverages for two weeks. If you insist on drinking wine, beer, or whatever you are into, don’t drink them at bars and drink less than you normally would.

*Throw away all your smoking gears. From lighters to ashtrays, also those matches you have in stock in case your lighter decides to give. Get rid of everything that has anything to do with aiding your smoking habit.

I will make periodic addendum to the list on how to quit smoking. Please check back for updated and new information. Continue with “Your First Step In Giving Up Smoking” and “Run to help quit smoking”.

©2012 GIVING UP SMOKING. All Rights Reserved.

Here’s the great news if decide to quit cold turkey. It doesn’t cost you anything and you can start it any day. In the event that you fail, you still come out gaining something. Place emphasis on experiencing smoking cessation because it can be far more stressful if you are unfamiliar with how it affects your body and mind. Like everything else, reading about it won’t give you the complete picture. Experience it first hand and the information is literally inside you.

Many former smokers will attest to that quitting smoking cold turkey is the easiest way to quit smoking. The moment you administer less nicotine than your dependency requires, you will start feeling the withdrawal symptoms.
Which is why those who quit cold turkey don’t believe in cutting down on your daily cigarette requirement. Quitting cold turkey will guarantee you will rid of nicotine out of your system faster than any other means. Cutting down on cigarette will only lengthen the period you may experience withdrawal symptoms.

Keep in mind the opinions of others are only for reference. What worked for them, may not work for you. The smoking cessation experience is as individual as any. But many other means of smoking cessation are often associated with high costs and other pre-requisite. If you have decided you want to quit smoking, there’s no better way than to start by quitting smoking Cold Turkey. Continue with “How To Quit Smoking”.

©2012 GIVING UP SMOKING. All Rights Reserved.