GIVING UP SMOKING » Giving Up Smoking

5 Effective Giving Up Smoking Tips

StopSmokingCoach — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:19:23 +0000

Giving up smoking will surely test you as an individual and it’s important that you don’t jump in unprepared. Knowing what to do and avoiding the pitfalls many cigarette quitting hopefuls fall in, can mean the difference between success and failure. Here are some helpful tips that could help you give up smoking for good this time.

1. Consider seeing a doctor – Your doctor can help you determine whether you’ll need prescription drug to help you cope with the withdrawal symptoms. It really depends on your smoking habit, but generally withdrawal symptoms are intense and the use of quit smoking product or prescription drug may give you the best chance to stop smoking for good.

2. Throw away all the cigarette related products – If you have a box of cigarette available for “just in case”, then trust me you are just setting yourself up to fail. Get rid of the ashtrays, lighters, matches, and anything else that may remind you of cigarettes. If you want to finish that last box that you have saved up, then just finish it and leave no cigarettes that you can fall back to.

3. Set a date to quit and stick to it – If you don’t set a quit day and push yourself to quit smoking, you will continually keep pushing it for the next day and the next week until you no longer even try. This is a fight between your will to stop smoking and your addiction pushing you to take another puff. Push yourself for that ultimate goal to give up smoking for good.

4. Announce it to the world – Tell all your friends and your family that you are quitting cigarettes. Make it difficult for you to fail by letting it be known to everyone you know that you will successfully quit. This will surely give you an extra incentive to kick the habit in one shot. Don’t become that guy that talks the talk, but never walks the walk.

5. Something to chew on – Keep your mouth busy with anything but cigarettes. You will get urges to smoke or to just stick something in your mouth, help relieve these urges by chewing on carrots, chewing gums, straws, or even toothpicks will do. Avoid chewing anything for an extended period of time though, it could cause gum disease or damage your teeth.

Follow the tips above to help you in giving up smoking and don’t give up even if you fail on your first try. What’s important is your willingness to quit and that will ultimately lead to a successful quit smoking experience.

Giving Up Smoking – Finding The Motivation

Derek Kim — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 17:42:12 +0000

Some studies show that only 3 percent of the first time cigarette quitters give up smoking for good. This is a grim outlook for any smoker hoping give up smoking, but it should also be noted that different studies have shown a more favorable success rate. In any case, one common trend among these studies is that they show very low success rate among first time quitters. As someone who quit smoking for good for many years now, it is my personal opinion that giving up smoking is all about the motivation. So here are some powerful methods to motivate yourself to quit smoking for good on your first try.

The first and the most effective motivating factor are the people that you care about. If you are a father, then what more motivation do you need than giving up smoking for the sake of your children. If you are a husband, then you have a responsibility be there for your wife through the good and bad, smoking will make that difficult for many reasons I shouldn’t have to explain to you. As a son or a daughter of loving parents, the worst thing you can do to your parents is to die before they do, smoking can make that possibility very real. As a friend, maybe your early departure from this life might not have as profound effect as it might have on your family, but you will still be leaving many people who care for you and love you, to grieve for you for the rest of their lives.

For most people, I would assume that family and friends should be the main motivator in giving up smoking. But to be fair, quitting smoking is extremely difficult feat to achieve and you may need additional motivation to stop smoking for good.

Ask yourself this question. When was the last time you felt fresh and energized when you woke up in the morning? You probably can’t remember because smoking will do that to you. No matter how young and or fit you may think you are, if you are a smoker you will not have good mornings. You will wake up with a lump of mucus in your throat and your first action would be to force that lump out of your throat into your mouth and into your garbage with a forceful gag. Not the way to start an ideal morning if you would ask me.

Do you play sports? Try jogging for 5 minutes and I assure you that you’ll feel like dying. Hold the tip of a spoon with your thumb and your index finger. Try to hold the spoon steady and I assure you that you will shake like a 100 year old man. You are not normal and smoking has left you crippled in many more ways than you can imagine.

Think about everything that I’ve noted here so far and use them to motivate yourself. When it comes to giving up smoking, you or anyone else for that matter cannot force it onto you. You have to want it, giving up smoking is very difficult but it becomes so much easier if you truly want it and having the motivating factors to give up smoking will mean the difference between success and failure. Giving up smoking is all about the motivation, find that x-factor that pumps you up and free yourself from cigarettes today.

Why Smokers Should Avoid Other Smokers – Pack Animal Behavior

Derek Kim — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 17:20:48 +0000

Smokers behave like pack animals, they huddle together and they like to be part of a group. Perhaps it’s the modern day image of smokers that influence them to this act. Anti-smoking was not a popular word back in the days. Smoking was considered trendy and it was perceived as the pastime for the sophisticated men. For women, since women’s rights was in its infancy, in a weird way smoking meant equality among sexes. Much has changed since then, public image of smoking has moved on from cool to disgusting.

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.

Giving Up Smoking – An Impossible Task for Me

StopSmokingCoach — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:52:09 +0000

Giving Up Smoking

Giving up smoking is extremely difficult for anyone who’s smoked for a prolonged period of time. Dependency to nicotine grows over the period of your addiction and the years that pass by turn you into a junkie. I don’t use the word “junkie” lightly, but that’s essentially what you become as you regularly have panic attacks when cigarettes are not readily available to you. Giving up smoking may seem like an impossible task, but I can give you a few tips that will go a long way in helping you kick the habit.

Do you have extra packs of cigarettes stashed in your house? You may even keep extra packs in your car and you are most likely very mindful of how low you are running on cigarettes. If this is you then it’s seriously a good time to give up smoking. This is basically addiction running your life and the sign that you have completely lost control over your nicotine craving. You should not need scary statistic to convince yourself to at least entertain the thought of giving up smoking.

It’s completely normal to feel uncertain and uneasy about the thought of giving up smoking. In fact, you are better off cutting yourself some slack and expect to fail on your first try. It is my experience that people who’ve smoked less than 2 years tend to quit fairly easy. As for those who’ve smoked over 2 years, some studies suggest more than 70 percent failing on their first try.

The sooner you quit the better of course, but you have to concentrate more on the quitting part than the when. It may as well take you several tries to give up smoking and it may even take you a year or two to quit for good, but if you quit for good, that’s all that matters really.

The truth is the initial shock that you feel the first time you try giving up smoking gets less and less intense as you try to quit again and again. A big part of giving up smoking is psychological, the more you know what to expect, the better you will cope with the stress of nicotine withdrawal. So in an essence, a failure in giving up smoking is only a step forward to ultimately quitting for good rather than a flat out failure.

The key is on giving it a try, just try quitting smoking. You may give up in just one hour or in one day, that’s OK because you’ve tried. That first step is very important, you can talk all you want about how much you’d like to quit but ultimately only actions count. Persistence will eventually pay off and you will be nicotine free as long as you are willing to take actions. Giving up smoking is all about persistence.

Continue with Giving Up Smoking – Finding The Motivation

Free Stop Smoking Aids Now

StopSmokingCoach — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:03:42 +0000

Do you want to stop smoking? Many smokers fear the cost to stop smoking and they fail to recognize even higher cost of continuing to smoke. More important to understand is that stopping smoking does not have to cost you a dime, there are methods that can help you quit for free. Here’s a quick look at few simple and free stop smoking aids that can help you end the addiction.

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

New Moon Smoking Castmembers Quitting

StopSmokingCoach — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:19:16 +0000

Breaking away from the stereotypical young Hollywood stars, the “New Moon” actress Ashley Greene and Nikki Reed have teamed up to quit smoking for their fans.

It’s reported that everyone in the cast smokes cigarettes and since they are among of the most lucrative targets for the paparazzi, needless to say there are tons of pictures everywhere of the cast members smoking. The cast members smoking cigarette of course is nobody’s business, but the problem stems from the fact that the majority of their fans are teens. Apparently a close friend of Nikki Reed has sited the reason for quitting, “An effort to be better role models for their young fans”.

I am a firm believer in personal freedom, nevertheless it’s really refreshing to see a young Hollywood star acknowledging the profound impact they have on their young fans. And what’s more, she’s addressing the issue by giving up smoking.

Run To Help Quit Smoking

StopSmokingCoach — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:50:34 +0000

Ex-smokers are likely to smoke again if he or she does not learn to effectively manage stress. Another concern is that while some may successfully quit smoking cigarettes, they replace one addiction with another. These ex-smokers will substitute smoking with eating or drinking for example.

Unfortunately, if you have substituted smoking with binge drinking or eating, all your effort to quit smoking might have gone to waste. The good news is that running could help, running can help you prevent substituting one addiction with another and it can also help you rid of the already substituted addiction.

Benefits of Running include:

•An improved emotional state – A key to not only in giving up smoking but to stay cigarette-free.

•Potential weight loss – It’s normal to gain 5-10 pounds after giving up smoking, running will not only offset the weight gain, it will keep you fit.

•Increase bone density – Studies have shown that smokers in general have lower bone mineral density. You can run to repair the damages done by smoking.

•Improved cardiovascular health – Your heart took a quite a beating (no pun intended) all these years you abused it with smokes, it’s time you help it heal.

•Increased muscle mass – A new study has shown that smokers lose more muscle mass at old age than the non-smoking counterpart. This means you as a smoker are not likely to be independent at old age.

•These are just few of the benefits you can enjoy if you start running and the best part is that it’s free.

Running or exercises in general are quickly becoming a form of replacement addiction for drugs even more potent than nicotine. So before you try any quit smoking product or classes, I highly recommend you try running today. If you’ve already quit and you are having a hard time staying cigarette-free, give running a shot.

A Doctor’s Aggressive Stance Against Cigarettes

StopSmokingCoach — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:37:19 +0000

In Poland, about 8 million out of the 38 million populations are smokers. Smoking related disease claim over 60000 poles each year and recently a Polish cancer specialist proposed cigarette boxes adorn pictures of tumor. The doctor is hopeful that the pictures will deter people from smoking.

“A picture speaks a thousand words”, perhaps it has a chance of having success. If I were still a smoker, I don’t think I would be comfortable smoking out of a box showing tumors which can actually be developing in my body as I smoke the box away. Some things you just never get used to and people are easily troubled by graphic images. Visual cue tends to take priority in humans and the effect it has on us can be profound.

If our government was not responsible enough to ban such an addictive and lethal product (if you could call it that) in the first place, it may be time that we do something about it ourselves. If you are reading this article you most likely own a computer and you are just as likely to own a printer. Do a Google image search on tumor pictures, print one and slide it between the cigarette box and the plastic covering it. Make sure you always carry your cigarette box with the picture slid in it and use it as an additional motivational tool. As some pictures may be too graphic for some of our readers, unfortunately we cannot provide you with the pictures on this site. Please be aware that Google images will return many graphic images when you do any query including the word tumor.

Remember, most people fail many times over before they successfully give up smoking. You have to use every tool available at your disposal to aid you in quitting smoking. Generally people who have success giving up smoking tend to have a solid plan before they try quitting. Don’t give up just because you may have failed a few times, what matter is that you are still trying. Continue with “Third Hand Smoke”.

The Famous Who Died From Smoking

StopSmokingCoach — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:41:01 +0000

This list is comprised of only a fraction of the famous that died from smoking related diseases.

Armstrong, Louis – The legendary musician died at the age of 74 from a massive heart attack. Ironically, he was a spokesman for Camel.

Bogart, Humphrey – The actor died from cancer of the esophagus. He was 57 at the time of his death.

Boon, Richard – The actor died from lung cancer at the age of 64.

Brynner, Yul – The actor died from lung cancer at the age of 65.

Candy, John – Died from heart attack at the age of 43.

Carson, Johnny – Died from emphysema and he also had heart conditions. He was 79 years old.

Carver, Raymond – The author died from lung cancer, he was only 50 years old.

Cassidy, Jack – The actor died in a fire from smoking in bed. He was 50 years old.

Col, Nat King – The singer died after his lung cancer surgery at the age of 45.

Cooper, Cary – The actor died from lung cancer at the age of 60.

Davis Jr. Sammy – This member of the Rat Pack died from throat cancer at the age of 64.

Disney, Walt – Died from lung cancer at the age of 60, there were complications following an operation to remove a tumor.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott – The writer (The Great Gatsby) died from heart attack at the age of 44.

Fleming, Ian – The writer (James Bond) died from heart attack at the age of 56.

Gable, Clark – The actor died from heart attack at the age of 59.

Harrison, George – Died from lung cancer at the age of 58.

Haynes, Lloyd – Died from lung cancer at the age of 52.

Holliday, Judy – The actress died from breast cancer at the age of 43. She was survived by her young son, Jonathan Oppenheim, and by her ex-husband, clarinetist and conductor David Oppenheim

Jennings, Peter – The anchorman died from lung cancer at the age of 67.

Kendrick, Eddie – The singer died from lung cancer at the age of 52.

Landon, Michael – The actor smoked 4packs a day and died at the age 54 from the cancer of the pancreas and liver.

Maris, Roger – The homerun record holder died from lung cancer at the age of 51.

Maxwell, Marilyn – The actress died from heart attack at the age of 49.

McLure, Doug – The actor died from lung cancer at the age of 56.

Murrow, Edward R. – The legendary anchorman died from lung cancer at the age of 57.

Oliver, Susan – The actress died from lung cancer at the age of 53.

Orbison, Roy – The singer died from heart attack at the age of 52.

O’Neal, Patrick – The actor died from lung cancer at the age of 66.

Owens, Jesse – The track star died from lung cancer at the age of 66.

Palmer, Robert – The British rock star died from Lung cancer at the age of 54.

Powell, Dick – The actor died from lung cancer at the age of 59.

Puccini, Giacomo – The opera composer died from throat cancer at the age of 65.

Ramsey, Ann – The actress died from throat cancer at the age of 59.

Remick, Lee – The actress died from the lung and liver cancer at the age of 55.

Ruth, Babe – The slugger died from Naso-pharyngeal Cancer at the age of 53.

Shaw, Robert – The actor died from heart attack at the age of 51.

Taylor, Robert – The actor died from lung cancer at the of 57.

Varney, Jim – The actor died from lung cancer at the age of 50.

No one is immune from the deadliness of cigarettes, so please act today before it’s too late.

Continue with “Your First Step In Giving Up Smoking”.

Get The Naysayers Out Of The Way

StopSmokingCoach — Sat, 30 May 2009 05:39:07 +0000

One of the most important things you have to do before quitting smoking is alienating the naysayers. Some people are just born with negative bones in their body and they never seem to have anything nice to say about anyone. But they are rare breeds and the ones that you really need to avoid are the pessimists in your life.

We all have that uncle who likes to poop on everyone’s party and that cousin who criticizes every one of your achievements. Unfortunately some of these people are very dear to us no matter how irritating they may be. Obviously you can’t alienate these people forever, but it’s important to keep them out of your life temporarily or at least don’t let them know that you are in the process of quitting smoking. You walk a very fine line when you first stop smoking. Little things will trigger relapse and there’s nothing worse than hearing discouraging words from people who should be cheering you on.

Ideally we would all love to have family members who can be around every time we need someone to talk to. But we know that’s not possible and we also know it’s not because our families don’t care. So we can’t control the sort of support we get from our family members, but we can control who we spend time with and where we spend time at.

Many things in our lives are out of the realms of our control. So the things that we can control to some degree, we have to make sure we manage them in ways that are beneficial to our lives. So how about skipping the next family barbeque? You can go back to the way things were as soon as you take control of your nicotine addiction. That’s really easier than you think as nicotine withdrawal symptoms generally last only up to two weeks. The rest is all mental and if you had the fortitude to stay cigarette free for two weeks, you have what it takes to stay free from it for life.

Positive reinforcement is the key and you can’t expect to quit smoking if you let the naysayers discourage you. As Robert Collier once said, “All power is from within and therefore under our control”. Take charge and stop smoking away your life. Continue with “50-50 Chance of Survival”.