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.

Your first priority is to either stay away or to make understand the people around you that try to pressure you into quitting, that you need them to stop pressuring you because you are readying yourself to quit smoking for good. A smoker can never quit smoking due to outside pressure. No matter how much a parent, spouse, or a partner might push a smoker to quit, it will never happen until the smoker himself or herself develops the will to quit.

Let your family and friends know that you are getting yourself ready to quit smoking and that during this time you do not need additional pressure from anyone. Although they may be well meant, getting nagged on to quit smoking while that’s exactly what you are trying to achieve can become a big source of stress for any smoker trying to quit. Make them understand that nicotine addiction can be as serious as cocaine addiction for many smokers and that your will alone may not be enough to help you quit smoking successfully. Having the mental state that will give you the best shot to quit smoking is of utmost importance and you’ll need the support of those around you to make that happen.

The second thing you must do is to stay away from the people that are of the complete opposite of the example above. These are the people that constantly remind you that you will never be able to quit smoking. They can also be your friends or family members who also happen to smoke that always discourage you from quitting. Misery loves company and believe me smokers hate it when someone else has the will to kick the nasty habit they themselves can’t seem to get rid of. Stay away from these people that want you to fail. Some of these people you might care a whole lot for, but you need to stay away from them during the first month of quitting session.

Some of these negative minded people who also happen to be smokers might be able to picture themselves as non-smokers thanks to you. If you successfully quit smoking, you might be able to inspire those smokers around you to quit as well. I’ve seen many times how one smoker quitting led to bunch of other friends to quit smoking as well. You quitting cigarettes can actually have a much bigger impact than you think and you could be changing lives while you improve your own.

Make sure you follow the two tips above and you will give yourself a much better chance at quitting smoking successfully. Good luck and go nicotine free today.

©2012 GIVING UP SMOKING. All Rights Reserved.

This may sound rather obvious and maybe even dumb to some, but you need to have a clear reason as to why you must quit smoking. Quitting smoking isn’t easy and in fact, it’s terribly difficult. It will be both a mental and a physical challenge that you’ll have to endure for 2 to 4 weeks after quitting and more for some people. It really helps to remind yourself of the reasons that gave you the courage to quit smoking every time you feel like giving up.

There’s also the actual quitting part and I can tell you from my experience the first 24 hours are gruesome. But at the end of the day, it’s only 24 hours. You have to ask yourself, do you really want to live the rest of your life controlled by a substance may as well kill you off in a slow and painful death eventually? If you can stay cigarette free for 24 hours, then the next 24 hours are so much more bearable than the first 24 hours. As the hours and days go by, it will be increasingly easy to spend a day without smoking.

Pick a day to quit and don’t be afraid to fail. What’s important is that you are trying and that your desire to quit smoking is strong. You can even experiment with a short-term quitting, basically try not smoking for few hours and see how long you can go without a smoke. I’ve heard of stories of people quitting smoking on their very first try, but I just know those people are rare. I don’t mean to discourage you, but it is more than likely that you will fail your first attempt to quit smoking. It actually helps to experience the initial stage of a nicotine withdrawal symptom before your first attempt. The first time you get a real strong nicotine withdrawal symptom it can hit you real hard and throw you into a panic. Just remember that the first 24 hours are the most difficult to bear and try to stay strong to ride it out to the best that you can.

During the first 24 hours you want to stay well hydrated and get plenty of sleep. So drink lots of water and go to bed early. Drink coffee during the day and don’t drink it for at least few hours prior to sleeping. Trust me when I say this, you do not want to wake up in the middle of the night to urinate. When all is quiet and everyone is asleep, the craving for a cigarette will drive you insane. For most smokers drinking goes hand in hand with smoking, so it will be only wise to stay away from alcoholic beverages for at least couple of weeks to preferably a month.

Keep yourself busy and keep your mouth busy by chewing on healthy snacks. Carrots and cucumber have become my favorite snacks because I depended on them so much during the quitting. Carrot sticks will allow you to chew for a long time and cucumber will help you to stay well hydrated as well as keep your mouth busy. Be sure to stay active as well, regular exercise will help tremendously in negating the nicotine withdrawal symptom. If you are not much of an exercise person, just try to keep yourself busy with your favorite hobbies. Last but not least, do not hang out with friends who smoke at least for a month, but if you do, ask them to smoke where you can’t see them.

There are hundreds of other advices that I would give out to anyone who wishes to quit smoking, but what you see here are the ones that have helped me the most during the time I quit smoking. You can definitely quit smoking for free, just follow the tips above and give it a shot. Good luck and go cigarette free.

©2012 GIVING UP SMOKING. All Rights Reserved.

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.

©2012 GIVING UP SMOKING. All Rights Reserved.

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.

©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.

In theory and by their own marketing pitch it sounds wonderful, but a mounting number of Chantix lawsuit tell a different story. Some of the side effects disclosed by Pfizer (the maker of Chantix) include, reported changes in behavior, agitation, depressed mood, suicidal thoughts or actions, let me stop there. No matter how rare, a stop smoking aid product’s side effect should not include suicidal thoughts or actions. The act of quitting smoking should improve the quality of life and not worsen it.

Chantix was approved by the FDA in May 2006 and by May 2009 FDA indicated it received reports of 39 Chantix suicides. The sales number of Chantix has been sliding ever since the concerns have been made public.

If you believe you need help quitting smoking, there are many other quit smoking aids on the market and I would seriously advice you to go with the alternatives. If you don’t want to add anything into your system, you can also try hypnotherapy or acupuncture.

I like to compare the act of smoking as committing a slow suicide, as you can see I am that much against smoking cigarettes. But If I had to choose between chancing with a cigarette vs. a drug that could possibly give me suicidal thoughts, I’d always go with the cigarette. Be wise, choose another path, and always choose to improve your health.

©2012 GIVING UP SMOKING. All Rights Reserved.

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

©2012 GIVING UP SMOKING. All Rights Reserved.