If you have been asking the question:‘how can I quit smoking?,please read this article to the very end as it painstakingly answers your question and more.

1. How Can I Quit Smoking? By http://2stopsmokingtips.com

2. Introduction Is this the picture of your life? You picked up the smoking habit some years ago. On a daily basis, you smoke like a chimney but HATE the way it smells and makes you feel. You HATE being unhealthy and desperately want to drop off cigarettes. Then, kindly read this article to the very end as it painstakingly answers the question: ‘how can I quit smoking?’

3. 5 Steps to Smoking Cessation Step No 1: Get Ready to Quit Deciding that you want to quit is the hardest part! The first step is to convince yourself that you need to quit for whatever reason. You can check out these 10 reasons to stop smoking to convince yourself. After convincing yourself, apply the ‘mind over matter’ principle and you’ll realize YOU CAN DO IT!

4. Getting Ready to Quit To succeed however, you must prepare. Many people pay lip service to it but PREPARATION is vital to your stop smoking success. Before you smoke your final cigarette, you must draw up a clear plan in your mind to handle thenicotine withdrawal symptomsyou are going to experience. Whether you like it or not, you’re going to have cravings, strong urges to ‘just have another cigarette’ immediately you quit so you must already have a plan in place to overcome such and stay quit.

5. Getting Ready to Quit(2) Experts say there are two addictions involved in smoking, one unimportant and the other very important. The physical addiction is trivial. It lasts a few days. What stays with you and can easily disrupt your efforts is the psychological addiction, that is, the addiction to certain beliefs and myths, such as “I’m so stressed up, I really need to have a cigarette to cope with the stress “, or “one cigarette isn’t going to hurt me”.

6. Getting Ready to Quit(3) When these thoughts come up, just tell yourself “I really don’t need a cigarette; it’s a slow way to kill myself. Secondly, it’s not a stress buster; there are other more healthy ways to beat stress.” The answer to the second excuse can be: “yes, one cigarette is going to hurt me. First, if I light up, I am still a smoker and if I can have just one cigarette now, I can have “just one more” an hour from now.”

7. Getting Ready to Quit(4) Fixing these obvious deceptions in your mind is very critical. When these temptations come up, you have to be ready for them. That’s why we advocate that people should not quit until they know and accept they are non-smokers. This means they have gotten to a point where they see smoking as a thing of the past and will never be a part of their lives again. Along with that difficult but final decision, we advise smokers to focus and motivate themselves with all the stop smoking benefits and rewards they stand to enjoy as non-smokers.

8. Step No 2:Set a Quit Date Once you are done with your preparation, set a quit date. About a week before your quit date, tell everybody at work, your friends, and family that you are going to quit. Telling everyone is really a good idea that helps you keep to your quit date because you don’t want to appear like a fool to all the people you have told you are quitting by reneging on your promise. On your quit date, there’s no developing of cold feet, you just have to go ahead with your stop smoking plan.

9. Step No 3:Choose Your Preferred Quit Method Before you choose a quit method, just know and understand the following: You can not quit if you are not personally convinced to do so. Don’t look for the best or easy way to quit smoking because it doesn’t exist Everyone is different in the way they stop smoking.

10. Choose Your Preferred Quit Method What worked for someone might not work for you. The only way to tell if any given method works or not for you is to try it. Anything to stop that habit is worth it. Having said that, these are some methods you can consider to make your stop smoking goal a huge success.

11. Nicotine Replacement Therapy(NRT) NRT can help you quit smoking. With about 17-38% success, NRT is not the most effective method to cease smoking and is most times used briefly; that is, it’s not for prolonged use. NRT involves chewing nicotine-containing gums, wearing patches and using nicotine nasal spray or inhaler. These stop smoking aids minimize the physical symptoms of withdrawal from smoking like irritability and tiredness. Of special mention is the gum which gives smokers something to do with their mouth while dropping off cigarettes. Most nicotine gums involve chewing the gum a few times and storing it between the lip/cheek and gum. The nicotine is then released through your gums and cheek. This gratifies the chemical and mental dependency of smoking. This method is best used in combination with some other methods. Make sure you get your Doctor’s advice, it’s very important.

12. Quitting Cold Turkey Quitting Cold turkey is another way to stop smoking. Even though it’s the most popular smoking cessation method, its success rate per try is rather low; an average of 5%-10% of success per try. Cold turkey means to cease smoking abruptly and without any form of preparation. Smokers have to do this several times to make headway with this method. Despite this, experts advise smokers to quit cold turkey and fight the nicotine withdrawal symptoms with prescription medication.

13. Stop Smoking Medications Stop Smoking Medications: There are several medications you can use to cease smoking. Varenicline is one of them. Popularly known as Chantix in the US and Champix in Canada, Varenicline is a medication that blocks the brain’s receptors responsible for nicotine addiction. It is said to have very high success rates even though some users have complained about some very weird side effects. Before you use this method, please consult your Doctor.

14. Stop Smoking Naturally Stop Smoking Naturally: If you want to quit smoking without spending money, you can go the natural route and use some ingredients you have in your kitchen to ease off the nicotine withdrawal symptoms that will not but surface once you smoke your last cigarette. Such ingredients include ginger and lobelia to overcome nausea, oats to eliminate the toxins occasioned by long exposure to nicotine, grape and orange juice to eliminate the toxins and grape seed extract to repair the damage done to the lungs. Water is also essential as it helps flush out the nicotine in the body and also minimize the cravings.

15. Stop Smoking by Hypnosis Stop Smoking By Hypnosis: When every other thing has failed,smokers who are finding it extremely difficult to drop off cigarettes can stop smoking by hypnosis. The process of hypnosis to quit smoking is quite straightforward but it can only be carried out by experts in this field. Smokers who wish to quit smoking with hypnotic aid are put in a sleepy state. This way, they are able to accept the suggestions that are given to them by the hypnotherapist and carry out activities which they would otherwise not have adhered to. This method is best for those who do not have the will power to resist the temptation or the cravings that accompany any quit smoking decision.

16. Laser Therapy to Quit Smoking Laser Therapy to Quit Smoking: Laser therapy for smokers is carried out by directing cold laser on some parts of the body such as wrist, nose, ear and some other parts. Doing this brings about the stimulation of the body and which in turn causes the body to release endorphins. The release of this hormone releases the body from the tension that is built for the craving of nicotine. Apart from the stimulation given to the body by the laser treatment, the body also becomes detoxified and relaxed at the same time.For success with this method,a smoker has to go through several sessions.

17. Step No 4:Fight and Stay Smoke-Free If you’ve been able to quit, please, ‘don’t give up.’ Why? It’s more difficult to try to stop again. Hang in there!!! It will get easier. Each time you have a very strong urge to smoke, wait 3 minutes, the craving should subside. Don’t ever give up. When tempted, remind yourself that you don’t smoke anymore. It may take several tries but eventually it will sink into your system. Go for a walk! Get your blood pumping and breathe the nice clean air into your lungs. It will help with your cravings. Get active. Keep yourself busy so you don’t have time to think about smoking. If you’ve gone a week already, you should be over the physical withdrawal and now it becomes a mind game.

18. Fight and Stay Smoke-Free Talk to people (particularly an ex-smoker), it helps to know that someone who has successfully quit is on the other line. Do not worry about weight gain from not smoking. The extra weight is not as unhealthy as the cigarettes and you can take the weight back off after you have kicked the cigarette addiction. Do not hang in places where you are going to be tempted to smoke again, also cut off friends who smoke because they can influence you to light up. By all means, fight and stay smoke-free. It’s rewarding, it’s beneficial not only to you but society at large.

19. Step No 5: Enjoy the Benefits The benefits of smoking cessation cut across several lines beginning from the individual to the family; society to the environment and even our future. For the individual, stop smoking benefits include smelling well, having more money in his pocket, looking nice and without wrinkles, optimum health as well as gaining social respect and acceptance. For the family and society, it’s being able to breathe well without the dangers of passive smoking. For the environment, it’s being safe for inhabitants. If you have been asking the question: ‘how can I quit smoking?’, you now have a clear and lucid guide to dropping off cigarettes and being in control of your life.

20. Thank You for Reading!!! For more on such incisive articles, please visit www.2stopsmokingtips.com