I really wish I had never taken that first puff in that tree house with Cyril when I was 10 or so we used to think it was cool and covered the smell with toothpaste :( anyways I will put here everything that is related to helping me and others quit that habit.
Write down why you want to quit (the benefits of quitting): live longer, feel better, for your family, save money, smell better, find a mate more easily, etc. You know what's bad about smoking and you know what you'll get by quitting. Put it on paper and read it daily.
Ask your family and friends to support your decision to quit. Ask them to be completely supportive and non-judgmental. Let them know ahead of time that you will probably be irritable and even irrational while you withdraw from your smoking habit.
Set a quit date. Decide what day you will extinguish your cigarettes forever. Write it down. Plan for it. Prepare your mind for the "first day of the rest of your life". You might even hold a small ceremony when you smoke you last cigarette, or on the morning of the quit date.
Talk with your doctor about quitting. Support and guidance from a physician is a proven way to better your chances to quit and Begin an exercise program. Exercise is simply incompatible with smoking. Exercise relieves stress and helps your body recover from years of damage from cigarettes. If necessary, start slow, with a short walk once or twice per day. Build up to 30 to 40 minutes of rigorous activity, 3 or 4 times per week. Consult your physician before beginning any exercise program.
Do some deep breathing each day for 3 to 5 minutes. Breathe in through your nose very slowly, hold the breath for a few seconds, and exhale very slowly through your mouth. Try doing
your breathing with your eyes closed and go to step, Visualize your way to becoming a non-smoker. While doing your deep breathing in step 8, you can close your eyes and begin to imagine yourself as a non-smoker. See yourself enjoying your exercise in step 7. See yourself turning down a cigarette that someone offers you. See yourself throwing all your cigarettes away, and winning a gold medal for doing so. Develop your own
creative visualizations. Visualization works.
Cut back on cigarettes gradually (if you cut back gradually, be sure to set a quit date on which you WILL quit). Ways to cut back gradually include: plan how many cigarettes you will smoke each day until your quit date, making the number you smoke smaller each day; buy only one pack at a time; change brands so
you don't enjoy smoking as much; give your cigarettes to someone else, so that you have to ask for them each time you want to smoke.
Quit smoking "cold turkey". Many smokers find that the only way they can truly quit once and for all is to just quit abruptly without trying to slowly taper off. Find the method that works best for you: gradually quitting or cold turkey. If one way doesn't work do the other.
Find another smoker who is trying to quit, and help each other with positive words and by lending an ear when quitting becomes difficult. Visit this Bulletin Board and this Chat Room to find a "quit buddy."
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Have your teeth cleaned. Enjoy the way your teeth look and feel and plan to keep them that way After you quit, plan to celebrate the milestones in your journey to becoming a non-smoker. After two weeks of being smoke-free, see a movie. After a month, go to a fancy restaurant (be sure to sit in the non-smoking section). After three months, go for a long weekend to a favorite get-away. After six months, buy yourself something frivolous. After a year, have a party for yourself. Invite your family and friends to your "birthday" party and celebrate your new chance at a long, healthy life.
For The Record:
I quit on the the Cambodian New Year , I chose this day because I did not want to really focus on the anniversary of my quitting being a slave of Philip Morris because it served me no purpose and because I was quitting forever.
More than two years latter (I do not know the exact time I have been off nicotine) I feel much better in general, I sleep better, I have more energy, my weight has dropped after an initial side effects of withdraw symptoms and metabolic changes made me gain weight, I don't waste money on killing myself, I don't poison my friends, family and children, I don't stink up the house, I don't go nuts in airports or planes, I don't ash on my computer, my car will have a better resell value, my teeth and gums will need less maintenance, I may live a bit longer and maybe see my grandchildren, I can take up sports again (it took at least a year to get partial lung recovery), the list of benefits goes on and on....
I really think its time to completely ban cigarets they are a silent killer that cost us more than we can imagine, this industry of death targets our teenagers using product placement in films and by trying to make them believe smoking is cool, this must stop.
Please Help Someone Stop.
