Qutting Smoking

I have smoked on and off, heavily and lightly for over 10 years. I haven't lit up in the last five months and before that was two years. While I haven't been off for very long, it is not the nicotine addiction that brings me back to smoking. It was always the stress factor, depression and other emotional things that had me walking to the store to buy yet another pack of cigarettes.

Some people try the patch, inhaler gum and more, but they all contain some nicotine and many times don't help people quit as much as they advertise to accomplish. No matter how much you smoke it is hard to quit. We use to attribute it to laziness, but we know better now and realize that the drug nicotine is the responsible culprit for what is now finally known to be a drug addiction. The following are the many ways I have quit, sometimes successful and sometimes not. I hope these tips and tricks can help get you on the path to a healthier lifestyle.

The worst way to quit, but for some it works wonders, is cold turkey. Anyone who smokes knows what this term means. But, it takes extreme will power and self discipline. The first day may be easy, but consecutive days can get harder as your body craves the drug even more. It can make you want to pull out your hair. A good way to calm the cravings is to avoid people who you regularly smoke around and places where you go often to smoke. Creating no smoking zones in the work place and at home can also be helpful. I was only successful once with this.

Some people have a money jar. Whether they are weaning themselves off or going cold turkey, every time they light up they throw a dollar in the money jar. When the jar is full you donate it to a charity. For every time you feel a craving and don't smoke for the next four hours you place a dollar in a different jar. When that jar is full you take yourself out on the town. I was not successful with this at all as I would usually disown both jars and use the money to buy more cigarettes.