How to Quit Smoking

If you're a heavy smoker, there's good reasons for you to quit now. If you quit smoking as soon as possible, you'll experience myriad benefits to your health. Of course, smoking can be a hard habit to kick--not only can it become an ingrained habit, the nicotine in cigarettes makes the act physically addicting as well. Nevertheless, you can quit, and here's some ways you can do it. Many of these options will also help you quit if you use chewing tobacco, smoke a pipe, or smoke cigars.

Cold Turkey - Although, by quitting "cold turkey," I don't mean simply giving up smoking this instant. According to Web MD, if you pick a date to quit and then prepare for it, recording when you smoke, why you smoke, list the reasons you're quitting, find activities to replace smoking, etc., you'll be more successful in your effort to quit that if you just got up one day and said, "okay, I'm going to quit now."

Exercise - Withdrawing from nicotine can be stressful. Exercise is generally considered the best way to deal with stress and can help you relax while you try to quit.

Medication - According to WebMD, studies show that taking medications that will curb your withdrawal symptoms, such as varenicline or bupropian, can double your success in trying to quit smoking. These prescription medications do not contain any nicotine, yet can help alleviate your cravings when you quit. For more information on taking medication in conjunction with your efforts to quit, click here.

Nicotine Replacement Therapy: Nicotine Gum, Nicotine Patches, and Nicotine Inhalers - All of these options work by providing you with nicotine to help ease your withdrawal symptoms. As with medication, WebMD reports that using nicotine replacement therapy can also double your chances of success. Nicotine replacement products contain one third to one half the nicotine found in cigarettes. According to WebMD, if you smoke fewer than 10 cigarettes a day, you may not need nicotine replacement therapy. For information, click here.