whats the best way of giving up smoking???

Question

hi,
i smoke about 20 a day im 30 next year and its about time i gave up.
any suggestions???

Answer 1

Quit. Cold turkey.

Answer 2

COLD TURKEY!!!

I quit 2 years ago at 43, smoked 3 packs a day. It was really hard for 3 days, then got easier every day until now--I am one of those hateful ex-smokers!

Get ready with lots of gum & hard candy, and decide ahead of time what to do when it gets bad--like chew on a straw, or take a walk.
Good luck to you, you are doing the right thing!!
Oh, and after a month, take the cig money you saved & treat yourself to a dinner out, a new outfit, a good bottle of wine, or whatever IS a treat to you!

Answer 3

(This IS a serious answer, so don't diss me!) The best way of giving up smoking is the one that works for you.

Smoking is as much a psychological habit as a chemical addiction. You can wean yourself off the chemical (or go 'cold turkey') but you also need to address the habit side of things.

At the age of 31 (I'm now 40, and haven't smoked since), I decided not to try to break my habit, but to change it. I used to smoke when I was having a coffee, drinking (at the pub or at home), reading a book, doing a crossword... (put like that, it sounds awful to me now!). So I changed all that, and allowed myself a cigarette only at certain times of the day. I gradually stretched out the length of time between smokes, until I was having 3 per day, starting at midday. That's when the day's first smoke started to make me feel ill enough to ask myself, "why am I doing this to myself?" I then became a non-smoker. (This method also weaned me off the nicotine.)

Yes, it took will-power (won't-power?!!), but keep reminding yourself that you've decided to be a non-smoker.
(A teacher of mine used to have a poster in his class-room which read: You think you are a smoker; you are not. It's the cigarette that smokes; you're just the sucker on the end.)

Good luck, and kia ora (a Maori phrase often used in greeting, conveys wishes of good health).

Answer 4

Quitting smoking is a great opportunity to learn about ourselves, as you have already observed.
Congratulate yourself on having the desire to stop - then you are over the worst, but still need to maintain your resolve. It's just so easy to start thinking that just one won't hurt, but it does. Just one achieves nothing except feeling the need for another. Whatever you do, don't have just one. Beware - alcohol will weaken your resolve.
Here's a few home-brewed tips that might be useful.
It's not just nicotine addiction - there are 50+ chemicals in cigarettes. Also the main problem is habit.
We have been used to having body sensations which we translate as 'my body needs something', which we have attempted to satisfy by having a cigarette.
When we try to stop smoking, we still get these 'my body needs something' sensations, and we still feel that we want a cigarette. We have to train our body to be more selective. When we feel we need something, we have to work out what it is that we actually need.
A glass of water is an excellent substitute if nothing else comes to mind, as it helps with the clearance of the toxic substances in our body. Another good substitute is a bag of salted peanuts, used in combination with the water.
Another thing to do is to find an activity which occupies the mind or body. Go swimming - nobody wants to smoke while they are swimming. Slowly, as our body adjusts and translates the 'want something' feelings into something other than cigarettes, then the feelings begin to go away. We know its not a cigarette that the body really needs, because as soon as we've had one we still have the feeling, and want another!
We will have a few bouts of feeling or even being short tempered. We must try to bite our lip, and control; ourselves. Recognise the short temper as being the removal of toxins which are trying to find a way out. They went in through the mouth, and they try to get out that way to. We must learn to keep our mouth closed, and force the toxins out the other way.

After we have stopped for a while we will begin to feel that just one wont to any harm.
All that leads to is a desire for just another one. We must guard very strongly against the desire to have just one.

Answer 5

COLD TURKEY just stop it only take seven days to get over the physical addiction to nicotine then the rest is all mental i started smoking when i was twelve years old and smoked for twenty eight years and quit ten years ago

Answer 6

Just stop cold turkey!! It can be done, and it is the easiest way. I smoked three packs a day for many years and stopped 28 years ago cold turkey and have never had another cigarette in my mouth since. Try it. You Will go through withdrawal, but it is really worth it!!

Chow!!

Answer 7

get a glass jar with a lid & full it half way with water, toss your butts out in there & seal it shut. When you crave a smoke open the jar & take a deep wiff. If that doesn't help try cold turkey, think about your health & keep yourself busy so you don't have time to think about it. Good luck

Answer 8

Cold Turkey! Nicatine is addictive like a narcotic. If you were a drug addict, would you take just a few hits a day to quit? No. You have to just stop and substitute the negative behavior with a more positive one. God love ya cause I know it's hard.

Answer 9

Dont buy cigs I know that sounds simple but I had a quadruple by pass which was down to smoking make up your mind do you want to live It is not easy but a lot better than surgery

Answer 10

eat lots of carrots, they remind the mind of cigs and trick it into think they are, and excersice. it keeps the mind of course from thinking about smoking. dont ever just do nothing. it will cause the mind to start thinking and it will want a cig because of the addictiveness of nicotine. if all else fails, have your wife or girlfriend beat you evertime you touch a cig. you sure as hell wont want to touch one after the first few beatings.