How to Quit Smoking

So, you think you're ready to quit smoking. Well, that's the first step, you have to decide what you really want for yourself. You're probably not going to be able to quit smoking if your family, friends, co-workers, or parents are pressuring you to quit smoking. The decision to quit smoking is a personal choice and your going to have to want it for reasons other than peer pressure to quit. Quit smoking for an improved self image and for your health. You're going to want to see those grandchildren grow up and you're not going to want to look like a statistic or a fool holding onto an oxygen tank when all you had to do was quit smoking. It is commonly known that smoking kills more people each year than all illegal drugs combined. Smoking takes a heavy toll on your health and well being as it does your pocket book. In these uncharted and treacherous economic times it may be a very wise decision to quit smoking now, you never know what might pop up and need that money that you were using on a consumable good that yielded no return other than poor health. In this article I'm going to describe a simple, but effective means of an end to quit smoking.

First of all if you're going to quit smoking and you are serious about it then you need to do some research. Remember the hardest problem in the plight to quit smoking is the nicotine, at the end of this article I have included links to websites that have detailed information on tar and nicotine content of all the major brands of cigarettes. Right off the bat you'll have to realize that the cigarettes you are smoking are most likely loaded with nicotine. So, in order to quit smoking we're going to need to go through those lists in the links below and look at the cigarettes we're already smoking for nicotine content and then look at alternatives for lower nicotine content cigarettes. If your smoking Marlboro reds, regular Camels, or regular Newport; then you need to make a change quickly.

You don't need to necessarily switch right over to low nicotine content ultra lights to quit smoking, but make at least a conscious effort to change to lights and then ultra lights. The next thing that you can do after making these changes is a little behavior modification, cut down the amount of cigarettes you smoke a day by a certain percentage. If you smoke a pack a day then just take out five cigarettes from your pack in the morning before work and put them in a plastic bag. Consciously do this for a week, then reduce by five again. When your down to smoking about 10 cigarettes a day, which this may take more time than just 2 weeks; your then going to want to begin only smoking about half of the cigarette and then put it out. After a while of doing this you will begin to notice that you can take a few puffs and become satisfied. Cut yourself down to five a day, obviously putting them in the plastic bag still you will have considerably cut down on you cigarette expenditures since you have decided to quit smoking. When your down to five a day you can try and smoke the whole cigarette, we don't want you to quit at this point; we want you to keep your discipline but also reward yourself for cutting back so much. Smoke five cigarettes a day for a period of time that you decide and then one day when you've had enough just or have almost run out of your reserve bag, just stop smoking. The first one or two day may be a little bit rough, but it's more of a mental thing at this point because you have such low nicotine levels in your blood stream.

When attempting to quit smoking your environment is a key factor. If you're at work and you go out and smoke every time everyone else does than you're going to have problems quitting. Smoking occupies time, we find ourselves smoking to fill voids in time during the day and saying that it "relaxes" us is just another form of denial. It's a stimulant so how can it relax you? The relaxation comes from supplying nicotine to your brain to ease the feelings of withdrawl. Remember nicotine plays tricks on your brain to make you feel good, so try and occupy your time with something else; most people's problem is that they don't have a hobby. So get a hobby and try and find something else to do when others are smoking, it's okay to sit and talk to them; but be strong and fight the urges. Remember the government doesn't want you to quit because they're making too much money off of you with their inflated cigarette taxes. Do you really want to be a pawn in their agenda?

*Initial general benefits if you quit smoking now.
>Blood pressure and pulse rate lower and approach normal.
>Mouth and hair no longer smell of smoke.
>Senses of taste and smell improve.
>Cough disappears and phlegm production returns to normal.
>Stamina increases significantly.
>Energy level is higher.
>Field of vision increases by 15 to 20 percent.

*Medical benefits of deciding to quit smoking and the improvements to your health.
>After 20 minutes of not smoking your heart rate and blood pressure return to normal limits.
>After 8 hours nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in the blood are greatly, the chances of a heart attack are greatly reduced as oxygen levels in the blood return to normal.
>After 10 hours carbon monoxide levels are cut in half which is one of the major causes of cognitive skills (thinking) and health. The carbon monoxide inhalation significantly restricts the amount of oxygen in the blood, so now you're going to have more oxygen in your blood.
>After 24 hours you may experience the side effects of withdrawl, but you've made it a whole day, you might experience headaches or mild stomach irritation. These symptoms are just par for the course.
>After 48 hours you will begin to feel different and more alive as the nicotine has left your body.
>After 72 hours your bronchial tubes begin to relax and it will be easier to breath and you will have long lost energy.
>After 2-22 weeks after you quit smoking your circulation will return to normal in your feet and hands. There's nothing worse than cold extremities.
>After 1 year you have reduced your risk of a heart attack by half.
>After 10 years you reduce the risk of lung cancer by half.
>After 15 years it was as if the chain smoker had never smoked.

*Nicotine and tar levels in domestic cigarettes
Non-Menthol
http://home.att.net/~rdavis2/cigra.html
http://home.att.net/~rdavis2/cigrs.html
Menthol
http://home.att.net/~rdavis2/cigma.html
http://home.att.net/~rdavis2/cigms.html

Source:http://www.stop-smoking-tips.com/benefits-quitting-smoking.html